I don’t like to enjoy my yard… I like to work in it… at the beginning of spring I get almost giddy… I make lists of jobs, then I go do the jobs… then I notice more jobs that need doing… I put them on the list… then I do them and cross them off the list…
if the list looks like it’s not long enough, I either buy something from Costco online or Ikea that we have to assemble just to add another job to the list…
there is something thrilling about seeing the job on the list and then doing it and then crossing it off… addictive really… and if you know anything about me… ‘bit of an addict’… (I like to through ‘bit’ in there so it’s not so harsh)
the farmer will play in the yard… baseball, football, monster on the trampoline, ‘horse’ on the basketball court… I like to pick rocks off the pavement pad and re-seed dead spots on the lawn while he does this…
deck staining was in order today… due to the fact that it was over 30 degrees out on May 4… kinda fun to set a record for the earliest I have even treated the decks… really felt like a winner…
my deck staining skills are poor to terrible… I have followed the rules, taken advice, read the instructions and every single time my decks are sticky… they never set… until now…
and I am giving all the credit to this brush… life changing really… Simms 5″ brush that you put on a telescoping handle and then think to yourself ‘where have you been my whole life?’…
I don’t want to write about it anymore… words cannot begin to express my love for this brush… I bought 5 of them and plan to buy more… just in case there is a rush on them or they go out of business…
just try it… or if you have tried it… don’t speak to me because you didn’t tell me about it and I’ll be mad at you…
the gorgeous weather and deck staining left very little time to get supper ready… I started at 3:45 pm and had it done by 6…. so this is a good meal plan for someone who works (other than deck staining) and only has 2 hours to whip together a supper… for 10…
I did have a plan… Asian… this is another weird quirk about my personality… I like to theme meals (or outfits) if at all possible…
vinaigrette in a mason jar is super easy, cheap, healthy and oh so good…
asian cucumber green chickpea salad
Ingredients:
For the dressing:
- 1/2 cup soya sauce
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 4 tbsp green onion, chopped
- 2 tbsp black sesame seeds (or plain sesame seeds)
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
For the salad:
- 2 large English cucumbers, julienned
- 2 cups frozen green chickpeas
- 2 red bell peppers, thinly sliced
- 2 yellow bell peppers, thinly sliced
- 4 large carrots, peeled and julienned
- 1/2 small red cabbage, thinly sliced
Directions:
- make the dressing in a medium mason jar and shake well
- in a large bowl, combine the ingredients for the salad
- pour the dressing and toss well
- salad is best cold
have you ever had a day where everything is working out perfectly and you start to find it a bit creepy? spooky? like you might still be asleep?
morning run went well… kids were good getting on the bus… I went to pressure wash the decks and I started the pressure washer first try… all three times… (this has never happened)…
and then when I quickly went to the local store to pick up a few items… there were packages of Udon noodles… just sitting there in the cooler… calling my name…
I bought all of them… mostly because my daughter has been craving these for awhile now and I have not seen them anywhere else…
but I was still a little weirded out by how the day was going… it was like the very few experiences I have had playing basketball when every shot went in… in fact I distinctly remember this happening twice… but when I shot I knew it was going in…
Steph Curry type of day…
Sienna and I found no instructions with the noodles… so we made our own up… she was in charge… she cut open the packages… massaged them under hot water… and the divided them up into the supper containers… awaiting their toppings…
she also ate enough to make herself a tad bit ill…
chicken with oyster sauce and cashews
Ingredients:
- 1 cup soya sauce
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 4 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 6 tbsp canola oil
- 8 chicken breasts (thawed, patted dry and cut into chunks)
- kosher salt
- 1/4 cup garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp ginger, grated
- 2 green bell peppers, chopped
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 4 tbsp cornstarch (in 1/2 cup cold water)
- 1 can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
- 2 cups unsalted cashews
- 4 (454 g) packages Udon noodles (Shanghai Noodles)
- chopped green onions
Directions:
- in a bowl, mix soya sauce, vinegar, sugar, oyster sauce, sesame oil and canola oil
- set this aside
- in a large skillet or wok over high heat add chicken in two batches (once the second batch is cooked, add the first batch back in with it)
- brown the chicken and cook thoroughly, adding a bit of water as you go if the pan gets too dry
- add garlic and ginger and cook for a few minutes
- add green peppers and cook for a few minutes
- add chicken broth, cook and then turn heat down to add the cornstarch in the water
- take off the heat and add the cashews and water chestnuts to the thickened mixture
- serve immediately over the udon noodles, which you have taken out of the packages and in a strainer ran hot water over and pulled apart
- top with green onions if you have some
I need to include a side note here… I cut the ginger into little sticks because I thought it looks nice… bit of a bite and unless you love ginger like that… grate it… I picked it out of the dishes before I sent them to the field…
other note… oyster sauce is the bomb…
now… if you are waiting for dessert pictures… just scroll on back to seeding meal #2 when I made some little cream cheese things that took me 5 hours… I had frozen them and let them thaw today and put Smucker’s caramel sauce on them… leftover dessert… perfect for on a 30 degree day…
i feed a farmer 