Saturday, March 14

Lettuce Wraps

My husband found this recipe online and we really love them! We did not use the hot mustard and also didn't have any rice noodles. We bought some but I think you have to fry them and then that adds more fat to the meal so we skipped it. Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Main Ingredients

3 tablespoons oil
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup water chestnut

2/3 cup mushroom
3 tablespoons chopped onions

1 teaspoon minced garlic

4-5 leaves iceberg lettuce

Rice Noodles (styrofoam type noodles)

Special Sauce Ingredients

1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon sesame oil

Hot Mustard Ingredients
1 tablespoon hot mustard
2 teaspoons water
1-2 teaspoon garlic and red chili paste (add to top of wrap if desired)

Stir Fry Sauce Ingredients
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar


Directions Special Sauce:

1. Dissolve the sugar in water in a bowl (1 recipe makes about 1 cup sauce).
2. Add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice and sesame oil.

3. Mix well and refrigerate this sauce until you're ready to serve.
Hot Mustard: Combine the hot water with the hot mustard and set this aside to serve with the meal.

Note: If you desire, make the special sauce more spicy by adding your desired amount of mustard and garlic chili sauce to the special sauce mixture to pour over the wraps. Serve remaining mustard and red chili paste as condiments.

Stir Fry Sauce: Mix the soy sauce, brown sugar, and rice vinegar together in a small bowl.

Chicken and Other Ingredients: 1. Bring oil to high heat in a wok or large frying pan.
2. Saute chicken breasts for 4 to 5 minutes per side or until done.

3. Remove chicken from the pan and cool.

4. Keep oil in the pan, keep hot.

5. Mince water chestnuts and mushrooms to about the size of small peas.

6. When chicken is cool, mince it to the size of small peas.

7. With the pan still on high heat, add another Tbsp of vegetable oil.

8. Add chicken, garlic, onions, water chestnuts and mushrooms to the pan.

9. Add the stir fry sauce to the pan and saute the mixture for a couple minutes


Serving:
Using lettuce leaves as "cups" or taco style shells, put a base of rice or rice noodles (fried "styrofoam") covered with the chicken mixture and top with the special sauce. I cut up my chicken in very small pieces and then cook until done.



Chop onions, garlic, mushrooms, and water chestnuts

Mix up sauces. One sauce you put in while cooking the chicken, mushrooms, onions, etc. the other sauce you put on while you are eating your lettuce wraps. I usually mix up several recipes of the sauce you put on when you eat the wraps and keep it in a bottle in the refrigerator.


We LOVE this rice and bought it at Costco. It is calrose rice.


ENJOY! At first it took us a while to make these but now that we have made them so many times it doesn't take that long and especially if you have sauce already made up in the refrigerator. We couldn't believe it but even my picky eaters liked them.

Thursday, January 1

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow! 12-21/08

Skiing at Bogus Basin!

































My son is born again! October 19, 2008

This was a great day for us as our son decided to be baptized
and become a new creation in Christ! We are thrilled with
his decision to give his life to Christ.





Many great friends came (with very short notice)
to show their support and love to us and we were
overwhelmed with joy!




Boise River....brrrrrrr!!!








Let's celebrate!

Monday, December 29

Christmas Eve 2008

Decorating cookies!
















Grandma and Grandpa came for our traditional Christmas Eve meal, Clam chowder. Monty made the chowder and it was really yummy. He also cooked shrimp and I made two chicken holiday wreaths from a Pampered Chef cookbook. We had pumpkin pie and cookies for dessert. We finished the night singing Christmas songs and talking about the birth of Christ. We also enjoyed watching it snow and we didn't have to dream of a white Christmas this year!

Wednesday, December 10

My new kitchen gadget!





After I finally figured out how to work the cookie press it was so much fun and the cookies were so delicious!




The girls had lots of fun decorating them! I am trying really hard to make sure that we do these type of activities more often not just once a year. I struggle to do stuff like this because it takes lots of patience and usually a pretty big mess to clean up. Mattie Grace did help me clean the kitchen so that was nice.














Friday, December 5

Jesse Tree

We are making our own Jesse Tree this year and it is amazing how much the kids are learning from it and me too! We are hanging ours on our stairway instead of on a tree.


Each day we hang on a new ornament. If you would like to find out more about making a Jesse Tree click here http://www.eriercd.org/jessetree.htm



“But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall
blossom.”
Isaiah 11:1

I hope this Christmas you will take the time to stop all the busyness and reflect on Jesus Christ, Emanuel "God with us", who came to die for us to be our Savior! If you haven't asked Jesus to be your Lord and your Savior I pray that you will do that right now. There is no reason to wait.....you don't have to get your life right first. He will give you the power to change things in your life that are not pleasing to Him! That is why Jesus Christ is so awesome! The only thing you have to do is believe in Him and let Him take over your life. I did and I can't imagine living a day without Him! I hope you will join me in living a life full of joy and peace!

Thursday, December 4

Easy Maple Granola

2 cups regular old fashioned oats, not quick or instant
1/2 cup nuts
Generous 1/3 cup of pure maple syrup
1/4 cup canola oil
1 to 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup dried cherries or cranberries or other dried fruit or more to taste

Also you can add a couple Tablespoons of wheat germ, flax seed, sunflower, pumpkin seeds, etc.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven. Either butter or line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, stir together the oil (or melted butter), and maple syrup.



In a large bowl combine the rolled oats, nuts, seeds, wheat germ, ground cinnamon, and salt.






Pour liquid mixture over the dry ingredients and toss together, making sure all the dry ingredients are coated with the liquid.


Spread onto the prepared baking sheet and bake for about 30-45 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally so the mixture browns evenly. The browner the granola gets (without burning) the crunchier the granola will be.









Enjoy!

Dasher

Dasher