I often find myself short on time, which means I forget to do important things, like eat. If anyone has ever been around me when I haven’t eaten, they would tell you that I am not the easiest to get along with during those starvation moments. Nor can I think clearly, which is not only frustrating to me, but to those I am around.

That is why I loved having clementines for this week’s food challenge.  This little orange package of awesomeness helped sustain me through the holidays as I rushed around to the tree lighting ceremony on post, on my way to work out, or on the trips to visit family. I found that these small round spheres were a great snack before a yoga class or when I needed a snack between meals. These sweet treats were also great when I added them into many of the dishes I already make. They added just the right amount of extra flavor I was looking for to give my old recipes a fresh new taste.

Chocolate Dipped Clementines

via Food Network

This recipe was super easy, just the way I like my recipes to be. Instead of dark chocolate I just used some semi-sweet chocolate morsels. I don’t have a double boiler, so I just heated the chocolate up in the microwave like the recipe mentions. The hardest thing about making these things is not letting them cool and directly putting them into your mouth. They are a great alternative to other desert items that you could consume. Dipping the clementines into chocolate for a party or get together also makes it look like you put in a lot more work than you actually did, so you will look like a rock star.

Pork Chops with Raisin, Almond, and Clementine Rice

InDependent Original

Recently, my mom shared a recipe with me that included pine nuts, raisins, and a cup of rice. It tasted so good that I tried it on my husband when I got home and we now love it. We exchanged sliced almonds for the pine nuts because that's what we happened to have on hand. Wanting to add my own touch to the recipe, I added two peeled clementines to the mix. I use the original rice recipe to accompany many other dishes, but when I added the clementines I just knew that pork would be my meat of choice for this pairing.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of brown rice

• water, (look to your rice package for accurate water amounts)

• ½ cup sliced almonds, toasted

• ½ cup raisins

• 2 small clementines, peeled and separated

• 4 small pork chops

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Combine rice, almonds, clementines, and water into a baking dish. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until the rice is fluffy. Before the rice is done you can start cooking your pork chops. I usually cook them in a pan with just a little bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper.

You can even add a few clementines to the sauce pan while the pork chops are cooking if you want to add the citrus flavor to them.

Yogurt and Clementines

via Health.com

Instead of just eating your clementines plain, why not add a little bit of yogurt to change things up? I did just that after eating clementines for several weeks. If you don't have pistachios like the recipe calls for, you could substitute any nuts or seeds that you happen to have on hand. This is a great way to start your morning off right for breakfast, for a snack when you get home from work, or before you start making dinner. It is simple and easy. It is a wonderful way to change up your yogurt routine too.