Sundays are wonderful, especially book club Sundays... They begin with food for my family's soul (Church/Mass), then food for my mind (book club choice was GOOD, go Stacey L.: The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton ) & a diner brunch with the "World's Best Pancakes", then onto the supermarket for the week's necessities. I create my list around a weekly menu & go from there. The rest of the day is food prep for the week! Being a full-time, working mom, this part is really important. Heck, just being a commuting, working woman, it's important! It provides me with ample time to cook a real dinner for my family which can be difficult during the week especially with my schedule.For this part, I have to stress how much I love my rice-maker/steamer! It's wonderful.
My toddler, Gabriel is 21 months & loves his vegetables so besides prep for the week, I also prepare go to veggies for him since he's not the average eater (won't eat pizza or chicken nuggets!) Today's steaming was: cauliflower, potatoes & carrots... Then onto rice for another meal.
Meanwhile, I was cleaning other produce & chop, chop, chopping for dinner. What's quicker & healthier & least demanding on a prep day like this? Stir fry! Now some have said to me they are afraid to stir fry because they do not have a wok BUT that is OK! You can use a stainless steel saute pan and a flat wooden paddle spoon. I actually have a Stainless Steel Wok (Stir Fry Pan). Stir fries are so versatile but the one I made tonight is a combination my husband Michael loves.
All of the following amounts are approximate:
Chicken Stir Fry
- 1 & 1/2 pounds of boneless chicken, cut into pieces
- 1 Tablespoon corn starch
- Chinese Five Spice (Star anise, cloves, cinnamon, pepper & fennel)
- Soy Sauce (we use low sodium)
- sliced scallions (green onions)
- white, button mushrooms
- Sugar snap peas or the flat pea pods
- S & P to taste
I place the chicken pieces in a bowl, add the corn starch & Chinese five spice and some soy sauce & mix it up with tongs...
I use a little canola oil in the wok on medium-high heat... add the white part of the scallions for a moment then add the chicken pieces. Cook chicken halfway through, then add the mushrooms... cook some more till the chicken is almost done, add some more soy sauce, & then, near the end, add the sugar snap peas... Stir, make sure the chicken is cooked & it's done!
I serve with white rice or rice noodles.
Did I mention that cleaning & chopping produce is therapeutic for me? I love Sundays...
Have a great week everyone!
why no chicken sausage?
ReplyDeletejk- looks great!
Alright Lishie!!
ReplyDeleteI love that you get all your prep work done ahead of time. Your family gets better meals than mine and I don't have a commute. You're definitely an inspiration and that stir fry looks yummy!
This dish looks de-lish and you have inspired me to try this! I also love the ease and simplicity of the recipe!
ReplyDeleteLooks great! I love stir fry I just get wary of the MSG in Soy Sauce so it is an occassional thing.
ReplyDeleteMenu planning is something that I just don't do enough of. It really would save me time and money and make us eat healthier!
ReplyDeleteso proud of you having a new blog!
ReplyDeleteFood prep is important for SAHM's too! The more one can get done when there is another adult around, the less furniture gets destroyed! LOL Glad you enjoyed the book! ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm good at meal planning, but terrible at following the meal plan; I always forget to defrost the chicken, or do all the meal prep you do on Sundays. Someday, I'll figure it out!
ReplyDeleteThank you all!!!
ReplyDelete@Diayah, I use Low Sodium Kikkomen soy sauce- it does not have MSG:
http://www.kikkoman.com/soysaucemuseum/difference/index.shtml
@Danya- Chicken sausage WILL make an appearance :)!
@Stacey- So true- SAHMs also need to organize with food prep- I was just talking or typing from my experience :)
As I learned today, chopping is much safer when the kid isn't bugging you! Ouch!
ReplyDelete