Baked Egg Rolls.

Here is the recipe for the Baked Egg Rolls that I made for our open house. The original recipe is this one. I tweaked it a bit to include both the meat and more vegetables. It does make a large batch but they were a huge hit and none were left.

Baked Egg Rolls
Serves/Makes: approximately 42 pcs

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons corn starch
8 cups finely shredded napa, Chinese or regular white cabbage (OR you can use a 16oz bag of coleslaw mix to save shredding the cabbage yourself)
1 12 oz bag mung bean sprouts, chopped a bit.
2 medium or large carrot finely grated (about 1 cup)
4 finely sliced green onions (use both green & white parts)
8 cloves finely chopped garlic, divided
1 pound ground turkey or hamburger (optional)
2 cups fresh mushrooms, finely chopped
4 teaspoons grated ginger root
2 packages egg roll skins found in produce section of grocery store


Directions:
These can be made with or without meat (if not using meat add an extra 2 cups of vegetables).

Mix soy sauce with corn starch. Set aside.

Spray non-stick skillet or wok with nonstick cooking spray or heat one tablespoon cooking oil. Over high heat stir-fry 4 cloves garlic and ginger for a few seconds. Add cabbage, bean sprouts, carrot and green onions. Stir fry a few minutes until cabbage is wilted. If cooking meat, remove vegetables from pan.

Add remaining 4 cloves garlic. Add ground turkey or hamburger. Stir fry until no longer pink. Drain off any fat.

Add reserved soy sauce/corn starch and the vegetables. Cook 1 minute or so until thickened. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

TO MAKE EGG ROLLS:

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Turn eggroll skin so it looks like a diamond. Place 1/4 cup filling just below the center. Fold the lower point of the diamond over the filling tucking it under the filling. Fold the left and right corners over that. Tightly roll the egg roll. Moisten the top corner with a bit of water to prevent it from unrolling. Repeat until you run out of skins or filling. (Note: Keep the eggroll skins in their wrapper or cover with a moist towel so they don't dry out.)

Place eggrolls seam side down on the pan. They can be close together but not touching. Lightly spray the egg rolls with the nonstick cooking spray. Bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

*This recipe can be halved easily*

A Homemade Life - February 27th

I wanted to share two things this week for the "Homemade Life" post. One of the great things about making things is the money that is saved. I buy whole chickens when they are on sale for 89c /lb (usually every few weeks I can get them for this price) we usually get 3-4 meals out of a chicken plus I boil up the bones and make homemade chicken broth to either use for the next night's meal or to freeze. Homemade chicken broth is so easy to make. I simply put the bones in a pan cover with water and bring to a boil. Then I cover it and simmer for 1-2 hours. I have added seasonings to the water to give it a deeper flavor but generally I just leave it plain so that I can use it in any recipe calling for chicken broth.

*Frugal tip* - Don't throw away those plastic containers you get from the deli. They make great containers for holding broth (or snacks or a small child's lunch). I simply wash them out and then, to use for the broth, I measure 1 Cup of broth into the container cover and place all the containers in a zipper storage bag and then into the freezer.


The second homemade item I wanted to share is a sweater I crocheted for my 3 year old daughter. I was a bit disappointed in how it came out because the pattern for the size 4T runs very small. My daughter is very petite and it is a little small on her. Also, next time I would use a single color yarn because I think the variegated yarn with the cable pattern looks too busy. I will hold onto this sweater and when my younger daughter gets a bit older she can wear it. Here are a couple pictures. I still have several skeins of this yarn so I think I will make another sweater for her just using a different pattern.



Be sure to check out all the other great homemade ideas over at Life on a Back Road

A homemade life

Carrie over at Life on a Back Road has recently started a weekly feature called "A homemade life" where she encourages her readers to share what they are making at home.

This week was a busy week here as I was preparing for an open house/game night that we were having. I did quite a bit of baking & cooking which was a lot of fun and the kids really enjoyed it too. I made four different kinds of cookies: M&M, Oatmeal Raisin, Mint Brownie Bites, and Sugar cookies with Rolos. I also made homemade baked egg rolls and mini-quiches.

Everyone seemed to really enjoy the food and the egg rolls were very poplular.

I was hoping to have some time to work on a sweater I'm crocheting but I wasn't able to find the time. Hopefully this week I'll have a bit more time.

I'm still here....

...Just very busy lately. I realize it's been months since my last entry and am hoping to once again start blogging somewhat more regularly. With three little ones it's hard to find time to sit down and organize my thoughts.

Here is a quick review of what we've been up to:

After Keira's arrival on Oct 28th we spent the next couple of weeks adjusting to having a newborn again and getting her to sleep a decent stretch of time at night. She caught on really quickly which we were all thankful for.

In November we took a road trip to Pennsylvania to spend Thanksgiving with my brother and his wife. The kids did great in the car and we all had a very fun time with them. (for those of you with Facebook accounts you can see some pictures and videos of our time).

