Now that everyone has had a chance to select a location, it’s Mr. N’s turn again and this time he’s taking us to China. Both he and Miss A enjoy Chinese food – especially with Nana and Papa who often take them out for Chinese. So for Mr. N’s first recipe selection we’re going with Kung Pao Chicken served over jasmine rice. This promised to be a quick and tasty meal – just what we needed before heading out to a St. Baldrick’s fundraiser (excellent cause by the way).

Miss A was responsible for measuring and pouring tonight. She began with the sesame oil for the stir fry. Mr. N in the meantime got to try out the potato peeler on some fresh ginger. He seemed a bit nervous at first, but quickly got the hang of it. Dad took care of cutting the chicken and I tended to cooking the initial ingredients at the stove. 

Miss A was more than eager to work her whisking magic on the sauce, making sure to dissolve the sugar. We then added the sauce to the skillet and cooked up the remaining ingredients.

Both Mr. N and Miss A were very excited by how good it smelled and couldn’t wait to eat. (Read with exasperation: Is it ready yet??)

For the finishing touches, and given our time constraints this evening, we used an instant jasmine rice over which we served the Kung Pao Chicken. Dad and I chose to add red pepper flakes to our Kung Pao (The original recipe includes it in the sauce mixture, but we left it out for the kiddos sensitive pallets.), and we all took peanuts sprinkled on top.

The result was fantastic! Every single one of us enjoyed this meal. The kids tried the snow peas and peppers, ate a few and tossed the rest – but boy did they eat up the chicken, rice and peanuts! Dad and I were also really pleased with this dish – it was easy, healthy, tasty and a winner all around. That said, I think the biggest hit of the night was how we ate our Chinese dish…

We rigged up some kid-friendly chopsticks for Mr. N and Miss A. Or as Miss A refers to them “pork chops.”

We tried explaining that they were chopsticks, but she simply asserted, “I callin’ them pork chops.” That’s our little Miss A – a mind of her own.

And of course a Chinese meal wouldn’t be complete without a little good fortune…

The kids were very surprised by the fortune cookies, but Miss A didn’t quite understand why they put paper in her cookie. Our favorite fortune of the night, “Good things are coming your way.” Man zou and wan an! (Take care and good night.)