The Taylors

I have decided to branch out and start blogging about topics other than my adorable little boy and our family adventures. Since I LOVE good food and love to share good food, it only makes sense to pass on my favorite recipes.

The first recipe to make it onto our blog is actually new to my collection – I made it for the first time tonight! I meant to start off by sharing recipes that I have used over and over and still love, but I practically licked my plate clean tonight (and the wok), so I decided it was okay to share a newbie. I have made MANY stir-frys trying to find one that is a keeper, and I think I may have finally found it.

While the ingredients in this recipe are similar to other stir-frys I have tried, the directions are slightly different. Rather than cooking the chicken and then just throwing all of the other ingredients in at the same time, you saute the garlic and ginger in oil prior to adding the other ingredients. I believe this step is the key to better flavor.

I made very few changes, but one worth explaining is that I coated the raw chicken pieces in 2 teaspoons of cornstarch prior to cooking, but still added 2 teaspoons of cornstarch into the sauce mix. My experience trying other stir-fry recipes has taught me that coating the raw chicken in cornstarch results in very tender chicken that is nearly impossible to make tough by over-cooking (which I tend to do), or reheating. I don’t understand why, but it really works. Oh, and I served this with rice, rather than linguine.

You can find the original recipe at Whole Foods Market, and the recipe as I made it is listed below (I will list specific products that I have used when I have a preference):

Chicken Broccoli Stir-Fry
Serves 4

Chicken
1 tablespoon olive oil, to stir-fry (could also use peanut or sesame oil)
1 raw chicken breast, cut into thin strips (Foster Farms chicken, although I would love to be able to afford free-range, local chicken; I often reduce the amount of poultry and meat in recipes to save money, and because I believe it is probably healthier to eat less of it)
2 tsp cornstarch, to coat

The Yum Factor
1 tablespoon olive oil, to stir-fry (could also use peanut or sesame oil)
3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger (if you have never used fresh ginger, remember to peel the ginger before grating!)

Veggies
1 carrot, peeled and cut into thin strips (I wish I had a fresh carrot from the farmers market, instead of my nearly tasteless one bought at winco a few weeks ago)
6 cups broccoli florets, cut into bite-size pieces (I doubled the amount called for and was glad that I did)

Sauce
3/4 cup chicken broth (Trader Joe’s Organic Free Range Chicken Broth)
3 tablespoons soy sauce (I only had enough for 2 tablespoons; San-J Organic Gluten Free Reduced Sodium Tamari Soy Sauce)
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons cornstarch

Rice or Pasta
I served this stir-fry with a mixture of brown and white rice (1/3 white rice – I need to use my white rice food storage, and I sometimes want a lighter texture), but the original recipe calls for whole wheat linguine, which would taste great.

Directions:
Cook rice or pasta and keep warm while you work on this recipe. I started the rice in a rice cooker partway through my ingredient prep (after the raw chicken was cut and coated).

Prep all of your ingredients before you begin stir-frying…
1. Clean and cut up chicken and coat with 2 teaspoons cornstarch. Set aside.
2. Press garlic and grate ginger. Set aside.
3. Cut up carrot and broccoli. Set aside.
4. Combine sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Time to stir-fry…
1. Heat wok (or heavy skillet) on high heat. When very hot, add 1 tablespoon of oil.
2. Once oil is heated, add chicken and stir-fry until lightly browned, about two minutes (stir-frying involves constantly tossing the ingredients around in the wok rather than stirring occasionally). Remove the chicken and set aside.
3. Heat another tablespoon of oil. Add garlic and ginger and stir-fry for 30 seconds (I probably did this a bit longer and it started to get a bit crispy).
4. Add broccoli and carrot pieces and stir-fry for two minutes.
5. Add sauce and cooked chicken, stir well, and cover. Reduce heat to medium and let simmer until vegetables are tender, about three minutes.
6. Toss with linguine, or spoon onto rice and serve. Hope you enjoy it!

I know that Grae is just a toddler, and that very little is expected of him in the realm of social skills, but I can’t help but notice that Grae responds differently to the world than most of the kids his age. In comparison, he struggles to cope in social environments and to interact well with other kids. He often stands alone, watching other kids play rather than playing with them. When he does decide to play, he often does so timidly and is easily set to tears when a toy is taken from him, he is accidentally pushed over, or he is given a look that he perceives to be offensive (or any number of scenarios). To make matters worse, separation anxiety has recently kicked in, so he falls apart if I even appear to leave him. Grae is literally my cry-baby.

