Pad Thai with Peanut Butter dressing...Two Ways

 

 

          About a month ago we had a raw pad thai dish with a peanut butter dressing; it  was delicious and I have eaten it every week since I discovered it.  I have also tweaked the recipe and added in some things that made it taste better, in my opinion.  I found the original recipe on pinterest.  This week I wanted to eat the pad thai hot instead of raw.  Below I am going to share both recipes along with the curried shrimp that I made to serve over the pad thai. DELISH!!

 

 

 

The first step is to spiralize two zucchini's on the smallest spiral setting.  I purchased my spiralizer at Williams Sonoma and I have used it at least 5 times a week since I got it.

 

Next I prepped my other veggies.  Once this step is complete if you are making the raw pad thai you combine these veggies with your zucchini and add the dressing. So EASY!!

 

2 zucchini spiralized

1 red bell pepper diced

1/4 cup edamame (I buy the frozen kind that are already shelled)

1/4 cup chopped purple cabbage

1/4 cup shredded carrots

3 green onions diced

 

For the cooked version you will add all veggies except for the chopped green onion into a skillet with the zucchini and olive oil.

 

 

I used my electric skillet because of how much bigger it is.  The veggies only need to sautee for 5-7 minutes just until veggies are tender. 

 

Once the veggies have cooked through add 1 tbsp of chili garlic sauce.  This step is optional but phenomenal in my opinion! Next put all your veggies in a large serving bowl, add in the chopped green onion and pour the peanut butter dressing over the top...

Now for the Peanut butter dressing

 

 

1/4 cup of peanut butter
2 tbsp tamari sauce
2 tbsp water
1 garlic clove minced
1 tsp of fresh shaved ginger
2.5 tsp of pure maple syrup
1/2 tbsp of sesame oil
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

This is the peanut butter dressing you will use for the raw or cooked pad thai and it is amazing!
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For the curried shrimp I bought 1 lb of fresh shrimp, that already had the peels removed.  Once my veggies were done in the electric skillet I put them in a bowl and added the shrimp to the skillet and added in about 1/2 a cup of the Madras curry sauce.  I found it in the organic section at Kroger. It is delish and so easy. 

                            I then topped my pad thai with the shrimp and my meal was complete!

The Thief

     

   There she stood in her princess dress.  She had spent the morning twirling, curtseying, singing into her microphone and pushing her puppy in the "princess carriage" aka the baby doll stroller.  She now stood still with a sunken look on her face.  I ask her what is wrong and she says "I am not the real snow white because the real snow white has a red headband and I don't have a red head band." I go to her hair bow drawer and pull out a gold headband and a turquoise headband "but mommy those aren't red." I am just about to explain that we can pretend they are red when she whizzes by me grabs her brothers toboggan and proudly exclaims "now I am a princess." 


          In that moment I breathe a sigh of relief and thank God that she is 3 and she is able to use her imagination and pretend.  I also feel a pain in my stomach and heart as I think of all the comparison that is to come in her life in the not so far away future.  Comparison...it is the thief that steals our joy. Comparison is what stole her moments of twirling and caused her to pause and realize that she was missing something, albeit a red headband but it was something and it took away her fun, if only for a moment, and made her feel as though she wasn't measuring up. 


          I use my 3 year old as an example of how comparison stole her joy but how many times have you and I let comparison cause us to forget our blessings and wish we had, looked like, were doing something that someone else had or was.  It is spending a solid 10 minutes airing up a pool raft for my child to have it popped in 3 seconds.  My lungs are still aching from airing it up and the fun of the pool raft is gone immediately.  The deflating feeling that comparison causes you to feel is pure misery. 
   
       I want my daughter to be original.  I want my daughter to be confident and joyful in her shoes.  Wishing you were in someone else's shoes is a sure way to live a miserable life. Comparison causes us to hit the pause button, to stop living our lives and using our blessings and instead we are in the same spot sulking wishing for more when amazing things are right in front of us.   I know there will be days when comparison steals her joy or my joy or your joy but may we all wake up from our self doubt and count our blessings and be thankful and grateful and live life to the fullest.  May we ditch the red headband, find a crazy toboggan and celebrate life, our life!

