Recipe #35: Honey Garlic Pork Chops

I found this great recipe for Honey Garlic Pork Chops. It's so flavorful and definitely a keeper; enjoy!

Ingredients:

4 Center loin pork chops, well trimmed
1 CUP Flour
2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Black pepper
1½ tbsp Ground ginger
1 Tbsp Ground nutmeg
1 Tbsp Paprika
½ tsp Cayenne pepper
2 Eggs
4 Tbsp water
For the Honey Garlic Sauce:

2 Tbsp Olive oil
3 – 4 Cloves minced garlic
1 CUP Honey
¼ CUP Soy sauce
1 tsp Ground black pepper

Directions:

Sift together the flour, salt, black pepper, ground ginger, nutmeg, paprika and cayenne pepper.
Make an egg wash by whisking together the eggs and water.
Season the pork chops with salt and pepper, then dip the meat in the flour and spice mixture.
Dip the chop into the eggwash and then a final time into the flour and spice mix, pressing the mix into the meat to get good contact.
Heat a skillet on the stove with about a half inch of canola oil covering the bottom. You will want to carefully regulate the temperature here so that the chops does not brown too quickly.
Fry them gently for about 4 or 5 minutes per side until golden brown and crispy.

Honey Garlic Sauce:

In a medium saucepan add the 2 tbsp olive oil and minced garlic. Cook over medium heat to soften the garlic but do not let it brown.
Add the honey, soy sauce and black pepper.
Simmer together for 5-10 minutes, remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes.
Take off heat and dip the meat in.

Enjoy!

Little Grill, Manhattan, KS

My mom and I visited Little Grill on Friday. I hadn't been there in roughly 10 years. They've grown since then and the building updates looked nice while keeping the beach-y feel. Click here for my full review.

The rum punch was yummy and not too strong or sugar-y. Mom ordered fish 'n chips. The homemade jerk potato chips were great. Her dish came with plantains and I loved the lightly sweet flavor. I ordered the gumbo. It wasn't like gumbo down south, but rather had a clear broth base. The meat was all so tender. It had fish, stew meat, chicken, rice, carrots, potatoes. and beans. It came with festival, a kind of cornbread stick. Each bite of gumbo was a surprise. I loved it.

If you're in Manhattan, Kansas check it out, but arrive early as the place gets packed on the weekends.

Shoes: Clarks Danelly Adira

I needed a new pair of work shoes for summer. They had to be closed toe. My feet often swell, so I was looking for something comfortable.

Once online, I found these:

I decided on the sand leather color, since it's a neutral and doesn't contrast too much with the straw that separates the shoe from the sole.

I love these Clark Danelly Adira shoes. They're comfortable, cute, and not hot. They go well with all my clothes and are comfortable enough that when I get home I'm not dying to take them off.

Broken Things by Matthew West

I love this song and the story behind it.

I love how powerful and full of hope this song is. The lyrics cut right to your heart.

Fighting for Contentment: What I'm Thankful for

I'm struggling to be content. I've struggled with this my whole life; always wanting to be in the next phase of my life. This discontentment has ratcheted up since I graduated last month. To combat this, I'm praying to God for contentment and thinking through my blessings.

I'm thankful for:
My Parents
My Grandma
Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins
My travel experiences
My car
My close friends
My apartment-it's my quiet, little hideaway
My education
My church
The Bible-a light for my path
Jesus-He listens and guides me. He alone can give me peace.
Dreams
Hope
Concerts
Laughter

My Three Weeks on Tinder

I was told that it's not just for hook-ups, so I tried it.

I was really clear about what I'm looking for; a Christian guy.

I didn't have a lot of prospects to swipe right on. Most had blank profiles, but had photos, so I figured they probably weren't looking for actual dating relationships.

I was shocked by the number of couples looking for a third partner and guys in open marriages looking for "fun."

I ended up with roughly 8 actual matches. I asked several to tell me about themselves, but never heard back. I talked for days with one who seemed promising, but he ghosted me; classy. Another wrote, but was looking for something very casual, which I'm not into. So, I decided to pull the plug since it wasn't meeting my needs and was thus worthless.

