Fried Pork Chops, Purple Hull Peas, Mashed Potatoes, Fried Okra, And Yes-Even Homemade Gravy

Today I reasoned that if I made a big lunch, dinner could be leftovers.  I knew we had some purple hull peas that we purchased at the farmers market that needed to be used, plus the remaining pork needed to be cooked.  We also had some okra from the garden that needed to be cooked, and a big bag of potatoes-I felt a meal coming together quickly!

I found a recipe for fried pork chops at foodnetwork.com courtesy of Paula Deen.  If Paula Deen made it, I know it must be good!  My changes (and yes, you know I made them!):  we were out of seasoned salt, but we did have Chachere's, so I used it in place of the seasoned salt, and the "house seasoning" in both parts of the recipe.  I used regular milk in place of buttermilk.  They turned out very yummy!  A little on the dark side because my meat thermometer wasn't working quite right-but still very tasty!  I made a gravy using flour and milk when I was done cooking the pork with a bit of the left over pan drippings.  I impressed myself by not even looking up a recipe for this!

I found a recipe for the purple hull peas at a new-to-me website:  cookinglouisiana.com.   I have never cooked these before-in fact, I am not sure if I have ever eaten them before.  They taste similar to black eyed peas, but have a sweeter taste.  Delicious!  I wish I would have purchased more.  My changes:  I used fresh, rather than canned peas.  My ham hock was fully cooked, so as soon as it was boiling, I added the peas.  I left out the green onion, and used dried garlic and parley rather than fresh.

The fried okra recipe I found at allrecipes.com.  Believe it or not, I actually did not change anything about this recipe, other than using more than the okra it called for.  We had about 15 okra pods, so I used them all.  You can't go wrong with a standard okra recipe, and this one was no different.

Homemade mashed potatoes are always delicious, but rarely made because they are time consuming.  I didn't care today.  I found the mashed potato recipe at allrecipes.com.  I followed that recipe pretty closely, but I did also add a ramen chicken flavoring packet at the end when I was adding the milk.

All in all, I thought it was a good meal, and the boys enjoyed it, too.  I am glad there are leftovers so I don't have to cook tonight!