Crazy Life

          Have you had those days when you question if anyone else household is going as wack as yours?  It is time for Meritt to go to school and her jacket is no where to be found.  I remember that I washed it yesterday and then I remember that I never put it in the dryer, this is a chronic problem for me.  I tell Meritt to go upstairs and grab another jacket she comes downstairs wearing a jacket that is a size 18 month the wristbands are at her elbows.  I tell her that is not going to work and her and her dad both question me wanting to know what is wrong with it. ha! I run upstairs grab her a jacket and dry her tears (she is still wanting to wear the 18m jacket). In all the commotion puppy who is in the midst of potty training poops in the dining room floor.  I run to go get tissue paper and when I come back I see Wells crawling straight for the poop.  His crawl is fast, but today it is like he is a jaguar, it is like he thinks I am racing him to see who can grab the poop first.  I get to Wells and drag him by the back of his shirt and pull him back so that I can get the poop up before he can get to it.


           This is a snippet of a very normal Thursday in the Pearson household.  Crazy, comical, and yes sometimes, gross.  As I was on my hands and knees this morning (picking up poop and trying not to breathe in the smell) the thought crossed my mind "is anyone else's home this crazy"? While I know the scenarios may not be the exact same in every house, I do know that unexpected, hilarious and sometimes undesirable things have a way of popping up in every home. No matter how much we plan and organize life has a way of humbling us and reminding us that we are not in control. 

         Social media tells us that people's homes are perfect.  It tells us that kids don't cry, dinners don't burn and spouses don't argue.  We all post our best pictures.  The pictures of our kids dressed in smocked clothes,  our dinner on pretty dishes, and our date night dressed in our best outfits.  I actually don't think there is anything wrong with posting these things and if you follow me on instagram you know that I post a lot.     I do think we have to look at pictures knowing it is just a small snippet from the persons life.  We want to share our best, I don't think that means we are trying to hide our worst we just don't care to take pictures of the worst for everyone to see.

       When you find yourself on the floor cleaning up poop or on the side of the road changing a flat tire you may ask yourself, is anyone else's life this crazy?  I can assure you the answer is yes.  Life is full of the unplanned and it is from the unplanned boulders that arise that we are forced to grow and adjust.  

Slipping Through Our Fingers

               

      I've never been a big New Years Eve fan, I go to bed early and wake up early so staying up until the clock strikes midnight is a form of torture for me.  This year we planned to have a family night in with movies, chili, and pajamas.  Meritt was upstairs playing, the chili was simmering on the stove, I was unloading the dishwasher (with my 7 month old assistant, Wells), and Brian was gathering the trash to take it outside.  Meritt yells from upstairs "I pee peed" we say good job, or something to that effect, Brian goes outside and I hear a noise just over our dishwasher.  I look at Wells who is standing at the dishwasher and is being showered with water, it takes me a few seconds to realize that this water is coming from our ceiling.  I run outside yell at Brian to come in and when I step back in the kitchen I see that water is now pouring from the ceiling above the stovetop as well, our chili on the stovetop is being showered with water from our upstairs bathroom...YUCK!


         Brian runs upstairs turns the water off and it still takes a good 10-15 minutes for all the water to drain down out of our ceiling.  Ends up Meritt used almost an entire roll of toilet paper when she went to the restroom causing the toilet to back up and shower our kitchen.  We often refer to ourselves as the Griswold's, once the water was turned off and Brian came downstairs we grabbed towels began cleaning the kitchen and laughing that our chili was ruined, our kitchen ceiling was now discolored and that we were having a rockin new years eve. 


      This past Sunday, one of my girlfriends sent me a text that it was 4 years ago Sunday that I was pregnant with Meritt and we were having her gender reveal party.  She then said "where has the time gone?" I replied  "it is slipping through our fingers".  My friend and I have had many conversations over the last few years about how quickly our kids are growing and how we sometimes wish we could hit the pause button. 

      If only life were like the water gushing through our kitchen ceiling.  If only we could run to the water valve and turn it off.  If only we could stop time and relish in the moments for just a little longer.  My kids lives are like water that has been poured in the palms of my hands it is slipping through my fingers no matter how tightly I squeeze. 

      Life moves fast, the days are long and the years, gosh, the years they are so short.  The time we can't get back, the memories will last, so I press on taking an obscene amount of pictures and trying to carve into my brain the moments that I will so desperately miss.  I still find myself squeezing my fingers tight and hoping that if I squeeze tight enough I can pause time for just a moment. 

Too Much Love

        People question you.  People tell you that you are over investing and you could end up getting hurt.  People tell you to love from a distance because if you give too much love your heart could get broken.  People tell you to stop bringing these orphans in and just have kids of your own, they tell you things will be less complicated that way.  People tell you not to buy toys or clothes for them because you don't know how long you will have them and that will just be money wasted.

