Steamed and Seasoned Artichoke

Megan here!
Just warning you this is a lot of work and waiting for such a small amount of food... 

but it's ever so addicting!
This is Rachel's weakness, we share one at least every other week..
You will need:
1 Artichoke
1 lemon
as much garlic as your heart desires (My obsession right there)
some bay leaves (I am very fortunate to have bay trees growing naturally around the yard)
 onion powder or half an onion (I failed to pick up onions so we used the powder form)

First step is to trust your friend with a knife and scissors...
Use the scissors to cut the sharp points of the leaves

Next you cut the top.

Oh! And if it has a long stem cut that off too. It will sit much better in the steamer this way.

Now that that is out of the way we can move on to the lemon and garlic.

Slice and Dice then move on!

Set up your steamer then place your artichoke in the middle. Arrange the lemon, garlic and bay leaves around it. If you had sliced onion you would also place them around as well, but we didn't so onion powder sprinkled on top worked too.

Steam for 30 to 45 minutes. (Sorry for my messy stove, I didn't even realize how bad it was until I started this post 0.0)

Mmmmm Steamy goodness!

To eat the artichoke leaves you simply pull one off (if it's done this should be very easy)

Dip the end in melted butter

and scrape the inside of the leaf across your teeth. the soft yummy part should come off easily.

then discard the rest of the leaf in a pile or bowl.

Now a very important part that we forgot to photograph (Woopsie)

is when you finish the leaves and get to the heart of the artichoke.

You will find soft, fur like, fibers. Do not eat them! Use a spoon to scrap the fuzz off of the heart.

The heart is the most loved <3 

You can dice it up and use it in dips, on pizza, anything!

Or you can be like us and devour it before you can snap a picture >_<

Here is what was left of ours. You can see some of the Fuzz on and next to the spoon.

This is the saddest part... There is no more! 

Megan's Guacamole!

Megan here, today's post is my yummy guacamole. Rachel and I have it on our Girl's Night almost every time and we love it, hope you do too!

Now to start off you need:

2 Hass avocados

1/4 c. cilantro

1/4 of a large onion

1 med. tomato 

tsp. chili powder

3 cloves garlic (or less to your taste)

juice from half a lemon

1/2 cup sour cream (optional) 

salt and pepper to taste

First you need to cut and peel the avocado. If you haven't done this before it is really easy and here is a link to show you just how it is done http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_cut_and_peel_an_avocado/ 

Next you will mash the avocado into a nice creamy consistency  

Now you chop the cilantro

and then the onion (Sorry about the messy cutting board. Once you cut up the cilantro there is no getting rid of it!)

I have a kinda sick obsession with Garlic so 4 cloves goes into my guacamole. 

Next the tomatoe

and you mix everything together! This is what it would look like without the sour cream.

However we like the sour cream! So ours ends up looking like this ^_^

Oh I almost forgot the lemon juice >_<

Now you are ready to eat with your favorite tortilla chips! 

We sure enjoyed the guacamole more than the movie I picked out... I actually apologized to Rachel because of how bad it was... Sorry again Rach! Don't watch "Wake Wood" you can't trust Scabbers, no matter what movie he plays in. 

And here is a sleeping Thorin =^.^= Isn't he sweet!

Thank you for reading!

  

Apple Curry Pork Chops

Tonight for our girls night we decided to do one of Rachel's Mom's recipes. It is so simple and yet so absolutely wonderful. The sauce, I swear, we could eat on it's own!

Here is the list of ingredients:

4 pork chops

salt and pepper

1 tbs butter

2 tsp flour

2/3 cup milk (or light cream)

1/2 tsp beef bullion

2 tbs water

2 tsp curry

1 green apple

1 tsp garlic

Now when we made this we doubled the recipe for our large group we were feeding.

(Plus we wanted extra sauce hehehehe)

Preheat your oven to 350

You will start by deboning your pork chops 

(Unless they are boneless, then you are already one step ahead!)

Next you will melt your butter and pour it into a baking dish. Place your pork chops on top and season with salt and pepper.

(Megan also added a pinch of garlic)

You will then place the chops into your preheated oven for 15-20 mins until they are no longer pink in the middle.

Now you should chop up the apples for the sauce. I chopped them into cubes, although you can make them into slices if you prefer.

When your chops are done cooking you should move them to another plate and add the drippings from the baking dish to a frying pan.

Mmmmm!

Now in the frying pan you add the water, milk, beef bullion, and a 1/2 tsp of garlic, salt, and pepper.

cook on med-high until boiling 

and then add the curry, apples, and flour. Turn heat down to simmer until thickened.

The sauce is golden and delicious!

Now you add the sauce on top of the pork chops and serve with your favorite sides!

We had field peas and snaps and mashed potatoes! 

This is one of our favorite meals and we hope you like it!  

Honestly, we can't resist the sauce!!