I think, Tinder could be good for people who don't have preferences on faith or are looking for something casual. Adios, Tinder.

Movie #4: The Accountant

This was a totally different role for me to see Ben Affleck in. He plays an autistic accountant names, Christian. Actually, he's an accountant that works with shady businesses as a consultant. Growing up his family life was toxic at best. His dad wanted Christian and his brother to learn all styles of fighting and so they did, getting the crap kicked out of them in the process.

Christian doesn't form relationships. He's just good at what he does and he can kill people.

He's called in to figure out the discrepancies in the accounts of a company that essentially makes prosthetics. There he meets Anna Kendrick's character, Dana who found the discrepancy. She tries to help, but he just wants to work alone. There is corruption in the company with top leadership. Soon one of the top leaders suddenly dies, but he was actually killed. From there, Ben's character is fired and the owner doesn't care about the missing money. People come looking for Anna's character and Ben saves her in the nick of time.

It turns out that Christian's brother is the one trying to kill and Anna's character. Meanwhile, the FBI is closing in on trying to figure out who Christian is. He's ready to disappear and start new somewhere else, but she doesn't want to give up her life. In the end, he sends her one of the priceless paintings he's collected over the years and he goes to start a new life. In the end, there are several unexpected twists and turns. The agent looking for Christian was saved by him years before. Over the years, Christian has helped him catch some criminals, even though he's technically a criminal himself. That agent is getting ready to retire and prepares another agent to work with Christian.

While not heart-warming or touching, this is a solid movie, though not one I'd want to see more than once.

Miley Cyrus, Malibu

I'm so glad that Miley Cyrus is coming out of her weird stage. I love her new song, Malibu! It's fresh, fun, sappy, sweet, and unique. Here's hoping this new Miley is here to stay!
I think this will be my summer song! <3 Enjoy!

Recipe #36: Flavored Pretzels

This spring we had student worker appreciation week. Each day someone brought in treats. Most of the treats were sweet. So, I asked the students what they'd like me to make and they agreed on Flavored Pretzels. I reached out to another student that I heard made great spicy pretzels and she shared this recipe:

I initially wasn't sure they were good, but the next day they were even better and the student workers loved them!

The Orphan Keeper By Camron Wright

Over Christmas break I read the book, the Rent Collector by Camron Wright. I loved it and it was a quick read. Since then, I've been longing to read his other book, the Orphan Keeper. I was hoping it would be similarly addicting. While it is a good book, it isn't as interesting or irresistible as the Rent Collector and it's about 100 pages longer. It though is based on a true story



Like the Rent Collector, it is set in a poor environment in a foreign country. The premise of the book is based on a true story. A young Indian boy from a poor family with an alcoholic, abusive father is kidnapped and taken to an orphanage. Despite all he does to tell them that he has a family, he is told that his family gave him away. There he cares for the younger children and tries to find a way out. He escapes one night through a sewer pipe, but soon returns once he's found a herb/root of something that may help an ailing girl named, Anu that he's taken an interest in.

Next thing you know, he's sent to America to live with the Rowland Family. From there, the book essentially skips ahead 10 years. Skipping that much time felt a little too long. The book picks up around his senior year of high school. Despite being in America over a decade, he still feels like he doesn't quite fit in. He is popular, yet struggles. He's since forgotten his Indian name and everything about his childhood in India.

After high school, he decides to study abroad in London. There, he lives with an Indian family. This is uncomfortable for him. Through those experiences, it brings up distant memories about his past. This experience makes him want to know more about his real family, but there's only so much you can learn from so far away. So, he tucked it into the back of his mind.

So, he goes back to the States, meets and marries an Indian girl, and graduates. They go to India for her brother's wedding and silently hatches a plan to drive around and try to find where he's from and his family. He doesn't remember much and doesn't speak the language. Also, the orphanage has since closed, but along the way he meets people who help him put together the pieces.

Finally, he finds the town he grew up in and his family. The joy and relief is unreal as he reconnects and tries to make up for lost time.

Several years later, both his set of parents meet and it's touching.

This was truly a great read though long in places.