Dinner tonight...

I've been off this past week and have had the chance to remind myself what it feels like to be a full time mommy. From morning to night, from breakfast to dinner and all thats in between. I really kind of miss doing this, seeing all the moments we miss of the kids during the nine or so hours I'm away at work. I know myself though and have learnt over the years that I need to work for my own sanity but I also like to have the option to periodically fall into this role of mommy for a while.

Anyway, while home, the hubby has been able to come home to a freshly cooked or chopped.. rather dinner, clean house, bathed and fed kids etc. and I remembered how much I do sometimes enjoy cooking. Anyway, here is one of the things we had this week, summer rolls (also known as fresh spring rolls). These are healthy, tasty and versatile alternative to the traditionally fried soppy version. They are basically a medley of veggies and/or meat wrapped in a light rice paper and dipped in anything from peanut sauce to sweet chili sauce.

 This time I used shrimp, scallions, cucumber, carrots, mint, noodles and lettuce (really just things we had in the refrigerator). I guess these ingredients I could have also made these but whatever..

You basically have soak the rice paper in water for a few seconds, until its pliable enough to roll but not to soft where it would rip. Then lay out your ingredients onto the sheet and roll. I tend to roll forward and pull towards my sef to get a tight seal but it takes a few times to get a feel for how you roll yours. Remember to tuck the ends in before the final roll and plate with the seam facing down. After a few minutes its ready to be sliced on the diagonal and served.

 Eat as soon as you make these or they start to either get dry or soggy depending on where you store them. I basically cover them with a damp clean cloth for a bit until we were ready tot eat and that worked fairly well.