Balsamic-Roasted Brussels Sprouts

I have a new love of Brussels sprouts that only started within the last couple of years. And they have to be cooked a certain way. Usually roasted so that they are crispy with lots of really good flavor. Most steak places know how to cook them really well. There's a place here in Vegas called Lucky Foo's that cook their Brussels sprouts so well that we almost always get them and devour them every time! I attempted to make my own a couple years ago and burnt the crap the out of them and gave up right away. I was watching Barefoot Contessa about a week ago and she roasted some Brussels sprouts and made it look so easy and I thought to myself that I could give that a try again. So I did today and it worked! And I think I knew what I did wrong the last time! I think I added too much stuff the last time instead of going with just the basics. And I even had the syrupy balsamic vinegar that Ina Garten used in her recipe because I've been to Italy and I rarely use the stuff that we brought back with us. If you don't have good aged syrupy balsamic vinegar, you can boil regular balsamic vinegar until it's reduced to a syrupy consistency. Make sure you're generous with your salt-I had to add more salt after my Brussel sprouts were done roasting. I will definitely be making these again and again! Yum!!!!!!

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Ready to be roasted...






Fresh from oven...







Syrupy Balsamic Vinegar...






Enjoy!...

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

I was craving sweet potatoes awhile back but I wanted to make my own and it's just easier anyways. I happened to have a sweet potato on hand so I cut it into fries and mixed up a concoction of cinnamon and sugar and oh yum! I think I should have waited and put the cinnamon and sugar on after the fries baked because the fries came out really sticky but they were still good. Next time! So easy! And so healthy! Well, minus the sugar party lol!

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Ready to be baked...






Enjoy!...

Mayo & Onion Topped Pork Chops

I'm horrible at making pork chops, absolutely horrible. For some reason, every time I make them, I always overcook them. They always come out dried out and tasteless. I follow all the recipes and I've even chopped them up and cooked them on the stove and took them off right when they'e just turned from pink to white to make sure they wouldn't dry out and nope, they still dried out on me. I've baked them in marinades, without marinades, fried them, put them in my slow cooker, everything! I would have given up but the last time my mom was in town she had taken me grocery shopping and had bought me a like an 8 pack so I still had several left to cook. So I called her finally when I had 2 or 4 left to cook asking her for her advice since they cook them quite often. They said they broil theirs and theirs always comes out juicy every time. Well this was before I was comfortable using the broiler and I'm still not quite comfortable using the broiler for meats so I wasn't too sure. I had 2 left and I found this recipe on Pinterest using mayo on the pork chops and then topping it when onion and cheese. It sounded kinda gross but it kind of made sense because it would hold the moisture in so I thought why not give it a try-at this point I would have tried anything. It worked for the most part, except it didn't cook the pork chops in the time the recipe states, if I remember correctly. I made this recipe a couple months ago. The recipe calls for 4 pork chops and I only had the 2 so it should have actually cooked faster. It says it should have cooked in 25 minutes but after 20 minutes the pork was still only at like 120 degrees (instead of the 145 degrees for pork) so I called my mom and she suggested sticking it under the broiler, which I did and I let it cook the rest of the way. The pork was more tender for the most part but it was still tougher than I would have liked. I don't think I'll be buying pork chops any time soon. I'll stick to pork tenderloins, which I can manipulate easier!

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Ready to be baked...






Enjoy!...