One of the staple meals in my household, as a child, was pork and beans. My mother would fry the chops before she added a large can of Van Camp’s Pork and Beans. The meal was quick and cheap enough to feed six people. More often than not, however, the pork chops came out tough and dry.

Years later, I found a pork chop recipe that I enjoyed enough to adapt to my own tastes. The recipe below involves using a pan, but you can slow cook the ingredients on low for 7 to 9 hours. These chops are great with Augratin potatoes and coleslaw.

Ingredients

4 boneless pork chops
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1/2 clove garlic
1 T. oil
2 1/2 cups catsup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 T. hickory-flavored liquid smoke
1 cup onions, chopped

Directions

1. Season chops with salt and pepper. Brown on both sides in oil. Drain. Return to pan.
2. While pork chops are cooking, combine catsup, brown sugar, garlic, onion and liquid smoke in a bowl.
3. Pour mixture over chops and heat until just boiling. Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes, or until pork chops are white in the center.

Ingredients

1 lb. ground beef
1 can Campbell’s Creamy Ranchero Tomato Soup
1 cup salsa
1/2 cup water
8 corn tortillas or 6 flour tortillas, cut into 1″ slices
1 cup shredded Mexican cheese
2 pods Arbol chiles

Directions

1. Cook beef in a skillet with 1 tsp. of Southwest Seasoning. Packaged taco seasoning will work just as well. Brown and drain.
2. Add soup, salsa, water, tortillas and half of the cheese. I like to use Essensia’s medium chipotle salsa because of its smoky flavor. You can also try black bean and corn salsa for that extra kick.
3. Spoon mixture into a 2-quart, shallow baking pan. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top, then lay the arbol chiles on top.
4. Cover with tin foil and bake at 400º for 30 minutes, or until bubbly.

Serves 4

This is another recipe I’ve perfected over the years. Like my chili, I rely on the sight-measurement instead of measuring utensils. Because of this the recipe below is an approximate adaptation.

I taught Matthew how to make this last night. He was excited about until he stuck his fingers into the mixture. It took all of thirty seconds before he pulled away and said, “Mom, this is too cold.”

I finished the mixing and and placed the meat into my loaf pan. Then I had him top it with the barbecue sauce. Forty minutes later, we had a moist and tasty meatloaf, served with steamed vegetables.

Ingredients

1 lb. lean ground beef
1 1/2 cups Italian bread crumbs
1 cup catsup
2 eggs
1 tsp. Basil
1 tsp. Oregano
1/2 cup chopped onion
Your favorite barbecue sauce

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425-degrees
2. Knead all the ingredients together until thoroughly mixed. If the mixture is too moist, add more breadcrumbs. If it is too dry, add more catsup.
3. Fit into a loaf pan.
4. Top with barbecue sauce.
5. Bake for 30-45 minutes.

Variation:

Place meat into a pie plate and mold into a dome, leaving about an inch of space betweent the meat and the edges of the plate. Line the edges with sliced potatoes and carrots. Bake for the same amount of time.