February 21, 2011

Menu Mondays - A Double Dose...Dinner AND Dessert!

Happy Monday and President's Day to those of you who got the day off!  We have had some great weather here in the Ozarks this past week so my Menu Monday will of course be a bbq recipe!  We love to grill out, I grew up with a father who grilled out regardless of the weather, so when the weather started to turn on Saturday (our planned grilling day), my hubby was bound and determined to still do the grilling!  Lucky for us, as it got closer to grill time, the clouds started to clear a bit and we were even able to eat outside with the added warmth of our firepit to sit around as we had dessert.

On top of the grilling, I am including a bonus recipe...dessert!  My dessert recipe comes from one of my daily Hungry Girl recipes.  Hubby and I love our desserts so when I find a fun, delicious one that is also not going to take away from our gym time, I want to try it.  And we LOVED it and realized I had to add it to Menu Monday this week!  So without further ado...our recipes for the week!

Honey-Glazed Pork Chops
Ingredients:
4 lean pork loin chops
4 tbsp clear honey
1 tbsp dry sherry
4 tbsp orange juice
2 tbsp olive oil
1-inch/2.5cm piece fresh ginger, grated
salt and pepper
corn oil, for oiling




The ingredients cost us very little since we already had almost everything we needed!
 
Directions:Preheat the barbecue.  Season the pork chops with salt and pepper to taste.  Reserve while you make the glaze.
To make the glaze, place the honey, sherry, orange juice, olive oil, and ginger in a small pan and heat gently, stirring constantly, until well blended.
Cook the pork chops on an oiled rack over hot coals for 5 minutes on each side.  Brush the chops with the glaze and cook for an additional 2-4 minutes on each side, basting frequently with the glaze.  Transfer the pork chops to warmed serving plates and serve hot.

 The finished product.  A bit blurry but looks great on our new patio dishes, a wedding gift from Denise & Seth Deitchman!
 Grilling our entire meal made clean up easy.  For this one we decided to use our charcoal grill instead of the gas grill simply for flavor.

A couple of things we learned...next time we will probably double the glaze and use half as a marinade and then use other half as an actual glaze.  It may not work, and even though the flavor was fantastic, we thought it would be fun to try.  And of course...we have leftovers.  We made ours with some grilled broccoli and grilled french bread which was perfect for us since it meant a lot less cleaning!  But what's dinner without dessert?

Sweet Nachos of Mine
Ingredients:
2 medium-large high-fiber flour tortillas with about 110 calories each
3/4 tsp cinnamon, divided
2 dashes salt, divided
1 tsp. powdered sugar
One 60-calorie sugar-free or no-sugar-added vanilla pudding snack
1/4 cup sugar-free pancake syrup
1 cup shopping strawberries
1 cup mini marshmallows
1 tbsp. fat-free or light caramel dip
Optional toppings: Fat Free Reddi-wip, rainbow sprinkles

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray a large baking sheet or ovenproof platter with nonstick spray and set aside.
To make the chips, stack tortillas and cut into quarters.  Evenly cut each stack of quarters into 3 triangles, yielding 24 chip-shaped tortilla triangles.
Evenly lay tortilla triangles flat on the sheet or platter and cover with a generous mist of nonstick spray. Sprinkle with 1/4 tsp. cinnamon and a dash of salt.  Flip triangles, lightly spray with nonstick spray, sprinkle with 1/4 tsp. cinnamon and remaining dash of salt.
Bake in the oven for 3 minutes.  Carefully flip triangles and bake until crispy, about 3 minutes longer, keeping a close eye on them to ensure they don't burn.
Remove baking sheet or platter from the oven, and turn oven to the broiler setting.  Carefully arrange chips so they overlap slightly, and then sprinkle with powdered sugar and set aside.
In a small bowl, combine pudding, syrup and remaining 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, and mix well.  Evenly distribute mixture over the chips as you would cheese sauce when making regular nachos.  Top evenly with strawberries, followed by marshmallows.
Broil until marshmallows being to puff up and turn golden brown, 2-3 minutes.  Remove sheet or platter from the oven and set aside.
Place caramel dip in a small microwave-safe bowl and microwave for about 20 seconds, until hot and drizzle-able.  Give it a stir and drizzle over marshmallows. 
If you like, top each serving with a bit of Reddi-wip and some rainbow sprinkles.

It tasted even better than it looks, if that's even possible!

 
A little more of what we learned...obviously you can tell from the picture that we didn't go with the Reddi-wip, that was just because I am not a fan.  But I am sure it would be a great addition to it.  Everything was fantastic.  The serving size is perfect and it is wonderful.  Just don't plan on saving the leftovers...I can't imagine they would be good the next day!

So, did you make the dinner or dessert?  Tell me how it was!

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