Thursday, December 1, 2011

Lessons Learned

Today I learned several valuable lessons:

1.  Running errands is most effective when you take your wallet with you.

2.  Dry ginger cannot be substituted for fresh ginger or pickled ginger in a recipe.

3. I have the most awesome neighbor in the world- Shelly went to the store and bought fresh ginger since both my girls were napping!  Dinner saved!

I love P.F. Chang's Lettuce Wraps- just typing this makes my mouth water.  Well a few weeks ago, a friend of mine brought them to a potluck- SCORE!  Here is her recipe.  I just made them tonight for dinner.  I hope the girls will eat them...if not, more for Mommy :)



Asian Lettuce Wraps
Ingredients
  • 16 Boston Bibb or butter lettuce leaves
  • 1 pound ground chicken
  • 1 tablespoon cooking oil
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup hoisin sauce*
  • 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
  • 1 tablespoon rice vinegar- vinegar section of grocery store
  • Asian sweet chili sauce* (optional)--I also use this as a condiment on top of the chicken mixture in the wrap as well as a sprig of cilantro
  • 1 (8 ounce) can water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
  • 1 bunch green onions, chopped
  • 2 teaspoons Asian (dark) sesame oil*
  • 1 bunch cilantro for garnishing and topping wraps
                                    *these items are located in the International/Chinese section of grocery store

Directions

  1. Rinse whole lettuce leaves and pat dry, being careful not tear them. Set aside.
  2. In a medium skillet over high heat, brown the chicken in 1 tablespoon of oil, stirring often and reducing the heat to medium, if necessary. Drain, and set aside to cool. Cook the onion in the same pan, stirring frequently. Add the garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, vinegar, and chile pepper sauce to the onions, and stir. Stir in chopped water chestnuts, green onions, sesame oil, and cooked chicken; continue cooking until the onions just begin to wilt, about 2 minutes.
  3. Arrange lettuce leaves around the outer edge of a large serving platter, and pile meat mixture in the center. To serve, allow each person to spoon a portion of the meat into a lettuce leaf. Wrap the lettuce around the meat like a burrito, top with chili sauce and cilantro to taste and enjoy!         

Wordless Wednesday




Sunday, November 27, 2011

Busy Bee

With big sister spending some one-on-one time with the Grandparents, Aubrey had the run of the house and the toys.
Aubrey reading a few books
She will turn the pages and read (in jibberish). 
Today's magical toy: Mommy's empty pocketbook
 She carried it around and filled it with goodies.
She and Reese checking out her loot.

Friday, November 25, 2011

Psalm 100


1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. 
 2 Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
 3 Know that the LORD is God. 
It is he who made us, and we are his;    
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving 
and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name. 
 5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; 
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Up Peas

Aubrey decided to play musical chairs today at Ikea.  
Only her rules include 3 chairs and 1 person.

 She switched chairs about 10 times.
She uses "up peas" for getting up and down.

 Lily Kate decided to hide out in the circus tent.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Mustache Bash/Field Day

Stephen participated in Movember this year.  He and several co-workers grew beards this month and then trimmed them into a mustache of his choosing for the Mustache Bash.  Our group was raising money for Shelter Health Services of Charlotte.  It's a great cause and the guys really had fun sporting their mustaches.  Friday night we met at Sauceman's for the final voting.  They even had trophies!  
Jon Buice, Stephen, Paras Mehta

The Peds crew 
Mark Henin, Nick Glomb, Stephen Renfrow
A huge shout out to Melanie, who kept the girls so we could attend!  Thank you so much!  You were a lifesaver!

 Saturday morning, we had our family pictures taken at Freedom park and then stuck around for the Peds Field Day.  After some delicious BBQ from Q Shack, the games began- cornhole, T-ball, ladderball, soccer, flag football and the main event: kickball.
Aubrey enjoyed playing with the Ten Cup Toss Game
 The faculty faced off against the residents in a game of kickball.  It was a blast!

  Lily Kate helped Daddy play catcher. 
 After he kicked, he carried her all the way around the bases.



Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Turkey How To

I've said before, all my best ideas are borrowed.  Well here are the directions of how I made these turkey hairbows

What you need:
Grosgrain Ribbon 3/8"
Brown: ~25"
Yellow: ~16"
Orange: ~16" +scrap for beak
Red: ~8" +scrap for the wattle
2 Googly eyes
1 Metal All Purpose Hair Clip (I bought mine at Sally Beauty)
Hot glue gun
Fabric scissors

Cut ribbon for feathers: one 3.5" piece and one 4" piece for each feather
You need 2 yellow feathers, 2 orange feathers and 1 red one.

Cut brown ribbon for the body: one 3" piece, two 3.5" piece, 
one 4" piece, one 5" piece to wrap hair clip
Cut beak and wattle.


Loop 3.5" piece and put small drop of glue at base to hold.

 Loop 4" piece around smaller loop using glue drops as needed to secure.  
I then put one of the extra hair clips on the loop to hold it while it dries.
Repeat for all 5 feathers.
 Glue and wrap hair clip with largest brown ribbon piece.

Make turkey's body just like feathers, the body consists of 3 loops.
Make the turkey's head (see photo) and glue to body.

 Add beak and wattle using small drops of hot glue.


 Arrange feathers and attach to clip with hot glue.  Attach feathers to clip end (not base).







 Glue body and head to feathers.


Finally attach eyes


Please let me know if any of the steps need more clarity.  I hope yours turn out super cute!

Wordless Wednesday

Paging Dr. Renfrow!

Now that she's mastered walking-
she won't stay still

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Inspired

So I'm completely and totally hooked to Pinterest!  I love all the cute ideas and inspiration that I find there!  Here are 3 ideas I am going to attempt for the girls.  I'll post pictures once I complete them :

Decorative Hairbow Holder:


Turkey Hairbow- this will be adorable, I need to get to work so they can wear them for Turkey Day!

Source: etsy.com via Tracie on Pinterest


Lily Kate LOVES Tangled, so when Disney Store sold out of the braid, I decided I could make one.  Isn't this cute!

Monday, November 14, 2011

These are the Best Days of My Life

Today I'm thankful for the ordinary.  We haven't been doing anything terribly exciting lately, but here are some fun memories that we captured on camera.  I love my life.
Waiting for Daddy to get home- our favorite time of day!

It's much cooler to wear your veggies than to eat them


My two little turkeys ;)