Lettuce Wraps

*I used to eat these with my Korean momma all the time growing up. Love them! This a really versatile recipe, too. You can use tilapia, like I do, or any kind of fish or tuna, chicken or beef. Or no meat at all!

Lettuce leaves

Rice

Soy Sauce

Sriracha Sauce

Hot Pepper Paste

Gorton's Tilapia

Cook rice and tilapia, according to directions. Rinse and separate lettuce leaves. Once rice is done, season with a little soy sauce, to your liking. After fish is cooked, flake with a fork.

To Assemble:

Take one leaf of lettuce and spread some pepper paste on it. Top with a spoon full of rice, then with a small amount of tilapia. Squeeze on some Sriracha, fold lettuce over and EAT!

Here's pictures of the sauce, paste and fish that I used for this recipe.

Mini Pizzas

Mini Pizzas

Heat oven to 350.

Sauce:

6 Ounce can tomato paste

6 ounces HOT water

1 tbs honey

2 tsp minced garlic

2 tbs cup grated parmesan

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp marjoram

1/2 tsp Oregano

1/2 tsp Basil

Pepper to taste

Cayenne to taste

Mix all sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. Let sit and allow flavors to meld while assembling remaining ingredients.

Pizzas

1 package English Muffins

1/4 cup olive oil

1 package diced pepperoni

Mozzarella cheese

Slice each muffin in half. Place muffin halves on baking sheet and brush with olive oil. Let muffins cook about 10 minutes, or until slightly crispy to the touch. Remove from oven. Switch oven to broil. Top with spoonful of sauce, pepperoni and cheese. Return to oven and broil until cheese is browned.

Serve with leftover sauce for dipping.

FYI: This recipe works just as well with thin bagels. Just up the oven to 400 and spread with garlic butter.

Sourdough Burgers

*These taste kinda like meatloaf burgers, but we really liked it! Definitely a nice change of pace from our usual burgers!

Sourdough Burgers

1 1/2 pounds ground beef (80/20 is best for burgers)

1 egg

3/4 cup bread crumbs

3 tbs evaporated milk

2 tbs Worcestershire

1/2 tsp cayenne

2 tsp minced garlic

Beat egg in large mixing bowl, then add rest of ingredients and mix well by hand.

Form into 8 equal patties and set aside. Heat griddle over med-high heat, lightly oiled.

Cook patties (4 at a time) for about 5mins per side, or until done to your liking. I like mine a little crispy since the patties are so moist.

Place cooked patties into a toaster oven set on KEEP WARM while you finish the rest of the steps.

Sourdough Bread

Bacon

Tomatoes, thinly sliced

Swiss cheese

Melted butter

Mayonnaise

Ketchup

Fry/Bake/Nuke bacon 'til crispy. You'll want 1-2 slices per burger.

Layer slices of bread in oven and cook at 350 'til crispy, about 5mins. After they are crisped to your liking, brush with melted butter.

Once bacon is done cooking, take your patties and top with swiss cheese, nuke for 15 secs to melt cheese.

Place bread, buttered side down, on your plate. Top with patty, tomato, bacon and mayonnaise and ketchup. Top with second piece of sourdough, butter side up.

Serve with fries.

Bella's 2 year checkup

Easiest appointment ever. LOL Spend a good chunk of the morning telling Bella that we were going to see the doctor this afternoon and that she was going to weigh her and measure her and poke her belly and listen to her heart... Basically just keeping the idea that going to the doctor was just like going to the library or the commissary, no big deal, just something we had to do.

Since I was able to get her down for an early nap, she woke up at 12:15 and we headed out at 12:45 so we could drop Lee off at 1pm at his office. My appointment wasn't until 1:40, but I like showing up early. I've never been late to anything by arriving early, you know? LOL

Well, good thing we did show up early! After parking way far away, and Bella having to examine damn near every blade of grass and having to stop every time a plane flew overhead (uh, Air Force base, so like every 2 minutes!) for Bella to say, "Oooooooh! I see plane!", we got into the clinic at say 1:10. Quick bathroom stop to make sure Bella hadn't pooped. b/c that's just embarrassing! LOL And then to the clinic only to see a sign that the Pediatrics Clinic has moved. Where? Who knows! No other signage! Anywhere! Luckily, I was talking to Bella about how we were just going to wander around and see if we could find someone to ask, when some other mom overheard me (no hard feat!) and told us where to go. Whew! I knew that they were adding onto the base hospital and I guess they decided to move the pediatrics clinic, too. Now I know. :) So, we have to walk all around the clinic again, get coats back on, go outside to the main entrance of the new wing of the hospital, and find our way to the clinic. And of course, there's always new paperwork to have to fill out! By now it's about 1:20, so we're actually ontime since every appt on base, you have to arrive 15mins prior.

After the quickest check-up ever, we were out the door. :) I don't mind quickie check ups when the doc seems to be knowledgable and it's quick due to the fact that I have an awesome baby. :)

Height

35 inches (83rd percentile)

Weight

28 1/2 pounds (72nd percentile)

Head Circumference

19 inches (78th percentile)

Kimchi Fried Rice

Kimchi Fried Rice

1 cup cooked white rice

Kimchi, diced

Vegetable oil

Sauce

1/4 cup Soy sauce

Sesame oil, just a drizzle

Sesame seeds

Lemon juice, just a squirt

Rice vinegar, splash

Red pepper flakes

1 tsp Garlic, minced

1/2 tsp ground Ginger

Scallions (optional)

Heat 3tbls vegetable oil over med-high heat in large frying pan or wok. Wait until it's super hot (flick a droplet of water in it and make sure it sizzles). Add in 1 cup cooked rice. Fry one minute. Add diced kimchi, plus some of the liquid from the jar. Continue frying for 2-3 mins.

Combine all Sauce ingredients, whisk well. (Just play with the amounts of spices until you get it perfect for how you like it.)

Remove fried rice, serve with sauce.

Or, roll in sheets of seaweed and dip in sauce, my fave way to eat kimchi fried rice!

Chicken Fingers and Oven Baked Potato Wedges

Chicken Fingers and Oven Baked Potato Wedges

9 Chicken Tenderloins

6 oz Italian Dressing

4 medium potatoes

1 cup breadcrumbs

1 cup Parmesan

S & P

Garlic Powder

Olive Oil

Marinate chicken in Italian dressing at least 1 hour, or overnight. I let mine defrost in the dressing.

Heat oven to 425.

Scrub potatoes and slice into wedges, leaving the skins on. Place into large plastic bag. Pour in about 1/8-1/4 cup oil (vegetable or olive, your choice), some S&P, garlic powder, and 1/4 cup each Parmesan and Bread Crumbs. Add a squirt of Italian dressing, if you like, Shake well to coat.

On a plate, mix 1/4 cup bread crumbs and 1/4 cup parmesan. Take each wedge and press lightly into breadcrumbs, so they stick and form a nice crust. Place in single layer on foil lined cookie sheet, sprayed with Pam, or lightly oiled. Place in oven to bake for 20 mins while prepping chicken.

Pour remaining breadcrumbs and parmesan onto plate, coat each chicken tenderloin and place on another foil lined cookie sheet, sprayed with Pam, or lightly oiled.

Place into oven with potatoes, reduce heat to 375. Cook 15 mins, or until cooked through.

Serve with Ranch dressing.

Chicken Quesadillas

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Chicken Quesadilas

1 can fully cooked Tyson Chicken

6 flour tortillas

1/2 can Low Sodium Cream of Chicken soup

Mexican blend cheese

Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

Paprika

Oregano

Cayenne (or Red Pepper Flakes)

Pepper

Cumin

Combine chicken, soup, seasonings (add to your liking, but watch it with the cumin, a little goes a long way, and don't add salt. The chicken is already pretty salty.) with a splash of water. Heat over medium-low heat until warmed through.

Spray skillet with Pam, place tortilla in skillet over medium heat. Spread one spoonful of chicken mixture on 1/2 of tortilla. Top with small amount of cheese. Slide tortilla around gently to prevent burning. Fold tortilla in half when nicely browned. Will cook pretty fast, so keep on eye on it.

Slice with pizza cutter into wedges and serve with salsa.

Baked Spaghetti

Baked Spaghetti

1 pound thin spaghetti

16 oz tomato sauce

12 oz tomato paste

1 cup water

1 pound hot sausage

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

2 cups mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup butter

Parsley

Minced garlic

Oregano

Basil

Brown Sugar

Italian Seasoning

S & P

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a casserole dish with Pam.

Boil noodles according to package directions. Add salt and 1/2 tsp minced garlic.

While noodles are cooking, brown sausage in large pot with 1 tsp minced garlic.

Add tomato paste, sauce and water to browned sausage. Season to liking, making sure to add about 2 teaspoons of brown sugar to cut the acidity of the tomato sauce.

While sauce is simmering, drain noodles, toss with butter, parmesan, Italian seasonings and parsley.

Pour into casserole dish.

Top with meat sauce.

Sprinkle cheese on top.

Bake 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted.