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This Issue:

A Personal Note
Shrimp Fried Rice
Sample School Packed Lunch Menu

 

A Personal Note

Hi there! I feel like I have been running around like crazy the last couple weeks. I don’t think it is going to slow down much until after Easter. Let’s see… This week Ryan had a little bug that he was able to fairly quickly overcome, we welcomed five new baby kittens into the family, and we received over three inches of rain in one night and our basement totally flooded. That about sums it up. Oh, and my dad was supposed to go in for knee surgery, but when he went in for his final check-up before the surgery they decided he didn’t need it! That was a nice answer to prayer.    

This weekend Matt and I snuck away to a pre-marital counseling training seminar. Then today (Sunday) was the big church dartball tournament. For those of you who have never heard of dartball (that is probably most of you…) you throw darts at a baseball diamond type dart board. I still don’t totally get it, but anyway, the guys love playing so for the tournament I hauled the kids off and we all went to watch for five long hours. Now Matt is ripping up the carpet in the basement – it was totally covered with black mold/mildew underneath so it is going out and we’ll just paint the floor and throw down some area rugs or something. 

Soccer starts this week on Thursday, so we are off after school tomorrow in search of soccer cleats and shin guards for the boys. They are on different teams, but their practice is on the same day, so that is nice at least. We’ll see what happens when it comes to games. Having two kids in sports is a brand new experience for us!

Well, I better go get the kiddo’s into bed and I think Matt and I will hang out and watch the Nascar Race that we recorded. Okay, Matt will watch it and I’ll probably read and look up periodically.

Have a great week!

Christine

“The Menu Mom”

www.themenumom.com
 

Shrimp Fried Rice
Makes 8 servings
You can prepare as is, just use one kind of meat, or don't use meat at all - your choice!
 
     1 1/2 cups white rice
     3 tablespoons sesame oil
     1 small onion chopped
     1 clove garlic chopped
     1 cup small shrimp peeled and deveined
     1/2 cup diced ham
     1 cup cooked chicken breasts chopped
     2 stalks celery chopped
     2 carrots peeled and diced
     1 green bell pepper chopped
     1/2 cup frozen green peas (or fresh pea pods)
     1 egg beaten
     1/4 cup soy sauce

1. Cook rice according to package directions. While rice is cooking, heat a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. You can also cook the rice the night before if preferred.

2. Pour in sesame oil and stir in onion. Fry until golden, then add garlic.

3. When garlic is lightly browned, mix in shrimp, ham, and chicken. Fry until shrimp is pink.

4. Lower heat to medium and stir in celery, carrot, green pepper, and peas. Fry until vegetables are crisp-tender.

5. Stir in beaten egg and cook just until egg is scrambled and firm.

6. When rice is done, mix thoroughly with vegetables and stir in soy sauce. Adjust seasoning to your preference and serve immediately.

Serve with Fresh Pear Slices