We had a good time celebrating Maverick this week! I didn’t get as many pictures as I should have. My kids stayed home from church last Sunday and by the end of the day they seemed to be bouncing off the roof so I thought they’d been playing hooky. Monday was a school holiday, so the kids had friends over all day and had a good time. Little did I know they were actually sick. Monday evening hit and Maverick spiked a fever. He’d been so energetic and zero symptoms all day, so it felt like it came out of nowhere. Fortunately, I don’t think he got anyone sick, because his friends that had been over also made it to his birthday party. Tuesday Beverly, Maverick, Harvey, and I stayed home sick. We were all sick, but Mav was the only one who had a fever. He was super nervous that he wasn’t going to feel well by his birthday, but by Wednesday morning he was back to his normal, energetic self. Harvey fought me every morning for the rest of the week about going to school until his dad promised if he knocked that crap off, he’d play Roblox with him. That was motivating enough, because Friday went by without a hitch. For Maverick’s birthday, we went to Red Robin Monday for lunch and I made his favorite dinner for him on his birthday: “Umami bowls” (see the end of this blog for the recipe). I took cupcakes and sushi to school for his birthday. I think he felt pretty special, which is important to me. I do my best to try and help my kids feel loved, so I try to make their birthdays extra special. His birthday party was on Saturday, which was pretty low key. Hey invited five friends, three of which live in our neighborhood. One canceled at the last minute because his parents were going on vacation and their grandma didn’t want to stick around for the bad weather we were supposed to have. But we didn’t actually end up getting any bad weather. At least, not yet. It’s cold. And it’s wet. But it isn’t hazardous or even fun. The boys played video games, had pizza and cheesecake, and were so loud, they had me feeling grateful for noise canceling headphones. It turned out to be a fairly relaxing evening for me. Thursday evening was Maverick’s 4th grade play. He was Darwin. They sang songs about science and had different scientists fighting over who was the best scientist and teaching about what they studied. After the play I made a Darwin joke, but Mav didn’t get it… he said, “What’s evolution?” I laughed, because a few of his lines explained what it was, but apparently it didn’t stick, so we had a nice little science lesson before bed.

Umami bowls:

Ingredients:

1 lb of chicken (I use tenders, but breast would be fine too)
1 lb Cremini mushrooms
1 English cucumber
1 bunch green onions
2 Large carrots, peeled
1/4 peanuts
1/2 purple onion
1/2 c mayo
2 tsp garlic separated (or more if you really like garlic)
4 tsp lime juice (separated by 1 tsp)
sugar
white vinegar
1/4 c kinder sauce (either Korean BBQ or Teriyaki)
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp mirin
optional:
bacon, cilantro, tomatoes

Start by cooking rice to put the toppings and meat on top.
Prepare these veggies, placing #1-2 aside to cook and the rest in separate serving dishes, :
(1) slice 1 lb mushrooms
(2) slice 1 bunch of green onions and separate the white parts from the (3) green
(4) Dice an English cucumber into bite size pieces and separate half into a larger bowl.
(5) slice half of a purple onion
(6) shred two carrots
(7) smash 1/4 c peanuts
Optional toppings: diced bacon, cilantro, diced tomatoes

Prepare vinegar/lime cucumbers:
3/4 c white vinegar
3/4 c water
1/4 c sugar
2 tsp lime juice
1/2 English cucumber
Purple onion

Prepare white sauce:
1/2 c mayo
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp lime juice
1 tsp sugar
Mix together

Heat wok. Pour 2 tbsp olive oil into pan and add chicken. Mince as it cooks. Once it’s mostly cooked, add white part of green onion, mushrooms, and 1 tsp of garlic. Splash sesame oil in the mix and add the mirin and Kinder sauce. Once onions are tender, place a serving size on a scoop of rice and then you can pick from the toppings you want to have on top. My sister in law is baffled by the use of tomatoes, but I find it adds a nice acidic balance, but I bet kimchi would do the same thing and be even more delicious. The vinegar cucumbers and white sauce are additional toppings.