Lumpia

I may not be Filipino, but this Filipino dish holds special memories for me, of my childhood. I remember every year, our church would have a bazaar. One church family always sold their specialty... Lumpia. You could buy it frozen, by the dozen, or have them cook one up fresh for you, right there on the spot. I used to look forward to the church bazaars for this reason alone.. okay, the stuffed animal table also excited me.. lol

You can imagine my surprise and excitement, when my Mom was able to obtain the recipe from Mrs. Oi. Jackpot! We could now make these yummy creations at home; and we did. Years later, as an adult, I once again got a craving for Lumpia, and went to my Mom for the recipe. Sadly, she didn't know where it was, so we improvised, trying to remember the ingredients. I do not know if the recipe I now use, is the same as the Oi's used, but to me, they taste the same. I also do not have exact measurements, for it's more of just sight and feel. But I will share it with you... you will be hooked!

I believe that a traditional Lumpia calls for ground pork.. I, however, use ground beef. First you want to brown your meat. I suggest cooking it over a low heat, for you need to break it down into very small pieces. Once it's brown, you may add soy sauce to taste. Depending on how much meat I have, will decide how much soy sauce I use. Today, I browned 2 pounds of beef, and used about 1/4 a bottle of soy sauce.

You will also need carrots, celery, water chestunuts, bok choy, and bean sprouts. For my 2 lbs of meat, I diced about 4 large carrots, 1/2 package of celery, 2 cans of sliced water chestnuts. I also used the leaves of 2 bok choy heads (sliced thin), and one can of bean sprouts (I like to use fresh sprouts, but couldn't find them). Once your meat is brown, add your celery, carrots and water chestnuts. I just put handfuls in. Stir until well blended with the meat.

Once your mixture is well stirred, and has cooked for at least 2 minutes, add your sprouts and then your bok choy. Just pile the bok choy on top, and stir.. it will reduce.. promise!

See! told you!

Here are the Lumpia wrappers I use. It takes a patient person to seperate all the wrappers. A word of advice.. they come frozen. Thaw them overnight before you try to use them. Keep them in the fridge until you are ready to use. Once they warm up, they are more difficult to work with. You can also find the wrappers that are individually wrapped. They cost more money, but if you are really impatient, it may be worth it! lol

Okay, on to the folding. Before you begin to actually roll your Lumpia, let your mixture cool for about 20 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to scoop a small amount of the mixture onto the shell. The shells are pretty thin, and if you don't use a slotted spoon, you will saturate the shell.. which, I'm sure I don't need to say, makes a mess. You only need a little bit of mixture on each shell.. Place it towards the bottom.

Next, roll the bottom up, and over once.

Bring your sides in, and continue to roll up.

Seal the end of the wrapper to the roll by brushing on a bit of water.

Voila!

(I'm sure there are many ways to roll the wrappers, but this is the easiest for me)

To cook:

A nonstick pan and peanut oil is the best. You don't need much oil, just enough to cover the bottom of your Lumpia, as it cooks. Cook on medium heat.

When Lumpia is a nice golden color on both sides, place on papertowels to drain.

Now eat and enjoy! I love to dip mine in a sweet and sour sauce! :)

Happy Earth Day!

Trying to figure out what to do with two, 2 year olds for Earth Day, wasn't easy.. They don't really understand the meaning of the day, or all of the things that go along with it. So I decided just to keep it simple for them. I found a cute little 'grow a tree' kit at Target.. in their $1 section at the front of the store. Came with a soil pellet and seeds.. PERFECT! Also found some coloring sheets online, and printed those out. I told them that all the trees, plants and flowers, help our earth, and help keep us healthy (they don't understand about allergies yet.. haha). After naptime, we will take a walk and pick up trash.

Wildlife in the backyard

When we moved into our house, back in the Spring of 1998, we immediately noticed alot of wildlife shared our living space... at least outdoors! We had an opposum, squirrels galore, various species of birds, chipmunks, and a turtle. Hannah turned a year old soon after we moved in. We have pictures (which I will have to dig up) of her with this turtle, which the girls later named, "Crush". Seemingly from the movie, Finding Nemo. Every year, Crush comes out of hiding, delighting the girls when they find him. This year, Amanda is joining in the fun, and we've included Cece, a little girl I watch during the day. I allow the girls to keep Crush for a couple of days, but outside. They house him in a baby pool, and provide him with water, shade, and grass. They give him lettuce and other veggies, as well.









I've decided to use Crush as a learning tool this year. Amanda, Cece and I will learn what wild turtles like to eat, what kind of plants they live off, etc. I've already identified it as an Eastern Box Turtle. Not sure yet, whether it's male or female, but working on it. It seems to have found a place in the yard, near the fence, thatit prefers. It has dug into the wet soil a bit, so that it's nose is in the ground. We have been checking on Crush every day. Poor turtle has to deal with our dog, as well. lol 'It' seems to be doing pretty well, considering!

***Just edited to include a picture of Hannah and Becca with 'Crush', many years ago!

In addition, we have a bird making a nest in one of our smaller trees, so we are going to watch the progress of the nest, and look forward to the upcoming baby birds!! Last year, we had a nest in the very same spot, which did produce some baby birds. I'm guessing it's the same bird. Here's our observation of the nest today. Still on the small side, not quite ready for move in!

Click Clack, Quackity Quack!

Today I put on my brave suit, and took Amanda Joy to the library, for storytime. Let's just say that Amanda isn't the type of child that you can take out in public easily. She's not bad, she's just very spirited, and likes to do things her way. Maybe stubborn and independant is a better description! In addition, she isn't quiet. LOL I figured since this was a storytime for 2 year olds, she wouldn't be the only one to wander around the room, or talk during the story. We met up with Christy and her daughter, Ava, who is a few months older than Amanda. To my surprise, Amanda did REALLY WELL! She stayed by my side the entire time. Seemed to enjoy watching all the other kids, but didn't sing any of the songs herself. Once we were back in the car, however, she started singing, "If you're happy and you know it..." I was pleasantly surprised by her good behavior, and am looking forward to taking her again, next week! She was most proud of the book she got to bring home.. Click Clack, Quackity Quack!

It's been a while..

I've been on blogging hiatus, I guess you could say.. bitten by the Facebook bug that seemed to take over most of my online time. However, lately I have seemed to miss the blog. Thankfully, Blogger didn't delete me, and I am still here.. which, to my delight, saves me a lot of time since I don't need to create a new one. So for now, at least, I am back.

I'm not sure what I will write about. Don't think I will adhear to any certain format, or outline, but instead, think I will write about daily life. Most of the time I feel that life is pretty boring.. same thing day in, and day out, but surely with 3 kids, I will find something to write about. Especially since one of them is an extremely active toddler. Between life with a toddler, life with an almost teenager, and life with a teen, (both of which, play sports), I shouldn't have to dig too deeply to pull out some words. Of course, if words fail me, I always have my pictures... and I take a lot! Bewarned! ;)