lettuce wraps

my cousin carrie shared this recipe with me. we made them tonight and they were soooo good! beckam asked if he could have them in his lunch everyday and polished off two in no time. asher did, too! we are already feeling the appetites of four boys in the house--i can't even imagine what it will be like 10 years down the road. everybody (except jaden) wanted more when they were gone. i'll definitely double the recipe next time.

Lettuce Wraps Brenda Lee

1 lb chopped chicken (i used 12 oz. extra firm tofu instead)

12 lettuce leaf cups (romaine or butter lettuce) Crisp in ice bath 10 min.

2 T sesame seed oil

1 T minced garlic

1 T minced ginger

6 green onions

¼ cup soy sauce

2 T hoisin sauce

1 T rice vinegar

1t cornstarch

¼ cup cold water

Rice or Crispy Rice Noodles

Island Soyaki (sauce from Trader Joes)

Chop and measure all ingredients before starting. Heat oil in skillet over med-hi. Add garlic, ginger, and ¾ of green onions. Stir fry 30 seconds. Add ckn stir fry 3-4 minutes. In a small bowl whisk together soy sauce, hoisin, vinegar, cornstarch and water. Add to skillet. When mixture boils reduce heat to low and simmer 1 minute. Spoon mixture into lettuce wraps garnish with green onion, shredded carrots, cucumbers, peanuts, rice, and island soyaki sauce)

ready for a good laugh?

smurfy

i called micah, african american smurf.
he comes from a darker skinned smurf land.
(and is related to the blue man group)

i wanted a yellow wig but micah thought my hair was fine.and check out Sarah and her security officer:

you can see halloween costumes of ours from years past here.
(including tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum mentioned in the comments)

some firsts...

my first garden. and these were the 1st sprouts.




















the boys first time in a british phone booth (in san jose).
we had a free nights stay in a fab hotel in san jose thanks to micah's trial being postponed at the last minute. since they didn't have 24 hrs. notice for cancellation, the firm got charged for the first night and we got a free room. we all enjoyed the jet tub, the boys were thrilled to have their own room and tv (too bad mom spoiled the sponge bob fest) and on saturday we all loved the discovery museum, especially this. it's a must-see if you have kids and are ever in the area.















asher's first steps caught in picture. don't let him fool you though, crawling is still his primary mode of transportation. he's working on another tooth (#5 on the bottom).



















and this is lizzie. she was our 1st pet (besides our sea monkies) for a day. jaden caught her at school, brought her home on the bus (in a critter keeper) and then let her go in our back yard. she's still hanging around, too.

















o fear not, we are not petless. the week following, he brought this guy home. so we hit up craigslist and pieced together a nice little habitat for him at a much better price than the pet store was offering (please tell me you remember to check craigslist before buying new--it hasn't failed us yet).



rock-lemon (on the leaf) and a friend (from the toy box) to keep him company.

Petite Rouge
A Cajun Red Riding Hood

i love reading this book to my kids.
it makes me read with a great cajun accent, which is very fun!
check it out.

here are a few of my favorite lines
(remember to use your best cajun accent):

"I'm countin' to t'ree,
an' if you still dere,
dis pole gonna hit you
where you part you hair."

An' when she say, "One,"
Ol' Claude back out de way.
He know dat de girl
sho' 'nuff mean what she say....

Ol' Claude make a smile,
an' he say, "It's dat flu.
It make me all green wit' dem bomps,
dat's fo' tru'....

"Why don' you come closer,
'cause I wanna see
all dat good food you mama
done cook fo' po' me."...

"You mout' kinda big,
an' you nose kinda long,
an' I got me a feelin'
dat somet'in' bad wrong."...

i really appreciate a good children's book.
because some of them just aren't.

he walks when he feels like it and has two new teeth on the top

yum spaghetti squash

i accidentally bought spaghetti squash at tj's the other day. i thought it was a melon. luckily i saw the sticker before i cut into it. so i started asking around about what to do with it. who knew it was so delish?!! did you? thanks stephanie for the great tips. here's what i did with it tonight:

baked @ 375 for 1 hr. then let sit 20 min. (the skin was like a shell once it was baked and the meat just fell right out)

grilled zucchini and red pepper in olive oil
add squash and marinara sauce
top w/ fresh parmesan and mozzarella cheese

serve w/ toasted sourdough

seriously so good.

i'm always looking for Y-U-M-M-Y healthy recipes so please share if you have one.