Buttermilk Fried Pork Chop with Creamed Gravy, Bacon and Brown Sugar Braised Lima Beans, and Fried Potatoes and Onions.

Today I was pretty tired, Zara did not want to go to bed last night and had some tummy problems this morning so she was kicking and screaming a bunch. I had to rock her for an hour last night and my arm burned! Poor baby, and poor momma! I tried out my new fitbit by walking the track I've made in my house. I'm trying to get back up to 10,000 steps. But my fitbit is sucking! I used to use the strive which I think I'm going to go back to cause my fitbit is like 3k steps off. It's nice to think I did that many more but that won't help me lose weight. After I went grocery shopping my mom and I went and got pedicures. I haven't had one since way before Zara was born and my feet were starting to stick to the sheets they were so dry. James offered to watch Zara so we could go. While I was getting them done he sent me this pic to show how much fun they were having! 

They are just so awesome!!

James and I are going on a health kick starting New Years so before then he asked me for a few more rich, fattening meals. Haha! So I obliged cause I too want some awesome food before it's grilled chicken and carrot sticks lol.

I decided to make Buttermilk Fried Pork Chop with Creamed Gravy, Bacon and Brown Sugar Braised Lima Beans, and Fried Potatoes and Onions. 

For the Lima Beans I started with 6 pieces of bacon chopped into lardons.

Put them into a small Dutch oven on medium high heat.

Cooked until a lot of the fat is rendered then added a chopped small onion.

Sautéed till the onion is soft.

Cooked for 10 mins.

Then added 1/2 a cup of packed brown sugar.

Stirred till it started to caramalize 

And mixed together

Then I added a bag of frozen Lima Beans.

And 1/4 a cup of butter.

Mixed till melted and combined.

Then I poured 8 cups of water in.

Brought it to a boil and then simmered for 2 hours till the liquid evaporated to half and thickened up. And added 2tsp of salt and 1tsp of pepper.

For the pork chops I started with a seasoning blend of 2 tsp of Cajun seasoning, 1 tsp of Garlic Powder, and 1/4 a tsp of ground black pepper. Then sprinkled it over 4 thick, center cut boneless pork chops.

In a small dish I put in a cup of low fat buttermilk and a cup of flour on a paper plate next to it.

Then used tongs to dip the chops into the buttermilk.

Then into the flour.

Then into a hot skillet with veggie oil.

Fried for 10 mins each side till golden.

And because these were thick cut I turned them on their side to cook off the fat on the edges. After that I put them in an oven on a rack at warm heat. In the drippings I put 2 tbls of flour.

Stirred in with a whisk till all the flour was cooked out.

Then whisked in about a cup of milk.

Whisked until thick and creamy then added some salt and pepper.

For the Fried Potatoes and Onions I took a mandolin and sliced 2 large peeled russet potatoes and 1 medium onion into 1/2 inch slices.

Took a cast iron skillet, brought to medium high and added 3 tbls of vegetable oil. Then layered the potatoes and onions into the hot oil.

To create a crust I put 2 clean pans on top of the potatoes and onions.

Then fried for 12 mins each side and flipped with a spatula. Added salt, pepper, and 2 tbls of butter towards the end.

To plate I put a fried pork chop on the plate, used a slotted spoon to put the Lima beans on the plate, and used the spatula to layer the potatoes and onions next to them. Then ladled some gravy on top of the pork chop and added some chopped parsley for color. 

Christmas Recap

This Christmas was the best Christmas of my life. And that's because I had the best present anyone could ever ask for, a beautiful baby girl.

I did however get some awesome gifts under the tree too! My husband got me a great pressure cooker that I can't wait to break out, and I got a bad ass printer that let's me print wirelessly from wherever I am. I've been printing so many pictures the last few days!! 

I got my husband a MacBook Pro and he hasn't been off it since!

He was super surprised and loved it so much :)

Baby Z had a great Christmas too! She got a bunch of clothes and toys from so many people who love her!!

She was smiling and being calm the whole time we were opening gifts!

I spent the rest of the day cooking for my grandparents to come for dinner. Here is us before they got here, I'm wearing my Christmas apron :)

Here was my Christmas table.

We were all super full after that huge meal!

After dinner and visiting with Zara's great grandparents we put on her Christmas jammies and got cozy in front of the tv to watch some Christmas movies.

Now I'm going to show a bunch of photos that were the rest of our Christmas holiday cause there are just too many to caption. 

         First day home vs 7 weeks old!

Well that has been our weekend and Christmas break in pictures. I'm not posting my New Years resolutions yet but I am going to get back to my daily cooking and hopefully daily blogging. Now that the holidays are over I have more time to plan meals and cook. Hope everyone had a great Christmas and will have an amazing New Year!!