        People tell you lots of stuff but you keep going.  You keep loving and you keep fulfilling the task that God has called you to do.  You know that tears are going to shed, you know your heart could very likely be broken, you see the sweet stuffed animal and you buy it because you hope that maybe that could remind him of you. You give him love, against peoples warnings, because you know that is exactly what he needs.  He needs to feel love, he needs to feel safe and he needs to feel secure.  You have fallen completely in love with this baby boy and everyone that sees him knows that he has fallen in love with you, too. 


      Some of our dear friends have been fostering a baby boy since this summer.  They got him just after he was born and they have loved and cared for him ever since.  They have given of themselves in every way imaginable.  They got up with him during the sleepless newborn nights, changed all of his diapers, wiped his runny nose and kissed all over his sweet baby face; all the while knowing that he might not stay with them forever.  They love him and want the very best for Him. 


    Tomorrow is court and they could very possibly telling him goodbye tomorrow.  It will be the hardest thing they have had to do.  They have risked all of their own emotions to make certain that this little one was loved and cared for.  All I can think is how much they have been Jesus to this boy.  Standing on the sidelines are all of us, their friends & family.  Tomorrow on the sidelines we will be on our knees praying for God to be glorified, God to protect this boy,  God to use this boy to do mighty things, for this boy to know God and not only know God but to serve God.   We will be praying for our friends, for God to provide them peace, for God to heal their broken hearts, for God to provide them just what they need on the hard days. 

     I am asking you to join me on the sidelines praying. I am also asking you to hear God's calling for your life and do it even when the call is messy.  Read stories in the bible, almost everyone God called was put in a messy place to further the kingdom.  May we all love like Christ and risk all of our own comforts and emotions to further God's Kingdom.

Zucchini Lasagna

           Several asked me to share my recipe for zucchini lasagna so I thought this was the easiest place to share it.  I found a recipe on pinterest and another recipe in a cookbook here at home called, Skinny Dinners, it is a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.  I took what I liked out of each recipe and made up my own from the two.  I will also add, in the picture above I am using a veggie spiralizer  but you could easily use a mandolin or slice your zucchini in super thin slices with a sharp knife. This spiralizer was at the top of my Christmas list this year.  It came from Williams Sonoma and you can purchase one here .

 It is $50 and worth every penny. You can spiralize veggies to look like angel hair noodles, you can do them curled like in the picture above or you can use it as a mandolin.  I have used it to make a couple of different cold cucumber salads, pad Thai and a couple of Italian dishes substituting vegetables for my noodles.

        I made this lasagna meatless and in place of meat I sautéed spinach and portobello mushrooms.  You could easily do ground beef or ground sausage in place of the spinach and mushrooms or you could even have it as an addition.  I first preheated my oven to 375 degrees.  Next I  spiralized my zucchini using the setting that best resembled lasagna noodles. Next I chopped my portobello mushrooms into cubes.  In a hot skillet I put the zucchini in and sautéed it for 4-5 minutes. 

 

 

After the zucchini was sautéed I poured the zucchini into a strainer and let the zucchini drain.  Zucchini retains some water so I wanted to get all the water out.

 

 

While the zucchini continued to drain, using the same skillet I threw in the package of frozen spinach and the chopped mushrooms. I sautéed these until they were heated all the way through about 7 minutes. 

 

 

While my spinach and mushrooms were sautéing, in a separate bowl I put 15 oz part skim ricotta cheese and 1 egg and stirred these until well combined.

 

 

 

Somewhere around this step this little one decided he needed to help me.  He is too cute and I know I will miss him being under my feet in a few short years.

 

 

In another separate bowl I mixed my pasta sauce and 1 can of tomato sauce (I also added a generous pinch of crushed red pepper for spice).

 Now I was ready to start assembling my lasagna. I started with a layer of sauce, next zucchini, next the cheese mixture and then the spinach & mushrooms. I repeated this until I was out of ingredients.

 

 

Just before putting my lasagna in the oven I topped it with 4 slices of fresh mozzarella cheese. I cooked the lasagna at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes and then broiled it for an additional 5 minutes to make things bubbly.

 

 

This meal was a hit at our house and we will definitely have it again!!

 

Here are the ingredients you will need to make this:

 

2-3 medium zucchinis

1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce

1 8 oz can of tomato sauce

1 15oz container of skim ricotta cheese

1 egg

1 pkg frozen spinach

2 portabella mushrooms

2tbsp of olive oil for your skillet

4 slices of fresh mozzarella (optional)

 

 

 



Wedding Cake

            We had a wedding to attend this past weekend.  I decided to bring my 3 year old daughter because she has been asked to be a flower girl in a wedding this summer.  On the way to the wedding I told my daughter that we were going to wedding and that she would need to be quiet during the wedding.  I also told her that after the wedding there would be a party and there would be cake. The mention of cake made her face light up and a huge smile formed on her face. 


