Trip

Well we got here on Saturday having had a fairly uneventful trip. Got one hell of a rain storm on our last leg on Highway 70 – so bad we even stopped for a short while. Friday night thought I hadn’t packed my toilet bag, so I had to use Matt’s toothbrush on Sat. morning, most stuff I had in the hotel. Then we dropped into a Wal-Mart and replaced a lot of the stuff. Opened the trunk and there was my toilet bag sitting on top of a case. Not sure why it didn’t get into the overnight bag. $50 wasted although obviously most of the stuff I can use. What a bugger.

Saw a bumper sticker which tickled me “My karma ran over my dogma”. Saw a deer at the side of the road I hope he had the sense  to stay there. On Friday there were a lot of road killed deer sadly.

Saturday supper was a quick visit to a seafood restaurant not too far from us where we both had flounder. Delicious. Did some food shopping afterwards so we had breakfast for Sunday plus a few other odds and ends. There is a liquor store next door so we got our supply of whisky and gin for the vacation. It always staggers us how much cheaper booze is here compared to Ontario. Except, oddly enough, the Bombay Sapphire gin which is Matt’s favourite, is much more expensive down here. No idea why.

Sunday afternoon, we were just relaxing when a couple of friends popped in. They have invited us to dinner on Tuesday, to go sailing on Wednesday and have several other plans in the works.

Need easy recipes this week.

Thai Chicken Wrap

By The Family Dinner
WebMD Recipe from Foodily.com

At the table, fill lettuce leaves with flavorful minced chicken, vegetables and pieces of torn herbs. Add a squeeze of lime or some peanut crunch, and roll it up.

Serve with some steamed brown rice on the side, and you have the perfect summer dinner.

Don’t forget to include the kids! Your kids can help tear the mint into little pieces, pinch the tips and tails off the green beans and wash the vegetables. And, of course, taste to make sure the chicken is just perfect!

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoonvegetable oil
• 2 clovesgarlic, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoonsfresh ginger, grated, or 1/2 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1/4 cupwater, or stock
• 1 poundchicken, ground
• 1/4 cupfresh mint leaves, chopped
• 2 tablespoonsshallots, sliced
• 1 tablespoonAsian chili sauce, or to taste
• 1 Thai chili pepper, sliced, (very spicy, so optional)
• 1/4 cuplime juice
• 2 teaspoonsbrown sugar
• 2-3 tablespoonsAsian fish sauce
• 18 whole largelettuce leaves, (about 3 lettuce heads)
• 1/2 poundyoung raw green beans, thinly sliced on the diagnoal
• 2 cupsbean sprouts
• 1 cucumber, cut into strips with your peeler or mandoline
• 1 largecarrot, shredded
• 1/2 cuppeanuts, chopped
• 1/4 cuplime juice
• 1/4 cupsugar
• 1/4 cupAsian fish sauce
• 1 clovegarlic, minced
• fresh mint, cilantro and basil
• cut limes
• asian chili sauce

Instructions

For the chicken filling:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger or ½ tablespoon ground ginger
¼ cup water or stock
1 pound ground chicken
¼ cup chopped fresh mint leaves
2 tablespoons sliced shallots
1 tablespoon Asian chili sauce or to taste
1 sliced Thai chili pepper (very spicy, so optional)
¼ cup lime juice
2 teaspoons brown sugar
2-3 tablespoons Asian fish sauce

For the Wrappings and Toppings:
18 whole large lettuce leaves (about 3 lettuce heads)
½ pound young raw green beans, thinly sliced on the diagonal
2 cups bean sprouts
1 cucumber, cut into strips with your peeler or mandoline
1 large carrot, shredded
Fresh mint, cilantro and basil
Cut limes
Asian chili sauce

For the Dipping Sauce:
½ cup chopped peanuts
¼ cup lime juice
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup Asian fish sauce
1 clove of garlic, minced

1. Mix all the ingredients for the dipping sauce in a little bowl. Set aside.
2. In a medium nonstick pan, heat the vegetable oil and sauté the garlic and ginger over medium heat until light brown. Add ¼ cup water or stock, then add the chicken and stir well, separating the chicken into small bits. This should take you about 4 to 5 minutes. Drain out the water.
3. Transfer the cooked chicken into a mixing bowl. Add the remaining ingredients for the filling and mix well. Taste the mixture and season until there is a good balance among the sweet, tart and savory flavors. You might need a bit more fish sauce, another squeeze of lemon, a little bit more hot sauce…
4. On a large platter, mound the vegetables, herbs, and chicken. Serve with little bowls of the dipping sauce, cut limes, fish sauce, chili sauce and chopped peanuts.

Recipe by Kirstin Uhrenholdt

Have a great day