The Krazy Kirklands: Dr. Love & Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Oh boy did the Kirklands have a fun little weekend! Baking Cookies, Snow, Costco samples, A take-out fake out, walking & crashing, & a little fun with Dr. Love kept us very busy!!

Nana made Ella an apron, which she sent in a cute little care package for her birthday! So naturally we had to try it out & bake some cookies on Friday afternoon while it snowed yet again :/! I found a blog on Pintrest that showed the "8 Secrets to the Best Cookie & Recipe" and decided to try it out! I have to admit- they are fantastic!! It showed me that by slowing down a little, truly paying attention to the recipe and pre-planing a little = cookie success!! That all sounds easy with a 1 year old right?! However Ella is a great baby, and she really does love to cook & stir things up! So we were able to make the best chocolate chips cookies we have ever made! Ella & Daddy approved! The recipe included lots of creaming of the butter ,butter & sugar, and room temperature everything (no microwave short cuts)!

I love my apron Nana!

Ok enough pictures mom...

Let's go make those cookies..... I'm off

Moist, chewy & delish!

I love them mommy!

Double fisting it

Ya know- I could really use some milk...

Have I mentioned we have a true walker in the house?! Ella is always moving, always walking, and always crashing into things! She's such a trooper though- she usually always gets back up smiling & carries on! However she received her first "goose egg" after colliding with the kitchen cabinets which she did not rebound from as quickly... Mommy got lots of sweet cuddles though :) It's so fun to watch her walk around! Like a little Frankenstein with her arms out in front of her! It's a sad realization that my little "baby" is growing up so fast, I think she's even considered a toddler now! Too fast!

We also spent our Saturday morning sampling the aisles at Costco! YUMMY! Ella ate her weight in pizza, mommy got a cup of frozen yogurt & Daddy scored big with a take & bake pizza for the Superbowl! This exact time last year we joined Costco in Chicago (Feb 5th) & had Ella the next day! So we have a very found spot in our hearts for Costco!

Big girl (with her bump on her forehead)

I love pizza

Seriously mom - I don't take pictures of you eating.

Saturday night we had the pleasure of taking a homemade meal to some of our friends who just had their second little girl!! I decided to try a Take-Out Fake-Out & make some Chicken Lettuce wraps, like the ones from PF Changs. So this will be my recipe of the week: Chicken Lettuce Wraps!

http://www.tablefortwoblog.com/2013/01/09/from-the-archives-take-out-fake-out-chicken-lettuce-wraps/

From the Archives: Take-Out, Fake-Out Chicken Lettuce Wraps

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Yield: 8-10 lettuce wraps | Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 10 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

2 large boneless, skinless, chicken breasts or 5 tenderloins, cooked (I boiled mine in water for 7 minutes) and finely chopped

4 tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce

4 tbsp. dark brown sugar

1 tsp. rice wine vinegar

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

1 tbsp. sesame oil

1/2 white onion, finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 8 oz. can of water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped

1/2 cup reconstituted shiitake mushrooms, finely chopped

Romaine or iceberg lettuce

INSTRUCTIONS:

In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, brown sugar, rice wine vinegar, and vegetable oil. Set aside.
In a large skillet, add the sesame oil then add the onion, garlic, water chestnuts, and shiitake mushrooms. Cook the veggies until tender, about 5 minutes.
Add the finely chopped chicken to the skillet then pour the sauce you created in step 1 over the entire mixture. Stir to combine. Let cook together for 3-5 minutes.
Serve hot in beds of the romaine or iceberg lettuce with a side of white rice.

I started with 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts. I chopped them into cubes and cooked them in a cast iron skillet. I then removed them from the pot & copped into fine little pieces!

I then took my soy sauce, brown sugar, rice wine vinegar and vegetable oil & whisked together in a small bowl & set aside. It smelled heavenly!!

I then chopped my white onion, 8 ounces of water chestnuts & garlic into extremely fine pieces using my kitchen aid chopper! Best kitchen tool ever for this recipe!! **Note the recipe called for mushrooms, but we don't really like them so I omitted them. They were still amazing**

Then add your chopped vegetable back into your original cast iron skillet along with 1 Tbsp sesame oil and cook until tender, or about 5 minutes. Then add in your finely chopped chicken along with your brown sugar-soy sauce mixture and cook an additional 3-5 minutes until done! Serve with lettuce leaves and some kind of rice, I made vegetable fried brown rice. It was seriously to die for yummy!

Finished Chicken Mixture

Vegetable Fried Brown Rice

I didn't take a picture of the final project because we were eating with friends & I didn't want to seem like a weirdo..."Can I take a picture of the food first?" But it was really pretty and very yummy! I used Butter Lettuce to wrap the chicken with! Great meal!

After reading all of this I'm sure you are wondering why the tittle of this blog was "Dr Love & Chicken Lettuce Wraps." Who is Dr Love? Well let me tell you... or better yet, let me show you!!

Coming to a hospital near you.....