Off The Wagon, Back On The Horse

Friday, I accidentally fell off the wagon.  It truly was not by intent or desire, it just happened and it was not even my fault.  I had stopped by the butcher shop to pick up my order for the weekend. (If any of you from Birmingham are not shopping at Bottle and Bone you must stop everything and go there.  It's in the Uptown center and is a butcher shop/limited menu restaurant.  Best. Meats. Ever.)

I got there about 15 minutes after they opened, the butcher was late so I had to wait about 30 minutes for my order.  They offered me a drink while I waited and all I really wanted was a cup of coffee, but they had none. ( In reality the fall was actually their fault.  If they had my order ready or coffee none of this would have happened.)  They did have a diet Buffalo Rock*, and even though Whole 30 does not allow diet drinks, I figured it was not terribly far off the plan.  I sipped on it while I waited, got my order and was nearly home  and nearly finished with the drink when I realized it was not diet, but was the regular Buffalo Rock.  Now normal people would have just said, oh my I made a mistake, but I will just chalk this up to inattention and go back on the plan immediately. Oh, but not me!  In my pea brain it was an open invitation to enjoy whatever I wanted that day, which then stretched to Saturday and Sunday. Oh my goodness, bread and chocolate and cookies and ice cream, how I had missed them and how I indulged.

Monday  came and I started over...again! Good for me and my eating, not so good for my mouth though.  It really does miss chocolate sometimes. And bread, it misses bread too.

                               Not a recipe, just a method of cooking pork chops

Monday night I was faced with 2 incredibly thick pork chops, not a lot of time and I was starving. I put about a teaspoon of olive oil in the bottom of a saute' pan and quickly browned one side, then did a quick flip to brown the other side.  I sprinkled about 1/4 teaspoon of thyme and 1/4 teaspoon of sage over each chop. sprinkled them with a bit of salt and pepper and covered them with 1 sliced onion, 1 peeled sweet potato sliced,  1 apple sliced, and about 1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms ( in that order).  I added 1/2 cup of chicken broth over the slices, covered the pan with a lid and turned it down to a low simmer.  After about 20 minutes all the veggies and fruit were soft and the chops were cooked through.

To serve I put the chop on a plate, covered it with the vegetable and apple slices, then put a few more on the side of the plate.  I added some fresh peppers and a few okra crisps ( I find these at Whole Foods) and called it a meal.  I had an additional side salad since there were 3 of us eating and I only had 2 chops, but these were about 1 1/2 inches thick, so there was plenty  for TheHuB to share with me.  Son3 was eating with us and he had a whole one.  When you need a quick tasty way to cook quick pork chops give this a whirl, you might really like it.

If you want to remain true to your diet, be very careful when selecting a Diet Buffalo Rock and call the butcher  to make sure your order is ready prior to picking it up!


* Buffalo Rock is this intense ginger flavored ginger ale. (Think Canada Dry on steroids)  It was local to the Birmingham area in the beginning, but has spread through some of the south.  Maybe some of you in other areas have access to it now also.  If you ever get a chance to drink it, please give it a try.  You might love it or be overwhelmed by it, but either way you will get a little sip of something truly southern.