~ TASTY THURSDAY ~ Stir Fry

I'm going to try to start a new weekly post series, on food! I'm not a great cook, but if I find a good recipe, I really enjoy cooking for David, and for myself, if I'm honest. In college I made some pretty strange meals, like a plain steak, all by itself, cooked for far too long under the broiler. Yuck! Dry, chewy steak, without any side dishes? I also ate a lot of boxed pasta, because it's easy.

Since we've been married, I've really tried to find a way to learn better meals to prepare. I don't like to make anything too fancy, but if something is tasty and not too complicated, I'll make it! Most of the time it turns out really delish, but occasionally I feel like this:

Usually this isn't the case!

One of my favorite meals, and David's too, is stir-fry. My mom started making it when I was in middle school or high school, and I love it! Plus, it's really simple. She has a wok in which she cooks all the meat, and then all the vegetables, but I just use a frying pan and it works perfectly fine.

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into about 1" cubes
• 2 cups of uncooked rice
• 4 cups water
• Salt
• 3 tbsp butter
• Vegetable Oil
• One package of frozen stir-fry vegetables (You can also use fresh veggies, but I've found that these work just as well, and with a baby to take care of, I prefer the easiness of frozen!)
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• Soy Sauce
• Teriyaki sauce (or marinade...) if you prefer

The first step is to start 4 cups of water, the rice and the butter to boil. I like to add a little bit of salt, about 2 teaspoons. Once the water starts to boil, I turn the heat down to low-ish, and mix the rice. Then I let it simmer until it's done. I usually mix once or twice throughout the process. You could add a little soy sauce to the water beforehand, which I think would give the rice a little saltier taste.

Into a frying pan or wok, if you have one, I pour some vegetable oil, about 1/4 of a cup and turn the heat on between Medium and Medium-High. Then I throw in the chicken and let it fry, until it's cooked all the way through. David likes the chicken to be sort of brown and well cooked on the outside, so I keep it in the oil a little longer until it's golden-ish brown. Now, I always make sure to taste a piece or five, because it's delicious! Kind of salty and very yummy.

When it's done, take the chicken out and set it on a plate to wait while the veggies cook. (You could put it on a paper towel to get some of the oily grease off, but I just leave it. I think it adds extra flavor.

Don't clean the pan or switch to a clean one. I always leave the chicken stuff in there, and pour in the veggies, stirring them occasionally as the cook.

In the meantime, in a liquid measuring cup, I mix 2/3 cup chicken broth with 1/3 cup soy sauce. Stir (with a fork) that into 1 tbsp or so of corn starch. This will make the sauce for the veggie/meat mixture.

Once the vegetables are all hot and ready, I put the meat back in and pour the sauce into the pan. Then I stir it all up and let it simmer for a few minutes. This lets the sauce thicken up, and adds flavor to the vegetables. If you like teriyaki, you can add a little bit (a splash?) of teriyaki sauce to the mix. I acually use Lawry's 30-minute teriyaki marinade to do this, because there's not as much sugar in it, and the consistency is better for mixing in with the rest of the sauce.

Now, after the sauce has thickened up, and the rice is finished, I pour a bunch of the chicken and vegetable mixture onto the rice. Make sure you add a little extra sauce to juice it up a little. (Is that a thing? Juice it up?)

Yum! We also make this with steak sometimes, just substitute beef broth for the chicken. And, when we're feeling really adventurous, we do both chicken and steak! Woohoo!

An Adventure to Remember, Part 2 - Hong Kong Airport

If you missed it, read about the first part of my adventure here.

I don't remember the flight from Cebu to Hong Kong. I remember sitting in the airport in Cebu, waiting. I remember disembarking (is that a word?) from the plane in Hong Kong, and running through what seemed like miles of terminal to get to our gate. Our flight was late arriving, and they were holding the flight to Vancouver for us.
The airport in Hong Kong is enormous. It seems like it goes on forever, and to get from one section to the other, you have to ride a subway for 4 or 5 minutes. It's huge. The group of us, eight in all, ran through the terminals as quickly as we could. We really weren't moving very fast, because we all had really bad sunburns, especially Kayla, my roommate and best friend. So, we hobbled/ran down to our gate, carrying our backpacks, pillows and purses, and praying that we wouldn't miss our flight. I couldn't even imagine what would happen if we missed our flight... hopefully get on the next one, I guess.

Just as they were giving the last call, we made it to the gate! Ah, sweet relief, we were going home. I was second or third in line, and after the attendant checked my passport, I stepped through the gate, but luckily not too far. I think I was waiting for David, hoping we'd have seats together and be able to sit together. I don't kno why I waited, but I'm thankful that I did. Kayla couldn't find her passport.

I walked back out of the gate, and helped her look through her backpack. It was soon discovered that her small purse was missing, which held not only her passport, but also her digital camera. We couldn't find it anywhere. The rest of the group had gotten through the gate, and weren't allowed back out. Peter, our group leader (who also had our money), had already boarded the plane, and I asked David to go get him so we could have the extra money for whatever we might be doing.

Peter returned and handed me the money through the gate. (I'm so thankful that I was able to get out of the gate while Kayla was looking, or she would have been all by herself) David didn't get to come back. They wouldn't let him. Then Peter returned onto the plane, took his seat, and they all left; Kayla and I watched them fly away.

