Only 10 days of school left! Only three weeks till Averi and I go to Tucson to visit family and friends! And eat real Mexican food! I don’t know why, but there is no good Mexican food in Miami. According to everyone here you can only get it in Homestead, which is an hour away. So if anyone would like to come here and open a good Mexican place, you will dominate. 😉

What I am also looking forward to, as the school year ends, is no more Hebrew School. Yesterday was the last Wednesday that I needed to sit in the parking lot for an hour before pickup, to ensure I could get the kid and get out quickly. Yeah!

Especially because you would not believe what happened. Now, quick recap. Wednesday is early release day for grades 2-8, which means there are around 1000 kids all getting out at the same time. And this school does not have a parking lot or very much street parking (maybe 15 spots). So you either have to park in the parking garage a block away and walk (the horror!) or get in the car line that seriously goes three blocks long. Which is why cars start lining up an hour early, if they need to get out quickly. By 55 minutes till, the school drive is filled and it’s idle on street for everyone else. It’s so bad that the city even has a parking enforcement employee who monitors the cars and gives tickets if anyone tries to park where they shouldn’t or cause a problem.

So I get in my spot an hour early, and all the regular players are lined up with me. We each have a gap in between our cars that is just enough to ensure that we can get out with out having to wait for the car in front of us to move, as classes come out at different times.

And then it happened. Five minutes before release this lady drives up the pull through lane, rolls down her window and starts asking the parked cars to each back up as much as possible so she can squeeze into the front of the line! And even more shocking, two cars near the front did it! The little bit of room they provided enabled the lady to pull her car in at an angle, so she was about half way in the lane and partially blocking the front of the first car who had backed up for her. Which left the two cars that had backed up no wiggle room, so they wouldn’t be able to move until she left. Which wasn’t going to be any time soon because she then actually violated the rules and got out of her car and walked off to greet her kid and chat with the teacher. By the time I left she hadn’t returned to her car and the two cars had their kids but were still stuck. So they basically waited an entire hour for nothing.

The sense of entitlement is mind blowing to me. As only an Arizona Level Trophy Wife I would never have the nerve to have asked that of people. I don’t even like to ask people in the line at the bathroom (cause there is always a line), to let us go first when Averi has to pee real bad. Although, I do always hope they will hear her talking and offer. 😉

But back to it being Wednesday. Since I had to spend my afternoon waiting (at the school then the temple), dinner needed to be in a crockpot. And since I picked a gorgeous orange pepper and some chiles at our garden plot yesterday, I was feeling like a Thai dish was in order.

I searched on Pinterest and found a delicious looking picture for a Slow Cooker Thai Pork dish on I Am That Lady. I not only had most of the ingredients, but it provided the extra bonus of being a pork dish on Hebrew School day, which I knew Hannah would appreciate. 😉

The only ingredient I didn’t have was chunky peanut butter. But I did have creamy peanut butter and peanuts. So I tossed in some crushed peanuts so that the crunch would still be there.

And I also included my chile, which I chopped up to add after, as Averi isn’t into spice.

It was delicious. The pork dish makes a lot of sauce, that only has a subtle peanut taste. The pork itself was very tender and flavorful. And the chile added a great kick for Michael and I to enjoy.

Thai Pork in Crock Pot

1 pound pork, cut into large chunks

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter*

¼ cup crushed peanuts*

1/3 cup soy sauce

1 cup chicken broth

3 tablespoons honey

1 tbsp grated fresh ginger

2 bell peppers – orange, red or yellow, sliced thin

2 tbsp minced garlic

½ tsp red pepper flakes

1 Thai red chile, finely chopped

Rice, cooked per directions

Place all ingredients, except Thai red chile and rice, into crock pot. Combine. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Serve over rice, garnish with chopped red chile. Enjoy!

* can substitute both items with 1/3 cup crunchy peanut butter