Lettuce Wraps

(Better than PF Chang's)

My sister-in-law told us about these wraps.  They sounded so good we went to the store that day and bought the stuff to make them.  Luckily she showed us what to do.  I was a little intimidated by the ingredients and the process but watching her helped ease my fears.  This recipe takes a lot of time so round up a helper.   Don't let this stop you from making these amazingly yummy wraps.  After making them about 3 times I had it figured out (or I just wasn't afraid any longer).  Now I can make them faster and by myself.  I still love it when my husband helps.  He usually starts the sauce and I start the filling.  Once he's done then he takes over the filling while I get the lettuce leaves ready and cook Rice A Roni to go with it.

 

 In this picture I forgot the ketchup, so not every ingredient is shown.  The first time I made these I thought there was some strange things in it.  You buy 7 of the ingredients in the oriental section of the grocery store.  

Start by boiling your chicken in water.  Once that is going I start the frying of the Maifun rice sticks. 

These have to be the coolest things ever, they are like magic.  You buy Maifun rice sticks not Saifun.  There are several ways to cook them, but we fry them.  Heat oil in a large, shallow pan.   These rice sticks are super hard right out of the package.  They are all bunched together and you have to pull them apart.  I just do a small amount like in the picture below.  They make a mess when you pull them apart.  I usually have little pieces all over the counter. Put a paper towel on a plate to get ready for the fried rice sticks

 The oil has to be hot when you put them in.  They should puff up instantly when you drop them in the oil.  If they don't your oil isn't hot enough.  With metal tongs I flip them to fry on the other side. This is important because these noodles are break your teeth hard before they are fried.  When you fry them they turn into puffy, light, crispy noodles.  You'll have a big pile.  These change again when you add them later in the recipe.  Stay tuned for more noodle magic.

 Next start the sauce.  Doesn't that look like steamy goodness!  Dissolve  the sugar and water in a pan, add soy sauce, ketchup, sesame oil, rice vinegar, & lemon juice.  In a little bowl combine Garlic Red Chili Paste & Chinese Hot Mustard to desired hotness.  HOT - 2 Tbsp. of each, MEDIUM - 1 Tbsp. of each, MILD - 2 tsp. of each.  We make the medium because it's not to spicy for our children.  Add the chili paste and mustard to the rest of the sauce.  Boil for one minute stirring constantly.  This is to be drizzled over the lettuce wraps.

 

To make the filling, combine soy sauce, rice vinegar, and brown sugar in a big pan. Next add the chicken that has been cut into dime size pieces.   Now add the green onions, chestnuts, mushrooms, and minced garlic. To save time chopping I use the trusty pampered chef chopper.  The picture shows the green onions about to be chopped.  It is great for the bottoms but I usually chop the tops by hand.  I mince the chestnuts and mushrooms with the chopper till they are the size of peas.

 Now for noodle magic.  I just put the pile of maifun on top of the filling. 

I take a spatuala and begin breaking it up. 

 This is what it looks like after you begin breaking it down.  Next stir it in.

 When the rice sticks get wet they change. Don't worry as you stir them in they become wet wiggly noodles. This is what should happen.

 

To get the lettuce ready I wash the heads, let them dry, then I slowly pull the leaves off the head.  The first leaves are to big like the one pictured above so I cut right down the center starting at the white part.  This way no one has to have an all white lettuce leave.  To eat spoon the filing inside a leaf then drizzle some sauce on the filing, roll together and enjoy.  You may want to have napkins handy.

 We like to eat these with rice and a jello salad.  I make Rice A Roni because it's fast.  Fast is good after working so hard.  I didn't make a jello salad this time.  We had friends over and they brought the yummy jello salad.  I'll have to post a  jello recipe we love and that is fast on another day.

Lettuce Wraps * like PF Changs

by: Home Run Recipes

Special Sauce
1/2 cup Sugar
4 Tbsp Soy Sauce
4 Tbsp Ketchup
1/4 tsp sesame Oil
1 cup Water
4 Tbsp Rice Vinegar
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1-2 Tbsp Garlic Red Chili Paste
1-2 Tbsp Chinese Hot Mustard

Special Sauce - Dissolve sugar in water; add soy sauce, ketchup, sesame oil, rice vinegar, & lemon juice.  In a separate bowl combine Garlic Red Chili Paste & Chinese Hot mustard to desired hotness: Hot - 2 Tbsp Both Medium - 1 Tbsp both, Mild - 2 tsp both.    Boil for one minute stirring constantly.  This is to be drizzled over the filing in the lettuce wrap.

Stir Fry Filling
3/4 cup Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Rice Vinegar
3/4 Cup Dark Brown Sugar (I do use light sometimes and still taste yummy)
2 lbs cooked Chicken Breast (cut into dime sized pieces)
6 Tbsp Chopped Green onions
2 Cup Water Chestnuts (minced)  3 cans
1 1/3 cup mushrooms (minced) 2 cans
1 Tbsp minced garlic (2 cloves)
2 Cups Maifun Rice Sticks or noodles (fried)

 2 heads ICE BERG LETTUCE
(you may not need 2 it depends on how much filling people put inside their lettuce and how big your heads of lettuce are.  We do 2 to make sure we have plenty. Make a salad the next day with the left overs. Or we have put the rice a roni in the lettuce with the sauce drizzled on it the next day and it was pretty amazing.)

