Stove Top Stuffing

I found the recipe years ago, back when I was in college. I'm not completely sure why I was looking at Stove Top Stuffing boxes. I never remember eating Stove Top as a kid and it's not the kind of thing that you're drawn to, you know. I don't think you wander the grocery store aisles and are suddenly stopped dead in your tracks by a row of gleaming red boxes calling out "Chicken!" "Pork!" "Turkey!" "Cornbread!" And can you ever photograph stuffing so it looks appealing? Also? I've never cooked it on the stove-top.

So anyway, I was looking at a box of "Pork!" Stove Top one day almost 10 years ago and found this little recipe. It's a surprisingly tasty way to zazz up some pork chops. I made it for my college roommates. Then I made it for my parents. It made its way into the "Recipes We Have Tried and Enjoyed Compiled with Love by Mom" cookbook my mom made for me and Brother. And now, I've made it for Husband "What are you doing with that? Why are you mixing THAT with THAT? What IS that?...Hmm, this tastes pretty good." And it was all part of my pantry/freezer clean-out.

Orange-Glazed Pork Chops
1 package stuffing mix for pork 77 cents Thanksgiving is a good time to find this cheap.
1 11 oz can mandarin oranges, drained and chopped $1.97
1/4 cup butter, cut up 28 cents
4 pork chops, 1/2 inch thick $3.20
1/3 cup orange marmalade 42 cents
1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard like 19 cents, maybe?

Mix stuffing mix, 1 1/2 cups hot water, oranges,  butter until moistened; set aside.

Spoon stuffing into a 12x8 baking dish. Top with chops (My chops were very thick so I had to de-bone them and halve them. They were beautiful and any self-respecting red-blooded American would have thrown them on the grill or something else that sounds carnivorous. Just call me a commie.)

Mix marmalade and mustard; spread on chops. Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes or until chops are cooked through.

Total: $6.38 This was a meat heavy dinner for us--something like I would have had as a kid when dinner wasn't dinner unless it was a hunk of meat and some potatoes. Something green? If you must, but we preferred corn.

This was about 5 servings, especially because I cut the (now four) chops into smaller pieces. So total per serving was $1.37.

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What I ate today:

Breakfast I had a work breakfast. You want to know something weird. I've never expensed a work breakfast before. I've never thought to do so until today...maybe I will but with coffee it cost $5.75 If I made it at home it would have cost $1.26.
Lunch Grilled turkey & cheese and chicken broth (Just so you know, I count chicken broth as free because I make it from leftovers that are costed out already--like chicken bones and leek tops. Also the cheese was free because sometimes I sign up to get free stuff from the webs. Downside, Chase is adamant that I need a new credit card.) 43 cents
Snack: Lep Cookie free from Mom for Christmas (They've been in the fridge and are neither stale nor moldy.)
Dinner In-Laws are taking us out to eat for Husband's birthday, which happens to be today. Woot, 1/11/11!

Total: $6.18