Chopped! and Picture Explainations

I didn't have a chance to write yesterday and tell you about the pictures, for this reason:

A couple of nights ago we watched the new cooking challenge show "Chopped" on the Food Network. Basically 4 chefs compete for 10,000 smackers. After each round, appetizer, main course, and dessert, a chef is "chopped" and the last one standing wins the moola. I said something to the effect that I could soooo do that, and was critiquing the chefs along the way. Yesterday Jay decided that he and Laurel would run to Food Lion and pick up 4 seemingly unrelated ingredients, and I would have an hour to make dinner (and make it edible) My first issue is that Jay really has no idea what he is doing when it comes to food. I was scared....
When I opened the basket, I see:
1. 2 Mangos
2. Wasabi powder
3. Flour Tortillas
4. Gouda
OMG what am I supposed to do with that??? Any Ideas???

I forgot to take a picture, but it turned out pretty well. Jay loved it. I had several ideas but finally settled on a mock sushi. I cooked beef with one mango, some salt and pepper, garlic, and some kung pao seasoning. Then I wrapped the meat in the tortillas with a sliver of gouda and tiny amount of wasabi paste and cut them into small portions, lining them up on the plate in what Miah called a rainbow shape. Then I cooked some basmati rice while turning the last mango into a compote with some raw sugar. After mixing those together I plated it with the wraps and passed it around.
It sounds strange, but it actually worked. My family was so excited that we decided to make this a "thing" and do it all the time. Next time I'll take pictures. lol


OK, so the pics in the last post have no explanation, so here goes, from the top:

1. Jay brought me tulips for no particular reason, and I wanted to play with my black and white settings.
2. I found a cute little stool at goodwill for $5, and while I love the beat up look, the rope is falling apart so I'm going to refinish it after we move, and use hemp rope to reweave.
3. We visited Jennifer and Chris in Ky. Carlie has always had a thing for Jay, even though she never quite remembers him. She spent most of the visit in his lap, or cuddling up with Laurel. It was a great visit, and I can't wait to hang out again!
4. Jay is sitting in the car with me waiting for Laurel to get out of school, and since we only have one Kindle, he grabbed the newspaper's crossword. ( I just like the way he looks in his fedora)
5. Jay finally gets the Kindle (for a minute, Laurel has read all 4 twilight books on it three or four times, so NO ONE has gotten to play with it much!)
6. Miah was sick for the whole week, so in an effort to keep her on the couch (otherwise she runs around like a chicken with her head cut off) I cuddled with her on the couch, took pictures, and watched lots of Rachael Ray, Ellen, Paula Dean (Miah likes the way she says "Purty") and The Barefoot Contessa.
7. Laurel leaving for her 1st formal dance (the pics got mixed up)
8. Jay and Miah zonked out on the new daybed.
9. Laurel winning the award for Principal's list.
10. Laurel in her dress (and her poor scared Daddy)
11. Laurel trying out her wig (She has a whole stack, but I think she'd kill me if I put all the pics up here! This one was just cute.)

Also this week I got an award from the CPT. I got a nice "Thank You" from the 1st SGT and mentally said goodbye to the FRG. I erased everyone's emails before I remembered I wanted to say goodbye to everyone, so I'm going to end up going out quietly (since not a lot of people from the FRG showed up at the meeting) but that's the way I like it anyway. I'll sort of miss it, but not for a little while. I guess I'll leave it at that, it's time to take Miah to school! Until next time!
S.