Morgan likes my Thai food

Morgan couldn't come over last night, but Mike and Heather brought her a plate of my food that I had cooked. She called me around 9:30 and said that she was only going to try a little before going to bed, but that she couldn't stop eating it, because it was to good to put down. That made me think of Granny, whenever anyone complemented Granny about her food like that, she would say, "You may come again." with this sweet little southern voice.

So Morgan, "You may come again."

I survived the weekend

I made it through the weekend. ViviAnne had a great time in Seattle at her workshop and I had a great time with the kids. I ended up going three full days and four nights watching them. That is the longest I have been with them by myself. Pretty long time actually. I think that ViviAnne's longest by herself has been 6 days, that is beating my 40% but that is fine. She takes off again this weekend for a girls night up in Cd'A. But this Saturday should be a cake walk compared to the whole weekend.

My key to survival was to keep them, and myself, busy. We went to the Science Center one afternoon, and another day we carved pumpkins. My mother-in-law was also nice enough to watch them most of Saturday afternoon to I could work on my brother-in-law's remodel with him. That was nice.

Mike, Heather and Morgan are coming over for dinner tonight. I am going to make Cashew Chicken, Fried Rice and Tempura. Should be wicked good eats. I will post the Cashew Chicken recipe soon...

So you say it's your birthday!

Today is my birthday, I am 32. It has been a nice day so far. I spent the morning sleeping in a little with my wife and then had some doughnuts and coffee with Liam and ViviAnne. I am looking forward to my birthday dinner with my parents, granny and parents-in-law tonight. We are having roast and Granny made a Heavenly Hash Cake. I will try to get the recipe for this cake, it is possibly the best confection ever. I know that the kids went to the dollar store yesterday to get me a present, so I am looking forward to see what they got for me. I think it is some type of chocolate, but I am not sure. I also think that my parents might be getting me a skill saw, which I have wanted for some time.

My mother-in-law is making me cookies, chocolate chip. These are the best cookies in the world. I have had a lot, and I have seen the recipe that she uses, nothing extravagant or different, just your basic chocolate chip cookie recipe. Man do they turn out good, it is amazing. I have had a lot of cookies and I have no problem saying that her's are the best. Hands down, she would beat the pants off Betty Crocker in a cookie bake off. I wish I had a picture of them, I will try to get one.

Well that is all for now, happy birthday to me!

Quick Fried Rice - Thai Style

Hello friends and family. Last night I whipped up a quick and easy veggie fried rice. Here is the shake down.

3 cups cooked Basmati Rice
1 onion (sliced)
1 head of broccoli (cut into small pieces)
1 carrot (sliced with a peeler)
1 can of bamboo shoots (sliced)
2 Tbsp of Oyster Sauce
1 Tbsp of Soy Sauce
2 tsp of Fish Sauce
3 cloves garlic (diced)
2 eggs
1/4 cup of chopped cilantro
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil

In a wok, heat about 3 Tbsp of olive oil and then add your garlic, saute for about 30 seconds and add your sliced onion. After about a minute add in your broccoli, carrot, bamboo, Oyster sauce, fish sauce and soy sauce. Stir fry for about three minutes on med high heat. Salt and pepper to taste. Add a little more oil and scramble your 2 eggs in the middle of the stir fry. Add in your cooked rice and a 1/4 cup of chopped cilantro. Fry for 5-6 more minutes stirring every couple minutes.

This would also be great with sliced chicken, beef or shrimp and crab. Serves about two hungry adults and two kids. This is a great stir fry to go along with main courses as well, like pork chops or some other type of chicken or beef stir fry.

Chicken Fajita Eggroles

Yesterday I made chicken fajita egg roles for dinner. Here is the recipe.

1lb of chicken
2 portabello mushrooms
3 avocados
1 sm can of green chiles
1 egg
1 package of egg roll wrappers
olive oil and a fajita spice packet

Boil chicken and then shred with a fork. Put a little olive oil into the skillet and combine chicken, fajita spices, can of green chiles and a 1/4 cup of water. bring to a simmer for a couple of minutes. Slice your mushrooms and avocado into thin slices about two - three inches long. Wrap a scoop of the fajita mixture, a couple of avocado slices and mushroom slices in the egg roll wrap, seal it with a little whipped egg. Continue making the egg roles until you run out of stuff or wraps.

In a large skillet or wok, bring about a cup to 2 cups of oil to mid-high heat. put your egg roles in the oil and crisp on both sides. I like the color to be like caramel. remove with your fingers, ha ha, just kidding, use a big slotted spoon or tongs.

Serve with a little sour cream and salsa. These turned out pretty good, but the next time I do it, I am going to add in an onion, cilantro and lime juice to the fajita mix. I might also make a variation where I take out the mushroom and add in a slice of cheddar or pepper jack cheese. I think this would be marvelous!

Connecting the dots

Kids say some of the funniest stuff. Yesterday we all went on a hike and then to the grocery store. In the van Liam said,

"Mommy you are going to have another baby."

"Why do you think that?", ViviAnne said.

"Because your tummy is big." Liam said. ViviAnne got a little sad look on her face, but then said, "That is just leftovers from the last baby."

Liam, "I guess we will eat your tummy for dinner."

What in the heck, that was out of left field. ViviAnne and I started laughing. We both said, "What do you mean?".

Liam said, "You know, leftovers for dinner."

Oh man, I was rolling, it is so funny how kids minds work, to connect English jargon like that together. Hilarious!

TTFN

Zucchini Parmesana

As you may have read earlier, we had a garden this year. It did pretty well and I learned a lot about gardening, so next year it will be even better. We got some zucchini from a friend and it had been sitting on the window sill for a couple of days and I suggested to ViviAnne that we could make eggplant parmesana, but with the zucchini instead. It worked out great and here it is so you can enjoy it too:)

big zucchini
olive oil
Italian breading
1 egg
spaghetti sauce (from a jar, its easier)
mozzarella and Parmesan cheese

Warm the olive oil in a pan. My wife was telling me what she did when she made it and she actually said, "Gently warm the olive oil so as to not harm it's integrity." What? I couldn't stop laughing. Anyways, do that, then cut up your zucchini into 3/4 inch slices (no need to measure the exact thickness). Dip the slices into your egg, coat in bread crumbs and sear both sides in the olive oil. Put 1/3 of your spaghetti sauce in a 9x13 baking dish (stone or glass), place seared zucchini into dish and top with sauce and cheese. You may layer this if you wish:). Bake at 350 until tender.

I love this stuff, and you will too. It is even vegan, so my friend Robert can eat it. Oh, crap, it has cheese, never mind. Your loss Rob, your loss...