Apple-y Pork Fried Rice

In keeping with my theme of "I don't know what kind of blog I want to have, so I'll just put anything on it", here is another new family favorite recipe.

Apple-y Pork Fried Rice

You'll need:

Brown rice

Vegetable broth

1 bottle of hard apple cider

1 tsp. olive oil

2 servings pork tenderloin
1/2 white onion
3 garlic cloves

whatever veggies you have around- I had frozen green beans and leftover sauteed kale

1 Tbsp. coconut oil

In rice cooker, combine:

1 cups brown rice

1 1/2 cup vegetable broth

1/2 cup hard apple cider

In cast iron skillet or other oven safe skillet:

Combine remaining hard cider, onion, garlic and olive oil. Simmer at medium high heat until cider is reduced by half. Once cider is reduced, add pork. Cook 2-3 minutes on each side. Put skillet in 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, pull skillet out. Remove pork, cut into squares and set aside. Add veggies and coconut oil to skillet, cover and let warm at medium-low heat. Now all you have to do is stir every few minutes until the rice is done.

Once the rice cooker finishes, add rice and pork to skillet to fluff and heat through. And...that's it!

The resulting dinner is super tasty- a fresh, nutty and fruity version of fried rice. And my favorite part is that this literally came from that pre-payday "dang it, what on earth do I have to eat?" dilemma.

As it turns out, my children are no longer at the baby/preschooler stage that the original blog pictures show them to be. They are now *almost* to the both-in-elementary-school stage, with Alex's preschool graduation less than a month away. Here is a more recent picture- aren't they cute (most of the time)?

Just once, I want to...

Someday, when someone I don't want to deal with comes in to my office, I want to (with a totally serious face) crawl under my desk and scream "Brianna isn't in right now!". And then stay there until they leave. Just to see what would happen.

Actually, along those lines, I'd like to try this method when my children need me to solve an argument. In this case, though, I'd need to actually become invisible for a bit since those minature people are pretty darn persistent.

Due to pesky things such as professionalism and lack of human ability to become invisible, these scenarios will never happen. Oh, well. A girl can dream, right?

My note to Stephenie Meyer:

I love Twilight, Mrs. Meyer, but you got it wrong.

Those weren't immortals you were seeing in your dreams. They were just born and bred Pacific Northwesterners. So here I am, a born and raised Oregonian, to clear up the confusion:

-We aren't vampires, we're just pale. Not "I need a tan" pale, but "gee, is the fair colored foundation too dark for me?" pale. This is because we have no sun for most of the year. When we do, we get so excited that we go to Target and buy SPF300, huge sunglasses and sun hats in order to make us feel all summer-like.

-We aren't vampires, we just run fast. You'd run fast, too, if you had to face torrential downpours anytime you got out of the car.

-We aren't vampires, we just have dark circles under our eyes. This is attributed to the fact that children in rainy climates stay inside often. Children who stay indoors often are kind of nuts. Parents of children who are kind of nuts are freaking exhausted.

-We aren't vampires, we just talk funny. But we won't admit it because, obviously, it is actually the rest of the country who sounds strange.

-We aren't vampires, we are just moody. You try living in an overcast climate 9 months out of the year, then act all Little Miss Sunshine.

-We aren't vampires, we just sparkle. This is caused by the makeup we wear in an attempt to distract you from the fact that if you look too closely, you'll see our veins through our deathly pale skin.

-And finally, we aren't vampires...we are just cold. This isn't because our skin is made of marble. It's because we spend most of our time as wet as a drowned rat, wondering if the sun exists and fighting wind- with no umbrella or coat (of course) because only tourists use that crap.

Sooo...while I am admittedly a Twilight girl, I have to disappoint. There are no immortal beings in the Pacific NW. There are only people who actually live in the PNW, and you can see how that gets confusing.

Brianna, Dusty and family!: Our family's quiche. Gluten free and WW friendly!

Brianna, Dusty and family!: Our family's quiche. Gluten free and WW friendly!

Our family's quiche. Gluten free and WW friendly!

So, here is a recipe that began as something from The Gluten Free Gourmet cookbook (by Bette Hagman, a gluten free genius). Then on top of gluten free considerations, we added my Weight Watchers needs. And my family's preferences. Here is the super yummy, gluten free, 7 Points Plus per serving quiche:

Crust:

Potaotes, 3 cups (sliced very thin- I use a food king with a madolin setting)
1-2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

Slice the potatoes very thin and line a large pie pan with them. Then I drizzle the olive oil over the potatoes, and stick in the oven at 425 to bake for 30 minutes.

Filling:

4 oz. Pancetta
2 eggs
4 egg whites
1 leek, chopped
1/2 cup chopped, fresh basil
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1/8 cup gouda, shredded (if you don't have gouda, you can sub more parmesean here)
1/8 cup parmesean, grated
3/4 cup fat free milk
Sea Salt to taste
Freshly cracked pepper to taste


Brown pancetta with leek in a pan sprayed with olive oil spray. Mix all ingredients in large bowl (I use my KitchenAid mixer, because I'm too lazy to stir it myself :-). Pour in the crust once it's done the 30 minutes in the oven. Put the whole thing back in the oven at 350 for 40-45 minutes. I'd suggest wrapping the edges in aluminum foil for the first 30 minutes, so the outer rim of the potaoes don't burn!

This is a super yummy, make everyone happy, breakfast-for-dinner dish. Served with a green veggie side, it has all you need!

Serves 6.

Wow, it's been a long time!

I thought I'd pop in and share some updates.

Dusty just finished up his first term in the EMT program at a local community college. He seriously ROCKED it! I am majorly impressed with his dedication, his grades, and the way that his brain works when it comes to math. Dusty going back to school has meant some serious changes in our family's life, but I think that those changes are great!

Skyler is about to begin football, which he is super excited about! He is loving Harry Potter, Star Wars and Beyblade Metal Fusion (which, ironically, is mostly made of plastic. Go Figure.). School has been a bit rough this year, but he is sticking it out and trying his best. Skyler has so many people in his life trying to help him through this rough patch that just thinking about them makes me tear up in a happy cry. This summer, Skyler will begin competing in golf tournaments- something he has been anxiously awaiting for years!

Alex is loving preschool and cannot wait for Kindergarten. He is about to begin a second season of indoor soccer, which has been his favorite sport of all. He has also played t-ball and basketball. Alex's favorite things at the moment include Christmas movies/characters (yep...in the springtime...), sports, homework (yeah- really), and Beyblade. Alex had an awesome time on St. Patrick'sDay! Leprechauns visited both his school and his house, making messes and leaving chocolate coins! At home, they also left glittery footprints...which Dusty is still unhappy with "them" about. Oops.

I am busy at work, but absolutely loving what I do! I feel so lucky to have an awesome job! Outside of work, the fam keeps me busy and content, and when they are all asleep books and HBO/Showtime series via Netflix keep me happy! I began Weight Watchers in September and lost 28 pounds! Now I am just working to maintain that loss and feeling seriously awesome about it.

Spring has sprung and life is good!