Cilantro Lime Chicken

Truth time. I found this recipe on Pinterest. I hope you can move past this minor detail and we can move onto this beautiful, beautiful dish.

I'm going through a "fresh" stage. I'm tired of finishing my meals stuffed and feeling gross. Like I just pumped my body full of junk. I'm tired of eating so much processed food, and so often I crave fresh meats and produce. Granted, I did use one canned item in this recipe, but it is so...refreshing. It almost makes me feel like I'm back in Cancun in that little restaurant on the water.

I actually was at a place like that. I didn't just make that up.

This is a play on my two-step chicken tacos with a little bit of a kick. I added maybe 90 seconds to my prep time. Side note: This is also a great "fake fancy" dinner. You can pass this off as a labor of love. When really, it's just...love.

Ingredients:

• Frozen or thawed chicken breasts
• I normally estimate 1 1/2 chicken breast per person
• 1 packet of taco seasoning
• Fresh cilantro
• The amount is up to you. I used about 1/4 cup.
• 1 lime
• 1 can Tex Mex Style Diced Tomatoes
• Desired toppings

Directions:

• Place all ingredients (except lime) in crock pot and place on low for 8-10 hours for frozen chicken breasts; 4-6 hours for thawed chicken breasts
• Cut lime in half and squeeze juice into mix. Try to save some juice for later.
• Once chicken is done cooking, serve immediately, spooning liquid from crock pot on top, along with more cilantro, lime juice, and desired toppings.
• I served this as a taco filling inside corn tortillas with sour cream and cheese, and it was de-lish. 

Enjoy!

Love and lime,

Original Ranch Pork Chops

I have this weird thing about pork chops. The name creeps me out a little bit. So much so that I wouldn't eat them growing up. It's not really anything I can explain, but it is very real. And very stupid, apparently.

My deep love for pork came when I made crock pot pork tenderloin sometime last year. I was finished. Caput. Done for. It was the most flavorful perfect meat that had ever crossed my lips. So I began my lifelong (or more like 20-minute) search for an equally perfect pork recipe.

A memory came flashing back to me. "I like pork chops." Tim had said that, like, when we first got married. And I had pushed it in that "Ignore" compartment in the back of my brain. I didn't like pork. But we already tackled that.

Now, I used the small, boneless pork chops, which require less cooking time than the big chunk-o-monks that you can also buy. Going back, I wish I had bought the large ones, but what can I say? I'm new to pork. We're just getting to know each other, and I'm trying to take it slow. I don't want to mess this thing up, as my pal Hillary Scott would sing.

But I can tell you this much-I can see things getting very, very serious between us.

Ingredients:

• Pork chops
• 1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch Salad Dressing Seasoning Pack
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees
• Sprinkle Ranch seasoning, salt and pepper generously on both sides of the pork chops
• Bake for 15-20 minutes until internal temperature is 160
• Serve immediately

Serve this with garlic red mashed potatoes and green beans. That's the start to a beautiful relationship.

Love and chops,