A Liquid Lunch

Blender: Easily the BEST housewarming gift ever!

I'll admit, when my friend gave me this blender, the first drink that popped into my mind was not a smoothie. I was thinking more along the lines of entertaining, but my love for Jamba Juice has made this one of the most used appliances in my kitchen. Emma and I just can not get enough fruit blends into this thing. We love mixing different berries and fruits with different juices and liquids. We have yet to create a combination that we didn't like.


I never have to worry about whether she's getting enough fruits because I can easily get various into one glass. And she enjoys being apart of the process. Smoothies come in handy for myself as well, specially on those days when I'm so busy that I nearly forget to eat. I'm always fulfilled after a glass or two and there is no guilt because its all healthy ingredients.

Do you have any favorite go-to drinks or snacks that you and/or your kids love?

Everyday Food: Pork and Pineapple

Skillet-Seared Pork Chops w/Pineapple Salsa

You gotta love Martha Stewart, and you gotta love her magazine, Everyday Food. There is never a dull recipe! Not only is the mag full of delicious dishes, tips and tricks, it always features an exclusive week of dinners, complete with a shopping list so you wont have to keep running back and forth to the store throughout the week! I have to thank my friend Angela of This American Locavore for turning me on to Martha's mag.

I spotted a great recipe in an older issue and decided to give it a try. Pork Chops are a regular in our house and this was a great way to add a little something different to our old favorite.

Emma helped me make the Pineapple Salsa by combining all of the ingredients and being the official taste tester!

- 1 cup of pineapple chunks we had a small can on hand so we used those
- 1/2 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced Emma prefers diced so we have a combo of sliced and diced
- 1 tablespoon of honey
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- salt and pepper

You can had 1/2 of a chile pepper if you want to kick it up. We did not.

Once the salsa was ready to go, I browned the chops. Martha's recipe calls for flour for browning, but I found that it wasn't needed to achieve beautifully brown chops. I cooked our chops in EVOO (extra virgin olive oil), and seasoned them with Season All and Lemon Pepper. You can substitute salt and pepper or any of your favorite pork seasonings. While the chops were cooking I made a side of white rice. I placed the cooked chops on a platter, topped them with our salsa, and added some reserved chopped cilantro and butter to the rice, fluffed with a fork, and dinner was served.

Have you tried any delicious new recipes lately?