Follow up!

This just in....dinner was yummy! I made spaghetti just in case but we didn't even want it beacause the lettuce wraps were so good! I just googled PF Chang lettuce wraps and this is the recipe I went with:

Wanna-be PF Chang’s Lettuce Wraps Recipe

Ingredients for pouring sauce:

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons gluten free tamari (or regular soy sauce if you’re not concerned about gluten)
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon hot water
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 2 cloves garlic, minced

Ingredients for stir-fry sauce:

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar

Ingredients for chicken stir-fry:

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed to 1/2″
• 1 – 8oz can sliced water chestnuts, minced to the size of corn kernals
• 1/2 cup mushrooms, minced to the size of corn kernals
• 1/2 onion, chopped fine
• 3 cloves garlic, minced fine
• 6 large leaves of iceberg lettuce or nappa cabbage

To make the pouring sauce:

1. In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in 1/2 cup warm water, then add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice and sesame oil. Mix well and throw in the fridge until you’re ready to eat.
2. Just before serving, combine 1 teaspoons hot water with dijon mustard and garlic and mix in small bowl. Add to the pouring sauce, 1/2 a teaspoon at time to taste.

To make the stir-fry sauce:

1. Prep the stir fry sauce by mixing soy sauce, brown sugar, and rice vinegar in a small bowl.

To make the chicken stir-fry:

1. Combine oils and add to wok or large frying pan. Heat oil over high heat until it glistens, about one minute. Add chicken and saute until mostly cooked through, about 5 minutes.
2. Turn the heat under the wok down to medium-high. Add another tablespoon of olive oil to the pan, wait one minute, and then add garlic, onions, water chestnuts, mushrooms, and the stir-fry sauce you prepared earlier. Stir-fry everything until the mushrooms have cooked through, about 4 minutes, and remove to a serving dish.
3. Serve stir-fry with iceberg lettuce or nappa cabbage leaf wraps and top with pouring sauce.

Variation: you can do the same thing with ground beef, if you like.

p.s. i dont like water chesnuts and only had regular vinegar and EVOO so i just subsitued

Beautiful Day!

   Well, today was my second day as a nurse! I haven't really got to start anything fun, just orientation! Also, I just scheduled my NCLEX and man I have never been so nervous! It is set for Feb. 24th at 2 pm! I need bunches of prayers for this one!!!!! I feel like I have prepared myself well, but I guess we will wait and see! All you hear about this bad boy is horror stories! And, not to mention, last semester NCLEX made the test harder! Yikes! I keep tellin myself, this is not something for me to worry about. I have given my worries to the Lord! SO, MOVE MOUNTAIN!!!! But anywho, on a lighter note, I'm home  before Jamie and decided to try something new for dinner, AGAIN! Pretty sure Jamie wishes I would just cook things I knew were good. But that's no fun! I have been craving PF Changs lettuce wraps really bad, so....I'm gonna try to make some. I probably should wait to post stuff until I see if it is good, but O well! :) I'm so excited! Maybe this will be yummy! By the way, the tuna noodle casserole in my last post was actually really good! :) Yay! Hoope you all have a happy evening!!! :)

Dinner Tonight

Well, once again, I am waiting on Jamie to get home from work and googled good ideas for supper! Maybe I found a good one! I try a lot of firsts and this is another, Tuna Noodle Casserole! I stay in my safe zone when cooking because I am afraid to make something we hate! So, usually, it's something like deer stir fry, chicken and dumpling, or spaghetti. But tonight I am venturing out! I got my recipe at  http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/mediterranean-tuna-noodle-casserole . I don't know how many times I have opened up a cook book and said, "Hmm, this looks good!" Turns out, it's usually not so good! I usually make a spare supper if I try something new! Hate to waste the food but if it's bad, it's just bad! Dogs have to eat too, right? :) Well, until next time! Toodle Loo!

My 1st blog!

  Ok....so i don't really know what someone should blog about, but I think this will be kind of like a scrap book for me!

  Here's a little about me...my name is Tara, I am married to a sweet guy named Jamie Childers, I just graduated from nursing school in December, I recently got a job in the Emergency Room at Sparks, I have an o so cool family, and I am just a normal girl trying to set a good example for others!

  So, Jamie is way cool! He is my other/better half and I don't know what I would do without him! We have been married for a year and a half. Time flies soo fast! Jamie is  a hard worker , an avid hunter/fisher, a good friend, and has recently started to love gardening! If you know Jamie, this is kind of a wierd thing! When you think of him, gardener doesn't pop to mind, but he actually has about 100 tomato plants in a green house as we speak! :) I am one blessed girl to get to live with him! He is such a calm and collected person with soo much patience! If you know me, then you know this is a great thing for my husband to have!! :) Jamie and I are different in so many ways and I think that is one of the reasons we mesh together so well.

  Since nursing school is over, I have been waiting patiently on my temporary license! My entire class has been waiting to start work until it comes in the mail. So, I have been a stay at home wife for about a month now! I don't like it as much as I thought I would. There is only so much cooking and cleaning a girl can do. I am so excited to have a job that is 3 days a week because I will get the chance to do stuff around the house and not get too bored all at the same time. On the other hand, I am scared to death to start working in the ER. I hope I get an awesome preceptor who wants to teach me the tricks of the trade and that I catch on quickly! I know that God wants to use me for something great, just don't really know what that might be quite yet! And maybe  ER experience is going to help with that something! :)

  Let's talk about family! I have the best! :) My mom, dad, brother, and sis are really close! My mom is great and is always there if I need something! I don't know how many times in the past year and a half I have called for a recipe! My dad is a one of a kind! He will help anyone do whatever they need and is a very hard worker! My lil bro is cool too! He is 19 and I just love that mean boy. Tyler and I have a love hate relationship and punch each other a lot! :) And my lil sis is soo cool herself! I think we will be best friends forever! We know each other maybe too well! She is a cheerleader and an awesome one at that!

  Not only are Jamie and I close to my family but his as well! I have great in-laws too! Jan and Pete are really cool too and seem like they have been in my family for way more than a year! I think a lot of times you really need your family to lean on! Not only do I belong to such a great family, but I also belong to a great church! I go to First Baptist Lavaca and love it!

Well, I think that's enough for my first blog! :)