Family Style Dinner

I was in kind of weird mood yesterday. I was exhausted from staying up watching the weather Wednesday night to make sure the tornadoes weren't coming right at us, then we got horrible thunderstorms and the power went out for a few hours in the middle of the night. It's weird how the power flickering wakes me up. Anyway, as I get older, these things really worry me. It was the first time I've ever been that close to such a destructive storm , we have no basement and more than anything, I worry about my boys. I know that seems kind of obvious, but the thought of that storm even coming close to us made me want to throw up. At any rate, we didn't get hit, but we have friends in Alabama (that are thankfully ok) and I'm just so sad for all the hurt any of them are having to go through. My in-laws (who are in TN) are without power for days. Thankfully they are all ok though. Thursday ended up being beautiful. Eventually, the sun was shining and I really just let it go.  I thought it was so strange that through all the horrible weather that came through, it was breathtakingly beautiful. My thoughts are with all that have lost love ones.

I decided to make a family favorite here for dinner so we could all sit together and share. I made our family style fried rice.

To keep with the seasonal challenge, I had cabbage wraps, but I'm anxiously awaiting the lettuce season!

(don't judge me that I ate most of that head of cabbage...in one sitting)

Actually, I really liked this! Since cabbage leaves are hardier than lettuce, it held together like a wrap without falling apart. It's really easy to steam an entire head of cabbage. I just put the whole thing in the pot with the steamer rack and steam it until the leaves are tender, but still firm.

I almost for the rooster sauce...that would have been a shame!

I also tried something else that I found not too long ago at the natural food store (thanks to Lindsay for giving me the heads up on this!)...coconut aminos! This is definitely a great alternative to soy sauce if you can't have soy!

Just a warning, it's not exactly the same, but it has a nice flavor that is very similar to soy sauce. 

It was a fun family dinner!

Do you remember a family dinner you used to have as a kid? We always ate together so no meal actually stands out. It was a family rule even if it was 11:00pm we ate together. I remember watching Saturday Night Live while eating dinner on Saturday nights. Funny thing is, now, my sisters and I hate eating that late. Truth be told, we don't always eat together as a group, but I'm ok with that. I think it makes the times that we do a little more special.