Swimming Rama!

Ingredients

• 2 (10 ounce) packages fresh spinach
• 1 1/4 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced crosswise into 1/2 inch wide strips

Peanut Sauce

• 2 teaspoons coconut oil
• 1/2 cup onions, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 3 tablespoons sirach
• 1 can lite coconut milk, unsweetened
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 
  
• 
  

Directions

• 1. Set steamer basket in a large pot; add water to within 1/4 inch of bottom of basket.
  2. Bring water to a boil over high heat. Layer about1/4 of the spinach in basket; cover and steam 15 seconds. Quickly turn leaves over with tongs. Cover and steam 15 seconds more (or until leaves are bright green and barely wilted).
  3. Transfer spinach to colander. Repeat with remaining spinach. Lay spinach on serving platter or individual plates.
  4. Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat. Add chicken to boiling water; remove saucepan from heat. Let stand, covered, 5 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center.
  5. Prepare Peanut Sauce.
  6. Peanut Sauce:.
  7. Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; cook and stir 2 to 3 minutes or until tender.
  8. Reduce heat to medium. Add peanut butter, fish sauce, paprika, and sirachi; stir until smooth. Slowly stir in coconut milk until well blended. (at this point, cause may be cooled, covered and refrigerated up to 2 days in advance).
  9. Stir sauce constantly over medium heat until bubbling gently. Reduce heat to medium-low. Combine cornstarch and water in a small cup; stir into sauce. Cook and stir 1- to 2 minutes or until sauce is thickened. Stir in lime juice.
  10. Drain chicken; stir into hot Peanut sauce. Pour mixture over spinach. Top with chopped peanuts and reserved red chili pepper.

  
  

Kieran is turning one soon!

I Can't believe it! Here's a preview of his invitation!

Team Blue!

So just in case you haven’t already heard… baby# 2 is officially on Team Blue! I personally was very surprised when the ultrasound tech told us we were having another boy, I had thought all throughout this pregnancy that it was a girl. Goes to show that I have absolutely no intuition at all!

Nevertheless, we are very excited that Donovan will have a brother to share his life with! I suppose its very fitting that I am going to be having 2 sons, as I was always the tomboy growing up, caring more about soccer and tagging along with Damon then dolls and makeup! It’s a very good thing we have a large backyard so that the boys will have a place to run off all that energy!

As far as we know, everything anatomy wise looked good! Baby is measuring almost a full week ahead which makes for a nervous mama when labor and delivery comes around! I did 92 hours last time, I can do 92 hours again! (ok, hopefully it doesn’t last that long this time!)

Please help us come up with some names for Baby #2! Justin is stuck on the name Tyler but we would like some alternatives! Suggest them either here or on FB or you can email them to me at WNTfanM9@msn.com!

Hope all is well with you all!

Its been a while....

Fall is here! I always judge Fall’s arrival by the appearance of Pumpkin Spiced Lattes at my local Starbucks. I’ve been trying to be good with my Starbucks allowance, but when you’re tired from first trimester hormones, a pumpkin spiced latte is just what I need to help me start my day.

Oh you didn’t know I was in my first trimester? Surprise! Donovan is going to be a big brother! My due date is March 18, 2011, just one day after my mom’s birthday. I guess Justin and I have a knack for planning babies near relatives’ birthdays! Anyways, since this the last baby that will “Spring from my loins” I am trying to enjoy this last pregnancy and not gripe so much about the aches and pains; regardless of how much time I’ve been spending staring at the inside of a toilet bowl lately.

Despite not writing for a very long time, not much has changed around here. We spent a few days at Lake Chelan with Justin’s family, sun, water, and camping; always a good combination. Unfortunately for me, I spent most of the days lounging in a chair, trying not to throw up my stomach contents (Do you see a pattern emerging around here?) Donovan fell asleep on the boat almost every time, something about the purr of a motor and the motion of the waves lulls that little man to sleep! We had a great time and hope to do it again next summer.

We also spent almost a full week up at the Whistler Condo, a time spent walking, swimming, and generally just being lazy. It was GREAT! Donovan loved swimming for the first time and they have a great children’s play ground right outside our door. We didn’t really do much outside of that, but just being away from work and home made for a great vacation.
I will try to update this blog more often, don’t hold your breath though…life is always crazy in the Avara house!

A wonderful weekend

First off: Wow. That was a horrible game for the Sounders, losing to the L.A.Galaxy 0-4. I think I have seen some youth teams organize the field better than what the Sounders did on Saturday. In a bright spot for me, Landon scored one goal and had three assists. Not too shabby!

I’m not going to talk anymore about the game because it really was dismal. The rest of Saturday really was fantastic though, it was nice to spend a full day with Justin, just the two of us. That hasn’t happened for over a year. My parents took Donovan for the day and Justin and I were free as birds to roam as we pleased. We ran to Southcenter mall and picked up a Sounders FC jersey for Justin, went to the game, bought a new WII game (Mario Bros) got some Ban minh, and then worked in the yard a little bit. The weather was fantastic and we even got a bit of color from being outside!