It was a very strange feeling watching the plane that we were supposed to be on fly away without us. We just sat there for a few minutes. Kayla cried a little bit, and I was stunned, not knowing what to do next. Then we both got up, and followed the flight attendant down the hallway.

5 Months Old? Is That Possible?

How in the world is time going by so fast?! It seems like just last week that we had a brand new, 9 pound baby, and all of a sudden he's 17 pounds and trying to crawl! Micah has changed our lives completely, but in such a great way! David and I are amazed every day at how much we love him, and how this tiny little guy has made such an impact in our lives.

Here's what he's doing at 5 months (plus a week, since I didn't get to this sooner).

* He's rolling over - I just watched him roll from his back to his belly a few times in our living room. The first time I actually saw it was yesterday at the nursery, but every time I go to get him out of his crib, he's on his tummy (he sleeps on his back, like a good baby. :)  ).

* He's laughing all the time! We love making faces at him, especially in the mirror, because he's starting to be so responsive. He's ticklish and loves to play with us.

* When he's excited or happy, he kicks his feet. I think he learned this from being in his jumperoo, but when he likes something, those feet just start going and going!

* He can't sit up by himself yet, but he's getting close. He can definitely sit up with help, but I don't think it'll be long before he's doing it on his own. The bumbo has really helped with that skill!

* He's still not sleeping through the night, and we had a rough couple of weeks of sleep over the holidays. When he got his 4 month shots, then a cold, then the flu, and two more colds, our schedule really got thrown off. We're finally back to normal, and last night he was only up once, and that was after a 7.5 hour solid stretch of sleep. It does this mama good, to be sure! I need some good sleep!

* He's eating solids! I have given him rice cereal a couple of times, but he didn't seem to excited about it. He really likes avocado though. I've started pureeing some fruits and veggies, and freezing them, so he'll have a variety of different foods to come.

* We're still using our cloth diapers, and we had to switch them all up to size medium! He's a big guy, and small was just... small. I really like the cloth, but I really struggle to keep up on the laundry, especially since the covers aren't supposed to go in the dryer. I hate having to hang them in the bathroom on the shower rod.... oh how I wish it was spring, and they could hang outside! 

We love this little man so much, and it's been such a joy to watch him grow and learn new skills. It's such a blessing to have him, and we're excited to keep watching him learn!

And, he's extremely cute.



Bathtime!

Fun hair-do before church last weekend

An Adventure to Remember, Part 1

Our church is planning a mission trip to Colombia this summer, which David is planning to go on, and it has gotten me thinking about past trips and adventures David and I have been on. I love to travel, and I feel blessed that God has given me the opportunity to see the places he has. I only hope for more opportunities to present themselves in the future.

One of my most memorable trips was a mission trip to the Philippines, during our junior year of college. We went over Spring Break, to Mandaue City, on the island of Cebu. I wasn't familiar with the islands, and maybe you aren't either, so here is a map:

On the picture on the right, the red dot is approximately where we were.

On the trip over to the Philippines, we had about 35 lay-overs... well, maybe 4, but it felt like a lot! We left from Portland and stopped in Seattle, Vancouver, Taipei, and then had a 9 hour lay-over in Hong Kong. So, like any adventurous college students with extra time would do, we explored! Our group leader, our good friend Peter, had gotten in touch with a local Chinese missionary, Andrew, and he and his friend, Andrew, showed us some of the sights.

 

We rode a tram up the mountain-side, and had an amazing view of the city!

 Finally, we made it to the Philippines, where we spent a week feeling like we were on vacation! We ate delicious foods, made new friends, experienced rides in a jeep-ni, ate at Jollybees, had fresh pineapple for breakfast every morning, went to a dancing and dessert show, and went snorkeling in the most amazing coral reef. I wish we had gotten pictures of the fish - they were incredible!


This is what our snorkeling boat looked like.

We were able to do a lot of different outreach activities while we were in the Philippines. We led a Vacation Bible School in the church our missionary leader worked with. We led a play-time and gospel lesson for some children. We visited with members of the church at their homes, and shared our testimonies with them. We visited a neighborhood that had experienced a tragic fire, and with a donation of $800, three families in that neighborhood were able to re-build their homes. We even were able to give gospel presentations in the public schools - something we'll never be able to do here in the United States! 

This little girl lived in the neighborhood where there was a fire.



Families who were able to rebuild their homes



Friends at the church we worked at in Mandaue City

This trip was incredible, and we were so blessed to be able to go. As we were boarding the plane in the airport in Cebu, I was feeling a little sad to be leaving. I didn't have any idea what adventure was awaiting me in Hong Kong!

There's A First Time for Everything

This evening, Micah got to try eating rice cereal for the first time. I think he enjoyed it. He wasn't smiling, but he was opening his mouth for me to put more in. The cereal got all over! He wasn't really pushing it out, but it was just dripping and messy, so after eating he got a bath.

I'm looking forward to introducing him to more foods, slowly, of course. :)


Maverick, of course, had to help

So cute! When I was organizing my pictures on our computer today, I found some more that should have gone in the post from this morning... so here they are!

He got this sweater vest for Christmas from Aunt Marci and Uncle Daniel. So cute!

This is such a funny face.



This little guy loves to be without clothes. (He does have a diaper on... and socks!)