It's So Hard To Say Goodbye

Easy Beef & Broccoli

There has been so much going on around here. One item top on our list has been deep cleaning. We've lived in this house (the one where Daddy-O grew up) for over 20 years. Pretty sure there are items that haven't been moved since we carefully placed them on a shelf when we loved in. 

Well, no more. Things are getting shuffled around. We've moved paintings from one wall to another. I've "shopped" the house for decorative pieces to restyle some spaces. And goodness, what we've thrown away! The "why did we even save this" stuff. And some things are just no longer useable. Mini DVDs anyone? Still, we have to work at telling these things goodbye.

We are not done but already the house feels fresher. It feels like it can breathe again. This will be a forever project. Because as soon as we feel like we've finished, we need to circle around again. This kind of work is so dusty as we've dragged things out of closets and cleared shelves. So we've been dusty—too dusty to go out to eat, but we've also been too tired to dirty up the kitchen.

Which brings me to a new recipe I made this week. Incredibly simple. Delicious. And the leftovers were good, too. It was the perfect quick lunch while we were working. See the recipe at the end of the blog post.

It's so hard to part with old cookbooks. 

The copyrights are from 1970 - 1976.

Did we really cook like this?

Successfully making a molded jello was a desirable skill in the 1970s.

Spam casserole..look at the ingredients. 😂

I also own a few really old cookbooks.

It would be fun to do a little recipe archeology. 

Might be a Mimi Camp project.

 The reward at the end of busy days—time to sit here.

This is a recipe I'll make again.

EASY BEEF and BROCCOLI

1- lb lean ground beef

1/2 yellow onion, diced

8-oz fresh broccoli florets, cut into bite-size pieces

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1/4 cup soy sauce

3 tablespoon hoisin sauce

1 tablespoon minced garlic 

1 teaspoon minced ginger

2 to 4 tablespoons brown sugar (optional)

Brown the ground beef and onion until cooked through. Add the sesame oil and chopped broccoli and cook for about 2 minutes.

Add soy sauce, hoisin, garlic, ginger and brown sugar. Stir until everything is well coated. Let simmer for another 2 to 3 minutes until broccoli is tender. 

Serve over rice, in lettuce wraps or in a bowl.

To make this even quicker, I used minced garlic from a jar and minced ginger from a squeez bottle. You'll find both in the produce section at the grocery store.