Build your owns... what do you do...

Answer me these four things please. With summer here, there will be a lot of build your owns. Ahhhhhhh, what is that? What is I referring to. I like to bbq a lot during the summer to keep the house cool. With that in mind, we do a lot of carne asada on the grill.... (to die for... for sure)!!!! Be we also do a lot of grilled chicken breasts and hamburgers, and eat them with a salad. With this in mind... tell me what is on your build your owns...

Me... let my opinion count please as I have some gained poundage that should carry some clout around this place....

Burger! For my favorite... I would say...

Hamburger patty cooked medium. (yes I am well aware of the dangers... thank you... grinning)
sauteed mushrooms and onions
pepper jack cheese... (is it pepper jack, or pepperjack???)
avocado
lettuce
tomato
raw red onion
mayo
and A1 sauce..... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...... so good....

My chicken sandwich

Chicken breast grilled... (I will like this one well thank you very much)
Avocado
Pepperjack... (since I spelled it pepper jack last time, just putting a little excitement into this)
Lettuce
Tomato
Mayo


Salad... (I am the salad Goddess of Salem is all I have to say on this one~ BEWARE)

I like a combo of spinach leaves and bib lettuce. It has to be fresh, fresh, fresh!!!

Then add the following
Diced or cherry tomatoes
Avocados... (a staple in my kitchen)
Honey roasted sunflower seeds (notice I said honey roasted, it is the key here)
Dried craisins
Raisins
Sometimes a few dried cherries
Diced pear
Sliced red onion
and... add a sweet dressing like poppy seed or mango... something exotic perhaps...
OH.... and crisp bacon bits... no imitation, slap that bacon on the rack and broil it til it is crisp and crumple it up... add a few croutons. So good....


A few salads I am fond of as well that I make...

Spinach with fresh strawberries, mandarin oranges, boiled egg wedges, red onion slices, crumbled up bacon, mushrooms and sprouts... the big ones, not the little wimpy angel hair kind. I also like to add honey roasted sunflower seeds or almonds to my spinach salad.

Broccoli salad...

Chinese chicken salad...

Southwestern Ceasar Salad


YOUR TURN!!!!

Red Beans and Rice so good...

Not too often do I just love something from a fast food chain, that makes me want to eat it often. I must tell you that I have to resist turning into Popeye's chicken each time I pass it due to my fixation of their red beans and rice. AUHHHHHHH.... and if I do pass it, I want to do a u-turn to get me back. I like them that much! NO JOKE. So I have dabbled a bit and have come up with my own version. I am thinking I am pretty close.... but... would still stop there anytime for them.

I just cook my rice in a rice cooker and I add a little bit more water than usual... as I like our rice kind of sticky for this recipe. I add half water and half chicken broth as I just like that flavor, and I also add about a half tsp of garlic powder to the broth mixture and about 2 TBLS of butter. (And I wonder why my butt is so... just forget it...)

2 cans of red beans (don't drain)
1 can kidney beans (drain but reserve the liquid)
4 shakes of tabasco (more if you are daring)
1/2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 capfuls of liquid smoke
1 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbls. butter
1/2 tsp. pepper


Pour everything into your pot that you are going to cook with. Stir and let boil for approximately 10 minutes.
I smash mine with a potato masher. Some people like to keep all the beans whole. I do not. I like to smash them as when you do the beans become starchy and will start to thicken on their own. I turn the heat down to medium at this point of them cooking.

I smash about half to three forths of the beans and let them simmer for about 20 minutes or so. They thicken as they cook so you need to be careful and continue to strir now and then so they don't burn... (another reason to turn them down. Serve over rice.

I serve mine with enchiladas and corn... but also with fried chicken and macaroni. I do make a mean macaroni too... so my kids say. Five kinds of cheese... again another reason my butt grows.
Enjoy!!!!
S

Homemade Guacamole... YUM!!!

2 ripe avacados (not too ripe, you don't want them mushy)
1 roma tomato diced
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 small onion diced
splash lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
three shakes of tabasco sauce
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup of sour cream



I smash my avocado with an old pastry blender. I want chunks left in my guacamole, but some do not. I then add all ingredients except for the sour cream and lemon juice. Mix well.

At this point stir in your lemon juice to keep it from turning brown.

Add in your sour cream... you will not taste the sour cream flavor, but it will help give you more guacamole and not be so expensive. It makes it creamier as well and more appealing to the eye. I also learned a trick from my sister. Store the pits from the avocado in the guacamole and it will keep it green longer.

Enjoy. Disclaimer... I was making up measurements. Play around with this... this is a basic recipe but I don't do measurements well... ha.... just keep playing with it to tweek it to your liking.

Can there be Asian Princesses??

There isn't a ton of things in life that bother me. Well... I am wrong... there are a few. One of them is the fact that people think that I adopted my daughter. Don't get me wrong here folks... I stand behind adoption 100%, and feel that people are so blessed that adoption is available for people. Heck, there may be a day that I want to adopt. I would not mind another child. I wouldn't mind a playmate for Car... but, for now... I enjoy her completely. When we went to see G in the hospital after his surgery, there was a little lady standing in the elevator. She looked at Car and looked at me and said, *where did you get her?* Come on now!!!!!???? REALLY??? I smiled politely and said, I don't understand. (I really did understand, just playing stupid in hopes she would get my point if she listened to her words... PS... I don't like playing stupid) She smiled and said, my niece is from China, where did you get her? At those moments, I wish to God something smart and witty would just fall out of my mouth... but I feel at a loss at those moments. At least they don't think that I am her grandma any longer and that Amanda is her mom. REALLY???? HA!

What this woman doesn't understand that she is sending a message to my daughter that she stands out in a crowd or does not belong. That could be in such a manner as she doesn't look like me... or... it is obvious that she is Asian American. To me that is rude. I simply think it is uncalled for. On that, I could say that she was elderly. I did not however, point out the fact that she was elderly. It is just life, we are who we are... you know what I mean???

So... for the record... My daughter is Asian American. I am the proud mother of a little girl that is Asian American. I gave birth to my daughter. I can tell you the story of my labor with her... how they took her over a month early thinking I was having a stroke... or how I knew it would be a normal birth since I had normal (vaginal... can I say vaginal in a blog? I guess so... GRIN) birth so when they told me not to eat anything while in labor I didn't listen. I was sending my two older kids to the little snack bar to buy me food and crystal light. It was super bowl Sunday so it was easy to eat the food with nobody noticing as they were ignoring me and watching a football game in my room.... no problem... more food for me. Fruit Loops and crystal light. After 13 being induced at 7am in the morning and being in labor all day and no progression of her being born, even after popping the water bag, they came in when they saw that my bp was stroke level, and they said I would be holding my baby within 30 minutes and then the room filled with people prepping me while my husband went to gown up. I was trying to calm the older kids, especially Amanda, as they really wanted to be there when she was born... something they looked forward to for months... and now ... THIS? Poor kids... and all I kept thinking is Holy Crud... I just ate fruit loops all day long. What the heck am I going to do.... they are surely going to know. OOOOOOHHHHH... stop.... I am sitting here talking to you in an elevator, and don't even really know you... must I feel the need to tell you the story of my birth... or how we had to stay for nearly two weeks as she was in ICU and stopped breathing one night... etc.... ah.... just forget it.

The fact of the matter is... plain and simple... I married a man that is Japanese American. That is where she gets the coloring of her skin, and her cute eyes shaped differently than mine, and that long silky black hair. Her nose is not long and thin like mine... is is cute... like a little button. But if you must know... she looks a lot like me at that age too, despite the obvious, she still looks like me. In fact she looks more like me than the older two, who are not Asian American. Go figure.

This now brings me to a story that still makes me teary. For sis's first birthday we were meeting a lot of people for dinner at Kwon's for dinner. We were so excited. People were invited... presents bought... we were anticipating the great day. I went to Costco to order her a cake. They do make the best cakes you know... you must try one if you have not... my favorite is the carrot cake... so good. So... we looked though the cake designes... and there it was...what I needed... a princess cake. Our daughter, the princess needed a princess cake. I stood by the side for a moment trying to get an employees attention. He came over. I asked how I would write it in the form for them to understand that I wanted the frosting tinted to a light brown color and the hair to be black. He said very matter of factly... we don't do that. I said, surely you could do that... you have chocolate frosting just add a smidgen of it into the frosting to make it look darker... easy peasy mac and cheesy as Carlie would say. He said, no, we don't do that. I said, I want to have this princess cake for my daughter's birthday and you will not make it resemble her even a little bit???? I left there defeated.

