With school break, and my birthday this past week, we ate A LOT of junk food! Surprisingly, I still managed to cook twice but we had plenty of sweets and even 1-2 pizza nights! So for this week, I wanted to make a more conscious effort to cook healthier recipes.
I decided to start with a vegetable. I already had brussels sprouts in the refrigerator but didn't want to make my usual oven roasted version. Don't get me wrong, they are very tasty this way but I wanted to try something new so I looked up new recipes and found a great one for sautéed shredded brussels sprouts. It was a nice change in texture and the recipe I found uses lemon juice. Anything with lemon juice always tastes better (at least for me)! I ended up using a 1 lb. bag but it was so good I wish I made another bag!
As for the main protein, since I was "changing it up" I decided to try making pork. Pork is another protein I get nervous to cook on the stove or in the oven. I ended up baking them in the oven to make sure they were fully cooked but you still need to be super careful! I overcooked mine slightly because they were small thin pieces. As a check point, you can do the "touch" test. If it's starting to feel tough then take them out! When in doubt, cut them open to check the middle. 😉 For the seasoning, I ended up using a McCormick zesty herb pack. Their packs are great to have handy for any last minute marinade you want to make. Just add water, oil and white vinegar and mix it together!
I ended up also making couscous, because I thought the brussels sprouts as the only side dish wouldn't be enough (but they would have been if I made double the amount)! The funny thing about couscous is a lot of people think it's a grain and has less carbs but it's actually a form of pasta (with less calories and fat)! I still consider it as part of a "healthy" diet but if you are looking for a non-carb side dish, don't add it! 😄
Overall, everything was great! I will definitely be making the shredded brussels sprouts more often!
Zesty Pork Chops
6 pork chops
1 pack of McCormick Zesty Herb seasoning
1) Follow the directions on the packet to make the Zesty Herb Marinade. Place the pork chops in a Ziploc bag and pour in the marinade. Mix it around then let it sit in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
2) Preheat the oven to 400 F.
3) Put the pork chops on a small pan (I used 9x13) so they are close to each other and cook for approx. 10 minutes, flipping halfway through
Note: A smaller pan helps keep the juices form spreading outward. As for cooking time, my pork chops were very thin so I slightly overcooked them. 8 minutes would have probably been enough.
4) Once they are cooked, broil for approximately 2-4 minutes on each side
- The only change I made to the above recipe is adding a little more lemon juice
Couscous
-I used Near East Roasted Garlic & Olive Oil couscous. It takes about 10 minutes to make.
-Make sure to fluff it with a fork before serving or it sticks together.
Enjoy!
This is the shredded brussels sprouts pre-cooked. I recommend using a 2lb bag if you want leftovers. This was approx. 1lb and we just had enough for two of us.
They looked so yummy once they were cooked!
Enjoy!
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