As a mother, my natural response to this situation is to worry (and sometimes even feel embarrassed when Grae bursts into tears again and looks to me for rescue). I worry that a few years from now, Grae will still be struggling to interact, to make friends, and to stand up for himself. This could just be a phase, but it might not be. The thought of Grae being misunderstood and disliked by other kids breaks my heart. Chris and I have always been aware that Grae is cautious, initially reserved, and an observer, but we are just starting to recognize how sensitive he is, and how this combination of character traits has the potential to create struggles for him socially.

In the midst of my worry, I have been reading a very calming and inspiring book called A Mother’s Book of Secrets by Linda Eyre and Shawni Eyre Pothier. In this book, there is a chapter entitled “Who Is This Kid Anyway?” which has given me some peace on the matter. Here are a couple of quotes that I have been trying to keep in mind, especially when I find myself wondering if I am to blame for Grae’s frequent tears:

“Of course, there are things we can do to help that child on his or her way; but in the end, our biggest responsibility is to watch and pray. We need to watch our children with the specific intent of seeing who they really are and pray like crazy that we can give them what they need to succeed! What a challenge it is for us to try and figure out what makes children happy, sad, frustrated, delighted! Who are they really? When we figure that out and accept it, it is crucial to provide the necessary water, light, fertilizer, and love to help each child become who he is meant to be, especially if it isn’t what we had in mind!”

“The secret is that you never know what that cry-baby [Grae!], argumentative, learning disabled child will become, so just keep watching and praying, fertilizing and weeding. And more often than not, magic will happen!”

Who is Grae really? A couple of weeks ago, I made a pretty big discovery. I had put a cartoon called Pingu on the television for Grae to watch while I was making dinner (it was that, or no dinner), and I could hear him laughing at it in the other room. I love Grae’s laugh! I thought it would be fun to capture it on video, so I took my camera into the other room and started to record. The video did not turn out as expected, however. (I have included the video below, but perhaps it takes being his mother or father to recognize the significance of his facial expressions.)

At some point in the cartoon, one of the characters (a seal) is injured and starts to cry. At first, Grae laughs, but when he realizes the seal is crying, he tears up and then struggles to find humor in the cartoon afterward. As I watched Grae tear up, I couldn’t help but tear up too – seeing him suffer in response to someone else’s suffering was a humbling experience, and I don’t know that I have ever loved him more. I had no idea that he could experience empathy in that way, or to that degree.

At that moment of discovery, I felt absolute peace about Grae’s future. He expresses much in his face, and he reads much in the faces of others. He is quick to feel hurt, but he easily feels and understands the hurt of others. Perhaps you cannot have one without the other. Perhaps the source of our grief at the playground is also the source of Grae’s empathy. If that is true, than I will gladly watch, pray, fertilize, and weed my little cry-baby through social struggles in hope that he will become a man who continues to be sensitive to the suffering of others, and who seeks to bring them relief because of it. A man who understands and loves people. At this very moment, however, I just want him to forever remain the little boy in this video…

My older brother Ben, his wife Tarin, and their daughter Cooper recently moved to San Jose, California from Denver, Colorado. Since we are now practically neighbors, we decided to meet up for a weekend of camping in the Redwoods of northern California. In hindsight, the camping part was a slightly crazy idea. Camping+Toddlers+Cold/Wet Moms = Motel Trees.

Here is a recap of our adventure:

We each drove six to seven hours to arrive at the campground well after dark. While setting up camp with only the light from our lanterns, I was certain that there was a bear grunting in the surrounding trees and feared a painful death would come to each of us. (Come morning, Chris’s theory was confirmed that a nearby tent was occupied by someone snoring). Once Chris had convinced me that a bear wouldn’t hide out in the trees waiting for the right moment to attack us, we settled into our tents to go to sleep. Except that I didn’t sleep well, and Tarin might not have slept at all. I was cold, Tarin was freezing. The weather in the Redwoods is rarely extremely hot or cold, but during our visit this May, the Redwoods were wet and cold-to-me. Me being me. And Tarin. I mention this, because Chris and Ben insist that the weather was perfectly tolerable.

