I had leftover broccoli slaw from the super yummy buffalo chicken rolls I made a previous weekend (sorry, no pictures!).  The recipe for this dish didn't really call for broccoli slaw; it actually uses a bunch of veggies chopped up as matchsticks.  But, I had the slaw and needed to use it!  The recipe also called for oyster sauce and mushrooms, neither of which I had and neither of which I wanted to buy.

So, I adapted the original recipe and it still came out damn tasty!  Imagine if I had followed everything to order.  

I definitely adapted this from the original recipe to make it slightly cheaper for myself and also a bit quicker to make.  Making it a little easier was done out of necessity, since the little ones were getting restless.

If I could do it over again, I would make this on a Saturday when we had a little more time to "do it right."  I would give it more time to freeze to make it easier to slice, and I would definitely build in more time to marinate the steak in the soy sauce.  I would probably also buy the oyster sauce to make the sauce according to the original recipe.  But seriously, we will definitely be making this dish again!  Bob loved the fact that he could eat it with his fingers like a sushi roll.  I ended up using a fork and knife to eat it like a respectable person :)

Here's a quick version of how we made last night's delicious meal:

Ingredients:

• flank steak (1 lb. or so)
• broccoli slaw
• red pepper
• green pepper
• soy sauce
• sesame oil
• squeeze garlic
• squeeze ginger
• salt and peppa
• edamame (to serve on the side)
• boil in the bag jasmine rice (to serve on the side)

Sauce:

• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• medium squeeze of garlic
• Original recipe called for 1 tbsp. oyster sauce, but I just used a drizzle of fish sauce ('cause that's what I had), and I added a couple shakes of soy sauce to make it look brown.  'Cause that's how I roll.

1. Freeze flank steak for 15-30 minutes to make it easier to slice.  Slice into 1/8 inch strips, against the grain. Pound them thin so they'll cook up fast.
2. Meanwhile, make sure all of your veg is chopped matchstick style (slaw is already like that)
3. Saute veg in with some olive oil and add about 1 tbsp. soy sauce (I just shook it over the pan a few times).  Add about 1 tsp. of sesame oil (drizzled over the pan).  Add a big squeeze of garlic and a big squeeze of ginger.  Add a few shakes of salt and peppa.
4. In the original recipe, you're supposed to marinate your sliced steak in some soy sauce and pepper.  If we had time, I would totally do that, because I bet it makes it even more awesome.
5. Once you've got your filling done, you take you steak slices and lay them out.  Put a little filling on each end and roll it up.  Stick a toothpick through to hold it all in place.
6. Heat your saute pan with about 1 tbsp. veggie oil.  
7. Add about 5 rolls and sear on both sides for about 1-2 minutes.  Add about half your sauce and put the lid on the pan and let them cook for 3-5 minutes.
8. Repeat for remaining rolls.
9. Servie with edamame and rice.

Original Recipe

Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!

Absolutely love this little guy's signature!

Lunch! Leftover chicken meatballs turned into wraps, with tomatoes and jalapeño cilantro dressing. Really delicious!

Today I participated in the democratic process by voting (early) since I'll be in Denver on Election Day.

Also, we've gone to Lowes and Krogers. Trying to prepare for possible bad weather as best we can.

That event was earth-shattering, life-changing for me.

It's like I've been on the most amazing drug ever since Stephen was born.

Who wouldn't want to go through that experience again?  Who wouldn't want another "hit," so to speak?

I guess the question boils down to, is it enough for me?  Do I need to go through that experience again to continue feeling the effects of this amazing drug that has never worn off?

I'm not sure that I do.  I tend to think that I can channel that energy into being the best possible mother to those two boys.

It's important to remember that there have been, and continue to be, a lot of ups and downs with this whole thing, too.  Motherhood hasn't always been rainbows and endless cups of fro yo.

But I've fallen in love with Taylor, and it was love at first sight with Stephen.  I cannot deny that there is still love in my heart to give.  Now it is just a matter of understanding and figuring out what to do with that love.

