Bacon Popcorn

Have you ever been at a restaurant when the server takes a plate off of your table that you weren't quite done with yet? Like, the dish was so good you were still licking up the crumbs good?

That is what happened the first time we went to The Parish here in Tucson. We ordered their bacon popcorn and I thought Drew would have licked the bowl if they hadn't taken it too early. Well, maybe they did it on purpose, because we go back frequently with the bacon popcorn as the focus of our trip. They have great food, many gluten free options (including beers), and make everything in house. Yum.

Well, we can't always make a trip to get this (or sometimes it is rainy outside and we decide to just not leave the house). So we decided to make it ourselves.

Start by cooking bacon in a pan. Don't get rid of the grease. Really, don't do it. Not yet.

You will need a bowl of popcorn. This time we used our air popper, because really, how cool is it to watch popcorn just shoot out and pop everywhere? Molly loves it. However, it is better when you use some of the bacon grease to pop your popcorn in. Do what you want, it is your popcorn.

Once you have your popcorn, toss it with melted butter (3-4 tbsp) and some thinly sliced green onions. I sliced up two of them.

Then, add a few tablespoons of the bacon grease (it adds tons of flavor) and the crumbled bacon. Toss it together and see if you can make it last longer than 15 minutes. Ours lasted about 10.

Spicy Pork Chops with Fried Rice

I like to buy meat at Costco. I find it to be fantastically fresh and a lot less expensive than at Fry's. That being said, I sometimes buy WAY more of something than I actually need. Like pork chops. I don't often cook them, but I bought them at Costco because they were on sale. So naturally, I come across this recipe at thepioneerwoman.com and have to make it ASAP so I can make room in my freezer for the important things in life - ice cream bars.

I spent a few hours at my dear friend Amy's this morning helping her assemble her wedding invitations. They are gorgeous and beautiful, just like her. They are also slightly complicated - which gave my brain and fingers quite the workout. Somehow I acquired quite the appetite from the sweatshop labor and decided to be adventurous when it came to dinner.

This was quite delicious. A little sweet, a little spicy, just like me. There's a pinch of sriracha and honey in the sauce on the chops and it is to DIE for. Just remember, if you can't take the heat, get the heck out of the kitchen. You could leave it out, but your sinuses won't be quite as happy as mine are right now.

Okay, one main player in this is obviously the pork chop. However, I am a ding-bat and didn't photograph them. They were thawing in the sink. I told you I decided I needed to cook them ASAP.

For the chops you'll need 4-6 pork chops, 2 cups cooked rice, sliced onion,  1 tbsp. sesame or canola oil, 1 tbsp. butter, 6 tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce, 1 tbsp. sriracha, 2 tbsp. honey, 1 tbsp. red wine vinegar.

For the rice you'll need 1/2 pineapple (grilled and cut into chunks), 3 minced garlic cloves, 1 tbsp. oil, 2 cups cooked brown rice, 2 eggs, 2 cups frozen peas (thawed), 1 cup shredded carrots, 2-3 tbsp. soy sauce (more to taste).

To start, cut your pineapple into spears. Good luck - this was interesting. I have never cut a fresh pineapple before, and it was much more intimidating than it needed to be. Just cut out the outside and make sure you don't eat the middle core. Boom done.

Throw half of the spears on the grill pan. Get some lovely color on them. This just makes the already sweet pineapple even sweeter.

It smells so good right now. SO GOOD. I'm kind of bummed I made this earlier this week, as I want to eat it now.

There you go - grilled pineapple spears. Use them on everything from bbq chicken pizza to kabobs. Or just eat them. They're bomb.

Cut the spears up into chunks and set them aside.

 Heat the butter and 1 tbsp. oil in a pan on medium high heat.

Yum. Melted butter. Nothing bad comes from melted butter.

Put your pork chops in and let them sear on one side for about 5 minutes - until you've got great color.

Flip baby flip. Flip baby flip. Cook for another minute or two.

Add those onions and let them start to get soft and colorful.

There's nothing quite like cooked onions. It amazes me that they taste so different from the uncooked version. Stranger things have happened I guess.

Add your soy sauce, sriracha, honey, and vinegar. Let it cook for another minute or two.

Take the chops out of the pan and place into a bowl. While this is happening, your sauce will finish reducing.

Reduced sauce. Something that took me a few years to figure out - I just wasn't patient enough for it in college. But now that I'm old and mature, I can wait. I also tend to forget about it until it's reduced - which works too!

Pour the saucy-onions over the chops and let them sit until ready to serve.

Don't clean the pan - that's a silly waste of time. Add the remaining oil and saute your garlic for a minute or two.

Here's the fun part. Add your two eggs and scramble them until they're cooked and in tiny pieces. WEE! Don't stop stirring until they're all cooked and perfect.

Add your veggies and soy sauce and cook for a few minutes.

Add the rice.

Stir it all together and cook for a minute.

Add the pineapple and stir. Get ready for a flavor explosion! Or just some good fried rice.

Put the rice on a plate with the pork chops and sauce on top. Be sure to add a little extra sauce to help flavor your rice. It's worth it.

Sometimes you just crave something different, and this is it.

Ranch Crock Pot Pork Chops

There's nothing better than an easy dinner that I feel like I don't even have to make. I've been really into using the Crock Pot lately - for some reason it's always Wednesday. Maybe because it is the middle of the week, maybe its that I'm lazy. Whatever it is, it has been a blessing. I feel like God makes me dinner every time I walk in the door, because it's already ready!

All you need for this recipe is 4-6 pork chops, a can of cream of chicken soup, and a ranch packet. That's it! I love this recipe. Its pork, its ranch, its gravy, its perfect.

Here's the hard part. Put the chops in the crock pot, followed by the soup. Last, add your ranch packet. Cover and let it cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Leave for work. Forget about your dinner - or think about it all day like I do. Come home and smell the greatness. It's ready to go.

Put it on mashed potatoes. You could do rice, but buttery mashed potatoes are SO good and comforting.

GAH. So easy. So delicious.