The prized pig!

While 'hubs' was at work floating down the James River with a buddy I was a whirlwind of activity! It started with an hour long Pilates/Yoga class that kicked my butt! I love Pilates- but I have limited yoga exposure. Yoga makes me feel so good when I'm done, so great in fact I have high hopes to keep it up once summer winds down- and the inevitable school year begins!

After a relaxing (core burning) session I headed to the my classroom to move desks in 10 different configurations and set up my computers!

Saving the best chore for last, I went to Costco to restock our freezer/pantry (I love grocery shopping). I was drooling over super thick pork chops when I decided they had to be mine, had to be stuffed, and had to be for dinner tonight!

Throwing a few more staples in the cart (flank steak, tomatoes... in bulk..., Tortilla Chips, pita crisps, hummus, and flat bread for wraps), I went on my way- out to pick up wine and beer for the weekend. Something about this bottle of Pinot Noir begged to be brought home.

Kitty Approval

After over doing it on the white wine consumption lately, I was really craving Pinot Noir. For me it's too hot to enjoy a Cab or Petite Sirah (my go to wines in cooler months), this was the perfect choice for a warm summer night- with spotty thunderstorms and all!

A super quick salad was thrown together with Organic Spring Mix (salad mixes make life so easy!), tomatoes, fresh basil, and cucumbers.

The salad was fine and all -but oh my noshing stars! Dinner tonight was yum!

After picking out the pork chops, I immediately knew they would be perfect for stuffing and grilling. I wanted to make something a bit different so I googled stuffed grilled pork chops. A lot of the usuals popped up including traditional stuffing, apples, and more fall friendly fare. Unhappy with the results, I changed my search to shrimp stuffed pork chop and found this inspiration for dinner. Did you happen to catch the nutritional chart to the right?!

When looking for din-spiration, I will often checkout favorite restaurant menus online- or put a couple of ingredients in a search engine. This usually helps get the creative juices flowing enough to whip up something with my own spin. My spin will change many fat/calorie laden ingredients to something with more nutritional value! Sometimes the method of cooking will create it's own problem- after all french fries are potatoes... right?! Instead of dropping them in the fry daddy, using non-stick spray cook them on the grill.

I digress... back to dinner!

I made more than a few changes to the recipe. We didn't have any crab, so I used scallops and crayfish along with the shrimp. I used olive oil in place of butter, and lightened the cream sauce by using 1% milk instead of heavy cream. Of course this changed the richness of the sauce- we just never have heavy cream laying around. To thicken the sauce I added a tiny bit of white wheat flour before putting in the milk. Instead of wrapping the pork chop in prosciutto, I used bacon-not so healthy but I only used 1/2 of a slice on each chop! I threw them on the grill for a couple of minutes before finishing in a 350 degree oven.

We enjoyed it over basmati rice and loved every tasty bite! The pork and spicy sauce compliment each other. Throwing in the seafood stuffing added a bit of sweetness that totally balanced out the meal.



Today's food has had a definite lightness to it- smoothies stole the show for breakfast! Hubs has plans to fire up the grill tonight! I hope grilled veggies make an appearance. Gotta love watching a man and his grill!