Asian Manwich

It's 9:16 p.m. What is your toddler doing?

My toddler is sitting in a folding chair watching me cook dinner. That's right...it is 9:16. I am just now cooking dinner and my two year old is still up and going strong. I never said I was going out for "Mother of the Year." What do most people in America make for dinner at 9:16 p.m.?
Lettuce wraps, of course! I may actually be the only person in America making homeade lettuce wraps at 9:16 p.m. with a two year old watching. It has been so long since I have done a cooking post, I thought why not? I have been in a slump all day....wrapped in a blanket on the couch, coughing, sleeping, drooling. Now I have my second wind and am ready to stay up til the break of dawn.

It is important to note that this Pioneer Woman recipe calls for a lot of fancy Asian sauces. It is also important to note that I omitted several things in her original recipe, which I will make note of at the end of this post. I bought all of the Asian sauces last Sunday. Literally at the second I was filling my cart with them, one of my brother's (Michael) walked by with his cart. I have never randomly ran into Michael at the store. We casually examined the contents of each other's carts. His cart consisted of Double Stuff Oreos and manly meats, like smoked sausage. My cart consisted of hoison sauce, Cantonese Oyster sauce and satay sauce. He laughed at my cart and said I was a loser and that no one else on Earth would be eating those things.

Clearly, I am much cooler because I do cook with things like satay sauce instead of sitting with a sleeve of Oreos on my couch while watching Sports Center.

Clearly. Right? Don't answer that.

I now have enough Asian sauces on hand to either start my own China Buffet or to make lettuce wraps 20 more times.

There is a certain amount of prep involved in this recipe. Whatever time that Pioneer Woman claims this recipe takes to create is a lie. Especially if you are me. I am a little slow in the kitchen. I like to make my kids starve until the wee hours of the night. I also was furiously texting my cousin, Alexis, while cooking.

A huge omission that I had to make in this recipe was onion. I HATE omitting onion, but honestly, my whole marraige depends on whether or not I remember to always omit onion. My husband hates onion more than Bill O'Reilly hates Ludacris. Not sure what I'm talking about? Google it. Anyway, I did not feel like putting my marriage in jeopardy tonight, so I omitted onions completely. The cutting board below is displaying red bell pepper, minced garlic cloves, and diced water chestnuts.

My husband cored the lettuce and washed it. This is where he put the lettuce to drain off the excess water. I thought this was cute, so I snapped a picture. I've said it once and I've said it before....I don't get out much. Lettuce sitting on a window ledge was one of the cutest things I had seen all day.

This is what the meat and veggies look like before you add sauces.

Add zee sauce and you have something beautiful...

Does this not look exactly like Asian Manwich? If they even eat Manwich. If you don't know what Manwich is, you are offically dead to me.

Matt had pulled out the plastic University of Kentucky plates for our meal, but I grabbed a blue plate because it looks prettier in pictures. 15 points for plating.

Are you wondering what the green stuff is on top of the meat? It is cilantro. Cilantro is not called for in the recipe, but it is my own special touch. I am convinced that cilantro may be the secret to happiness.

Here is my unshaven husband stuffing the end of his first lettuce wrap in his mouth. Me love you long time.

I have to tell you.....this recipe was AMAZING. Pioneer Woman never disappoints, but this seriously rivaled the lettuce wraps at P.F. Changs. If you haven't had lettuce wraps at P.F. Changs, you better go get some....or just make this recipe! My omissions did not matter one bit. Here is the link to the original recipe for PW's Lettuce Wraps. I omitted the following:

peanut oil (I substituted vegetable oil)

onion (no substitution)

fresh ginger (no substitution)

Chinese cooking wine (I substituted white cooking wine)

Since I am all about confessions on my blog, I must confess that my children ate PB&J with a side of fruit tonight, instead of lettuce wraps. They aren't as cool as their parents yet.

Have you made anything delicious lately? Let me know in comments!