Stuffed Pork Chops

So last week I was in LA, visiting for the Burbank International Film Festival in between working at the salon. I always enjoy going up there and staying with the boys because it gives me a chance to plan menus and cook!

Brian and I went over to Vons for some grocery shopping for the week and along the way passed by the deli. Usually I don't get any of the prepared stuff and just stick to getting my fresh meat there, but week after week these delicious stuffed pork chops have been calling my name.

At around $3.50 each they are a pretty decent deal, and they are amazingly delicious. I checked them out as I was cooking them and figured I could make them myself, cheaper and better. So that's just what I did. It's amazing how easy this is to make on your own.

You're gonna need;

Unseasoned Stuffing Mix
Seasons to taste
A medium to large apple (any kind, peeled and chopped)
Chopped nuts (We used pecans but you can use anything you want)
Chicken broth
Thick cut boneless Pork Chops

We started off with some basic unseasoned stuffing mix, we used Mrs. Cubbison's. In a medium sized bowl combine the stuffing, seasons, chopped nuts and chopped apple, and mix with boiling chicken stock til combined. Let it sit and then fluff with fork. You can also grab a box of Stove Top if you want and just add apple and nuts into it if it's easier for you, regardless this will sit to the side and cool while you prepare your chops.

The thicker the chops you get, the cooking time with increase, so getting something thick but not insane is best. You will make a long incision lengthwise to create a pocket in the chop and then stuff with the cooled apple dressing. Place the stuffed chops on a lined baking sheet and put them into an oven preheated at 400* for 30-40 minutes. That's it. They should look something like this; and impress everyone.


I topped mine with a basic brown gravy with peppercorns and capers.

Cafe Athena; Greek in PB

Josh took me out to lunch this week in exchange for a haircut. We perused Yelp for awhile, trying to decide between Greek, Thai, and BBQ. Greek won.

We drove down the street to Cafe Athena, located at 1846 Garnet Ave in the heart of Pacific Beach. Josh is a total foodie like me too, so we tend to order a lot and share everything. We started out with the hummus.


Very very good hummus, actually some of the best I've had at a restaurant in San Diego. For our entrees Josh and I ordered the Gyros Plate and the Riganato.


I started mine with a Greek salad. Their dressing is on the creamier side of a vinaigrette, but still very good, while their feta had a less "crumbly" consistency which I really enjoyed. I would have preferred a grape or cherry tomato instead of the sliced hot house ones I got, and a few more olives could have helped, but overall a decent salad.


The Gyros plate arrived with beautiful long strips of meat, tender rice pilaf (though I saw no orzo) and Briami, which is basically Zucchini and Eggplant in a tomato sauce. The Briami was a first for me, but really good. Their tzatziki was TO DIE FOR, thick with lots of cucumber shreds in it to give it a nice rustic texture.


The Riganato was fall off the bone tender, and came with these very interesting "Lemon Potatoes" which are kinda like home fries with lemon on them, the Briami and a garlic aioli on the side that was delicious. I hate mayo, so aiolis are very hit or miss with me, but this hardly felt like a mayo. In fact Josh and I forgot what it was until we double checked the menu.

As far as Greek places go, this one is near the top of the list and a definite must try if you like Mediterranean food. I will totally go here again and get a bit more adventurous with my choices next time, but we felt for a first time place, if they can get the basics right, they deserve another shot.

Acai Smoothie!

This is the recipe for my daily Acai smoothie recipe. Feel free to change things in order to make it suit your needs best.


1 awesome blender (I use a Vita-Mix and I have never been let down EVER)
Frozen fruit of your choice (I use a frozen berry blend and mangoes)
1/2 a banana
1/2 cup of low-fat vanilla yogurt (not frozen)
1/2 cup acai juice (I use Sambazon)
2 tbsp flax seed
1 tbsp honey (Hollis Natural Honey)


My cousin Holli gave us some honey awhile back which I use and it's the best honey ever. I guess she had a bee problem in her BBQ, so she turned that problem into honey. You can use any kind of honey you want, but the fresh stuff is the best.


Blend til smooth, and enjoy. :)

A fling you won't feel guilty for in the morning?

Last night I went to Albertson's to peruse the bulk aisle for snacks, and on the way there almost ran into a display for Mars' new candybar Fling (It was originally introduced in Austrialia in 2007). Upon further investigation, and a tasting today with Kristi at Starbucks, I am not sure how I feel about this anymore. One of the companies marketing slogans is, "Your boyfriend doesn't need to know". Doesn't need to know what? That even though you claim to be on a diet, you're hoarding low fat chocolate behind his back? That you're having a torrid love affair with a "chocolate finger"? Does he care? Really? And what's with the term "Chocolate finger"? That raises all kinds of questions I don't want answered.

