My "Go To" Simple Dinner

Shake & Bake Pork Chops with Black Eyed Peas and Salad

Tonight I'm making my "go to" meal when it's been a long day and I just want to make something yummy, quick and cheap! If you haven't tried Shake & Bake before, you are missing out. It really holds in the juices on the chops so that they don't get dried out (which happens easily). All you do is heat the oven to 400, shake the chops in the bag with seasoning that the shake & bake comes in and throw them in the oven. They bake for 25 mins (even tho the box says 20).

For the black eyeds, I buy them in the can. They are seriously the best way - I've never mastered making them from scratch. You simply open the can and pour them into a bowl. Heat for 3 mins and you're done. Then I usually prepare a salad to serve with the chops and peas - voila! Not a single recipe involved ;)

pork chops,

Inspired

Watching Julie & Julia - realizing that cooking is NOT this hard! I hear people say all the time how hard it is to cook and think it's "just plain silly." I didn't learn to cook until I had graduated college and had my loving fiance to teach me - yes, my man taught me to cook. Well, him and my grandmother. I realized that most of what I cook on a day-to-day basis doesn't even have a recipe and is more just cooking methods. I'm taking this opportunity to share my experiences with cooking in the hopes of easing some of the fear. It really is much easier than you think...