I had totally forgotten that I had tried to make baked paczki (“poonch-kee”) two years ago, until I saw that post got 100 hits yesterday! They were just okay, but I may have to try them again next year. š
Since I didn’t do anything traditional for fat Tuesday, I had to drool over my friend Jacky’s shrimp etouffee – holy cow does it look delicious – I’ve never made it before but now its on the top of my list of things to make – thanks for posting the recipe Jacky (and check out her blog – she just got a new layout and it is so clean and nice – love it!).
For breakfast I had one of my 4 point bagels with 1/2 cup egg beaters, baby spinach, deli ham and cheese – there was too much egg to fit on the mini-bagel so it kinda spilled over – 7 Points. Marisa made the bagels too – except she made hers whole wheat – you can check out how good they turned out here.
I decided to switch it up at the gym and I did the Stair Master for 32 minutes – for a total of 1.75 miles and 92 flights. I am still trying to increase my speed on the treadmill, so I decided to see how fast I could run a mile . . . without stopping. I ended up running it in 11:23! I want to sign up for a 5k in June, with my goal of beating my PR at an official race of 39:00 minutes – I have my work cut out for me. š
Back at the office I had a Thai noodle bowl. I followed a recipe, but it was awful, so I had to do some quick changes to make it taste good. Have you ever used fish sauce before? Wow, that is some strong stuff! So I don’t have a recipe yet because this is still a work in progress – but my co-workers that I brought it too loved it, and I did too. I sauteed the zucchini in szechwan sauce so it had a nice kick – this whole bowl is 9 PointsPlus.
And I had a cup of cantaloupe on the side – this one was so sweet. š
So Tony is still not feeling that great. It seems like he goes two steps forward and one step back, which apparently his surgeon thinks is normal. It’s just sad that I can’t make him feel any better. He only ate half a roast beef sandwich before he started to feel sick. So needless to say, he had no appetite for dinner. š
I had defrosted pork chops so I decided to make creamed spinach stuffed pork chops for one. Before I met Tony I never even had creamed spinach before – holy cow is it delicious! My version turned out so great – I think the stuffing and the sauce made this dish.
Skinny Creamed Spinach Stuffed Pork Chops
- 7 PointsPlus (291 calories, 6.5 fat, 10.4 carbs, 0 fiber and 38 protein)
Ingredients:
- 1 5 oz. pork chop
- 3/4 cup baby spinach
- 2 tablespoons fat free half and half
- 1 tablespoon shaved Parmesan cheese
- 1/8 cup beef broth
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
Directions:
- Heat a non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Slice the pork chop in the middle, but do not cut all the way through.
- Put the spinach, half and half and Parmesan in the skillet and cook until the half and half starts to bubble and the cheese melts.
- Stuff the pork chop. Season both sides with salt and pepper. Cook over medium-high heat (I used 1/2 teaspoon oil) for a minute on each side. Then cover and cook 3 minutes per side. Remove and let it rest – put a small piece of foil over the top.
- In the same pan add the beef broth, orange juice, Dijon mustard, lemon, lemon zest and dried parsley. Cook, stirring to get all the bits on the bottom of the pan, for about 4 minutes until it’s reduced a bit. Pour over pork chop and eat.




I cannot describe how delicious this pork chop was. It was perfectly cooked, and the sauce was nice and tangy – I actually put 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard in the sauce, which almost was a bit too much, which is why I reduced the amount to 1 teaspoon in the recipe above. This one is definitely a keeper!
Stats for Tuesday:
- 33 points (26 for food and 6 for wine š )
- 32 minutes Stair Master
- 11:23 mile
- 5 minute cool down
It’s another overcast, rainy day in Chicago – but the only thing that makes me happy about that is hopefully by today the last of our dirty, ugly snow will finally melt!
Have a great day!
THANKS so much for the kind shout out. Let me know how you like the shrimp etouffee if you give it a try!
Squirrel is home from college this week so we are making your world famous chicken cordon bleu, but I think I am going to have add those stunning porkchops to the menu. Wow. That looks restaurant worthy Biz.
I am sorry that Tony doesn’t have his appetite back – I know it is hard, but it will happen soon. I ate a lot of graham crackers and drank a boatload of ginger ale before I could even consider solid, yummy food. It will happen, I promise.
Will Tony send me the other half of his roast beef sandwich? That’s my favorite and I am hungry. giggle ;D
thank you so much for leaving a comment on my newbie page, of course you’re on my blogroll, I love your blog!!!! Love your recipes and photos!
