Ham and Baked Potatoes, Grilled Pineapple, Cheddar Bacon and Chive Biscuits

I happen to have a real sliced ham in the freezer.  We are trying to eat all the pork we have since we recently sent a hog to freezer camp and expect him to return any day.  First I mixed a glaze for the ham, it is already smoked, so I don't need to do much more than heat it.
Glaze
1/4 to 1/2 cup orange juice
a handful of brown sugar
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper
Mix together and spoon over ham before placing in the oven. And again about 15 minutes before the ham is done. Sorry for the vagueness, this is the way I cook most of the time.  I usually smell it to see if it smells good.
I placed the ham in the dish and spooned some glaze over it, covered it with foil and put it in the oven to bake.
Baked Potatoes
Wash potatoes, then dry, rub all over with Crisco or other shortening.
Place in a cast iron skillet and bake at 400 degrees until tender when stabbed with a fork.  The outside skin should get crisp.  (yum!)
Grilled Pineapple
Slice Pineapple in rings about 1/4inch thick or so.  You don't have to be exact.
Heat grill.  When hot, toss the rings on the grill, turning once.  You want grill marks on both sides, and for the Pineapple to caramelize.
Now for the biscuits.. I use the recipe for Drop (we call them Ugly) Biscuits in my "Joy of Cooking" cookbook.  Any recipe will do, just add a little extra liquid.  Add a handful of grated cheddar, 3-4 slices of bacon (cooked crisp and crumbled), and some chopped chives.  I used Garlic Chives, it is what I had in the herb bed.  You can bake them as drop biscuits, if you don't mind ugly or with a little extra liquid you can put them in muffin tins and bake.  Either way, they will taste delicious.
For those who want a vegetable, add a salad or other veggie that is simple to cook.  I will probably fix some broccoli.  To cook broccoli... Take frozen broccoli place in pan.  Run a little water over the top.  Sprinkle with Kosher salt, red pepper and add two cloves of garlic, smashed.  Heat with lid on until bright green.  Remove from heat until ready to serve.
I cooked several slices of bacon, some for the biscuits and some for the baked potatoes.  To do this, place sliced bacon on a baking sheet (it must have an edge)  and place in oven on 400 degrees for 10 minutes or so, until crisp.  Remove bacon to paper towels on a plate to drain.  Super easy way to cook lots of bacon, and another perk it comes out flat.
My kitchen helper (Molly Jo) made the biscuits.
Super easy meal that was delicious.

Pork Chops, Baked Potatoes, and Broccoli

I did not want to cook dinner tonight.  I wasn't all that hungry and nothing sounded good.  I needed something fairly quick with a minimal amount of work, which translates at least for me to a minimal amount of mess.

Baked Potatoes
Wash 4 large potatoes, then dry.
Rub each potato with a good amount of Crisco, (we use Crisco, use whatever shortening you have)
Place potatoes in a cast iron skillet in the oven.  If you don't have a cast iron skillet, go buy one.  But in the mean time just place them on a cookie sheet or in an oven proof dish.  Bake at 400 degrees until tender when stabbed with a fork.  The outside will be crisp if using a cast iron skillet.  Yummy.
While the potatoes are baking start the Pork Chops...

Pork Chops
4 Pork Chops, whatever you have is fine.
1 cup of flour
Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder
Olive Oil
Having the Pork Chops at least partially thawed will speed things along.  Just so you know.  Mix the flour with the salt,pepper and garlic powder on a plate.  I used a fork to mix it up.  Don't get too persnickety.  Heat a good amount of olive oil in a skillet, just cover the bottom.  I didn't measure it.  Just have enough to cover the bottom and a little extra.  Dip, roll, dredge (official cooking word) whatever the Chops in the flour.  Place in the hot skillet, brown on both sides.  Be sure to turn the skillet to medium or low after it gets hot.  Place on a wire rack on a cookie sheet in the oven after browning both sides.  If you don't have a rack, just ignore that and put them on the cookie sheet.  Bake at 400 degrees until done.

Broccoli
While the pork chops are browning start the broccoli.
I use frozen broccoli.
Place broccoli in a saucepan, run a little water over it.  Just a little, enough to get it wet and have a little in the bottom to make steam.  Salt with Kosher salt (any salt will do), add 2 cloves of garlic smashed and skins removed, and a sprinkle or two of crushed red pepper (depends on how spicy you want it).  Cover and cook on medium heat until bright green, stirring once.  Turn heat off and let it sit until the rest of dinner is done.
If your family must have bread (like mine, but I didn't fix it tonight)  now is the time to make biscuits from scratch, or cheat and use canned biscuits.
Dinner is ready in an hour to an hour and a half max.  Serve with applesauce or fresh fruit.

Normally I would fix these Pork Chops with French Fries and Cream Gravy, maybe some Onion Strings, but that was too much effort and mess tonight.  ; )