Last week, I made the Philly Stuffed Peppers, and Taylor actually asked for more green peppers!  Who are you, and what have you done with my four year old?!  It would be safe to assume we'll be eating a lot more green peppers at our house.  

And he ate two (two!) of the chicken parm meatloaf muffins.  In fact, we didn't have any leftovers of the meatloaf muffins; they were that good.  The plus side of the meatloaf muffins is that they cook up fast (in 20 minutes), which is much better than waiting around for an entire loaf to bake.  We served them with raw carrots, since Taylor loves raw carrots, so there was very little clean-up.

It really has occurred to me that (mostly) clean eating can be so much faster, easier, and (sometimes) cheaper than I ever thought it could be.  I think part of it is that you kind of have to commit to figuring out an easy way to make these healthy meals.  There's "easy," and then there's EASY.  And you've got to figure out what "easy" means to you.

For me, I am lucky in that I am just experimenting with different foods and I don't have a vital need to follow any kind of strict diet or restrict too much of anything.  I don't really know what "clean" eating is.  I just know that right now I am trying my best to eat less processed foods, which necessarily puts me in the way of eating more veggies and fruits.  I'm trying to choose lean meats and also looks for more natural and/or low-fat, low-sugar type options.

And I'm doing all of this with a very specific priority of not buying a bunch of expensive, gourmet ingredients or supplements or anything crazy.  Plus, I need to have meals that can get on the table between the time we get home and 6:15, which doesn't always leave very much time.  So raw carrots?  Hell yeah!  They are easy, healthy, and don't really dirty any dishes (unless you serve them in a bowl, which is still super easy to clean).  Bag of microwave broccoli?  Hell yeah!  Cook it a little under, so it's still a little crunchy and can add it to any dish or reheat for leftovers all week.  Shredding the zucchini for the zucchini tots?  I'll use a food processor next time.  But still, the family loved those things!  Taylor ate more than one, and IT HAD ZUCCHINI IN IT!  I am a happy mom and will give myself carpel tunnel shredding veggies if it means my kid will eat zucchini or beg me to make sweet potato fritters.  Hell to the yeah.  Philly stuffed peppers?  Meat, cheese, onions, mushrooms, and green peppers, and the kids ate everything on their plates (I left out the onions and 'shrooms for the little guys, but they got applesauce).  Me = one happy mom.  And those things cook up in no time.

What I did do this weekend was get my life together.  I have a sweet husband who, on Saturday, took both of my little mischief makers to the grocery store and then took Taylor to a birthday party while Stephen napped.  This meant that I had hours (hours!!) home to myself.  My first inclination was to take a bubble bath, eat bon bons, paint my toenails and generally luxuriate.  Just kidding!  Actually, I started right away in tackling some tasks that I have been itching to do for some time.  Just some minor things like, oh, putting away the toilet paper that had been sitting in a package in our foyer for two weeks.  Also on Saturday, I vacuumed upstairs and down, put clean sheets on the master bed, cleaned the boys' bath and the main floor bath, swiffered all of the hard woods, including the stairs, cleaned the light fixture above the kitchen table, dusted the downstairs, and ran my laundry through the wash.  There's probably other stuff that I've already forgotten.

On Sunday, cleaned the master bath, folded a bunch of towels, put away my laundry, and I don't know what else!  Oh, and I tried this thing I saw on Pinterest that includes putting Rainex on my shower to keep it from collecting water and possibly preventing mildew-y soap scumminess.  We'll see if that works!

In addition to usual housework, I also made my lunch for the next day, packed up my work clothes into my gym bag, and laid out my gym clothes and shoes to be ready for the morning workout.

And, I breathed a sigh of relief.  It feels really good to have all of this done, even though I know the house is already gathering dust and grime and waiting for next week.

So, with me feeling like the house is pretty darn clean right now, I am going to try this whole thing where you do the 15 minutes a day to clean house (also saw on Pinterest!).  I'll link to her schedule if I can find it.

That's all for now -- gotta run!