When you house sit for us...

one can expect many surprises and treats...

* The first is this smiling face...literally in your face the whole time :)
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Well that is true, except for when our angel decides he's tired and cuddles up into a little peaceful ball...so cute and innocent right?!?!
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Hubs and I know our pup is an acquired taste and can be a lot to handle for the wrong person. With Hubs gone and the road calling me away from home, third party dog care is something I'm having to to take into consideration.
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Up until my last trip The Sox Family (aka my brother/sister in-laws) have been incredible about taking the Pups into their home for days at a time. Pups loves it and they also seem (or rather claim, haha!) to enjoy it. On the last trip though, The Sox home was booked to capacity with visiting family, so we had to move to Plan B...Blue Light.
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Blue Light is the mother of two wonderful little girls and has a special someone she shares her days with. Coming to my rescue, Blue Light and her whole crew moved into the house for a night and assumed all doggie care responsibilities.
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When one house sits for us, they can expect all sorts of special treats...
for Blue Light and company it was an Asian Feast!
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I picked up some sweet sugar snap peas at the Farmers' Market over the weekend. They were so darn good, how can you not love the summer freshness!?!?
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They were cooked up in sesame oil, garlic, soy sauce and salt/pepper.
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I also did a little spin on my mother's fried rice recipe. Trying to be sensitive to kiddos eating this meal, I really wanted to maximize the veggie use. Rather than meat in this rice I went with a combo of carrots and green and red peppers.

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Making this Veggie Fried Rice, Korean-American Style, is pretty easy...

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Begin by heating oil in a wok.

Saute garlic and veggies until softened just a wee bit.

*Note I did cut the veggies up pretty small, just in case that would help in getting the kids to eat it.

Add cooked rice (I use Korean rice and my handy counter top rice cooker), scallions, sesame oil, soy sauce, and black pepper.

Mix until combined and everything is evenly heated.

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There you have it, pretty simple, mighty tasty and provides an additional servings of veggies, well hidden :)

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The centerpiece of the meal - my mother's recipe for Bulgogi!

A Korean stir fry type dish, it is a salty/sweet treat made up of beef, garlic, onions and scallions.
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This was actually one of my lil' sis' favorite things to eat growing up...translating to our family eating it a lot! Her favorite thing to do was to have the sauce poured over her white rice, so of course mom would usually try to make extra. The extra sauce approach has stuck and so when I do whip a batch up, there is plenty of to go around.
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Made the evening before my departure, everything was packaged up and set in the fridge for easy reheating. I also picked up milk, fruit juice, Trout River's Rainbow Red Ale (for the grown ups), ice cream dots and Ben & Jerry's.

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My hope was they would have everything they might need or want...and a couple of special treats :)

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Thank you for the help Blue Light!!