Celebrating Summer Rain

Texas was nearly burned to a crisp last summer.  I’m trying to find the total count of the days when Mother Nature found it suitable to crank the temperature over 100 degrees.  As of August 24th, we were at 70 days, the time at which the 86 year-old record was broken.  I think it was 86 days all told.

Today all that hot mess is a memory.  It’s been raining. A lot.

Strange how such a scorching cycle is followed by a wet one.  I’ll take every drop of rain that is willing to fall from the heavens, my garden needs it.  Heck, we all need it!

To gleefully accept the rain, and the accompanying thunder and lightning, I made a broccoli cheese soup and apple pie.  The soup was inspired by Ree Drummond (Pioneer Woman), I added ham, potato, and Asiago cheese to the basic recipe.

The pie was made with granny smith apples, peeled and sliced with my old-fashioned apple peeler.  Brown sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, flour and tapioca flour joined the apples between two layers of dough.  Don’t forget the cover the edges with foil!

I wish you could smell my house this blustery evening!  Big Brother wanted apple pie and today was a perfect day for his request.  We shared a slice and scurried off to sleep.

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Pork and Broccoli Stir Fry

What began as a quick weeknight supper ended up costing me more time than anticipated.  Using only one pan to crisp up small strips of pork was the downfall of the whole operation.  Or maybe it was the level of meticulously employed to remove all the visible fat while slicing up the meat.  No matter.  The end result was a tangy crispy pork with broccoli florets and onion slices.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 lb thinly sliced pork
• 2 heads of broccoli, florets divided
• 1/2 onion in large slices
• ketchup
• soy sauce
• ginger
• apple cider vinegar
• red chili flakes

All I did was fry up the pork with garlic powder, salt and pepper in several batches – don’t crowd the pan or you will not get a good brown on the meat.  Clean the bottom of the pan as needed.  Steam the broccoli and add a little oil with the onion.  Stir together the remaining ingredients and add a teaspoon of corn starch if you like a clingy sauce, I certainly do.  Dump in the sauce and pork, stir to coat. 

Serve over rice and enjoy!

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Sprinkles of Veggies

Want to get more broccoli into your kids?  If they tasted my mac-n-cheese they wouldn’t know that there’s sprinkles of broccoli hiding in plain sight!

This is all that was left over from a whole box of macaroni, less than a 1/4 cup.  Big brother tasted one bite then didn’t stop until the plate was clean.  Little Sister screeched when she polished her tray, demanding another round ( or three ) until she had her fill.  Very impressive for a box (eww) of mac and cheese with some steamed broccoli, cauliflower, and baby carrots blended with the cheese sauce until pulverized to sprinkle size.

(Side note: I usually have some sort of instant boxed kid friendly food for between pay cheques.  They are placed inside a box with a glass panel.  The label reads: Break glass in case of emergency.  Well, that part resides in my brain but it’s effective for me.  I should change out that box more often though, the pasta was a little stale, double eww.)

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