Mars new candy bar Fling.

Geared, retardedly at best, at women, the packaging is feminine and sweet, silver with a pink splash, that looks like it walked out of any emo kids deviantart account, and a cutesy script makes girls think twice as they run past it on their way to the bulk aisle. The picture on the package shows you it's kind of like Twix's second rate cousin that comes over and sleeps on your couch for a week and eats all your food without offering to so much as replace anything. From all the reviews I've read it seemed like it might taste the same, but I was slightly surprised.

Fling in Hazelnut.

On the outside Fling is drizzled with a milk chocolate layer that contains, of all things, sparkles. The initial thought was "ooh pretty" quickly replaced with the thought "OMG I'm eating glitter...". The "glitter" in question is mica, a tasteless natural mineral found in rocks and body shimmer, which is safe to eat, and geared toward women and fabulously gay men. The FAQ on the website also states; "The shimmer, is actually a [sic] FDA approved mineral called Mica, that shimmers and is used occasionally by specialty chocolatiers to add a unique and attractive sparkle to gourmet chocolate." Andy Wright of Mother Jones writes, "Popularly known as Vitamin S (for Sparkle), Mica is also used in makeup, and in toothpaste, where it acts as a mild abrasive that helps whiten teeth. Yum!" Indeed.

Choc full-o-glitter!

Kristi and I sampled 2 of their 3 flavors, Milk Chocolate and Hazelnut, (I omitted the Dark Chocolate in favor of Hazelnut). Each bar whops an 85 calories, 4.5 grams of fat, and 9 grams of sugar, and for a so-called candy bar, "diet" or not, it's not a bad deal.

The milk chocolate one was simply that, a milk chocolate "truffle" on a meringuey type wafer cookie, covered in milk chocolate, good but not anything to get too jazzed about. The Hazelnut one was much better, especially for all you Nutella lovers out there. Both bars were very rich and almost too much to finish.

It seems to me that the little wafer is basically a hard meringue cookie which replaces the normal caramel and butter cookies in most candy bars, by taking away the fat without replacing the crunch, leaving you feeling as if you've been satiated.

For those of you on diets who have those late night chocolate or candy bar cravings, Fling is perfect. It comes over promising to fulfill your desires, and you indulge, yet in the morning as you wake up, candy wrapper on the floor, you don't feel as if you cheated as much as maybe you could have. They might as well have named this candy bar "One Night Stand", but I suppose "Fling" is much more PC and romantic for the 20-30 somethings. You're more likely to brag about a fling, than a seedy encounter at a dimly lit bar that leaves you feeling bad in the morning. Curiosity got the best of me this time, and I think for what its worth, Fling isn't too bad, but honestly, if you plan to indulge in chocolate, I think Hortense over at Jezebel said it best, "...why have a Fling with a novelty bar when you can have a lifelong relationship with a Snickers? I mean, really." I know, right?

Sammy's Woodfired Pizza

So last week I met up with an old friend for lunch and catching up, and after hemming and hawing over where to go, one mention of Sammy's Woodfired Pizza and it was decided.

Becca and I enjoying our friendship.

Sammy's started in San Diego in 1989, but I wasn't privy to their delicious food until 2001 when I went to the downtown location with my friend Josh for dinner. I had forgotten about Sammy's until recently when my mom and I went to meet some old family friends there for lunch where I serendipitously found myself staring at their new revamped menu which included gourmet salads and an extensive tapas list.

Sammy's Woodfired Pizza
Various Locations in
Southern California and Las Vegas

Rebecca and I started off with some of those awesome tapas. We ordered the Lebni Mediterranean Cheese with grilled herbed flat bread, and an order of their Hummus, which came with the same bread.

Lebni Mediterranean Cheese with grilled herbed flat bread.

The cheese is sometimes a bit too much if you've never had it. It's almost like a cross between sour cream and cream cheese, as it's soft and a bit tangy. They have really good hummus, pretty smooth and not too garlicy.

Nomming on tasty cheese.

The best part of these, is that they are so big you will have more than enough for leftovers to take home for later. I had my left overs with my salad later that night with dinner. I just threw the flat bread into the toaster oven to warm and crisp up those edges again and it was perfect.

Hummus with grilled herbed flat bread.

I got a half order of their Chinese Chicken Salad. It's made with cabbage and bok choy and it's got lots of veggies and mandarin orange slices. Their dressing is light and flavorful and they order half and full sizes for sharing. The half salad is large enough for lunch or dinner, and I even had extra left over.

Chinese Chicken Salad.

Bec went with the Thai Chicken Pizza. It comes topped with Thai Chicken, Julienne veggies, peanuts, lime juice and a spicy Thai peanut sauce. I'm pretty much a purist with pizza, and I am not too keen on these fancy "gourmet pizzas", but I tried a slice of this and it wasn't too bad.

