Asian Chicken Wraps

Man alive, it feels like I haven't blogged in forever. It's been very busy around here lately.

Quick catch up:

Work is going very well. I continue to learn new things every day. This week was my first experience with inventory on such a large scale.(I've done inventory at other stores and businesses, but this was much more complex than anything I've done before) It actually involved another company coming in to do the counts. There is a lot more to the process than I ever imagined.

Summer has arrived in all her glory to the south. That means many things- strong thunderstorms that erupt out of nowhere, fresh fruits and veggies ever where you look, playing on the beach in the sun, and wild fires.

The current wild fire is over to the west of us in the Okefenokee Swamp. If you are a regular reader you may recall I went to the Okefenokee for my birthday. About two weeks ago lightening struck and ignited the fire in the swamp. Because of the dry conditions, over 150 square miles have burned thus far.

Here's a picture from one of the local newspapers:


My mom had mentioned that officials had wrapped the historic Chesser homestead and the other outlying buildings with reflective heat blankets. All I could picture was a giant roll of aluminum foil! :P I did a little looking and further research showed that the heat blankets were used in 2007 to save the homestead during the last major wild fire in the swamp. I think it's a pretty cool concept. Way to go science!

Thank you to the nearly 200 fire fighters who have been fighting the blaze!

As a result of the fire there has been a lot of smoke. We don't get a lot of it here, unless the wind shifts. My parents, who are further south than we are, get more of the smoke and ash from the winds. (They can keep it, the smoke stinks!) There have been a few days were visibility has been so limited you can't see from stop light to stop light. Parts of the interstate have been closed intermittently due to no visibility. Yesterday we had a little bit of ash falling from the sky. I had a moment of panic thinking it was snow flurries. Yea, it was 90 and sunny, but white stuff falling from the sky still equals snow in my head. Then, the wind shifts and it disappears. This can all happen in a matter of a few minutes.

Here's a satellite photo from NASA of the swamp:


It's been interesting to learn about these things as we go :)

I almost forgot one of the most exciting things:


My peach trees are getting heavy with fruit! So heavy in fact, I had to actually pull some of the fruit off and let the mini peaches ripen on my counter top. The young trees were so top heavy they were leaning over to the point they were nearly laying on the ground! I can't wait until later in the summer when the fruits are big and juicy :)

As the temperatures heat up, I start looking for refreshing suppers to serve. No-cook and grilled meals are our favorite in summer. I found a new Asian chicken wrap a few weeks ago and we were both really excited to try them. They were an instant favorite.

They are light, crisp, and refreshing. Delicious!

Here's to you and your culinary adventures, friends. Cheers!


Asian Chicken Wraps
Recipe modified from kraftrecipes.com

1/4 cup KRAFT Asian Toasted Sesame Dressing (plus additional for drizzling)
2 Tbsp. MIRACLE WHIP Dressing
4 cups pre-shredded coleslaw
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 large carrot, shredded
1 green onion, thinly sliced
Flour tortillas
pickled sweet banana peppers (optional)

In a large bowl, mix 1/4 cup dressing with 2 TBS miracle whip. Toss with slaw, chicken, onion, and carrot. Chill for about 30 minutes.

Spoon desired amount of filling into flour tortillas. Top with banana pepper slices if using. Drizzle with about 1/2- 3/4 tsp sesame dressing. Roll up and serve immediately.*

* Do not spoon filling in until you are ready to serve. If you do this early the tortillas will get overly soft and gummy.