pork chops and rice. It was quick, easy and tastes pretty good when your 8 years old. As you grow up, tastes tend to mature, what is appealing changes and what was good growing up seems childish. Somewhere in there theres a turning point, a longing for something reminds us of a so called "simpler time", when everything was easier, colors are warmer and everything has that warm and fuzzy feeling about it. Never-mind that it was never actually that simple, and that warm fuzzy feeling is just a trick of the mind and those pork chops always seemed to turn out burnt. There is always something to that desire to recreate the tastes and flavors one remembers enjoying as a child, so when Eric was feeling somewhat nostalgic one day (as usually happens when its time to pay bills, and we remember when this was our parents problem, and not ours!) the flavor of Shake N Bake pork just wouldn't leave his mind, so he decided to defrost some pork chops. Well we don't generally do boxed, pre-made foods, we strive for natural and home made whenever possible, so this posed a small problem, Shake N Bake is most definitely "boxed and unnatural". Something about not knowing or being able to pronounce half the ingredients on the back of a box gives us the heebie-jeebies. Keeping this in mind, Charisse took stock of what we did have and pulled out a bag of Kettle Chips, which would make a perfect breading for the chops. We really like this company because the most complicated word under ingredients is "dehydrated". With the spices we added, the flavors were very similar, but healthier and more natural. Next time, we'll probably use BBQ chips, and give it that extra kick.
Pictures and Recipe after the break...
