One month till my knee surgery -- It's the final countdown!

So -- today marks the one month mark until I go under the knife (again)for my knee. I am getting very anxious as the date draws near, but I am very hopeful that everything is going go well and that I will regain some stabilization (if nothing more) from this procedure. Jon and I have been consistently going to the gym for the past month now, and other than our one-week hiatus while my sister was in town, we haven't even tried to talk ourselves out of it once! I am proud of us! It's hard to convince yourself after a long day of work/school to get your butt to the gym, but somehow we've been making it happen! And, although we haven't changed our eating habits too much to note a significant weight loss, I think we are both feeling healthier and stronger. I am hoping that the strength I have gained in my pre-surgery workouts will help me in my post-surgery recovery. I can honestly say that recently, my knee has been feeling better than ever. Jon has really been helping me with weight training and making my legs stronger in general. He says we are going to train for a 5K when I am recovered from my surgery. This would be an absolute dream come true for me! I have been so happy to have Jon's love and support dealing with me and my funky knee problems and I know he will be the best caretaker to me when I get out of surgery. I will probably do another post in this regard after my pre-op appointment on the 28th. Until then, I plan to keep getting stronger and stronger and stronger.The more I can look like Schwarzenegger going into surgery, the better. That's all I can figure...

Breaded Baked Pork Cutlets

First of all... I just want to say, HAPPY FRIDAY TO ME! It's Thursday, I know, but it might as well be Friday for me, because tomorrow is my Friday off. I work 9 hours Monday through Thursday every week, then an 8 hour day on Friday, which allows me to have a Friday off per pay period! Let's hear it for flexible work schedules! It doesn't matter how many Friday's off I've had by now, they always make me unbelievably excited! SO-- to start the weekend, I am making a delicious dinner for me and my babe.

Sometimes I think about breading things before I bake them, and then I realize... I don't have any breadcrumbs. It's not something I normally keep stocked in my pantry, because I just don't use them very often. SO... I decided to make my own! I threw two slices of whole wheat bread into my food processor,

went to town on them,

then put them on a baking sheet and baked them at 350 till they were crispy.

Voila -- instant bread crumbs that are probably healthier than the ones you buy in the store! Then I had a glass of wine and reveled in my accomplishments...

Oh right... where was I....Oh right! Dinner! I found this strange recipe that called for sugar mixed in with the bread crumbs... REALLY, Sugar on my breaded pork??? The whole recipe seemed a little weird, but I went for it. I'm glad I did. It was better than shake n' bake. Don't lie... you know you love shake n' bake.

Breaded Baked Pork Cutlets
adapted from eatingwell.com

Ingredients

3 or 4 pork chop cutlets
2 slices of whole wheat bread
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried rosemary

4 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
4 teaspoons cornstarch

Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.

Mix breadcrumbs, sugar, paprika, onion powder, salt and rosemary in a shallow dish. Here are my spices before I mixed them with the bread crumbs:

And here is Sloopy who likes to watch me cook. (Or likes to wait for me to accidentally drop a tasty morsel for her).

Drizzle with oil and mash with a fork until the oil is thoroughly incorporated. (Put oil into your dry breadcrumb mixture???? YES. This is the secret to a super crunchy delicious bread crumb coating!)

Lightly beat egg white with a fork in another shallow dish. Sprinkle cornstarch over the pork slices and pat to coat evenly on both sides. Dip the pork into the egg, then press into the breading mixture until evenly coated on both sides. (Discard leftover mixture.) No pictures here cause I was a MESS.

Place the pork on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until just barely pink in the center and an instant-read thermometer registers 145°F, 14 to 16 minutes.

Steam some green beans, or other veggies of your choice and you have a pretty good little dinner! Doesn't it look delish?

Banana Nut Muffin Tops

So, a couple weeks ago, My sister and baby niece were in town for a visit. While they were in town, we all took a little trip to the outlet malls. There is this great "kitchen gadgets" store there that I could probably spend hours in. Anyways -- I did come out of there with a couple of things, including a muffin top baking sheet that was on clearance for around 6 bucks! My lovely husband thought this was a complete waste of money, but I already had big muffin top plans for this thing. He had no idea! I found this recipe below and altered it slightly. I think the original recipe called for banana extract?! Weird. I used the old trusty vanilla. These seriously turned out SO great! If you don't have a muffin top baking sheet, and you feel like spending money frivolously to annoy your hubby, buy one! Then, bake these and he will forget all about it! :)

Banana Nut Muffin Tops
adapted from preparedpantry.com

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

4 med. - lg. ripe mashed bananas
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup pecan or walnut pieces --> I prefer the nuts to be in the streusel only, so I omitted this from my muffin tops, but if you're a nut lover, go crazy!

Streusel Topping (not optional)

1/3 cup pecans or walnut finely chopped
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, melted

To make the streusel topping, combine all the ingredients and stir until well combined and crumbly. Sprinkle over the muffins before baking.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

1. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl.
2. In another bowl, mix the mashed banana, sugar, sour cream, vegetable oil, egg yolks, and vanilla together.
3. Add wet ingredients to the dry and stir just until the ingredients are mixed well. If using, fold in the nuts.
4. Spray your baking tins with a little cooking spray. Spread the batter in the tins with a little extra in the middle to create a heap. Use all the batter for ten or twelve muffin tops. Sprinkle on the not optional streusel topping. --> For me, streusel topping is NEVER an option; it's more like a necessity! Why bother making muffins at all if they don't include yummy sweet crunchy streusel!
5. Bake for 6 minutes at 400 degrees. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for another 6 to 10 minutes or until done. Starting these off in a really hot oven helps to create steam which helps lift the muffins. Remove the muffins from the pan to a rack to cool.

Check 'em out!

Sorry I don't have more photos of these. I baked them on Sunday night so Jon and I could start our week off right! Jon and I hardly ate dinner that night, but shared one of these when they were fresh and hot out of the oven. They were SO good. I will definitely be making them again, and I think Jon is definitely regretting his discouragement of my muffin top tin purchase. Enjoy!