2 pounds pork loin chops
One half cup flour
Salt and pepper
One quarter cup vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cups wild rice, cooked
One half cup orange juice
One quarter cup chopped pecans
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. grated orange rind

Place flour and salt and pepper in a bag and coat each pork chop. Heat oil in a skillet and brown pork chops and onion. Meanwhile cook rice according to manufacturer's instructions except replace one half cup of the required water with orange juice. When rice has finished cooking, place in a 13 x 9 inch baking dish and stir in onion, pecans, lemon juice and grated orange rind. Place pork chops over mixture and bake covered for 35 minutes at 350 degrees.

The Skinny: Use olive oil instead of vegetable oil if you prefer. Use reduced sugar orange juice. You can also skip the flour coating on the chops to cut down on some calories. Just brown the chops in the oil along with the onion.

Stuffed Baked Tomatoes

4 - 6 large tomatoes
One third cup olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 and one half cups bread crumbs
1 tsp. marjoram
2 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
One third cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Cut the tops off of each tomato and hollow out the pulp and discard. Saute onion in olive oil and add remaining ingredients except cheese. Heat for a couple of minutes and mix well. Remove from heat and stuff each tomato with mixture. Top with Parmesan cheese and bake for 35 - 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

The Skinny: You would think someone who suffered through 13 years of not being able to grow tomatoes would shy away from fresh tomato recipes. Perhaps my luck changed? All I can say is stay tuned.