Groundhog day comes and goes every year, but it is one holiday that I’ve never thought much about in the past. This year however, my son came home from school talking about it. Apparently, they learned about it in school and of course he had a bunch of questions.
So while I was driving him to school on Groundhog day, we heard on the radio that they were anxiously awaiting to see if Punxsutawney Phil would see his shadow. We were also anxious to hear, but unfortunately, we arrived at the school before the groundhog emerged.
As we all know by now, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow. However, Staten Island Chuck, another local groundhog did not, so which one should we believe? Although the winter here in the Northeast has been pretty mild so far, I’ll go with Staten Island Chuck's prediction because hey, who wants six more weeks of winter?
To celebrate the fact that spring would be arriving soon, I decided to cook up a special Groundhog day meal. I'm always on the hunt for easy family meal ideas and decided to try one of my own, namely sauteed pork and okra. I had recently purchased some Hormel® Always Tender® meats, specifically, the lemon garlic pork loin filet as well as the honey mustard pork loin filet so I decided to make a meal out of it.
I chopped up some onions, tomatoes and okra and sautéed them in olive oil. I then took half of the lemon garlic pork loin filet and half of the honey mustard pork loin filet which I had cut into cubes and added it to the skillet. I added a little soy sauce and mirin for flavor, added a pinch of sugar to sweeten it up a bit and then paired it up with some jasmine rice. If you’re looking for a really easy meal idea that is quick and easy to make, then you have to try this. It was a really easy meal to make that was also delicious!
So did you do anything special for Groundhog day? If not, here are some ideas for next year:
- Pop in the movie Groundhog day, which features Bill Murray and get ready to laugh!
- Take a trip to Punxsutawney, PA to see Phil’s hometown.
- Cook a special meal in honor of Groundhog day and treat yourself and your family to some comfort food like I did.
Disclosure: I am currently a member of the Hormel Foods Extended Family Blogger Program and this post is part of my involvement in the Group. While Hormel Foods provides me with materials and necessary resources to complete various activities, my opinions are 100% my own.