Hi All Happy Monday!  Funny story as to why I picked this post.  I am a little tight on time as a last minute trip to Vancouver sprung on me Friday evening with a sudden retrun trip from Vancouver came right after on Saturday morning.  I arrive home Saturday night to pack for my conference in Philadelphia starting on Sunday.  We are at Blue Bell PA staying at Normandy Farm.  Ever been?  It is quite nice so far.

There are about 9 of us who traveled together and as I was sitting on the plane I could hear one of my colleagues behind me asking his seat buddy this… Hey ever spend any time in Philadelphia?  My other buddy says ” No but I hear they make one heck of a cream cheese”

I turned around with a smile and said…. this is going on Zesty!  So as I am a little pressed on time – I wanted to share this post with you to get your taste buds grooving for the week.

Hey Zesty Cook readers, it’s Jenny over at Picky Palate.  I am thrilled to be guest posting here at Zesty’s!  At Picky Palate, I create simple family friendly meals and desserts for even those picky little eaters, come on over for a visit sometime

I am sharing one of my all time favorite sinful desserts today that I think you will love!  Caramel Apple Cream Cheese Cookie Bars.  I was even lucky enough to be featured on Bettycrocker.com with these bad boys!

The best part of this recipe is that it’s a breeze to whip up, the kids can help and you can find all of the ingredients at any grocery store.  Hope you all enjoy!!

Ingredients

• 3 Tablespoons melted butter
• 3 Cups Golden Graham Cereal, ground in food processor
• 1 Roll Pillsbury Sugar Cookie Dough
• 8 oz softened cream cheese
• 1/4 Cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 21 oz can apple pie filling
• 1 -  5 oz package Nature Valley Oats N’ Honey Crunchy Granola Bars (2 count), crushed (I use a rolling pin to crush them right in the bag before opening)
• 9 -  5 oz Kraft Caramels
• 1/2 Cup half and half

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine melted butter and ground cereal into a large bowl; press into an 8×8 inch baking dish lined with foil that’s been sprayed with cooking spray.
3. Bake for 10 minutes then remove from oven.  Crumble half of the cookie dough over partially baked crust.
4. Place cream cheese, sugar and vanilla into a mixer; beat until smooth.  Pour over crumbled cookie dough layer.
5. Bake for 25 minutes then remove from over.  Top with 3/4 of the apple pie filling (I chose to just add part, but you can add the whole can if desired).
6. Next top with remaining cookie dough, breaking off into little pieces evenly over top.
7. Sprinkle with crushed granola bars and bake for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick comes clean from center.
8. Let cool completely then cut into squares.
9. Melt caramels and half and half according to package directions.
10. Drizzle over each bar.
11. ENJOY!

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

I am still in a conference… last day!!  I wanted to re share one of my favorite pork chop recipes I have ever created.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  ENJOY!

Yesterday was the first time I was unsure about what to post on zesty for todays recipe.  I always have a few options saved from both the weekend and earlier in the week.  However, this time, I wasn’t sure what to do to continue the trend of unique dishes.  That is, the sauteed spinach from Monday, the slow cooked beef on Tuesday and yesterdays little sweet treat in the caramel drizzle ice cream tart.  So with that being said, I thought I would tell you about a pork chop I made.

This really is just a plain old pork chop but the flavor was incredible.  I have not had a pork chop in a long time especially with the bone in but when I saw these little morsels of goodness on sale at the supermarket – I knew they were coming home with zesty.

Pork chops have to be one of the fastest meals to prepare and lately I am all about speed and flavor.  This meal was ready in about 35 minutes.  Have a look and tell me what you think?

Ingredients

• 4 Pork Chops
• 1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
• 1 Tsp. Rosemary (Dried)
• 1 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard (Or Prepared Mustard)
• 2 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
• 1 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
• 1/4 Cup Apple Juice
• 3 Dashes of Hot Sauce
• Salt and Pepper

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400 Degrees.



2. Warm saute pan to medium high heat.
3. Add olive oil.
4. Season pork chops with salt and pepper.



5. Add them to pan and cook on one side until they begin to brown and caramelize, then flip.



6. Cooking on the other side the same as step 5, once complete about 5 minutes remove from the pan and set on a plate.
7. De glaze the pan with the apple juice while still on high heat.



8. Combine all the remaining ingredients in a bowl and whisk together.
9. Once the apple juice comes to a boil, add remaining ingredients.
10. Cook for about 2 minutes and then add the pork chops back in the pan.



11. Place pan in the oven for 15 minutes.  The sauce will reduce and thicken with both texture and flavor.
12. Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes.



13. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: The key to big flavor with meat is to let it brown/sear well.  Do not move it in the pan and do not turn it multiple times.  Let the meat caramelize and brown on its own, you will know when to flip the meat.  Use your sense of smell, it will never let you down.

For this dish I prepared some sweet potato fries as a side dish and cooked them off at the same time the pork was in.

I just started them a little earlier in the process.  Sweet potato fries were a great addition to the pork.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

Happy Monday to you!

I am aboard a plane to sunny (or maybe not) California this morning.  There are lots of things going on right now but I did manage to have a nice family weekend.  We had a fun Friday evening visiting our Grandmother, a visit to the house build on Saturday along with a visit to the Vet College Open House. Yesterday, we had a birthday party to attend. I hope to get a lot accomplished throughout the week regarding zesty and all the blog makeovers that are on my list.  I also have another pretty big announcement to make in the very near future.

I was out at the house talking to a few contractors on Saturday and trying to get everything organized for the week I am gone.  I added some updated pictures at the bottom of the post to keep you up to date on the progress.

Back to the food… or juice!  We bought a  juicer back when I was on a big juice kick .  It faded away the last little while but I wanted to share with you a fun juice to have when you are craving something a little different.

Carrots are a great way to get into juicing…. they are a great staple for any juice recipe. They provide a good base to mix in and experiment with other vegetables. They are not too sweet and not too bitter.

Ingredients

• 1/4 inch piece of ginger
• 1 apple
• 4 carrots

Method

1. Cut the ginger leave the skin on.
2. Core the apples.
3. Slice off the tips of the carrots.



4. Put through juice extractor.

Zesty Tip: A lot of people tell me that the juice that comes out of the juicer is too warm – I totally agree.  I like to add the juice to an ice bath after I make it for about 15 -20 minutes to reduce the temperature of the juice.  Try it!

House Update

Thanks so much for reading and I hope you have a great day. I will be on the road all week but I have a couple of guest posts lined up for the next couple of days.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty