Nice Meal

Well, so yesterday the kids--Chepa's babies and my granddaughter Taylor Rain--came over just before they headed out trick or treating so that I could see how beautiful they were. BOY! They were beautiful! Madeleina, still not talking with me, did not join them. I'm going to give her till Saturday afternoon, after a program she has, and then we're gonna fix this. Cause while you can get bored to death staying with dad, you can't go stay with mom because she'll let you get away without doing your homework. So we'll get that straightened out. I missed her yesterday. A lot.
   Still, I had to eat, and when I went to the store, thinking I'd be alone, I thought I'd maybe get a nice rib eye steak. Comfort food. And I picked up a good one at about $14. And then I thought, nope, cannot justify spending that much money when I'm broke--even if it would make me feel better about eating alone again. So I put it back and, still wanting some meat, kept looking. And there it was: Two thick pork chops, butterflied. $4. So I got them. Then I picked up some swiss cheese--Just a buck's worth at the deli counter, a few slices.
    Home, I steamed some fresh spinach, then cooked it a little bit in a touch of garlic and olive oil with onions. Diced up the swiss and mixed it with the spinach. Stuffed and folded the chops. Breaded them (flour/egg/breadcrumbs), then sauted them till brown on both sides, then put them in the oven to bake at 325 degrees. While they were cooking I got out some good saurkraut and cooked that down with some extra white vinegar and a couple of onion slices.
   That started, I went to work on the gravy. I started with garlic in the olive oil--as always--with finely chopped scallions. Tossed in a red pear, skinned and diced, then added a package (I know, I was CHEATING!!!!) of pork gravy mix, added what little pan drippings there were from the chops and voila! Great gravy.
   By the time the gravy was done so were the chops and kraut. Took half a chop ($1 worth of meat), poured the gravy on it with the spinach and cheese dripping out all over, and served it with the saurkraut. No potato, no rice, no bread. Just half a great stuffed chop with gravy and good kraut. Ate like a king. Fantastic! That pear and the good swiss made all the difference in the world.
   I still ate alone, but that just meant I could slurp out loud. Mmmmmm.....