Brendan's Bacon Double Cheese

My son, Brendan, who is 15, Autistic and an extremely picky eater has inspired this sandwich made just for him! He loves food that is crunchy or on a bun so the few things he likes are hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken nuggets and strips, grilled cheese and bacon. Unfortunately he wont touch anything remotely healthy usually so I need to find somewhere to hide some veggies!

This grilled cheese is pretty basic and easy peasy!
2 slices of bread (your preference)
2 slices of cheese (your choice)
Oscar Meyer (or any brand) of real bacon bits.
Butter - I used Parkay butter spray

Butter outsides of bread.
Place one buttered side into heated pan.
Place one piece of cheese on bread followed by bacon bits...as many or little as you like...
Another slice of cheese on top of the bacon and remaining slice of bread!
Cook to your liking and enjoy stand alone or with your favorite soup!

Recipe - Sauteed French Green Beans

Sauteed French Green Beans

These green beans are not only very tasty, but healthy as well! They make a great side dish for chicken or chops. I wanted to make sure I had plenty of leftovers for when I wanted a snack and to go with my left over pork chops so I used two cans of french style green beans. Technically, you could use whatever type of green beans you have in your cupboard or freezer. The ingredients I am listing is how I prepared mine, however feel free to tweak how you need to!

Ingredients

2 cans French cut green beans

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup bacon pieces or chopped bacon

1TB minced garlic

1TB minced onion

Salt & Pepper to taste

Spray olive oil

1. Open two cans of green beans and try to drain as much of the juice as you can.
2. Generously spray the saute pan with the spray olive oil. If you do not have the spray kind, you could use olive oil or butter.
3. Add all ingredients to the pan and saute to your likeness.

Oven Fried Ranch Pork Chops

Oven Fried Ranch Pork Chops

Upon trying to decide what kind of pork chops I wanted for dinner, I had a hard time choosing between oven fried chops and ranch chops. So, I combined them together and made oven fried ranch pork chops! They were very good and I'll definitely be making these again!

Ingredients 

4 pork chops - any cut you like.

1 pkg Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix

2 c. Dry bread crumbs or stuffing mix

1 1/2 c. Egg beaters or 1 egg beaten + 2 TB Milk

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. I used 2 boneless butterflied chops for this recipe, you can use any cut you like. If using butterflied cut each chop into two pieces.
3. Put breadcrumbs in a large ziplock bag and crush. I left some chunks in mine for extra crunchy texture.
4. Add the packet of ranch dressing to the bread crumbs and mix together well.
5. Dip each chop one at a time in the egg mixture and then drop into the zip lock bag. Toss around to coat the chops generously.
6. Place each chop on a baking tray or cookie sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes depending on how crunchy you like your chops!
7. Enjoy!

What to do with those wrinkly ole grape tomatoes!

Don't you hate when you buy grape tomatoes and can't get them all used up before they wrinkle? They may no longer be a candidate for your perfect salad, but don't throw them out just yet! The best remedy for wrinkly maters is to cook them! Once they start to heat up, they will start to plump up. Add them to your favorite dish or enjoy them all by themselves! I like to sautee mine with a little balsamic reduction. Mmmmm!

English Muffin Mini Pizzas

I love me some pizza! While trolling around on Pinterest I saw these little gems. Since my surgery I am limited on how much food I can eat at one time so these were perfect for me! I went to the store and gathered up all the necessary ingredients and whipped these up one night for dinner. I served the mini pizzas alongside some home made Italian pasta salad. I love Hawaiian pizza so of course that is what I chose to make, however the great thing about these is you can top them with your own favorite toppings!

The mini pizzas are super easy and quick to make. Even the kiddos can easily make their own!

TIP:  Don't you hate when you bite into a slice of pizza and in one bite you drag off half of the toppings and end up with hot pizza sauce dripping down your chin? Ok, well maybe that only happens to me? Just in case
it does happen, an easy way to remedy it is to cut your toppings up into small bit size pieces. That way when you take a bite of the pizza your teeth won't drag off your toppings!  lk]\

Romano's Macaroni Grill - South County, St. Louis.

We had been wanting to try out macaroni grill for quite a while and the opportunity finally presented itself! Amanda, Brendan and I were headed over to the South County Center Mall and there sat Macaroni Grill right at the Entrance!  The ambiance is perfect for whatever you are out and about for. Whether it's a bite to eat after a long day of shopping, a casual dinner, or a romantic date night with your hunny you will feel right at home here.

They keep the Olive Oil right on your table for you to refill at your convenience if you have soaked up all of that yumminess with the free loaf of bread they bring to your table upon arrival. If you run out of bread they will be more than happy to replenish! Our waitress, who unfortunately I can't remember her name but she was very nice, added some fresh ground black pepper to the oil. If I had thought about it at the time I would have also asked her to grate  some cheese into the oil as well!

They had a special on their menu, two appetizers for $9, so Amanda picked the fried mac n cheese and zucchini frites, which is fried zucchini. The mac n cheese bites were amazing! They come with a cheese sauce to dip the yummy squares in which makes them even more delectable. I only was able to eat one because since my surgery my tummy can only hold a small amount of food and I had to save room for my main entree, but it took everything I had not to gobble up more!  I really liked the zucchini as well. My only complaint is the description doesn't tell you it is served with arribiata sauce so my mouth wasn't exactly prepared for the heat! I did request some plain red sauce which was quite runny, but better on the buds!  

For my entree I chose the eggplant parmesan. It was accompanied by cappelini pasta with marinara sauce. This was soo delicious! The eggplant was well done just how I like it, crispy on the outside and tender in the middle. The sauce was very tasty and paired well with the eggplant and pasta. I would definitely order this again! The portion was huge. With two good size portions of the eggplant, one could share with a friend and be quite satisfied. 

For $3 you can add either a field green salad or ceasar to your meal. Amanda and I both opted for the field green salad with ranch dressing. The salad was good, however, I am not very fond of bitter raddichio which was part of the salad. I would order again though! 

Amanda went for the Carmella's Chicken, rigatoni pasta topped with grilled chicken, fresh mushrooms, caramelized onions and a creamy marsala wine sauce. I tried a bite of the rigatoni and it too was very good! I would order this for myself, but minus the rooms. 

Brendan had the kids chicken strips and fries. I guess they couldn't make an adult entree with chicken strips so he ended up with three strips and a small amount of fries. Luckily he had bread to help fill him up. 

We did not order dessert, but maybe next time! Overall I really liked the Macaroni Grill. My only complaint is that the Olive Garden has me spolied with the salad that comes with the meal as opposed to paying extra for it so I wish MRG also offered a complimentary salad.    

Pizza Man!

A local Litchfield favorite! My family has been going here for years and it has never disappointed! Love this pizza! My favorite - ham n pineapple, well done!