Second Promised Recipe...

Ok, so here's the second recipe I made during mid-terms week, but didn't have time to write about then.  I adapted it from a recipe found on Angel Food Ministries Website.  By the way, if anyone is looking for a way to trim their food budget without sacrificing quality or health, I highly recommend Angel Food Ministries.  Angel Food puts together a variety of different food packages and offers them for sale at discounted prices.  You can look at their menu online and order a month in advance.  The food is good, healthy food, even if it's not always what I would think to buy.  However, I like to look at it as a challenge to widen the variety of foods and recipes I can cook!  This was one (VERY successful) attempt to do just that.

"Standing Up" Roast Pork Chops with Veggies (for crockpot)

-Pork Chops in 4 oz. portions (use as many as you like/ will eat, these portions are very flexible.)
-1/2 medium to large yellow onion
-2-3 tbsp butter 
-Salt, Pepper, and your favorite seasonings to taste.   I used Garlic, Seasoning Salt, Cracked Black Pepper, and Montreal Steak Seasoning (Mrs. Dash.)
 -Carrots
-Celery


Healthy Hints:
My mother-in-law makes a mix of half butter, half canola oil, which she refrigerates in a container and uses in place of butter.  It still has the buttery flavor, but the bad fats are cut in half, and it melts and spreads like a dream.  Also, I recently discovered "No-Salt," which is a fairly cost-effective and tasty salt alternative.  


Directions:
Place pork chops in crockpot skinny side up, like a wheel.  To help them stay standing, place small balls of aluminum foil between them, leaving some space to fill in with veggies later. Cut onion into slices like rings, then cut a slit on one side.  Arrange the curly onion pieces over the tops of the pork chops.  Chop carrots and celery into bite-size pieces and drop into empty spaces around pork chops.  Drop dollops of butter over onions, pork chops, and veggies, and sprinkle liberally with salt, pepper, and seasonings.  Cook on Low for 6-8 hours.  I served it with rice and a side salad, which worked great! It does need light, less flavor-intense sides, since the veggies and pork absorb so much of the flavor.  This is a great dish for meat lovers who have trouble with veggies, because they become so soft, and catch a lot of the meat flavor.  


Enjoy! :)