Mourning Mode

An important part of our household died this past weekend, and to be honest, I’m not sure I’ll ever get over it.

Our beloved washer.

Why do I care so much about a stinkin’ appliance? 

A few months before my husband and I were married, we found a cute charming rental house. Only catch was that it didn’t have a washer and dryer. Since we knew we weren’t going to stay there for more than a year or two, and since many houses for sale come with existing appliances, we wanted to stay cheap. Where does anyone go when you want cheap? Craigslist, of course. We paid $300 for the pair. We ended up bringing them to our current home and THE WASHER HAS BEEN A TOTAL CHAMP. Five loads in a day? No problem. Cramming in a comforter? BRING IT ON. And, mind you, all in ~20 min time.

Sigh. Life goes on I suppose, and our new washer will arrive next week. Sidenote- I wish it hadn’t died the day I decided it’d be “fun” to decorate sugar cookies with the boys.

Laundry woes aside, I cooked up a new recipe. Well, new to me. Let’s make some….unstuffed pork egg rolls! Who doesn’t like egg rolls? Love ‘em, but I am sure as heck not going to take the time to wrap them and deep fry them. Nope. Let’s keep it easy- get all the delicious filling without the labor.

Unstuffed Pork Egg Rolls

-1 lb ground pork

-1 tablespoon sesame oil

-1 teaspoon minced garlic

-1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger root (or dried powder)

-1 teaspoon ground black pepper

-2 tablespoons sesame seeds

-2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce

-3 ~10 oz packages cole slaw mix (you could shred your own cabbage or go the easy route!)

-1.5-2 cups shredded carrots

Optional: 1 1/2 cups dried chow mein noodles

In a large pan over medium high heat, cook pork until no longer pink. Soak up any liquid fat with a paper towel. Add sesame oil, ginger, pepper, and sesame seeds. Stir around for 2 minutes. Add soy sauce. Pour in carrots. Saute for 2-3 minutes, or until slightly softened. Add cole slaw mix/cabbage and stir for additional 5 minutes. Serve immediately- optional- top with ¼ cup chow mein noodles if you want a crunch.

Makes 6 servings. Per serving (including chow mein noodles): 370 calories, 20 g protein, 10 g carbs, 18g fat.

So tasty, and honestly comes together in less than 15 minutes. Wish I could say the same about the load of frosting-stained clothes I'm about to hand-wash in my bathtub...