The following day, I thawed out in a hot shower that cost me 75 cents, but Tarin couldn’t bring herself to suffer the undressing requirement for that relief. We ate breakfast, we wandered some local trails, we hung out around the fire, we oohed and aahed over my brother’s iPad (he works at Apple, and Cooper is an iPad whiz and addict), and a few of us complained about not being able to get warm. Grae, Cooper, and Sawyer (Cooper’s sidekick – her dog) had a great time running around in the dirt, playing with rocks and sticks, and eating fish (the fake kind). We ate some decent camp food, and I made a failed attempt to make a dutch oven cobbler (because I modified a recipe to make it “healthy” (of course), and it was my first time using a dutch oven). It was a good day.

That night, my use of handwarmers in the foot of my sleeping bag (and under Grae’s mattress) allowed me to sleep much better than the night before, but Tarin still didn’t fare well. Thus, the next morning we packed and went in search of a motel. That search led us to Motel Trees.

Motel Trees is unlike any other middle-of-nowhere motel, because it isn’t in the middle of nowhere. It is directly across the highway from the Trees of Mystery nature attraction! I love that place! When I was a kid, my family and I made an epic road trip from Alberta to California, to Utah, and then back to Alberta. When we drove along the California coast, we visited the Trees of Mystery, and that single experience makes up probably 90% of the memories I have from that trip. I was enthralled by the place! I was so excited to take Grae and we had a lot of fun (although he was more spooked than excited by some of the attraction’s permanent residents).

It was a fun, but short trip. I so wish we lived near Ben, Tarin, and Cooper. We love them so much! Next time we meet up, we should just skip the camping part and go straight to Motel Trees :)

May was a month of traveling for our family! The first stop for Grae and I was my grandparent’s farm in Holden, Utah. Grae and I flew into Salt Lake City and spent a couple of days with Chris’s family in Orem. Then my parents and my brother Paul picked us up to drive to Holden (they drove all the way from Edmonton, Alberta). I loved that Paul came – I didn’t know he was coming, so it was such a fun surprise to see him!

While at the farm, we rode four wheelers, jumped on the trampoline, guarded kittens from the dog, watched movies, visited with aunts, uncles, and cousins… we had a great time and it was fun, as always, to see Grae spending time with family.

I love the Coats farm. I have spent a week or two of almost every year of my life there. My grandparents are incredibly loving, sweet, giving people. Because of them, the Coats farm is somewhere that I often find myself feeling homesick for.

Last Saturday was a beautiful day – finally!!  It was actually hot and sunny for what felt like the first time in years.  Ok, months, but still.  We put Grae into his swim gear and headed for nearby Magnolia Park.  As expected, the fountain puddle thing was the main attraction.  There were lots of kids running and splashing.  Grae spent most of our time there standing near the edge watching the action.  He tends to be like that: kind of a wallflower.  Darcy and I took turns taking him into the water until we were sure he was going to get scorched in the sun.  At about this point he got up the courage to run in himself so he took a few solo excursions.  Now if only we could coax that weather to come back and stay for a while…

Some of my family made a quick stop in Oregon on their way to Washington where they will be visiting with folks that Shawn met while serving a mission in the Tacoma area. We took an afternoon trip down to one of my favorite locations in all of Oregon: Silver Falls. Pictures don’t do it justice, but then again, it’s the best I can do until you decide to come visit us and we take you there in person (this is directed at family who need some prodding to come visit (-;)

I have been gutting my kitchen cupboards in an attempt to establish some order. My spices had already begun to invade and colonize my baking shelf, but my discovery of Everyday Indian brought upon an influx of fresh troops that guaranteed spice conquest – something had to be done. Unfortunately, Grae discovered my stash of goods en route to safer communities (admittedly, not hidden from him very well… they were sitting on the dining room floor), and he subjected them to destruction and terror that certainly surpassed anything they had suffered under the reign of the spices (in fact, some of the spices were pulled into the tragedy as well). When will there ever be peace in this world?

If you happen to be interested in Indian food, there is a little shop called India Imports nearby that has just about everything you might need. Just be forewarned that the shop owner doesn’t understand or speak English very well. If you would rather let someone else cook Indian food for you, try Curry Leaf in Bethany. I love this place (and always get the same thing – mild Chicken Tikka Masala with rice and Garlic Naan).

And, lastly, Grae running to his favorite outdoor destination. The street, of course.

These are pictures of Grae learning to walk, but he is actually running around like a pro now. I am just posting pictures very late, as usual. Grae took his first steps while in Alberta for Christmas (a very thoughtful gift for my parents!), but didn’t commit to a biped lifestyle until a week after his first birthday.

PS – For those of you wondering what the heck I have my child dressed in, it is a wool diaper cover :)