          We enter the church and are met with dimmed lights, violinists playing beautiful music, fresh flowers, and men waiting in tuxedos to escort us to our seat.  We are seated and Meritt is completely entertained with the violinists and the people being seated all around us...5 minutes later she is asking when is the wedding going to start.  I do my best to distract her for a few more minutes and then the wedding begins.  Grandparents are seated, parents are seated and then the bridesmaids and groomsmen come down the aisle and take their places on the stage.  With each person escorted down, Meritts eyes are glued on them.  Next, the bridal processional begins, the mother of the bride stands, the rest of the church stands and the bride and her father come down the aisle.  Meritt asks "mommy is that a princess?" I say yes because for the day the bride is a princess.  Next, Meritt says "now do we get cake?" I smile and tell her that we have to watch the wedding first. 



         A three year olds innocent question, "now do we get cake?" reminds me of my very own wedding.  I got engaged and immediately began the wedding planning.  My parents blessed me with the wedding of my dreams and at the time I thought it had to be that way now I look at how much they spent and it makes me sick to my stomach.  During my engagement, I spent time searching shopping finding the perfect dress, the perfect reception hall, the perfect cake, the perfect flowers.  The search for planning the perfect wedding consumed me for 11 months. 


         I spent my entire engagement zoned in on my wedding ceremony and yes we did a little counseling but if I am honest we were clueless as to what marriage was.  When planning my wedding I didn't dream of days that my husband would come home to me not having had a shower and smelling like spit up, I didn't dream that our grandparents would die and we would need each others shoulders to cry on, I didn't dream that my dad would get sick, I didn't dream that there would be times when he was in dental school that we couldn't afford to go out to eat (at a chain restaurant), I didn't dream that I would run over our mailbox, or that he would lose his keys (a billion times).  I didn't dream these things instead I dreamed of things like wedding cake.

        What 9.5 years of marriage has taught me is that the real cake can't be eaten.  The real cake is having his shoulder to cry on, the real cake is looking into his eyes and making up after a silly fight, the real cake is seeing his grin when the ultrasound tech says "its a boy", the real cake is seeing how soft and gentle he is with our little girl, the real cake is remembering that on July 9th we committed to God to be one and to love each other on the sunny days and the stormy days.  My greatest hope is that we are able to lead by example and give our kids a "taste" of real wedding cake. 

      

FRESH START

         My list for the new year is long. I have many things that I want to accomplish in 2015.  Here are some of the many...

-judge less, be more accepting- this is something I struggle with maybe because I am a female or maybe not but either way I want to accept people right where they are. My husband is great at this and he is a great source of motivation.
-listen more, speak less-if you know me then you know that my struggle is real
-memorize weekly verses with Meritt- we started this in August and it is wonderful to memorize weekly verses as a family and to have those words written on all of our hearts
- healthier eating- for the most part our house eats healthy but we do indulge and we are trying to do that less and enjoy the fresh, colorful pallet of food that comes straight from the earth
- cherish everyday- with two little ones it often feels that life is in fast forward. I want to drink it all in and try and remember these days
- less cell phone-I look at it too much! I want to put it away and just enjoy moments
-record or write down Meritt's prayers- at 3 years old the prayers that she says are way too precious and I know I will be so sad one day for not having them recorded.
-regular date nights- since having a second child we haven't done this nearly enough
-read more books- I love to read and since having kids i have maybe read 1 or 2 books
-zip my lips- if I have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all
-travel more- this is on our family's list every year
-pray more with Brian- we used to pray just the two of us all the time but we have let the distractions of life interfere and we need to get back to that place
-let the people I love know- I don't want to assume that people know how much I love and appreciate them I want to make sure to tell them often
-have a bigger garden- we have a garden every summer and this year I want to expand it and get Meritt involved in it
-appreciate the mundane- ordinary days are the ones that I will look back and miss
-affirm Brian-I think wonderful things about my husband and I do try and share those with him but I want to do better and let him know how thankful I am to have him

I have more, my list is long. There are days when I will succeed at many and maybe even all of these.  There are days that I am going to fail miserably all.day.long.  I am thankful for grace and that my belief in Jesus means that everyday is a chance for a fresh start. Anyone else have new goals for 2015?