STIR CRAZY!

duders,
i blasted into the Folk Life & Liberty Fortress,
all kinds of hopped-up on big ideas and good intentions,
and me and these children got very in tune to the wavelengths of
woodsly goodsly expertism quicker than hurry-up.
ha.
no jokes.
we made ourselves a meal worthy of warrior poetry and active participation.
not only that,
but we each terrorized a huge plate of everything,
and left nothing behind,
despite having made enough for at least five people.
real mutha-'uckas do real sh!t, y'heard?
and us realies over here get it turned the heck up at dinnertime.
word.
what was the big occasion?
well, what day was it, man?
yup.
STIR FRY-DAY!!
......we do that.
check the teleport:

BAM!!!!
ginger tofu?
mmmmm.
onions and tofu and oil and mustard powder and ginger and GPOP.
dope.
those jauns got hucked into a maelstrom of udon awesomeness,
with celery and carrot and snow peas and basil and cilantro and soy!!
i might've even put a little scallion in there too.
i'm good like that.
we had accents of tangerine,
and cucumber, pea shoots, and mung bean sprouts,
to satisfy all the add-ons and mix-ins we could imagine,
and that was an expert move, for certain.
everything went well together,
and everybody had a lot of only good things.
dudes,
too much is the right amount,
and we made sure to live up to our motto.
those soy-glazed fried brussels?
holy crapola!!
a little seitan broth to steam 'em in that sizzlin' oil?
rad.
the soy searing the split halves at the end?
super-rad.
the melt-in-your-mouth salty softness of each bite???
c'mon.
we got it right this time,
and we reaped the rewards of our effort in taste, texture, and time together.
huh?
what's that up in the left hand corner?
oh.
well, it's sweet-and-sour bok choy garlic stew.
eh.
that was the weakest link in the meal, honestly.
it was good,
but it needed ramen to complete the look.
the thing of it is-
we already had jasmine rice,
AND noodles,
AND we got ahead of ourselves, cooking hungry as it were,
making more food than would be reasonable or feasible for mere mortals,
AND, on the ones,
i'm not trying to create big fat monsters out of my kids-
so,
i backed off on the barbarian broth bath a bit,
and left it as a simpler side of leafy soup instead.
......it's cool, i can live with that.
mostly because that seitan  and broccoli in garlic sauce was the FUEGO!!!!
agave, soy, rice wine vinegar, mustard, GPOP, black pepper,
fresh garlic, mashed garlic, corn starch,
and a baby bit of bouillon made a thickening liquid
that launched the dish into the stratosphere.
seared seitan and onions and broccoli and garlic,
coated in that new-new hottness had us all like 'whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!'
i almost wish i wasn't dictating the steps to the kids,
because there's really no guarantee i can recreate that stuff exactly ever again.
awwwwwwww.
we're just living in the moment, i guess, bro.
that's what's going on,
and i'm very grateful for it.
*
these days are saved by these kids.
helping with crabtree,
helping with heartache,
hell,
even helping clean the flippin' kitchen.
i have two terrific teenagers,
and i'm zero percent exaggerating.
i'm counting my blessings, and it's easy,
because it's like:
one,
two,
three.
let's make it work, and let's work it out.
it's ALL really happening,
and these bright spots are like perpetual high-noon daylight.
what a brace of lucky ducklings we are;
never quiet, never soft.....