Make it Hormel

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Hormel Foods. All opinions are 100% mine.

Growing up I did not watch a lot of tv. I'm serious. I  also wasn't allowed to eat junk food or sugar. We had a small black and white television set in my parent's bedroom. My favorite show when I was little was the MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour on PBS. Ok, you can stop pointing and laughing now.  Later I graduated to British television and the junk food of our television set, grainy black and white westerns. I did however have friends. Lots of friends. Friends with junk food, pools, and cable.

One of these friends was my bestie and we would play outside barefoot until the bottoms of our feet were burnt to a crisp. Then we would go inside for a/c and popsicles. And of course TV!
This was the 1980's. Commercials that I remember from this time were for Koolaid, Cabbage Patch Kids, Barbie, Frosted Flakes (They're GRRRReat!), and of course Dinty Moore and hormel chili.

In the 80s, pro football player Fran Tarkenton was tapped to promote Hormel chili.

Hormel Foods has been around forever it seems. The company was founded as George A. Hormel & Company in 1891. The company changed its name to Hormel Foods Corporation 102 years later in 1993. They have a long history of character ads. In the 30s, characters Jiggs and Maggie from “Bringing Up Father” were used in Dinty Moore advertisements. Later, a lumber jack character was introduced, proclaiming “First name’s Dinty, last name’s Moore,” who placed his signature thumbprint on every can.

Hormel is a national household brand with a product line including:

* Hormel® Chili
* Hormel® Chili Master® Chili
* Hormel® Compleats® microwave meals
* Hormel® Refrigerated Entrees
* Hormel® Natural Choice® meats
* Hormel® pepperoni
* Hormel® Black Label® bacon
* Hormel® Microwave Ready bacon
* Hormel® 100 Percent Natural Deli Meats
* Hormel® Cure 81® ham
* Hormel® Always Tender®
* Hormel® bacon toppings

* Hormel® party trays
* Hormel® Snac*Cups™
* Hormel® Little Sizzlers® pork sausage
* Hormel® Mary Kitchen® hash
* Hormel® Kid’s Kitchen® microwave cups
* Hormel® microwave cups
* Hormel® chunk meats
* Hormel® dried beef
* Hormel® Fresh Pantry® meats
* Hormel® Old Smokehouse™ summer sausage
* Hormel® Wranglers® franks
* Hormel® corned beef & roast beef with gravy

Several other brands are sold by Hormel Foods including SPAM.

Not to be punny, the 80's were kind of cheesy and Velveeta and Hormel Chili were used often to make party dip.
We use the chili on baked potatoes with sour cream, cheese (sharp cheddar tastes best), and optional chopped green onions on top.

What do you make with Hormel Chili or the Hormel product line? I would like to try this yummy looking recipe using Hormel® Always Tender® Pork Chops.


Coconut Curry Pork Chops

Ingredients
Servings: This recipe is recommended for 4 servings

* 3 tablespoons butter
* 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1 tablespoon red curry paste
* 4 Hormel® Always Tender® Pork Chops, boneless
* 1 (14-ounce) can unsweetened coconut milk

Directions

1. In large skillet, heat butter and oil over medium-high heat. Add pork chops; brown on both sides. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. Reduce heat to medium. Remove chops from skillet; wrap in aluminum foil.
2. Shake can of coconut milk. Whisk coconut milk into skillet drippings. Whisk in curry paste. Bring to a simmer.
3. Return chops and accumulated juices to simmering sauce; cook, turning chops once, 5 to 6 minutes. Do not allow sauce to boil; reduce heat if necessary.

For more ideas try the Hormel Foods recipe database.

BBQ pizza for dinner!

BBQ pizza for dinner! Excuse the messy kitchen and low sound. I had to put the cam further away on the first video and put it on mirror image so I could get the right angle. Hence the backwards words on the packaging!



Part 1



Part 2

Breakfast for Dinner

I was inspired by this recipe and made a modified version Tuesday night.