G did a lot of research in our area, which was not difficult due to his position. He found the number of people in our community that are of color. Not a large percentage but significant enough for them to meet the needs of them as well. Come on, not only are we all consumers, but we are all people... humans... equality... or am I wrong here? Am I way off base? He sent the letter in to the founder and CEO of Costco. He immediately got ahold of G and told him that this is not a way that Costco conducts business and that he would make sure that the situation is resolved by having the manager of our Costco call and fix the situation. He did within a day or two. G put me on the phone to talk to him since G was not there when this happened. He asked me... was there not a color on the color chart that matched her skin close enough. WHAT??? Are you kidding... what color chart. I was not told of a color chart. This is frustrating now. He explained that what should have happened is a color chart should have been presented and we could choose from that what color was best. WELL Fantastic. That is what we wanted... to make sure that princesses didn't just have to come in the form of being caucasion. We were satified with this. This one man made a mistake... not Costco corporation. Fast forward to the following years. I am shopping for her birthday cake... Costco really does have the best cakes... lol.... and I ask for the color chart... they all look at me like I am crazy. Back to the drawing board. UHHHHHH....

Let me close this by simply saying... I gave birth to my daughter... read previous paragraphs... and... she is my little princess, as you don't have to be caucasion to be a princess....

Smiles and Miracle Mondays...

Time for a blog hop on what made you smile!!!! Many people don't like Mondays... ***Capeesh*** so I thought Mondays would be a good day on our new blog for others to post either a photo or perhaps a blog entry they ran across this week that they would like to share. We all need smiles... and the more we share the better we feel... so go ahead... share your smiles with us today. And for me I will add some photos I ran across last night while looking and clearing some old photo cards getting them ready for the coast.

We teach our kids that *Ohana* aka *family* goes beyond blood lines.
These photos make me smile as Carlie has grown so much in the past year. These are some special people in her love line, Ohana.
Scott and Car and a spring function at the college. Nicole teaching Car new tricks... hah... caught again. Sabrina and Carlie playing... Carlie is Sabrina's mini me I think. Carlie with her third favorite guy (after her dad and brother) Kevin... (she still thinks she will marry him one day. HA We still laugh to hear her say it.) Car and her Auntie Terrie (Carlie's Godmother and a spectacular woman and nobody will ever take the place of her kindness and caring she shows Carlie). and Carlie with her good friend on stage at the luau. She pulled Carlie on stage to hula last year and this is her telling Carlie she won the contest. So precious.

So give me your smiles from last week. It can be articles... or posts... or recipes... Can't wait!

Bacon and Zucchini Stir Fry

I really love G's mom. She is the sweetest lady and a fantastic cook still and she is in her 80's. She puts so much love in her food and has for years. This is one of the things she taught me to cook. It is one of my favorites to cook for the kids. Aside from the bacon it is so healthy. HA... but the bacon is what makes it so good. Dang! There are no exact measurements on it either so anything goes. My kind of recipe... and often why blogging is hard for me... I just throw things together a lot with no attention to how much I put in of an ingredient. Anyhow... enjoy... so good... and the veggies are so abundant during the summer months.

Bacon and Zucchini Stirfry:

6 to 8 slices of bacon cut into pieces
1 tsp minced fresh garlic
salt and pepper to taste
1 large onion
10 mushrooms
3 zucchini
1 yellow squash
fresh diced tomatoes




Place the bacon, garlic and onion in the pan to cook. I like to cook it well enough to be edible at that point but still limp.


I then add the zucchini, yellow squash, and mushrooms. My squash is cut in medium size medallions as if they are too thin they will get soggy and not so good for my taste buds. If too thin, the mushrooms will overcook while you wait for the squash to finish. No good either... Stir fry this until desired doneness of he squash, while adding salt and pepper to taste. Turn heat completely off at this point and add add the fresh tomatoes. Serve. This is a great dish.

Could this be a sickness????

I always prepare more than enough for dinner. That is for sure. If anyone is to stop by we would easily be able to feed them. Due to me liking to entertain, I have so many plates. We have had very LARGE crowds before, for holiday and for summer bbq's. LARGE crowds... ha! And we have never one time, not had enough plates. I have three sets of dishes in my cupboards. Oh my... perhaps it is too many!