Parmesan Mushroom Pork

This recipe which I found on Pinterest was titled “Melt in Your Mouth Chicken Breast” and came from HERE. But the recipe that follows was made with what was in my kitchen this afternoon and was only inspired by the original recipe. See what you think! We loved it.

Ingredients:

- 2 thick pork cutlets

- a large handful of parmesan cheese

- 6 sliced button mushrooms

- 1/4 cup mayo

- 1 minced garlic clove

- salt and pepper

Directions:

- Place pork in a greased baking dish.

- Mix the rest of the ingredients and spread over the top of the pork.

- Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Tips from a Kitchen of Reality:

- The original recipe called for a cup of mayo and that made me want to gag. I am guessing I used about a 1/4 of a cup, I really just added mayo to stick all the other ingredients together.

- Sorry my cheese amount is just an estimate—I just used enough so the mixture would cover both pieces of pork.

Homemade Hummus

We love hummus… well, the 18 month old and I do. My sister and I gave it a go at making homemade and it turned out pretty yummy! Much cheaper than buying the small containers at the grocery store. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

-2 cups canned chickpeas, drained, liquid reserved (15.5-ounce can)
-1/3 cup tahini or sesame paste
-4 teaspoons minced garlic (4 cloves)
-6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (3 lemons)
-8 dashes Tabasco sauce
-2 teaspoons kosher salt

Directions:

Place the chickpeas, 2 tablespoons of the reserved liquid, the tahini, garlic, lemon juice, Tabasco, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and process until coarsely puréed.

The hummus should be moist and thick; add more lemon juice or reserved chickpea liquid to thin, if necessary.

Cover and refrigerate for several hours for the flavors to blend. Taste for seasonings.

Tips from a Kitchen of Reality:

- Mine came out a little salty. Not sure if I measured wrong or what. If I were you, I’d add it at the end to taste. I’m thinking it was the cook’s error though!

- Add different ingredients to have different flavors—we added black beans to party of the hummus and had it with our Mexican theme food night with tortilla chips.

* This is a Barefoot Contessa Recipe!

Slutty Brownies

I did not title the recipe… but it definitely is fitting. Got this off of Pinterest and the quote there was “They're called Slutty Brownies because they're oh so easy, and more than a little bit filthy.” ENJOY!!

Ingredients

- 1 box chocolate chip cookie mix (plus ingredients indicated on box to make it)

- 1 pkg of oreo cookies

- 1 box of brownie mix (plus ingredients to make it)

Directions

- Line 9x9 square pan with plenty of wax paper so you can easily lift brownies out of pan later to cut.

- Make cookie mix and press into the bottom of pan.

- Cover the cookie mix with a layer of oreos— whole cookies, do not break into pieces.

- Mix up brownie batter and pour over the top of the oreos.

- Bake for 30 minutes—be careful not to cook too long or they will dry out and not be super yummy and gooey.

- Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

- You will no longer question their name, promise.

Tips from a Kitchen of Reality:

- I bought a pouch cookie mix… you can buy a tube of cookie dough already made.

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Spaghetti with Mushrooms and Garlic

I am a woman on a budget these day for sure and this was a cheap recipe that had GREAT flavor and was really “light.” Try it, I think you’ll like it.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/8 teaspoon dried red-pepper flakes

2/3 pound mushrooms, sliced

1 teaspoon salt

1 pound spaghetti

3 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper

Directions

1. In a frying pan, heat the olive oil over moderately low heat. Add the garlic and the red-pepper flakes and cook, stirring, until the garlic softens, about 1 minute. Add the sliced mushrooms and the salt and cook until the mushrooms soften, about 5 minutes.
2. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the spaghetti until just done, about 9 minutes. Drain and toss with the mushroom mixture, the parsley, and the pepper.

 

Tips from a Kitchen of Reality

- I thought 1/2 cup of oil sounded like a lot… I think I used about 1/2 of that.

- I used minced garlic that I had in the fridge instead of cloves.

- I love angel hair pasta, so we used that instead of spaghetti

- The leftovers of this were AMAZING! The flavor was just so much better. I may make this ahead next time, refrigerate it, then reheat in skillet when ready to serve. The pasta just had more flavor. Then again, if I had used more oil it may not have been a problem as it would have coated the pasta better. YUMMY… none the less!