Pad See Ew

My husbands favorite Thai dish is Pad See Ew and since he spent the day painting the nursery I attempted to make it for him and surprisingly, it was a success.  He even said he liked it better then the Pad See Ew at our favourite Thai restaurant. Say what?! Hope you like it as much as he did. Cheers!

Yeild: 4-5 servings


Not my picture -- picture borrowed from here

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large beef steak, thinly sliced
1 head broccoli, cut into florets
1 egg
1 package thick rice noodles

Marinade Ingredients
3 tablespoons soya sauce
2 teaspoons brown sugar

Stir Fry Sauce Ingredients
3 tablespoons soya sauce
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup beef stock

Method
Slice steak and let marinade in the soya sauce and brown sugar mixture for 10 minutes while you prepare everything. Cook rice noodles and set aside. Warm wok over medium heat and scramble the egg. Set egg aside. In the wok warm olive oil over medium and cook up minced garlic for 30 seconds before adding beef strips with marinade. Cook for 4 minutes flipping once. Add broccoli, scrambled egg, cooked rice noodles, and stir fry sauce. Stir to coat noodles. Cook until broccoli is desired tenderness and some of the sauce has evaporated. Serve with Thai chili sauce on the side and garnish with cilantro if you like that shit.

Let the Games Begin!

My husband and I have been completely avoiding the fact that we have to get our asses in gear and prepare for the arrival of our little one.  I mentioned in a previous post that our infertility experience has taught me to slow down and smell the roses. I no longer plan my life months in advance and enjoy savouring the little beautiful moments that each day brings. Perhaps that's why we've found ourselves taking our time with preparations.  I'm moving into the third trimester which means baby will be here in a few short months, which also means that we can't push things for much longer. The first coat of paint went on the walls today for the baby's room and we are totally diggin' the fresh colour. I think this is the push we needed to get things done. I'm not going to lie, it is completely overwhelming making so many decisions. Names, childcare, nursery colours, strollers, highchairs, blah blah blah. It's enough to make you go crazy! I plan on getting everything done over the next few weeks so that I can return back to my 'smell to roses' mentality and enjoy every single moment that is left in this pregnancy. We worked so hard to get here and it would be a shame to stress the remaining weeks away.  Here are a few sneak peek pictures of the nursery along with some of the pictures I'm using for inspiration (thank God for Pinterest!). We have decided on a mint and coral colour scheme and I'm looking forward to having it all come together.  I don't want the nursery to be as 'cluttered' as the inspiration pictures but you get the idea...


Inspirational Picture (pic from www.decorpad.com)

Bird art from HomeSense

Nursery Before Picture

 

First coat of paint is up!

Shrimp in a Spicy Thai Coconut Sauce

There is a fantastic little family owned authentic Thai restaurant in St. Thomas that I adore called Café Siam.  I love, love, love Thai food.   The only thing that I don't like about Thai food is cilantro - yuck! I've tried time and time again to like it but I just can't.  Dammit.  Anyways tonight I wanted to hit up that cute little restaurant for some good grub however the football game line up cramped my style. I decided instead that I would try to make some yummy Thai food on my own.  SUCCESS! I was so pleased with this dish - to me, it totally tasted like restaurant food. I had a tough time follow the original recipe found here, because of the lack of ethnic food selection at our local grocery store. Below is the recipe that I used with all of my substitutions. It honestly was the easiest meal to make and took about 5 minutes of prep time and 10 minutes of cook time. Minus the 45 minutes I wandered the grocery store looking for ingredients from the original recipe.

Hope you like it as much as we did.

Yield: 3 Servings

Ingredients
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
lemon zest from 1/2 a lemon
1/2 of a jalapeno, minced (seeds removed!)
1 tablespoon hot pepper paste (found this at Bulk Barn for $2.00!)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb raw, peeled shrimp (I bought the frozen guys)
1/2 can unsweetened coconut milk
juice from 1/2 a lime (I used the light stuff)
1 1/2 teaspoons fish sauce
Fresh cilantro to garnish (Yuck! I didn't use this)

Method
Warm oil over medium heat in a wok or fry pan.  Add ginger, lemon zest, jalapeno, and garlic.  Cook for two minutes before adding the shrimp.  Cook for about 2 minutes until they are about half cooked (sort of pinkish).  Pour in remaining ingredients. Simmer for 3 minutes or until shrimp are cooked through.  Serve over basmati rice, or rice noodles.

