I've had a lot of questions as to how I meal plan with the way I grocery shop.
It's really not difficult…you can't get locked into a specific recipe. If I see a recipe, I adapt it to what I have and what our tastes are. Most recipes are pretty flexible – just use what you've got, and don't buy an ingredient just for one recipe…buy what you use a lot!
This recipe for example. I saw this on Pinterest a few weeks ago and it looked AMAZING. But, I didn't have everything I needed for it. So I adapted it to what we had, and it worked!
I thought I'd share my version. 🙂
Balsamic & Brown Sugar Pork Chops
Ingredients:
1c Dark Brown Sugar
1c Balsamic Vinegar
1c Water
2 tbsp. Garlic Powder
2 tbsp. Salt
1/2 tbsp. Dried Thyme
1/2 tbsp. Dried Parsley
1 1/2 lbs. Pork Chops (I used boneless, but bone-in would work too.)
Directions:
Combine everything in a ziploc bag and marinate pork for 1-2 hours.
Get a pan fairly hot (medium-high heat) and seer the pork chops over a little bit of olive oil. Make sure they are cooked through…reduce heat and cook if needed. Just make sure they initially hit the pan really hot so you get that good caramelization on either side. Pour a little bit of the marinade over the chops as you cook.
Meanwhile, put the remainder of the marinade in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the sauce thickens a little.
Serve meat with sauce poured over the top. I served with wild rice!
