pan pork chops and convenience foods

These are soooo good and pretty easy. I buy about 1 inch thick, bone-in pork chops.

Easy Peasy Pan Pork Chops: total time 20 minutes

pork chops-1 inch thick
garlic paste
olive oil
salt and pepper
chicken broth

Heat the pan with about 2 Tbspns olive oil to medium/high. Add chops. They should sizzle, but not pop and sputter or smoke. Might need to turn the heat down if it starts to smoke or burn. Cook about 6-8 minutes. put small amount of garlic paste on each chop (1/4 tspn) and smear it on with a butter knife. Flip, sear about 2 minutes. Watch that it doesn't burn. Add about 1/4 cup chicken broth. Cover and cook about 5 minutes. Can take off top to evaporate some of the broth. Remove chops onto plate and cover with foil. Scrape any brown bits off with a wooden spatula, add more broth if you want. Can add any juices from the pork back into the pan.Usually this is the right amount of time to cook the pork. A tiny bit pinkish is OK. If you're new to cooking, you might consider buying an instant read meat thermometer. It can take out the guess-work. Or, you can just cut one open and see if it's done- old school!

Also, use a non-stick pan, and tongs with silicone so they don't scratch the pan.

Yummy with veggie, mashed potatoes. (squash, green beans,brocolli) you can make plain sides and make a little extra sauce if you want!

We had them with Alexia frozen crinkle cut fries, sugar snap peas and salad last night. We were out late playing at the park and I needed to get dinner on the table. It's nice to have a quick protein like this pork dish and have one side in the oven while you put together a salad. I also just served cold, fresh sugar snap peas that we ate plain. It was liberating not to feel like I had to cook a veggie every night (like I had growing up.)

How do you do things differently than you had growing up? Are you simplifying or doing more?