Eagle, Idaho

March 9, 2009

I am wanting to learn more about photography so I drove to Eagle, Idaho which is about 15 minutes from our house. Last year Abby took a writing class in the neighborhood where these pictures were taken.

Spring is coming!

This is a picture I took out my kitchen window. I love watching the little birds come and fill up on thistle seeds and water in my birdbath.
I wish I could get some better pictures because they are so pretty. Many days there will be at least six birds in the tree and on the feeder. This one is a pretty yellow and some are a peachy orange color. I seem to stand at my sink many hours a day so I am thrilled that I have such a nice view. Pretty soon this tree will be full of white blooms!


Our weather today does not feel like spring but at least the sun is shining! I know spring temps are coming soon!

Organizing my recipes

I got a three ring binder and put scrapbook paper in the outside plastic pockets to make it pretty.


I still have many more recipes to organize and will need to make another binder to put them in. I will label the spine with what is in the binder....breads, desserts, salads, etc.
Some of my recipes I just taped to a blank piece of copy paper and inserted the page into a page protector.

I really like these dividers and hope I can find some more like them.

These dividers have pockets and I am going to put recipes that I am going to try in the pockets and if it is a keeper then it will go into a page protector. The pocket will also work if I am in a hurry I can stick it in the pocket until I have time to put it where it belongs.

This took quite a bit of time, but it has been so nice to just grab the binder. I love having them in page protectors so that they don't get all dirty while cooking.

Baby blanket for my nephew's new baby boy!

My nephew, Morgan, and his wife, Ashley, had a baby a few months ago and this is the blanket that I made for Peyton. Morgan is serving our country in Baghdad and got to come home for two weeks when he was born. I am so proud of Morgan and so happy about his new little family! If you feel led by the Holy Spirit, please pray for Morgan as he is in harms way and away from his family. You could also pray for Ashley and Peyton as they are away from him too!

I got a new sewing machine for Christmas so it was fun getting to use it for the first time. I didn't realize how old my other one was until I sewed on the new one!

The LOVES of my life!

Valentine's Day!





My sister, Melinda, bought the girls these cute shirts!


We had aValentine party with a few friends and my sweet friend, Nicole, brought the cutest craft and the kids had so much fun.

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.