As great as the day was, spending it with Justin, I missed Donovan from the minute we dropped him off. One kind of gets attached to the little guy, I mean he’s so cute and cuddly and likes to make you smile.

Mother’s Day was very laid back. Justin was amazing and let me sleep in a little and then made me “Eggy in a basket”. For those of you who don’t know, it’s a piece of seasoned grilled French bread with an egg cooked into the a hole in the middle. Its delicious stuff! Then Donovan and I headed off to my parents where we ate some delicious food courtesy of my brother. He made handmade ricotta ravioli with English green peas, pancetta, morel mushrooms and sage browned butter. A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

After lunch, Donovan got to play with Maya and Kona, surprisingly doing very well! Usually he is afraid of those big, black, slobbery beasts, but yesterday he was laughing at their antics and didn’t mind one bit if he got sprayed by a swinging wet tail, or kissed by a slobbery tongue. It was cute, I should have brought the Nikon but obviously wasn’t thinking. He also had a lovely time walking (ok tripping) up and down the deck stairs. A very Happy happy boy!

After a lovely dinner with my family of Provincial Leg of lamb, roasted potatoes with garlic and mustard and sautéed Brussels sprouts, Justin and I took a very exhausted little man home for bed.

26 years

So I will officially be in my late twenties come Wednesday. I know everyone says that 26 is still mid-twenties, but I beg to differ. To celebrate my late twenties, here are a list of things that I am proud of over my past 26 years.

*Played way too many sports; included in this list: Soccer (duh), horses (Duh), gymnastics, water polo, basketball, softball, volleyball, and ice skating. Unfortunately, I was not very good at any one sport.

*Got to meet and hang out with some cool people; Landon Donovan, Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, Brandi Chastain, and Kristine Lilly are just a few of them.

*Traveled. I’ve been to Canada, Belgium, Denmark, and France. I hope to add to this list in the future.
Future Travel List: Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, England, Scotland, Italy, Portugal, Greece, China and Japan.

Within the United States, I have been to: WA, OR, ID, CA, NV, AZ, MT, WO, WY, CO, TX, IL , WV, NC, FL, MD, DL, DE, MA, AK, and HI. That’s a lot of states.

*I have a Associates degree from Highline, and a Bachelor’s degree from Central Washington University

At the top of all the things I am proud of, I am most proud that I am married to a wonderful man, have a beautiful, healthy, son, and live in our own home which we unfortunately have to pay the mortgage on.

All in all, I believe that I have lived well my past 26 years. I hope to continue this trend, Life isn’t even half over yet..

Goodbye for now,
Stacy

Pioneer Woman

…Is Effing Amazing! Excuse my French, but seriously, I truly aspire to be as creative and wonderful as she is! Ok, so maybe I don’t want four kids, but I wouldn’t mind living on a cattle ranch, riding horses every day (Sailor would have to be kept in an arena safe from the *Scary* cows), making scrumptious food, and documenting daily life with a camera.

I met her on Saturday April, 17 after a short wait in a long line with many other Pioneer Woman fans. I made the trek up to Lake City with Donovan, my mom, and my old co-worker Emiko; I felt like I was 13 again when I met Mia Hamm (I really miss those days with the WNT!)

Our anticipation built as we saw countless numbers of women holding PW’s cook book in the crook of their arms, chattering excitedly about the event. Emiko, Donovan, and I waited in line and we chatted it up with the ladies around us. Ironically, one of those ladies happen to be one of the mom’s I used to be on a message board with, but we didn’t find this out until later! Donovan had a great time charming the ladies and getting a chance to roll around on carpeted floor, a vast improvement over his everyday life on hardwoods!

So finally the moment came to meet PW and let me tell you, she is beautiful! I’m serious, I hope to look that good in 5 years, not to mention 15! By then I’ll have probably let myself go with platters of bacon and Gilmore Girl reruns, be as big as a house and have to shave my head because never bothered to pull a brush through it!

Ok getting back on topic. PW and I chatted about the origin of Donovan’s name and smiled and Emiko took pictures. There isn’t one of us posing because, yeah I get embarrassed by posing and much rather have candid pictures taken. Let’s be honest, I was kinda haggard looking from the book store heat and I have yet to lose the baby tummy. I didn’t want to be the sore spot in the picture next to PW’s glory! I will post pictures as soon as I have time to pull them off the Nikon, but I have been super busy the last couple of days with Pony surgery (it was gross, you don’t want to hear about it!) and other life adventures.

Meeting PW was the highlight of month, maybe even the next couple of months. If I get tickets to the Sounders FC vs LA Galaxy game for my birthday, that might top it, but still, PW Rocks! (hint hint Justin if you are reading this! You only have 2 weeks left!)

Thanks for reading the ramblings!