Filling - Fry the maifun until fully cooked.  Combine Soy Sauce, Rice Vinegar, and brown sugar in a large pan.  Then add chicken..  You want to chop the mushrooms and water chestnuts the size of peas. Add to chicken.  Combine the remaining ingredients.  We break up the maifun right in the pan with a spatuala.  they go from crispy to wiggly noodles.  You can serve right away or refrigerate for 2 hours to enhance the flavor.  Just remember to heat before serving.

Serve Lettuce on a platter; stir fry and sauce in separate bowls.  Let everyone make their own wrap.  ENJOY!

yield - one recipe of filling will feed 8 adults.  We usually pig out on these. 

Glimps into My Life

Here is a glimpse into my life. I love to take my kids on outings. When I am not crafting, I am exploring our area through the eyes of a 3 and 6 year old. There is a farm close by our house that I took my daughter to explore. Here are a few of the things we saw! I did try to get a picture of 2 baby chicks we saw, but they ran under a bush before I got my phone out.

I loved this flag hanging on the wall. It's old, dirty, and perfect. I can imagine a dirty, tattered, tired soldier trudging home after serving his country. I am thinking I will turn this into a 4th of July decor, but I haven't got the details figure out in my head yet.

 I just loved the contrast of the blue and the orange. The old paint gives it a rustic look.

 Who can resist an old rusty tractor? Seriously?

 My daughter HAD to wear her Bell dress. Here she is peaking in a crack in a barn.

Vacation Complete

My glorious vacation is complete:( But, after being only a 3 1/2 hour drive from the Grand Canyon for almost 7 years, we FINALLY can say we have seen the Grand Canyon. Here are some shots I took with my Iphone. I have to say I am really really pleased with how they turned out!

This picture is totally cool. I didn't do anything to it in photoshop. The rocks just look circular here.

 I changed angles and zoomed out a little so you could see more

 And a great family shot with the Grand Canyon behind us.

Thanks for your patients! We had loads of fun!

The Rare Privilege

My mother in law sent me this book

Hillary Weeks has a great sense of humor, but in one of the more serious moments of her book, this caught my attention and I HAD to share it with you.

"I will spend eternity knowing [my child] as an adult. But tonight, right here, right now, and for the next few precious years, I have the rare privilege of knowing her as a child...For a brief moment during the journey of mortality, we get to watch them laugh, learn, experience, grow."

So, that is what we will be doing this week....my blogging sister is joining me at my home for one glorious week. Cousin sleep overs, making memories, laughing, giggling, swimming, site seeing, and just being a family. So please excuse us for a while as we enjoy "the rare privilege of knowing [them] as child[ren]."

Envelope System

Managing a successful budget can take time and patients. Also, a lot of discipline. I am not great at budgeting. See my budgeting motto has always been only spend money when necessary and buy everything on a really amazing sale or at a garage sell. It's worked fine because we have never been in unnecessary debt. We have tried a 'regular' budget where we write everything down, but I always forget to record everything and hubby doesn't always tell me what he has spent. So basically I needed to think outside of the box for our family.
I have had so many people tell me how they are able to save so much money with the envelope system. I thought I would try it; however, I have lost my wallet and purse more then I care to admit and I don't fill comfortable caring around that much cash.
Here is my solution. We use our credit card like a debit card and pay it off every month. That way we get the free perks from earning points (cash back in our case). So we make money by using our credit card instead of debit card.

I bought a note book and put these cute tabs on the side with the different categories for our budget.

I carry this little note book around in my purse where ever I go. But like the envelope system I have an allotted amount I can spend on each category. When that money is used up, we go without;) We do it week by week. This way takes a little more discipline, but doesn't require caring around so much cash.



















Every time I spend money I immediately (like still standing in the check out line immediately) write it down under the category.

Now for the fix for hubby. He's busy, he doesn't want a bulky note book in his pocket or white coat. Solution, every time he purchases something he texts me the amount and what category to put it under. Then I add it to the portable budget keeper;) And that's it. It works for us and doesn't require caring around a lot of cash. 

Love is in the Air

Hearts, candy, flowers, won't you be my valentine!?!
I just loved this quote so I decided to put it on a printable for you guys!
download 5X7 HERE
download 8X10 HERE

Magnetic Paint

In the mudroom I have this old window hanging that I've converted into a dry erase board and magnetic board.  On the dry erase side we write down things we need to buy.  On the magnetic side I keep the school lunch menu, the little school magnet with the years schedule, important things that week, etc.  On the shelf next to it I keep the dry erase markers and erasers in a candle holder.

Here's a list of things I've learned about this magnetic primer:

1.  You have to stir it a long time.  It is like sludge.  I had to stir sometimes even before I refilled the paint tray.  The metal flakes float to the bottom.
2. Foam roller works best.
3. Takes several coats.  Read the can it will tell you how many to do.  To many isn't good and not enough makes it not work. I did 4 on this window.
4. This is a primer so you can paint over the top.  Since it's dark it takes several layers.  The more layers of paint over it the weaker it gets.  Regular magnets wouldn't stay.   So I discovered these super tough magnets called Rare Earth Magnets.  They have magnets that have a pull of 6 lbs.  How cool is that!  Click on the green writing and it will take you to the website.  You can see all the fun sizes and shapes. 

Now I want to paint a spot above the desk with this magnetic paint covered with the wall color for notes, fun pictures of kids, and maybe the calendar.  Let me know what fun things you do with this paint.