weight watchers pork chop | cookingonthebrightside

Let me just put it out there: #sorrynotsorry.

(Yes, I just hash tagged my blog. Even in my early 30’s, I’m still hip.)

Let’s face it – pork chops can be boring. And dry. And bland. Not you’d find any of that on this fabulous blog. I don’t tolerate any of those things.

Particularly the boring.

I mean, who stuffs meat with…meat? Clearly I’m not complaining. And you know why it’s okay? (Other than because it’s March Madness and I feel the need to get a little crazy because I LOVE this time of year!)

This recipe is on my diet. Not a trend diet either. I still eat carbs. And sweets. And dairy. This is totally okay. I mean, if you want to make it not okay, that’s easy. But I use lean cuts of pork. And turkey sausage…which is delicious even when it’s not seasoned, mixed with vegetables and stuffed inside of a pork chop.

But I digress.

I found this beauty in Southern Living (always my “happy mail day!”) – and while I set out to stick to the Cajun roots of the dish with some andouille flavored chicken or turkey sausage, I had some Italian turkey sausage I needed to use and it did the trick!

So this weekend while you binge on basketball, give this recipe a try – it’s the perfect game day food that’s not going to leave you feeling like you lost to a #14 seed in the first round of the tournament…

Ohhhh. Burn.

Stuffed Pork Chops (Serves 2 / 8 WW points each)

Adapted from original recipe, found here.

2 5 oz. lean pork chops, trimmed of fat

2 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. Cajun seasoning

2 tsp. olive oil

Stuffing:

2/3 link sausage, casing removed (I used Honeysuckle White’s “Hot” Italian)

8 fat-free croutons

2 Tbsp. yellow onion, minced

1 Tbsp. celery, minced

1 Tbsp. green bell pepper minced

1/2 tsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. Cajun seasoning

2 Tbsp. fat-free chicken broth

Heat your oven to 350.

In a medium skillet, cook your sausage over medium for about 5 minutes, breaking apart into crumbles. Cook through and add sausage to a medium bowl, reserving drippings in the skillet. Sauté onion, celery, bell pepper and garlic for 5-7 minute until tender.

Add vegetable mixture to sausage and stir with Cajun seasoning, croutons, and chicken broth.

Season your pork chops with paprika, pepper and Cajun seasoning. Once the chops have been seasoned, cut a pocket in each one – be careful not to cut through to the other side. Spoon sausage mixture into each pocket. You can over stuff at this point, a little will likely fall out while cooking – so don’t fret!

Heat olive oil in a medium skillet. Add stuffed chops to the skillet and cook 3-4 minutes per side. Transfer the chops to a baking dish and bake for 30 minutes or until cooked through.

Enjoy the madness, I know we did…

Have a great weekend y’all!

So the first thing I thought of when I woke up today?

This epic scene from Friends. Because we all know I can’t go a day without something relating back to the best show of all time. Could I be any more predictable?

So Happy Valentine’s Day to all of my readers – I love y’all to chocolate-covered pieces!

Obviously, today is a day to let the love flow. I’ve never been a huge fan of a big outing or major to-do on the holiday, but I think any day designated to tell the people you love just that can’t be all that bad.

In addition to a silly card and a bag of the hubby’s favorite candy (anything peanut butter and chocolate) I usually plan a nice meal in for us to celebrate. One year that involved my Mustard Glazed Lamb – and another year that involved us ordering pizza. It is what you make it people.

This year I have a special little treat – which I won’t divulge quite yet since I have a good hubby who reads my blog – but I’ll have to share it with y’all next week. Too fun.

Anyways – obviously I try out a lot of new recipes on my husband. Some good. Some not. Some “meh” – but I always look for an honest response from him on whether or not I should put it in our regular rotation.

Well a few weeks ago, I tried a new recipe from Cooking Light and it was pretty good. The next week I found myself with some ingredients to use up and figured I’d make the same recipe again with some modifications. It must have been better the second time around, because the hubby took a bite and said “Whoa, tell me about this one!”…like he had never had it before. It certainly made me chuckle, but it also made me smile that I didn’t have to coax out an opinion. Clearly, this one was a keeper – just like the Mr. (Awwwww).

Give it a try and let me know what you think! It’s pretty easy to throw together and the time it spends in the oven gives you time to clean up, assemble sides, etc.

Orange Mustard Glazed Pork Chops (Serves 2 – 8 WW points/serving)

Original recipe from Cooking Light found here.

2 6 oz. boneless lean pork chops, trimmed

1/2 cup fresh orange juice

2 Tbsp. orange marmalade

1 1/2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

1/2 red onion cut into chunks

1 Tbsp. dried rosemary (or 4 fresh sprigs)

1/2 tsp. canola oil

Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425.

In a small saucepan, whisk orange juice, marmalade and mustard together. Bring to a boil, reduce slightly and cook about 10 minutes, allowing it to thicken.

While sauce is heating, season your pork chops with salt and pepper on each side. Add oil to an ovenproof skillet and heat to medium. Cook chops 5 minutes. Sprinkle with rosemary turn and add onion wedges. Pour the sauce over the chops into the pan and bake 10-12 minutes until cooked through.

Plate chops and spoon sauce and onions over top. This is great with some roasted veggies and any sort of potatoes or bread.

Hope y’all have a great weekend…and Happy Valentine’s Day!

cookingonthebrightside

Adventures in Eating, Drinking and Being Mary

Tag Archives: weight watchers pork chop

Stuffed Pork Chops

Orange Mustard Glazed Pork Chops