ALL NEW: Recipes!

Cooking and baking have never been a major passion of mine, but I've found that over the years I've certainly gotten much better at it. To the point that Lena declares every meal "gourmet!" I don't know about that but even I'll admit that the meals I make nowadays are wayyy better than when I was a rookie mom.

I was in the mood for Chicken Kung Pao tonight and I thought, "Why don't I google some recipes and see if I have all the ingredients?" and sure enough, I did! (Well, not really, I'll explain below.) So with a dash of courage, a sprinkling of hope, and a cup of gumption (like the cooking analogies? lol), I went for it. And the result -- AMAZING! "Better than chinese food!" Ardan exclaimed. I'm so proud of myself.

Here is a picture of what it looks like, from the website where I got the recipe (http://www.blogchef.net/):

And you know what -- it looks exactly like that when you make it! Well, actually, to be totally honest with you, I was missing two of the ingredients so I had to improvise. I didn't have green onions, so I used white sweet onions; I didn't have peanuts so I used sliced blanched almonds. It turned out just as tasty, if not more. The kids are just in awe of me, they think I should have a cooking show on TV. Hah! So here's the recipe, enjoy! (It takes like maybe 20 minutes from start to finish; also I had 2 lbs of chicken so I just doubled everything.)

Ingredients: 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1” pieces; 1 tablespoon cornstarch; 2 teaspoons sesame oil; 3 tablespoons green onions, chopped; 3 garlic cloves, minced; 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes; 1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger; 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar or dry cooking sherry; 2 tablespoons soy sauce; 2 teaspoons sugar; 1/3 cup dry roasted peanuts

Cooking Instructions: Step 1: Combine chicken and cornstarch in a small bowl and toss to coat. Heat sesame oil in wok or frying pan over medium heat; add chicken and stir-fry 5-7 minutes or until no longer pink inside. Remove chicken from wok. Step 2: Add green onions, garlic, red pepper flakes and powdered ginger to the wok and stir-fry for 15 seconds. Step 3: Combine vinegar or sherry, soy sauce and sugar in a small bowl. Mix well and add the sauce to the wok. Step 4: Return chicken to the wok and coat with sauce. Stir in roasted peanuts. Heat thoroughly. Top with additional green onions if desired and serve over white rice.