Huevos Rancheros "Muffins"

First oil your pan!
We have a lot of bread to use up, for some reason the hubby and I both bought bread when we already had some hiding the pantry. I tore out a circle of each slice and placed it in the bottom of the muffin cups. Tear remaining bread into 4 strips. Then mold around the cup. Whole slices of bread tore when I tried to mold it to the cups :( This technique worked much better.

Crack whole egg (not scrambled) into bread cup. I hardly ever get shells in my eggs but if you cook w/ kids crack eggs into a bowl and pour in.

Sprinkle egg with salt and pepper and top with grated sharp cheddar or preferred cheese. Spoon salsa on top.

Bake in oven at about 350. Eggs are done when not runny.
If your pan is oiled these should just pop out after they cool.

The hubby liked them and he does not like eggs.
I served them with leftover garlicky mashed potatoes, sausage, and eggs cooked in the other side of the muffin tin. The sausage got a bit too greasy when cooked. I think next time I will try it w/ bread like the ones above.
We had skillet Cherry "cobbler" w/Death by chocolate ice cream for dessert (except me, being allergic to chocolate the name of this ice cream may ring true!).

The cobbler was really vanilla wafers with cherry pie filling on top and a bit of milk poured over it. Bake then broil top until bubbly.

Wednesday dinner was Spicy Black Eyed Peas cooked in a pressure cooker. They take very little time. Once pressure stage is reached the cooker finishes them in 2, yes I said TWO minutes.
I prefer them in a crockpot though. We also had chicken tenders and skillet browned and then baked cubed red potatoes.

Of dinner and ice storms

I could have posted pics of last night's dinner, Beer Battered Tilapia and Romaine Salad with pomegranate seeds and pistachios, and very garlicky cheesey potatoes, but my camera's batteries died again. Arrgh, rechargeable batteries bring so much drama. You can't just plug them in the charger and come back later. If you don't catch the darned things right when the charging light goes off they start to lose power. If you charge them and pack them for a trip they start to lose power.

I did manage to take some pictures of our winter wonderland. Ok, icy wonderland! The kids are still off school. They were supposed to return from winter break Monday but we had an ice storm and it was still icy this morning. It is "warm" now at about 36. There is still some ice in the treetops. Amazingly enough we haven't lost power. We usually lose power at the drop of a hat around here!

This poor okra plant has a frozen flower. It thought it was time to bloom with our recent warm weather.

Time to clean out the gutters. Ice encased pine needles.



Ice encased berries on a tree.


These leaves were entirely covered with ice.

Party of the Year part 1

Frog's birthday was a great success. She had a Halloween themed party then a sleepover for the girls. Unfortunately this one was a sleepover w/o the sleep! Dd had permission to stay up until MIDNIGHT. Some kids fell asleep before then but most made it to the witching hour. We awoke to thundering feet early in the morning. The girls who fell asleep were woken up by the ones who slept briefly. I am sure the copious amounts of treats didn't help. Also Frog got a black eye because one of her friends hit her with a jawbreaker. Otherwise it was a blast.

I made Vampire Cupcakes but didn't get a pic before they were eaten!
Disclaimer-NOT MY PICS NOT MY PICS!
Here is what they look like at Baking Bites.


I cheated and used cake mix bought for very little at Kroger. The Kroger site has coupons that you can load onto your shopping card. Combined with a sale they were having on that type of mix these were a really good deal!
Ditto on the frosting. I bought Cream Cheese and a white whipped frosting. If you would like to do different frosting "skin tones" you can use chocolate or the very tasty looking fudge. Or a mix of the two. I chose not to get chocolate because I am allergic to chocolate (I know...what a pain!).

The inside of these cupcakes are filled with blood. Ok really it was pureed cherry pie filling which added just the right tartness. I cut holes in the top of the baked and cooled cupcakes with a bottle lid (before adding the frosting!). Then I removed that part. Next I spooned the cherry puree into the holes. You will need to add a lot for the right gushiness.


Replace the lids and frost.
Use an icepick or skewer for the bite marks and red cake decorating gel for the blood trail.

I will have to try these other great cupcakes Slime-Filled Cupcakes From the Black Lagoon (also from Baking Bites).