Living Room Overhaul

Since moving to our new pad nearly two years ago we knew the configuration of our living room needed to change in some way.  My husband who happens to be a very patient person and logical thinker (umm, completely opposite of me!) said that we needed to live in the space for a year before making any big decision. Not only would that help us see how we use the space but it also would give us a chance to see how our financials were panning out. Dammit, he had a point.  So this past summer we made some decisions about the space and started to get to work.  As you guys know, this summer probably wasn't the best time to get started since we were going through fertility treatment and I spent 23 days on bed rest from my OHSS. Oops. We've been puttering away at the space and we are thrilled with how it's (slooooooowly) coming along. By mid February we will be completely done the space and I can't wait.  We are doing an entire fireplace overhaul since our current wood burning fireplace isn't in proper working order.  Bring on the gas remote controlled fireplace!  Here are a few before and during pictures along with a list of the crap that goes along with the overhaul.  I will obviously post the after pictures once everything is completed.

Completed Tasks:
A new couch (from IKEA)
Custom bamboo roman shades (Blinds2Go)
Brown faux leather chair (Target)
Throw pillows (homemade!)
Trim & cabinets sanded down & painted white
Ugly 80's banisters removed
Walls painted
Beige outlets changed to white
New white return air vents
White washed fireplace (before we decided to replace it)
New sleek flat screen TV and sound bar (sold the old one!)
Square Ottoman (lowes.ca)

In the Works Tasks:
Banister step to be replaced due to holes
Patch job on the bulkhead

To Do Tasks:
New ceiling light fixture (yet to choose one)
Gas fireplace overhaul (done by Firetech)
Paint touch ups around bulk head
Art for over the couch (I hate picking out art!)




First day as home owners - April 25th, 2012



How the Living Room was for over a year
 

Our Living Room - In progress




Couch (check out the super-duper oak kitchen!)

Homemade pillows (fabric from Lens Mill)

Bay window now sporting a lounge chair



Square Ottoman with storage

Quick & Easy Chicken Parm

Regardless of the fact that I have blonde hair and blue eyes, I think I should have been born into an Italian family.  I f'n love red wine like nobody's business, I can eat enough pizza to sink a ship and pasta, oh man. So good. On boxing day I had lunch with a few high school friends.  We opted to go out for lunch so we didn't have to worry about cooking anything and could spend the time together catching up instead.  My girlfriend ordered chicken parmesan that was literally the size of her face (honest to God, that's actually how they advertised it on the menu!).  Since then I have wanted to make a simple recipe for it. We really enjoyed it and I hope you do too!

Yield: 2 Servings

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts, tenderized
2 tablespoons flour
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup of a mixture of panko breadcrumbs & freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup pasta sauce
1/4 cup grated mozza and parmesan cheese to top

Method
In a ziplock bag or between plastic wrap place both chicken breasts. Using a meat tenderizer flatten out those breasts. Remove from plastic and coast breasts with flour. Dip into beaten egg.  Then coat generously with breadcrumb/parmesan cheese mixture.  Place in a greased oven safe dish and top with pasta sauce and mozza/parmesan cheese.  Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Serve over pasta.

Chairs & Pink...

Tell me this; Why are nursery gliders so freakin' ugly and why are all infant girl clothes an obnoxious pink colour?

I've been on the hunt for a nice looking glider-type chair and have figured out that it doesn't exist in Canada for under $1,000. WTF!? I want a stylish looking chair that can remain in our daughters room for years and years to come as a reading chair in a cozy little reading corner.  We'd also like to use it again if we are blessed in the future with another little one.  The wood gliders that seems to be everywhere are definitely eyesores.  Target in the States of course have a few really cute ones but they are on line only and don't ship to Canada. S.O.B.  

Off to Home Sense I go...