Yum-O.

Yes, Rachel Ray is a wee bit obnoxious, but I'm going to post one of her recipes anyway. If you've eaten at my house in the past five years, you've probably had this---it's a favorite around here:

Chinese-Barbecued-Chicken Lettuce Wraps

2 cups fresh shitake mushrooms (I use button mushrooms)
1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast or tenders
2 T. vegetable or peanut oil
Salt and pepper to taste
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 inch ginger root, finely chopped or grated
Grated zest of 1 orange
1/2 red bell pepper, diced small
1 small tin water chestnuts, drained and chopped
3 scallions, chopped
3 T. Hoisin sauce
2 large heads of iceburg lettuce, cores removed, heads quartered (I use a red or green leaf lettuce)
1 navel orange

Remove and discard stems from mushrooms and brush caps with a damp towel to clean. Chop mushroom caps.

Chop chicken into small pieces. (The finer the chop, the more "PF Chang-y it is:)

Heat a large skillet or wok over high heat. Add oil to hot pan. Add chicken to the pan and sear meat by stir frying a minute or two. Add mushrooms and cook another minute or two. Add salt and pepper, then garlic and ginger. Cook a minute more. Add orange zest then bell peppers, water chestnuts, and scallions. Stir fry another minute. Add hoisin sauce and toss to coat mixture evenly.

Transfer barbecued chicken to a serving platter and pile lettuce wedges along side. Garnish with orange wedges.

Serves 4.

For convenience, I recommend prepping all of the ingredients before you start, because once you start stir-frying it goes really fast. A microplane is a handy tool for this recipe (orange zest and ginger) so if you don't have one, I highly recommend it. It will soon become your favorite kitchen gadget.
Last night Nicole and Natasha came over and made dinner for us: pork chops, butternut squash soup, salad, bread and then the most amazing chocolate cake ever. If you like chocolate you MUST try this recipe. It starts with a cake mix, so it's fast and easy. (Go here for the recipe). Thank you ladies for an awesome meal, you are welcome to come and do it again anytime!And just for the heck of it, here's a picture of Skylar looking like a homeless child after her daddy dressed her in nothing but baby legs and a hoodie. And as for the hair....we won't even go there.