Thai Chicken Pizza.

Becca's friend is a waitress here and she gave us a free Messy Sundae since Becca told her I was going to blog and review the restaurant. It's not just a clever name.

Messy Sundae.

This big ol' Messy Sundae was pretty much the end all to be all of the meal and frankly we didn't think we could get through it until we dug in.

I can haz a messy sundae?

The monster is topped to the hilt with fudge, caramel , whipped cream and walnuts.

Bec and I dig in and indulge.

We ate a lot of whipped cream and toppings before we hit ice cream, but Bec is expecting and is due in May and the baby really enjoyed the sundae. You can create you own Origami Messy Sundae here.

Most Sammy's locations are in San Diego, with a few in the Los Angeles Area and a bunch in Las Vegas.

Saint Patty's Day

For as long as I can remember, every March 17th we've had the same meal; Corned Beef, Cabbage, Potatoes and Carrots. Saint Patrick's Day is the one day of the year that my family let's it's 1/8th of Irish shine through.

Most of the year I won't even touch Corned Beef, I'm more of a Pastrami girl. In fact the only difference is the smoking process and some black pepper, but for some reason I prefer the latter.

The history of eating Corned Beef on Saint Patrick's Day is actually an Irish-American tradition that dates back to the late 1800's, while looking for a cheaper alternative to Irish bacon, some Irish Immigrants in the Lower East Side of New York sought advice of Jewish neighbors and the dish Corned Beef and Cabbage was born.

When we make it, we always start with a corned beef brisket, throw it in the crock pot and to that add some cabbage, carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic, spices and some water, let it cook and then enjoy it with some green beer.

Cabbage, Onions, and Root Vegetables.

Corned Beef Brisket.

I had some baguette on the side, along with some of Emeril Legasse's spicy horseradish mustard. Instead of butter on my potatoes I used the I Can't Believe it's not Butter Spray.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Genghis Cohen

Adam decided a few weeks ago to take me out for my birthday, I'm just getting around to blogging it now. Shame on me I know, but I'm so far back logged I'll be posting things that have long past happened for the next few weeks.

A few years ago I stumbled upon Genghis Cohen with an ex-boyfriend. He was a HUGE Seinfeld fan, and rumor has it that Jerry LOVES this place, so well we had to try it. It's been a favorite ever since. I took Adam there one night and he's a convert as well.

The best thing about eating out with Adam, is that he LOVES to try everything and we usually end up ordering more than we can eat, thank goodness for take home boxes! This night was no exception.

One of the best things about Genghis Cohen is the blatant Jewish references in the restaurant. They are kinda have that New York Chinese food thing going for them, and as far as I know are one of the only places you can get those big East Coast NY egg rolls in LA. They even have silly names for things like, Krispy Kanton Knish , Cohen Slaw & Pickles and my favorite of them all, Shalom Pork.

I ordered a pot of hot tea and a glass of water I had to beg for 3 times while we waited for all the food we ordered. The waitress, as she finished our order, had to mention what fat asses we were by saying "Ooh that's a lot of food."

Hot Tea.

We started off with some crispy noodles. They have the BEST crispy noodles, seriously.

Crispy Noodles, "Duck Sauce" and Hot Mustard.

For our Pork dish we got the BBQ Pork Fried Rice. I think fried rice is pretty hard to mess up, so this compares to most fried rices I've had, but it's still really freaking good.

BBQ Pork Fried Rice.

For our Chicken dish we got the Orange Peel Chicken with Broccoli. Amazing. I've actually had the Fried Tofu version of this as well, and it's the BEST tofu I've ever had to this day.

Orange Peel Chicken with Broccoli.

We decided to be adventurous and order the Crispy Duck, which we didn't like. I'm not a huge fan of duck and I keep giving it second and third chances for some reason and it always lets me down. Their No Name Duck comes with a plum sauce and is actually a lot better than this. I'm not much of a fan of that one either, but Adam eats it up.

Crispy Duck.

For the Beef dish we got my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE THING AT GENGHIS COHEN EVER; Mabu Beef in a Basket. It's yummy thinly sliced beef, tossed with some yummy sweet sauce and then cooked til crispy AND THEN! placed in an Egg Roll wrapper BOWL! YOU CAN EAT THE FREAKING BOWL! I always get this, it's a given.

Mabu Beef in a Basket.

Being pretty close to Hollywood, on the corner of Fairfax and Melrose, lots of celebrities eat here, so we felt we had to do the only thing left to do, Pose like the last remaining heirs to the Massengill fortune. We fit right in.

"Douche Chill!" - Tobias Funke