Moving into Asian Week

Move into summer with these Asian Inspired recipes: Spring Rolls, Asian Slaw & Ginger Soy Stir Fry. 

Signing the papers to our Home Sweet Home! ps. that's a huge bottle of celebratory Tito's in that bag. 

Last week was nuts with the move into our new dream home. But after a few days of nonstop unpacking, hanging, drilling and rearranging, we’re basically settled. I don’t know about you, but I can’t live out of boxes so I took the kids to grandma’s house and just focused on unpacking and decorating. The last time I moved was six years ago pre-kids so this time was a lot more stressful. But here’s what I learned:

The top 4 things I learned moving my family across town:

Number 1. Hire movers. Do it. Whatever it costs. It took professionals 12 hours to take our 3 bedroom home and bring it to the new place. I can’t imagine what it would have taken if it was us and some reluctant friends. 

Number 2. Get rid of the kids for a couple of days. We took them to my parents house and I focused on making their new home comfortable for them. I worked on their rooms first and made sure everything looked as it had before. I was worried that it would be stressful or confusing for them, but of course they already forgot about the old house and love the new house and especially their rooms. 

People were surprised that I already had decorations up on the wall but what’s the sense in procrastinating?? Decide where you want the stuff to go and drill a hole. I delegated. Chris drilled. Plus we worked on getting the place ready ALL DAY. For several days. 

Number 3. DO NOT wait until the night before to start packing. I know this seems obvious but we didn't want to disrupt our lives and didn't start until the night before and well, let's just say the movers were not happy with us the next day when they saw things thrown into garbage bags. The move took so much longer and we ended up having to tip them extra and threw in a bunch of beer and booze because we felt so bad.  

Number 4. Plan a housewarming party. There’s nothing that gets you to finish unpacking and decorating a new home like an impending, grand unveiling in front of all your friends and family. 

and now onto the recipes...

ASIAN SLAW SALAD

ASIAN SLAW SALAD - before

I use a handheld mandolin to thinly slice vegetables because I am no professional chef (self taught) and I don’t want to waste my time doing something a kitchen tool does better. Plus they look so pretty when they’re the same size. 

ASIAN SLAW SALAD - after

Spring rolls

These fresh Spring Rolls are even better than you'd find at a restaurant, and they're incredibly easy and healthy! Served with a delicious homemade peanut sauce, these rolls are perfect for a fresh, light lunch, dinner or appetizer. And the rice paper wraps are really easy to find at any grocery store. They sell them at our Pick n' Save and Sendik's.

Ginger Soy Stir Fry

Ginger soy stir fry….perfect for the end of the week when you are trying to control food waste. You can literally use any vegetables or protein you have on hand. This recipe is all about the sauce. I serve over brown rice but you could use rice noodles, whole wheat spaghetti, white rice, quinoa, riced cauliflower, sunshine rice…(I don’t think that’s a thing but if it was, you could use it).

I'm telling you, this stir fry is always a hit. Sometimes when I don't know what to make, I just throw in any vegetables in the fridge and add this sauce. It's the sauce that makes it so, so good.

Next week, I'm going to spice up your week with Cajun Salmon Cakes, Black Bean Burgers, Stuffed Peppers and Sweet and Spicy Roasted Cauliflower. See you next Friday!