Rootbeer Pork Chops

April's HH6 challenge was to Pick a recipe or dish from a HH6 blogger's blog to prepare.


So I went trolling around on blogs for a while.  With the insanity of my life lately, I needed something easy.  I also happened to have some pork chops in the fridge and a desperate craving for root beer floats.  It all came perfectly together when I found the Root Beer Grilled Pork Chops on Saraplicious! Kitchen.

And then my Traeger broke.

The Husband went out and got a cheapo gas grill the day after I made this to tide us over until I get the Traeger repaired, but that was of no use to my poor pork chops which had to be oven baked instead of grilled.

They were still delicious though!  The root beer gave the chops a delicate flavor.  I'm actually glad I didn't use my Traeger for this - I think the smoke would have overwhelmed the root beer taste.  I made some small alterations, listed below.

Ingredients

4 pork chops
1 can root beer
1 T onion powder

With a fork, poke a bunch of holes in the chops.  Put them in a large ziplock and add the rootbeer and onion powder.  Massage until well combined and marinate 4-8 hours in the fridge, turning once.  Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until cooked through.

Sweet and Sourdough Muffins

I had an extra cup of sourdough starter hanging around and about 30 minutes in which to use it.  The solution?  Muffins!  Muffins are perfect.  Fast, simple, and you can have endless variety.  I went with cheesy muffins this time, but I was very close to doing a cranberry one.  Next week, maybe!

Ingredients

1 c sourdough starter
1 c bread flour
1/2 c sugar
dash salt
1 t baking soda
1 egg
1/4 c oil
1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese.  Or fruit.  Or nuts.  Or whatever your little heart desires!

Combine all ingredients.  Grease muffin tin and fill cups about 2/3s full (this made 9 muffins for me).  Bake at 430 for 20 minutes.

Bang Bang Shrimp

Until Friday, April 6th, I never met a shrimp I liked.  Sometimes I'd find shrimp that I liked the flavor of, but the texture always killed it for me.  Last friday, though, we headed into The City to do some shopping - and to use the gift cards the in-laws had given me for my birthday.  The gift cards to Bonefish Grill.

Yeah, Bonefish is a chain, but despite our relative proximity to the ocean, we live in a bit of a seafood desert and Bonefish is wayyyy better than Red Lobster!

Anyway, my husband has been wanting bang bang shrimp for a while.  Wednesdays are bang bang days, with specials and whatnot, but it was Friday.  It was also happy hour, and we noticed that bang bang tacos were on the cheap appetizer list, so we got that.  Warily, I took a bite.

I was in heaven.  The sauce was divine, the shrimp crispy and not at all bothering me (the tortilla did, though, they really need to make their own!).  I devoured my share.

I needed more.

When I got home, I started looking up how to make my own.  Fortunately, it's a simple process.  I made The Husband run out and get me some shrimpies and we celebrated Easter with the oh-so traditional Bang Bang Shrimp dinner.  Yum!  I tossed them with roasted veggies to make it a bit healthier.

Ingredients

1/2 c mayo
1/3 c sweet thai chili sauce
sriacha to taste
2/3 lb peeled and deveined shrimp
cornstarch
vegetable oil

Make the sauce ahead of time to allow flavors to blend.  Mix mayo and chili sauce (maybe a bit extra of the chili sauce), and add sriacha to taste.  Add a LOT of sriacha to taste.  Don't be a wimp, get some spice in your life!

Heat oil to 350.  Pat shrimp dry and toss in cornstarch.  Let shrimp sit for 10-15 minutes.  Fry in oil until browned, 2-5 minutes depending on the temp of your oil.  Drain on paper towels.  Toss shrimp with some veggies and sauce to taste.  We had a lot of extra sauce but no extra shrimpies!

Kodiak Food

I know things have been slow lately.  The new job has been eating most of my time and we leave for Kodiak in less than two weeks so prepping for that has been taking the rest of my time!  I am trying to get a few posts scheduled for while we're gone, but in the meantime, here's a snapshot of the kitchen overload I've been engaging in over the past week as I prepped and dehydrated two weeks worth of food!  We're taking a pair of extra MREs and a pair of extra Mountain House meals, but those are all in case of weather delays.  Everything for the planned time I did myself.

On our trip we'll be feasting on chili, beef stew, stir fry, burrito bowls, beef burgundy, and spaghetti for dinners.  Desserts will be pudding, strawberry or chocolate cheesecake, pumpkin and apple pies, and strawberry shortcake.  Breakfasts alternate between oatmeal and chocolate chip pancakes.  Lunches are simple PBJs on crackers or tortillas.  For snacks we have beef jerky and fruit leather, plus I plan on making a batch of trail bread before we hit the road.  Exciting!