Stork Meal 12: Italian Pork Chops (grill, crock, or oven)

This is one of those go-to meals for me when I forget to defrost something but need to feed the natives. I always have the ingredients on hand and it's always a crowd pleaser.

Momma-to-be agrees! So in it goes to the Stork Meal vault.

And, of course, I forgot to take a picture before we'd gobbled, so I took one when I was packing away the leftovers for some lucky man's lunchbox. (Note, I made three cheese rellanos, smoked paprika brussel sprouts, and the kids favorite Rice-a-Roni... so that is in the picture too).

What you will need:
Pork Chops (bone in or boneless, whichever you prefer)
Dry Italian Seasoning (You will find this next to the dry ranch seasonings)
Oil
Water
Vinegar

If you are making this for a freezer meal, make sure you get fresh pork chops. They don't recommend you freeze and refreeze meat, so just don't do it.

Pork Chop Tip: Did you know that a Boneless Pork Loin Roast is just a really long pork chop? Most of the time, it's a fraction of the cost of already cut pork chops. Sometimes even cheaper then buying bone-in pork chops. And you get to decide how thin or thick you want your chops to be. Usually one boneless pork loin will give me 15-20 chops!

Directions for the chops: For the freezer: Put 4-6 pork chops in the freezer bag and add dry Italian seasoning. Massage into the pork well and then add the recommended vinegar, water, and oil to the bag. Press all the air out, then seal.

Write on the bag: Defrost. Grill, bake, or crockpot until internal temperature reaches 165.

Now, I know what you are thinking. Why not just use the bottled Italian dressing. For me it's easy. I can't have soy (which most dressings have), so this is a no brainer. Plus there are no additional additives I don't want (like high fructose corn syrup). AND I before I was allergic, I used a bottle of italian dressing and it surely wasn't the same. The mean wasn't as flavorful or tender. So trust me when I say this is the way to go, BUT, you can use a bottle of Italian dressing in a pinch.

All in one CrockPot Meal: A lot of times I throw raw potatoes and carrots in the bottom of my crockpot then the seasoned meat and dressing over the top.  If you want to make this an all in one crockpot meal, just dice red potatoes and carrots in large chunks and put it in a separate bag. Both freeze well and will hold up great in the crockpot. I also really like sprinkling fresh parmesan over the top of my veggies when they are done.

Stork Meal 4: Italian Beef

My sister is not a red meat fan. She used to be, but something about this pregnancy has turned red  meat into a not so pleasant time in the bathroom. So when I make things for her, I try really hard to keep the red meat out.

However, this was one of those meals that she was willing to try because it sounded so good (like I said, she used to be a red meat fan).

It's a take on the classic French Dip sandwich but its more chunky and made in the crockpot. It's such a simple recipe that I feel bad for making a whole post about it! But, I will. Because it's good.

The recipe is as follows...

3-5 pounds of Beef
2 dry Italian seasoning packets
2 cans of beef broth.

Sound easy?

It's just that easy.

When I buy my beef, I choose a different cut every time. Reason, I'm looking for the meat with the most marbling. That means there are white lines of fat running through the meat. So sometimes I pick a rump. Sometimes I pick bottom round or a chuck roast. I just look for those fat lines and go from there. DON'T GET an expensive cut of meat. Because you are going to slow cook this all day, you don't want something fancy it will just fall to bits. And you don't want that.

For freezing, just combine everything in a gallon zipper bag and seal. Place inside another zipper bag for safety.

To cook, put everything in the crockpot and cook on high 5 hours or low 10 hours. Because it's beef, the desired doneness is up to you. About 45 minutes before I want to serve, I take the meat out and slice it (or shred it if it shreds) then throw it back into the crockpot on warm. I allow it to sit and soak until time to eat.

Serve over hoagie rolls like a french dip sandwich, or serve like an open faced sandwich. Serve with extra juice from the crock.

Sister had seconds.

To see the other Stork Meals, click here.