He's on the move!

Well, it has happened. Isaiah is crawling. He figured it out this past week. Actually, he figured it out last Wednesday night. Wednesday we were at the library. I got the two older kids situated at a computer, Tony and I had our books out, and I sat Isaiah on the ground near me and his bottle about 5 feet away from him on the ground. Next thing I knew, he crawled over to it and attacked it! He drug himself the last foot or so, but since then his technique has been good. How do babies do that? Isn't God amazing!? I mean, nobody shows a baby how to crawl, they just do it! So cool!

I can't bring home the bacon

Tony works hard and provides well for our family. I don't make money being a mom, but I can save his hard earned money. I like being thrifty and finding ways to make the $ stretch.

Here's some of the things I do:

~ wait to wash until there is a full load (laundry or dishes)
~ use coldest water possible
~ don't use as much soap as suggested on laundry detergent bottle. Test to see how much you can really use and still get your clothes clean.
~ tear fabric softening sheets in half. Half a sheet still works just as well and you get twice as much out of a box.
~Cut napkins in half. The generic brand Homelife has really hefty napkins and 1/2 a napkin works fine. Plus the kids enjoy the task of cutting up the napkins.


What do you do to save money?

Potstickers

Tonight for supper we had potstickers (or gyoza as we learned from our missionary friends to China). This is a really good recipe from America's Test Kitchen.

Potstickers

3 c napa cabbage
3/4 t salt
3/4 lb ground pork
6 T minced green onion
1/8 t black pepper
4 t soy sauce
1 1/2 t grated fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
24 gyoza wrappers

Toss chopped cabbage and salt in colander and set over bowl. Let stand until cabbage begins to wilt, about 20 min. Press to squeeze out extra moisture. Combine cabbage and all other filling ingredients in bowl and mix thoroughly. Cover and chill at least 20 min and up to 24 hrs.

Place one rounded teaspoon of filling in middle of wrapper. Moisten edge of wrapper with water. Fold each wrapper in half, starting in center and working toward outside edges, pinch edges together firmly to seal, pressing out any air pockets. Add a few pleats to make pretty. Place on a tray in a single layer and keep covered with a moist towel to keep from drying out.

Add 2 teaspoons of oil to a skillet. Arrange 1/2 of dumplings in skillet lying flat on one side. All seams facing same direction. Place skillet over med-high heat and cook without moving, until dumplings are golden brown on bottoms, about 5 min. Turn each dumpling over and brown 2nd side, about 5 min. Reduce heat to low, add 1/2 cup of water and cover immediately. Cook, covered, until most of water is absorbed and wrappers are slightly translucent, about 10 min. Uncover and increase heat to med-high; cook without stirring until dumplings are crisp again, about 3-4 min. Serve immediately with dipping sauce.





Dipping Sauce
1/4 c soy sauce
2 T rice vinegar
2 T water
1/2 t sesame oil
1 minced green onion


This recipe made enough for 4 skillet-fulls (is that a word?) And the wrappers and the filling freeze well.

Mini Coopers

In our hallway are 3 pictures of Evan that i took about 4 years ago. Before the other 2 kids start to wonder why mom and dad don't put up pictures of them, I thought I'd better give them all some face time. So yesterday I took pictures of each of them. They turned out fine on the computer, but Addie's is the only one that will print right. So now Addie is the only picture in the hallway. Maybe we'll just change which mini cooper we spotlight in the hallway every 3 years or so.

Vietnamese Carmel Chicken

I haven't made this dish in quite a while, probably almost a year now. That's because it is so easy to mess up the sauce. I always had trouble keeping the sugar from crystallizing, but I heard a tip on Good Eats (i think) that by adding corn syrup to the sugar that you are caramelizing it will keep it from forming crystals. And it worked! So here it is...

Vietnamese Caramel Chicken

sauce-
3/4 c sugar
2 T corn syrup
1/4 c water
2 T soy sauce
10 dashes sesame oil

Chicken-
4-6 frozen chicken breasts
salt and pepper
4 T fresh ginger chopped (if you can't find fresh, I've used crystallized ginger too)
2 T garlic, chopped
4 green onions (white part)
pinch of red pepper flakes
fresh basil
fresh cilantro
green onion (green part)


Over med-high heat, pour sugar in the middle of a high-sided sauce pan. Pour 1/4c water around edge.


This is where you will be tempted to stir the sugar into the water, but you can't! I know you're thinking, "I bet nothing would happen if I stirred the sugar," but you'd be wrong! This is where the sugar could crystallize. You don't want the sugar to touch the sides of the pan. Once the middle mound of sugar has soaked up water, you can add the corn syrup and wait for it all to boil.


After about 5-10 min it should look like this.
















Now you need to get your 1/3 c water ready. You can't walk away from this sauce because once it starts to turn caramel color it gets dark fast and if it gets too dark it tastes burnt. You just want a nice mahogany color. As soon as it's the color above, turn off the heat and add the 1/3c water. Be careful! It will spatter! So turn your head away while you add the water. Once it has quit spitting at you you can add the soy sauce and the sesame oil. Set aside.

Now for the chicken.....
Heat 1 T of oil in a skillet and brown the chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Once it has browned on one side you can add the garlic, white onion, ginger, and red pepper. Once the chicken is cooked through you can pour the sauce over the chicken and simmer for 10-15 min turning the chicken every couple minutes to soak up the sauce color.
Garnish with green onion, cilantro, and basil.
Serve with rice.

Not a sky in the cloud!

Yesterday was a cloudy day. On the way to church I heard Addie say to Evan, "Evan, look how cloudy it is. There's not a sky in the cloud". That made the cloudy day seem brighter.

Threshold

Come on in! Welcome to my humble ablog. Housewifery refers to the function or work of a housewife. My work includes taking care of my husband, kids and our home. I'm hoping this blog will be a good place for me to keep track of the funny things my kids say that I always think, "I should write that down", but never do. And it will also be a place for me to keep track of recipes so I can add variety to my meals. I seem to get stuck on the same 7 recipes and can never remember what I used to cook. I'm also hoping it will be a fun way for family members to keep in touch. So feel free to stop by anytime and see what's going on in our house. And please leave a comment!