Ahhhh, the sweet smell of victory.. we found a home and property after all these months of looking, stress, loss, and number crunching.
Oh, we have not moved yet, oh noooooo, we still have to get the mortgage paperwork completed, a few zillion papers and signatures later, but, our offer was accepted and we are hopeful we will be moving into our new place in about a month.
Now, the other fun begins. Packing and getting our current home ready to sell and hope it sells quickly. Oh yeah! LOL
Good head start, right? There are more, but, you get the idea. My stepson DOC said , why don't you just throw away some stuff? I told him I did, I threw away some paperclips this morning. Seriously? Throw stuff away? If I have it I must want it, right?
One daughter is happy I will be a little closer to her, the other daughter is upset I will be further away. I told them both, there is one spare bedroom to be had and over 1.5 acres of fenced in yard. Come visit, then go home! Hah!
Yesterday, in the midst of signing and sending in all the required documents, escrow money, having to restore my computer and the packing boxes, I was called upon to babysit my 4 yr old granddaughter. She is a delightful, sweet little girl, but as is the norm with little peoples, she is also full of IT... " Grandma can I watch Dora the Explorer? I love Dora." Of course she can. " No, that is the WRONG Dora!!!" There is a WRONG Dora?
" I'm hungry!" I whip out and warm up the Pizza lunch-able her daddy sent over. " I don't like sauce." Would you like to eat some grapes and cheese? " I love grapes" I put out a plate with cheese and black grapes. " These grapes aren't purple." No they are not, but so good and sweet. She fed them to my dog. Dogs are not supposed to eat grapes. Sigh.
My sister in law now comes with her husband, Joan, aka Lil Sarge, to do some more packing. I need to go to the store to shop for my turn at Meals on Wheels as head cook. I decide to take Dallas, the grand, with me. She decides to allow this.
In my car, all safe and snug in her backseat booster chair, in her very quiet voice, she says " This little red car was mine, but, I did not want it any more, so, I am letting you borrow it. I want it back later." " I found money!! It's so small, I think it is play money." You may keep that sweetie.
In the store she dropped the dime that she found, 5 times so I told her to hold it safe,as I would not pick it up again. So, she puts it in her mouth! Yeah THAT"s safe... um NO!~ spit it out right now! Do you know how dirty that money is? Do you know what can happen if you swallow that? Do you want your grandmother, who is a Respiratory Therapist to have to do something to force it out of your throat? Do you want to die? Give it to me, it's going in my pocket!!!
Somehow, we get to the register to pay for the products I needed for the meal today. When we get to the clerks, Dallas says," Grandma, when I get big, I want boobs like yours!" I got nothing. Nope, I do not.
Well, I was Head Cook today for our Meals On Wheels group with my church, and as such I shopped for the food. I bought 22 pounds of pork cushions ( part of the shoulder, a very lean and boneless cut), 5 pounds of green peppers, 3 pounds of yellow onions, 30 green onions 3 red onions, and 18 cucumbers. I purchased a few other items needed to complete the meal, and knew what we had in the kitchen pantry to use as well.
We sliced and diced. The pork needed to be cut into cubes. We mixed, cooked, and placed the food into their appropriate to go containers for 63 of our local residents who cannot cook and or shop for their meals.
We prepared a feast for the eyes and for the senses. Lord it smelled sooooo good. Pork Adobo
Asian Cucumber Salad
Asian Ramen Slaw
Crispy Noodles
Desserts
Want some recipes? You know you do!!
Asian Ramen Slaw
One of the sides we prpeared today for the MOW. I chose to leave out the almonds, though, as we made food for 63 people, and did not want nut allergy to be an issue.. Very good!
Prep Time: 15 minsTotal Time: 15 minsServings: 4-6
INGREDIENTS
SALAD
3 green onions, chopped
1 (16 ounce) bags coleslaw mix
3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
1 cup toasted almond
1 (3 ounce) packages chicken-flavored ramen noodles, reserve seasoning packet for dressing
DRESSING
1/4 cup oil
3 tablespoons white vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
seasoning ( reserved packet)
DIRECTIONS
Crumble ramen noodles and combine with green onions, coleslaw mix, sesame seeds and almonds.
Mix dressing ingredients (oil, vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper and Ramen Noodle flavor packet) in separate bowl.
Pour dressing over salad mixture.
Asian Cucumbers
- ½ cup vinegar
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 Thai chili pepper, minced
- 2 to 3 peppercorns, cracked
- 2 large cucumbers, washed and sliced thinly
- ½ small red onion, peeled and sliced thinly
- In a bowl, combine vinegar, fish sauce, sesame oil, chilis, sugar, salt and peppercorns. Whisk together until sugar is dissolved.
- In a bowl, combine cucumber and onion. Add vinegar mixture and toss gently. Chill in refrigerator to allow flavors to meld.
Note: we tossed some toasted sesame seeds in this dish too. Why? Because we could!
Pork Adobo
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. pork, cut into cube bite-sizes
- 1 large red bell pepper, cut in triangular shapes
- 4 tbsps. cooking oil, 2 tbsps. use for sautéing and 2 tbsps. to be added later
- 1 cup vinegar
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 4-5 tbsps. brown sugar
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup red onions, chopped
- 6-8 peppercorns
- 4 pcs. bay leaves
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 stalk fresh spring onions for garnish (optional)
Cooking Directions:
- Sauté red bell pepper using 2 tbsps. cooking oil and set aside.
- Sauté in order, garlic and onions.
- Add pork and continue to sauté until brown.
- Pour vinegar and soy sauce, do not stir until it starts to boil.
- Add brown sugar and peppercorns. Mix well, stirring occasionally.
- Cook until sauce thickens and meat is done.
- Add salt and pepper to taste. Add bay leaves.
- Add remaining 2 tbsps. cooking oil and red bell pepper. Mix well.
- Garnish with fresh spring onions (optional).
Serve over rice. We also topped this with Crispy Chinese Noodles. Why? Exactly!