Climb Out of the Rut

I have officially declared Tuesday to be "Climb Out of the Rut Day".  As the days become shorter and more gloomy, I am beginning to feel like I'm stuck in a rut.  I need to "use it up"  rather than throw it out; and so to spice things up a little, I'm going to try new ideas to help me climb out of the rut.  I don't know about you, but it seems that I cook the same things over and over again.  Last night, we were having pork chops (not turkey!)  but I wanted something different from the old barbequed chops.  So, I looked around the kitchen and found some apples that were a little past their prime.  So I searched on Allrecipes.com for a recipe that used apples and pork chops.  I found one that sounded really good, but modified it a little to save on dirty dishes.  Maybe give it a try.

APPLE PORK CHOPS

Ingredients:

2 T oil                                                             2 apples, peeled, cored and sliced

1/2 cup chopped onionn                                  2 T brown sugar

4 (1/2 in. thick) pork chops                             1/2 tsp. ground mustard

1/2 tsp. salt                                                     1/8 tsp. ground cloves

ground pepper to taste                                    3/4 c. hot water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Heat oil in large skillet.  Add pork chops and brown on both sides.  Remove and place in baking dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Add onion to skillet and saute for 1 minute, or until tender.  Cover the pork chops with apples and cooked onions. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, mustard, cloves, and water.  Pour over the pork chops.  Cover and bake in preheated oven for 30 to 45 minutes.  

I used the leftover mashed potatoes and made homemade gnocchi and after boiling them, added them to melted butter.  Before serving, I sprinkled them with parsley and parmesan cheese.  It was something different, very delicious, and is therefore termed a success.