Veggie Chow Mein and Fresh Squeezed Orange Lemonade

Old pictures of Bella being a princess

 I hope my mom is wrong when she told me bad things happen in 3's but it seems to me that my life is heading that direction.  Bella has always been a princess in my book but now I think it's true...shes a REAL princess.  Other dogs get into bark, sticks..rocks even but not Bella.  She gets into bedazzled jewels.  Last night we got home around midnight.  We left bella in the bedroom for a second and when I came back in she was looking at me with some sort of jewel stuck to the cornea of her eye.  You couldn't miss it.  I think she just really wanted to be fancy.  After the whole ordeal I figured out where the jewel came from.  An old shirt of mine I got in New Orleans has the word NOLA covered with these jewels.  I had put the shirt on my bed that morning for just a minute and back to the closet it went.  One of those jewels must have fallen off and found it's way to Bella's eye.  Of all places...Bella's eye. 



Too bad I didn't get a picture of the jewel.  Here's just a picture of Bella being cute!

  Luckily UC Davis Vet Clinic is open 24 hours for emergencies.  We got over there within 30 minutes of it happening and they were able to get the jewel off of her eye.  Luckily it didn't have prongs or anything that punctured her eye.  It was just on the surface.  She now has an ulcer where the jewel was but it should heal fine with some drops they gave us.  Crisis averted!! 

On happier news I went shopping with my mom and sister yesterday and got a WOK!!  I've been wanting one and it was super cheap at Ikea.  Only $5!  I also got two jars for my homemade dressing and some cute dishes!  I love dandelions!   I know I said I was going to stay away from the kitchen until the house was back to normal but I just couldn't help myself.  Not only did I get a wok but I got a whole bag of lemons from my friend Ashley who has a tree in her backyard.

 I figured a simple stir fry or "chow mein" and some fresh squeezed lemonade would be simple enough.  I found the chow mein recipe here.  I made a few adjustments so see below for my version:

2 T olive oil
2 teaspoons of hot chili sesame oil
1 small onion chopped
1 celery stalk sliced
handful of baby carrots sliced
2 cloves of garlic chopped
2-3 cups of frozen stir fry veggies (mine was a mixture of broccoli, water chestnuts, baby corn, snap peas, mushrooms, carrots, red peppers)
5 ounces of veggie broth
3 T soy sauce
3 T Apple cider vinegar
1 T agave nectar
1 T cornstarch mixed with just a little bit of water
Cooked vermicelli noodles (I didn't really measure just took a few handfuls and cooked them)

Directions:
1.  Heat both oils in the wok over medium heat
2.  Add the oninos, carrots and celery stir fry for a minute or so
3.  Add in the frozen stir fry medley
4.  Stir fry until heated through add the garlic and stir fry another minute
5.  Add the broth, soy sauce, vinegar, agave and cornstarch.  Cook until the liquid starts to boil and thicken
6.  Add in the cooked noodles and mix well until all is incorporated and heated through (I started cooking the noodles around step 1-2)



I LOVE lemonade.  It's one of my all time favorite drinks.  So when one has an abundance of lemons...well duh I'm going to make lemonade! 

I have an old juicer my mom found at a garage sale awhile ago.  Perfect excuse to put it to use.  I also had some oranges we got at the farmers market last weekend so I figured we'd spice up normal lemonade with some added orange juice. 

Juice from 4 lemons

Juice from 3 oranges

4 Cups of water

3/4 Cup of agave nectar

Mix all together in a pitcher, chill in the fridge and serve with ice cubes.  Perfection!!

After everything the past week this meal made it all seem to go away.  =)  An hour in the kitchen does that to me.  The recipe I've been wanting to make since the farmers market last weekend is back on schedule.  Can't wait!  Creamy red pepper pasta with baked yams.  I got a tasty loaf of bread and bottle of moscato to go with it!  Stay tuned!! 

Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler!