Coke Pork Chops

1 cup ketchup
1 cup coke (or miscellaneous cola-type beverage, but we all know coke is best!)
2 tbsp brown sugar
8 pork chops
salt and pepper, to taste

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. mix together ketchup, coke and brown sugar.
3. place pork chops in a baking pan, and cover with coke mixture, coating well. sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. bake for about one hour, depending on the thickness of the pork chop.

prep time: 10 mins
bake time: 1 hr

**this is also a good recipe for chicken. for chicken breasts, cooking time is approx. 40 mins for thick breasts.

i am SOOOOO making this for supper tonight!!! i'll update later with the verdict!

Super Easy Donuts

Ingredients
2 Tbsp white vinegar
3/8 cup milk
2 tbsp shortening
½ cup white sugar
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla extract
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 quart oil for deep-frying
½ cup confectioner's sugar for dusting

Directions

1. Stir the vinegar into the milk, and let stand for a few minutes until thick.
   
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla until well blended. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the sugar mixture alternating with the vinegar and milk. Roll dough out on a floured surface to 1/3 inch thick. Cut into donuts using a donut cutter. Let stand for about 10 minutes.
   
3. Heat the oil in a large deep skillet to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Fry donuts in the hot oil until golden, turning over once. Drain on paper towels. Dust with confectioner's sugar while still warm, and serve immediately.
   

Review

"Super Easy Donuts"?! more like "Super Yummy Donuts"!!!!

Now granted, i'm not a baker. In fact, i ran into a minor glitch when i realized i don't even own a sifter! but i have one now, likely only to be used when making these donuts!!! They're yummy! Be warned, they're not like timmie's donuts. These are old-school, homemade donuts. So crispy and good..... sorry, started drooling there. Yeah. Yum yum yum yum yum yum yum. (and yes, staci, that's 7! Le wink) so, yeah. These are lovely.

One minor complaint though. I don't think they were very realistic when they said "serve immediately." To be honest, you're going to want to eat these all yourself. Make a separate batch to serve, and sneak the rest of the batch into your mouth before anyone notices!

We’re gonna give this a whirl, and see how it goes

OK, so if you know me, you know that if there is one thing on this earth i hate, it's housework. I mean, really, blech. Can't stand it. I think the lack of a housework fairy was a grave oversight in creation. So, needless to say, if i had to choose something to do with my time, it would not be housework. And oh, look how! Every day i end up falling further and further behind in this area.

And i hate it.

So it's gonna stop.

Now.

But really, i hate it enough that i can't simply say, "oh, yes, i know i hate it, but i'll be uber-diligent from now on." I know you'd think i could do it, but really, i can't. And i'm not going to say how i know this about myself, but trust me, it's true. So here's what i'm gonna try. A schedule. Break up the housework by day, and then set aside a certain time in the day for it.

So, here we go:

Daily Routine

Kids to school at 8:45

"homeblessing"

pick up Bram/lunch

work while boys are napping

pick up Blithe/snack

homework

supper

dishes and tidying

bedtime

"me" time

 

Oh, i suppose i should have mentioned something. "Homeblessing" is what my dear friend Annie calls housework and chores. I like it. So i'm stealing it. Maybe it will help change my attitude about it if i call it something else. That's the theory, anyway. We'll see if it works.

Now, for the "homeblessing" time block: every day, i'm going to do one major task, and then of course the little things like sweeping, etc. My grandmother had a weekly "homeblessing" schedule, and it worked for her, so i'm giving it a whirl. Besides, if i have a day for laundry, i'll know the kids will always have clean underwear, and NO ONE wants to run out of clean underwear! lol

Weekly Routine

Monday: menu planning, groceries

Tuesday: cooking, baking (it happens... sometimes!)

Wednesday: laundry

Thursday: clean bedrooms, wash bedding and towels

Friday: bathroom/kitchen, floors, dusting

 

So, yeah, i'm gonna give this a whirl. But haha, you'll note that this morning, i'm blogging instead of menu planning and groceries! So i'm already off to a rip-roaring start! LOL but now i'm going to get to work on the menu, and take the boys shopping this afternoon.