Caramel Apple Pork Chops & Coconut Fried Rice

This is a recipe I stumbled on while searching for some ideas on how to use up the pork chops in our freezer. I like pork chops but it can be so hard to not overcook them and I get paranoid about undercooking them. I like this recipe because even if I do overcook them a bit it can be easily hidden. Plus it contains caramel apples so who isn’t happy with that? The whole family likes this dish and in my book that makes it a keeper.

Caramel Apple Pork Chops
Adapted from All Recipes

4 pork chops (I get the big daddy’s from Costco so they need to cook for quite a bit)
Grape juice for marinade (I use whatever juice we have in the fridge at the time but grape is fantastic)
olive oil
4 T brown sugar
Salt & pepper to taste
¼ t ground cinnamon
¼ t ground nutmeg
4 T butter
4 granny smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced (found organic ones at Costco)

Marinade pork chops over night in the grape juice flipping once.

In a large skillet add olive oil and pork chops cooking over medium heat. Turn occasionally and cook until done, salt & pepper to taste. I usually keep them covered while I cook them.

Meanwhile in a bowl combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Melt the butter in another skillet then add the brown sugar mixture and apples. Cover and cook until the apples are just tender. This only takes a few minutes so watch it, if you cook it too long (like my picture below) the caramel gets to be too runny.

To serve top the pork chops with apples and sauce.

I merged different recipes I saw online to come up with a different fried rice recipe, nothing I saw was exactly what I wanted to do. I've also added some of my own things and I must say this rice is fantastic. It's got a little kick to it with some sweetness, definately a keeper.

Coconut Fried Rice

Sauce
2 T GF soy sauce
3 T lime juice (lemon works also)
1 T brown sugar

2 C cooked rice
1 medium onion, diced
½ t red pepper flakes
2 T coconut oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T fresh ginger
1 can crushed pineapple, drained
3 eggs lightly beaten
1/3 C coconut


Sauté the onion and pepper flakes in coconut oil over medium heat until the onion are soft. Add the garlic and ginger sautéing for another minute or two. Add the eggs then top with the rice, pineapple, coconut, and sauce. Let it sit for 1 minute then stir and continue to cook until the eggs are cooked through.

If you would like to add shrimp use 1 lb and add it with the garlic and ginger. Make sure the shrimp is fully cooked before adding the eggs, etc. You can also add color with some green onions or other vegetables. Add them in after the eggs.

Gluten Free Sugar Plum Cookies

To prepare for the small road trip we’ll be taking for Christmas the boy and I made some granola bars, he’s such a great helper in the kitchen until it’s time for cleanup. I was telling him what the different ingredients were that we put in the bars and when I added the buckwheat he informed me that he can’t eat that because it has wheat in it. It was so sweet and I did my best to explain that even though it has the word wheat in it it doesn’t have gluten so it’s safe. The granola bars had GF butterscotch chips, chocolate chips, raisins, and coconut in them. They were delicious and I’m a big fan of the butterscotch.

I saw a sign for sugar plums the other day and not knowing what one is I had to look up some recipes. Most of the recipes include dried fruit but this recipe was the exception and as I looked at the picture and read the recipe it sparked a memory. I don’t know where I’ve had these cookies but I have had them. All I can recollect is I was little and I associate them with a grandmother type figure. I’m not sure if one of my Grandma’s made these or if one of their friends did. After I put them together and took my first bite I knew these were the cookies. Funny how I didn’t even know I missed them until I saw them again.

I will be giving some to my Grandma when we see her over Christmas and I’m hoping my mom or dad will remember them. I want someone else to remember them! My IL’s were over to the house and they ate a few of them (I was pleasantly surprised) but had never had them before. It’s a mystery.

These cookies aren’t the prettiest things in the world and when you’re mixing it together it looks like ground beef. I decided to save you from looking at that picture. They’re very fast and they’re no-bake so it can’t get much easier. I like these a lot. At first they have a little bit of tartness to them but then it’s all sweet, and very sweet at that. My husband said they taste like raspberry zinger’s just without the crème filling.

Gluten Free Sugar Plum No-Bake Cookies
Adapted from All Recipes


1 can (14 oz) of sweetened condensed milk
1 package (3 oz) strawberry flavored gelatin (cherry or raspberry would also be good)
1 ½ C shredded coconut
2 C GF graham cracker crumbs, I used the crumbs from our Gingerbread House
1 package (3 oz) strawberry flavored gelatin
40-ish whole cloves

Pour the milk into a mixing bowl and add 1 package of the gelatin. Stir until it’s dissolved and then add the coconut and GF graham cracker crumbs until a stiff dough forms. Pour the remaining gelatin package into a small bowl. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and then roll the balls in the gelatin to coat. Place on wax paper and press a whole clove into each cookie to form a stem. This process is pretty messy so to make it a little less messy I used my Pampered Chef small-scoop then dropped the ball directly into the gelatin. Otherwise your hands will be covered in goop. This made 42 cookies for me.