What's for dinner?

I'm behind in sharing dinner recipes I've tried out so I thought I'd do one big post to cover them all.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork, I used a 3 lb pork shoulder, a can and a half of diet root beer, I set the slow cooker on low and let it cook for 9.5 hours. I drained it, shredded it and added Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce to taste. I served it on potato buns. The pulled pork sandwiches were really good and they couldn't be easier to prepare.

Best Chicken Ever, I reduced the butter and used light sour cream, but otherwise followed the recipe. It was hardly the best ever, but it was decent. Doubtful that I'd make it again, if I did, though, I'd add additional spice. The chicken was pretty bland.

Creamy Pasta with Tomato, Bacon and Ricotta, I used green pepper and followed the recipe. I tasted the sauce as it reduced, I think I would've preferred to leave out the ricotta. Frank agreed, I'll try it again sometime without it.

Pork Chops stuffed with Smoked Gouda and Bacon, I've shared this one before. However, now that the weather has turned cooler, I tried them in the oven at 375 degrees. They turned out even better than on the grill. It's currently my favorite dish to make.

Spicy Garlicky Spaghetti Squash, this was a new one for me. I've never had spaghetti squash before, never even heard of it, until I came across the blog post. It came out pretty well. We thought it was fine, but didn't like it enough to make it a keeper.

Mexican Rice, I followed the recipe mostly, however, I used canned tomato, boxed reduced sodium chicken stock and I left the rib of the jalapenos. It was great, but hot, and we like heat. Next time, I leave out the ribs as suggested.

The last two recipes were shared by friends.

Wendy's Nacho Chicken Bake

4 chicken breasts
1/2 c chunky salsa (I make my own)
1/4 c light sour cream
crushed tortilla chips
1/2 c light shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 400. Slice three slits into each breast, top with sour cream, salsa and tortilla chips. Bake 20 minutes, add cheese and bake another 10 minutes.

It was very tasty, I made the Mexican Rice to go with it. It was a great meal.


Johnny's Eggplant Parmesan

1 eggplant
2 eggs
2 cans of tomato sauce (Contadima)
Scant of milk
Salt
Parmigiana cheese
Italian breadcrumbs (Progresso)
Extra virgin olive oil
Slices of Provolone or Mozzarella

Mixture of the following: garlic salt, dried parsley, oregano, onion powder, salt, black pepper, and parmigiana cheese.

Cut eggplant into 1/4 inch slices. Put paper towels down and put eggplant on towels and sprinkle some salt on eggplant and then put something heavy on the eggplant to press out the bitter juice in the eggplant.

Beat 2 eggs and a small amount of milk in a bowl. Next spread breadcrumbs over a paper plate. Dip sliced eggplant in to egg mix then press both sides in the bread crumbs and put on plate.

When all done put extra virgin olive oil in large frying pan about 1/16 inch deep, med heat. Brown both sides. Season eggplant after first turn with spice mixture.

Layer fried eggplant into a casserole dish, then add one can of tomato sauce, sprinkle more parmigiana cheese and then some thin slices of cheese. Add another layer of eggplant, followed by another can of sauce and more cheese. Bake at 325 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes.

I've never had eggplant parmesan before, so I had no basis for comparison. We liked it, though, Frank would like me to make it again.