After getting home we started gearing up for the Christmas season and Ethan's birthday. We planned to have a birthday party for him the Saturday after his birthday. As with so many things in life, God had other plans and we received an ice storm instead. We lost power and decided we needed to find another place to stay that had heat. My older brother and his wife graciously opened their home to not only our family but also my sister and her family. Ethan was able to still enjoy seeing and playing with his cousins and I brought the cupcakes and cheesecake we were going to have at his party for everyone to enjoy. It wasn't "as planned" but was still a nice time and a lot of fun for the kids. We were very happy though to only have to be away from home for two nights. We came home and over the next couple of weeks my husband worked diligently to get as much done on our kitchen remodeling project as possible before Christmas. Thanks in part to the help of a friend we were able to have most of the cabinets installed before Christmas day.

We hosted my whole family for Christmas day. It was once again a lot of fun to have all 9 cousins together and to also have my brother and his wife up from Pennsylvania. We had a great day visiting.

So far January has been a month of getting back into a routine after the holidays and finishing up the kitchen remodel. It's been very nice to have a working sink again and I'm very grateful for all the hard work my husband put into the project and how much better the kitchen functions now, compared to how it was. Just as we think things will slow down they seem to get busy again. We have several birthday parties to attend and also have been working to get back to our usual level of involvement at church.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are enjoying the start to 2009. I have a few blog posts rolling around in my head that I hope to get posted over the next week or so. One is to show some crocheting that I've been doing and another to tell about a great book I'm reading and studying.

Keira's birth story.

I thought I would post her birth story for those that are interested. I went in on Tuesday morning to be induced due to being 10 days overdue. Got to the hospital at 7:30am. Was supposed to start Pitocin at 8am but they had a hard time getting the IV in (blew a vein and had to try 4 times to get it in). My midwife checked me and I was 4cm and 80% effaced. I told her that I'd like to do the pitocin until I was 5-6cm and then have my water broken because I knew I could make it from 5cm because I had done it before with the other two. They started Pitocin at 9:30, very low dose. I took a nap and they kept upping it until about 2pm when my MW checked me again I was 5cm and just about 100% effaced. She broke my water (babies head was right against the bag so it was hard for her to break it).

After my water was broken labor really picked up. She turned the pitocin way down to let my body kick in. A little after 3pm I decided to get into the shower to labor for awhile. At this point the pitocin was completely turned off and my body was on it's own. I labored in the shower for awhile and the contractions were really picking up and I was having a lot more pressure. After two contractions that felt more like a pushing pressure I got out of the shower. I labored leaning over the bed for a bit but I was getting tired so I got into the bed and knelt (leaning on the back of the bed that was raised) then I sat for a bit and pushed thru a couple contractions but just felt like I wasn't getting far and was starting to feel like I wasn't handling the contractions well. Baby was also still pretty far up. With the next contraction I said I HAVE to stand up again so I stood up and leaned on the bed again. In the next couple of pushes she was crowning and shortly after she was born at 5:01pm. My midwife said she loved the fact that I delivered standing up and that's all it took for the baby to come down was the change in position and help from gravity.

I'm not sure of the total "pushing" time as I lost track of time, etc. She's a very aware baby and hardly cried when she came out. She was just looking all around and taking everything in. Her apgars were 8 and 9. She does have her sleep a little switched around but I'm hoping she'll sleep better at night within the next week or so as that's how long it took Hailey to figure it out.

We're all very glad that she's here. Hailey and Ethan love her and are so curious about everything. I asked to be released early from the hospital because I just wasn't getting much rest and really wanted to be home. The pediatrician was a little concerned because although Keira had had a bowel movement she had not urinated. The did agree to discharge her as long as I brought her to her regular pediatrician ASAP if she still hadn't urinated by this morning. Thankfully that happened last night so all is well and she sees her regular pediatrician for the first time tomorrow morning.

Thank you so much for all your thoughts and prayers. We really appreciate them. Here is a picture of our newest addition:

Another quick update.

I know it's been awhile since I've written here. Life has been busy. We are still waiting for this baby to arrive; it seems God really wants me to learn the lesson of waiting on His timing. :)

I had an appointment with my midwife today. After discussing my options and concerns with her we have decided that if I haven't had the baby by Friday then I will have an ultrasound to check on the baby and she will do some light interventions to see if that sends me into labor. If, by next Tuesday, I still have not had the baby then I will be induced. I really do not want to be induced so I am praying that this little one arrives this week.

Other than waiting for the baby we have been doing some more work on the kitchen. It is nice to see it coming along. We primed the walls the other night and once we had them all white we discovered a few spots that needed a bit more work so Matt is working on fixing those spots and then we will paint.

The cooler weather has also been nice for baking. The kids and I have made a couple of apple crisps and a pie. It's a little different having to do everything in the dining room but we are managing. I also have 4 pumpkins that I need to roast soon and get in the freezer for making pies and other desserts for the holidays.

So that's my update. Hopefully I'll be able to post a birth announcement in the next few days.

The pictures I promised :)

Here are the t-shirts that I made for the kids. The baby's onesie says Pixie because that is what Hailey has nicknamed her. I also included a picture of the sweater that I crocheted for Ethan. He loves it and calls it his camoflauge sweater. With the carpal tunnel pain I've been having I haven't been able to crochet any more, hopefully I'll be able to start again after the baby is on a routine.