Meatless Monday

One of the best things about being a mom is all the families we have become friends just because we have kids. I had a play date yesterday with one such mother-daughter duo who we met, totally by chance on a chat board (crazy and random). I loved hearing her say she followed my blog and she even gave me a great idea (and a yummy sample) for this Meatless Monday. Spring Rolls!

We make pot stickers (or dumplings) a lot with our ground pork (from our hog) but spring rolls are actually even easier (very little cooking and you just eat them nice and cold). You start with the spring roll wrappers, rice noodles (I have seen them also referred to as rice vermicelli, lettuce, and then go from there.

You can really vary the ingredients on your taste/preferences adding things like sliced carrots, cilantro, Thai basil, tofu (regular or fried or even marinated), bean sprouts, red peppers. Just think about what your family loves to eat then roll what you like burrito style into the wrappers then dip in peanut sauce.

I of course neglected to ask her for her perfect dipping recipe but the easiest version I found and plan to stick with for now is just hoisin sauce combined with peanut butter. About a 4:1 ratio sauce to peanut butter is what I found and plan to try (so 1 cup sauce, 1/4 cup pb) seems to be the most common, then you can add garlic, rice vinegar, water, or even chili if you like it spicy.

Great day with great food and I can't wait to try this as a family meal!