New Recipe Alert: Crock Pot Chops and Gravy

Hello, out there! I betcha thought I forgot all about this little ol' blog o' mine, didn't you???? Well, I didn't! You see...I told you I would be back someday, and here I am. I am finally starting to feel like a normal person again! (Well, as normal as I can feel being pregnant with twins.) The good news is that I finally hit my second trimester! My energy has somewhat returned, and I am not feeling as nauseated as I once was. Although, I am not completely "morning sickness free", I am beginning to feel much, much better. I still have tummy issues, but it is certainly less than what is was at it's peak. Hooray!!! The best part is that food is starting to interest me again. I just need to make sure the recipes are simple to prepare and not too exotic; due to the still lingering, aforementioned, tummy issues. I am all about quick and easy these days. Hopefully, I will be back into the full swing of things very soon.

During my hiatus, I have fallen in love with my slow cooker again. I really appreciate being able to throw ingredients into the crock pot early in the day, and not have to worry about pulling together a dinner when I am feeling at my worst during the late afternoon. Also, I like that the slow cooker produces home cooked flavors with minimal effort. All in all, the slow cooker is my new BFF.

Another one of my new finds is the Tasty Kitchen website. Ree, from The Pioneer Woman, created this cooking/recipe index site for home cooks. Just like her original site, Tasty Kitchen is fabulous!!!! I just did a quick search this morning for "pork chops" and found this new recipe. I had everything on hand, so I thought I would give it a go. I think I will serve this with some Jasmine rice and some of my steamed, glazed carrots. I sure hope this dish is a keeper. I would hate for the first official recipe back on the blog to be a dud!

Crock Pot Chops and Gravy
By: realmomkitchen (From: Tasty Kitchen)

Ingredients:
4 whole Lean Pork Chops
1 whole Medium Onion, Sliced Or Diced
1/2 cups Cup Sliced Mushrooms
2 cans (10 3/4 Oz Size) Mushroom Soup
4 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
1 teaspoon Dried Parsley
1 teaspoon Garlic Salt
1/4 teaspoons Pepper

Directions:
Place pork chops in a crock pot (or in a baking dish for the oven). Lay onions and mushrooms over the pork chops.

Mix the rest of ingredients in a bowl and pour over the pork chops. Cook on low in the crock pot for 5 to 6 hours (or in the oven on 350F for 1 hour). Serve with mashed potatoes or over rice.

Note: After baking, I remove the chops and strain the gravy. This way I have a smooth gravy and I reserve the onions (and mushrooms if you used them) for those who like them so they can put them on their chops.

Jen's Notes:
I made a couple of quick substitutions for this dish. First, I used bone-in pork chops, since that is what I had on hand. Then, I used low-sodium cream of mushroom soup and canned mushroom slices. Last, I reduced the cooking time to 3 1/2 hours on high, since I know my slow cooker runs really hot. So far, it smells really yummy! I will let you know how it all turns out later in my review.



The Result:
This was really good! I was skeptical about putting 4 tablespoons of soy sauce and 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce into the gravy mix, because I thought it was going to be way too salty. On the contrary, it turns out that it was not too salty (especially since I used all low-sodium products), but pretty well balanced. The gravy ended up being really savory and yummy! I am glad that I used the bone-in pork chops and reduced the total cooking time, as well. The chops were juicy and tender. Sometimes I have serious issues with meat drying out in the slow cooker; but thankfully, that didn't happen with tonight's dinner. I would recommend this recipe because it was super-easy to put together...made wholly with ingredients that are typically stocked in the freezer and pantry. My son and husband really liked it, too. Certainly not too shabby for my first dinner attempt in over a month!!!