Pork & Beans: Easy Home Style Weeknight Meal

Home Style Pork and Beans – Let’s make that pork and beans with Applewood smoked bacon!

You might wonder why anyone would be cooking pork and beans in August when the temperature’s rising and a summer storm front is brewing.

It is late afternoon, I’m getting hungry and have no clue how to prepare the two boneless pork chops I purchased for less than $3.00.

There Are 101 Ways To Prepare Pork!

My original idea was to simply pan fry the chops to serve with a side of fresh string beans. thinking that the chops might taste great prepared “Chinese style” with a side of rice.

Suddenly, my mind wandered off to those days when the menu consisted of two choices, day in and day out – frozen chicken breasts or frozen pork chops.  More often than not they were freezer burned or worse yet, reeked of Freon.

Do you know how many ways you can prepare chicken and pork chops?  There are more than 101 ways   Until you throw all caution to the wind and “eat local”.  You don’t even bother to inquire as to what the meat is.  One thing is certain…it is not pork!  Ah…those were the days.

Then comes a culinary epiphany.  After a complete check of the pantry and fridge I realize I have all the right ingredients for pork and beans.  I can always have the green beans tomorrow in a salad.

These are the ingredients I gathered:

• Two thick boneless pork chops
• Leftover bacon
• A medium onion
• Two cans of organic pinto beans
• Organic ketchup (by the way if you have not tried the Heinz® organic ketchup, it is perfect in recipes)
• Thyme and sage
• Apple cider vinegar (also used in marinades)
• Molasses

Does that not scream baked beans to you?  Baked beans made even tastier with the addition of two thick juicy chops.

Making The Pork and Beans

It is rather scary to think that ketchup producers are now making reduced sugar, sugar free and low carb ketchup.

The nutritional information for this condiment is worthy of study. There are 4 grams of sugar in the organic variety and only 1 gram in the reduced sugar ketchup.

Oddly enough, the sodium level is higher (at 190 mg) than in regular ketchup (160 mg).