Wow, great pork chop recipe! I’ve never seen anything like that before.
I need to try making stuffed pork chops. Those look soooo good!
i totally love that porkchop! we have some in the freezer that desperately need to be used.
poor tony! i’ve actually had quite a few surgeries, and my experience was similar, just when i really thought i was feeling better, i’d have a rough day. the body does the damndest things! here’s hoping for more good days then bad!
OMG, I’m STILL laughing out loud at your observation of the split pork chop and what it looks like. You are FUNNY!!!! Hope Tony stops stepping backward soon!!! Hang in there!!!
Oh does that look delicious. I really need to better choose when I visit my food blogs. I’m almost undone with hunger and there’s nothing to snack on at the moment.
Re. paczkis, I really need to learn how to make them. My Polish-born husband says the ones you get in local bakeries are nothing like the ones in Poland and he doesn’t like them. Better yet, maybe he can learn to make them.
Best,
Bonnie
Never smell fish sauce or you won’t use it. š But it does do amazing things to food!!
Those pork chops are making me drool!!!!
The bowl looks great! Can’t wait for the recipe. And the shrimp recipe is so copied and pasted on my end, as is the porkchops – WOW -looks great!!
Bahaha at the pork chop comment. I’m at work and I laughed out loud.
Lmao you’re so funny!
Hope Tony is feeling better today
Girrrrrl that egg sandwich looks great! i’m eating spinach and cheese omelette and want a bagel to put it on now! <3
Thanks for linking up darling! xoxo
You crack me up! When I saw the first two porkchops I thought the SAME thing as the captions – then I read them and burst out laughing that we had the same train of thought 2x in a row!
Great job with your run! Gotta start somewhere, right? š
I have been MIA for a few days and missed your cake post! Happy belated birthday to Hannah–hope the cake was DELISH! It sure looked like it was, and so pretty! I like the looks of that pork chop and give you much kudos for making yourself such a nice dish! When I’m cooking for myself, I tend to make really simple, boring stuff b/c it’s not as fun to cook for myself as for others. Do you think that too?
Poor Tony. This whole recovery-from-surgery thing does seem to take longer than we’d all like…and you get so hopeful and excited when they have a good day, only to feel so low when they have a not-so-good day. š Still sending good thoughts his way – hang in there Tony!
points for wine?? i don’t think those should count :).
– Beth @ http://www.DiningAndDishing.com
Jacky’s Etouffee looks just like the Shrimp Creole last night! Looks delicious!
Your stuffed pork chops look amazing! I think very guest-worthy! I’ve never had the gumption to try creamed spinach. Just sounds horrible to me. I will probably try it someday though. I’m not one to turn down a new culinary experience. š
I loooooove fish sauce, but then I grew up with it and have probably had it since breast milk. It’s definitely strong, but I couldn’t live without it!
Happy Wednesday, Biz!
Loving those bagels!!! Glad I froze them or I could be in big trouble!
Yum to that pork chop. Creamed spinach is awesome!
I hope Tony feels better. I know it’s a long journey; I’ll keep praying for him!
I’ve never used fish sauce but see it in so many recipes. Now I know to be careful when using it though!
LOL! That pork chop does resemble something… lol!! But the end product sounds (and looks!) amazing!
I hope Tony gets to feeling better soon š
That pork chop dinner looks SO GOOD!! YUMMMM!!
I hope Tony feels better soon! He is missin out on that yummy food huh? š
What a beautiful breakfast! I love eggs mixed with spinach. Fish sauce is SO strong…I can’t do it. And the dinner combo is just perfect. I really haven’t cooked pork chops- I need to try. Happy Wednesday
MMMM…Biz that chop looks fantastic! I am always looking for ways to prepare boneless loin chops!
I didn’t have a packzi yesterday….first time in I can’t remember how long….I think I like the lemon ones best but I like the prune ones too…IDK…they are all good…but soooooo bad! lol My mother DID bring over a King Cake…sigh…which I picked at…too much!
Thanks for post on the pot stickers. I am going to try out recipe this weekend. Hope your husband is feeling better soon. I am so glad I found your blog, I have already used a couple of your recipes.
You have a dirty mind but it looks delicious! After it was cooked of course.
loving the cantaloupe! it looks so juicy š I’m a vegetarian but that recipe looks delish!