Honey Lime Lemongrass Chicken Wings Experience makes you stronger

For Mom - who tried so hard for me.

Mom took piano lessons in order to help me learn piano.  She learned so she knew what the notes were, understood the basic rhythms and could support me in the early stages of piano.  And once she established me at the piano, and had the sense that I was on my way and understood what was going on, she moved on to Brother.

Once Brother began his violin lessons (with Mom taking up the violin as well), I was free to practice on my own.  The way our piano room was set up was it was completely isolated from the rest of the house.  I could close doors, lock myself in the living room, and no one could see what was going on inside, unless they opened the door.

By the time I was 11 years old, I was practicing on my own in that room.  And some days, when I felt that practice was going to be exceptionally tedious and long, I would grab whatever book I was reading and bring it into my room and quietly shut the door.  And I would practice, from muscle memory, as my eyes and my mind were elsewhere.   My fingers would play songs over and over as I devoured whatever book it was that I was reading.

Needless to say, this did not improve my piano playing.  And I remember this, because it makes me pause and think about how I want to make sure Daughters #1 and #2 practice.  Dont get me wrong - Im not about having them practice for several hours on end, like they are preparing for some master competition - theyre only 6 and 8.  But I do expect them to practice mindfully, even if they only practice for 20 or 30 minutes at a time. (But yes, sometimes they practice twice a day.)

When they go into their practice, which incidentally is in a totally open space with no doors to close and right next to the kitchen, I make sure they walk in with nothing in their hands.  I make sure theyre seated at the bench, correct positions, hands at the ready and thoughtful in their practice.  They get to get away with a lot less because I know what I did when I was little.  My little shortcuts and shortcomings of my childhood are not tolerated and not allowed in them.

Thats the curse of having a mom with a good memory of her own mischief in childhood.

But dont feel badly for Daughters (or Son) because also on top of this, they are continually bombarded with new dishes, new flavors, and new ideas in the kitchen.  They arent allowed to get comfortable with their old dishes, because Im constantly giving them new ones.  Id like to think that theyve tasted more new things that average children their age, so Im assuming that in this way, theyll be stronger.

They responded well to these chicken wings, with the hints of lemongrass and lime.  Daughter #2, who is a certified wing fanatic, really loved the flavors and made a point of eating 5 wings, on her own. Son is now eating vegetarian (dont know why) and I couldnt cajole or trick him into eating a single bite, but Daughter #1 also took down a few herself.  They are not spicy, have a subtle perfume of curry and other flavors, but everything blends together so it isnt one flavor that hits you all at once.

Dont let the long list of ingredients stop you from making this - its simply mixing it all together in a bowl, and marinating the chicken, removing chicken from marinade and cooking them in the oven until they are brown and caramelized.

Honey Lime Lemongrass Chicken Wings
Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients
2 ½ lbs chicken wings and/or drummettes, skin on

3 tablespoons minced lemongrass
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons minced ginger
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons sake
2 tablespoons curry powder

Method
In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients EXCEPT wings. Once marinade is fully mixed, add wings, ensuring that each wing gets a nice covering of the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight.

Preheat oven to 400. Line a roasting pan with foil (easier clean up). Lift chicken from marinade and place on roasting pan. Roast wings on one side, until wings are golden, about 20 minutes. Turn wings over, and cook on the other side for an additional 20 minutes.

Serve with lots of napkins.

Printable recipe

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Chicken Dumpling Soup

Happy Monday friends!

Welcome to the new work out week. Hope that first day back went well for you.

Tonight I decided to make the family some chicken dumpling soup...something that theyve never had before. Ha! I heard this from the six year old, "Whats a dumpling?" and then shortly after a teeny, tiny bite..."I dont like dumplings! Theyre icky!"

Well, she did NOT know what she was talking about because they were absolutely wonderful!!

Daddy Rainmaker had some, I had some...and my husband is taking some to work for lunch tomorrow... And the kids who copied her...the 4 and 2 year-old...well, that just left more dumplings for the rest of us to eat. Dumplings will not be going to waste at this house!

Heres a nice little close-up...

I simply dont know why I didnt make dumplings sooner...
Heres my big batch soup recipe that I use:
ten cups of water
10 teaspoons of chicken bouillon (or 3 T and 1 t)
1 cup of onions
2 cups of celery
2 cups of carrots
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of pepper
after I put the water and bullion in, I turn it on high and begin cutting everything up. Once it starts to boil, I turn it down to medium until Ive put all the chopped stuff in the pot. Then, while its on medium, I mix up the dumpling mixture:
2 cups of whole wheat flour
3 teaspoons of baking powder
3 T of parsley flakes
1/4 teaspoon to 1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of thyme

I mix that well and then:
I mixed 1/4 cup of olive oil (or oil of your choice or less oil)
and 3/4 cup of milk (you could probably get away with no milk and just water)

Oh, then I add three cups of cooked chicken
(now, if you dont want to add meat...maybe try a favorite bean?)

Then, I turn it up to high..
Once it starts boiling, I use a Tablespoon and spoon the dumpling mixture into the soup. After its all in, I put a top on the soup and turn it down to between low and medium and let simmer for about 12 minutes.

After that, it was ready to eat.

This is the base soup recipe I use for all of my soups. If its not dumplings I add, its home made egg noodles, or rice, or lentils, or garbanzo beans, or corn, barley...you can add just about anything. And then, what I do is stick the leftovers in a crock pot. Then, a few hours before lunch the next day, I turn the crock pot on, and soup is ready for lunch.
(however, I dont put a top on the soup if I put other things in it)

I did want to add that, I generally dont eat this soup because of the chicken bouillon in it. I see it as being a processed food. However, until I can find a different way of making it, I cook it this way.

----------------------------------------------------------------
Well, I made it to the gym tonight running against a northerly wind and in freshly fallen snow that felt like a run at the beach. Hm..Hey Sunshine, see I can imagine Im some place warm too. Ha!

Got in a terrific 60 minute leg work-out. It felt great! Got in some abs and then some push-ups. two sets of 15 girl style and two sets of 15 boy style.

My weight fluctuated up again to 6.8 pounds loss in four weeks.

I think Ive been eating more than I probably should. I made some more carob peanut butter bars. But I notice that with the additional calories, I get more breastmilk. I want to make sure I get in enough calories for Mr. Lovely so Im tending to err on the side of more rather than less. I think it is affecting my weight loss. So, perhaps after this week, I may look into getting some FenuGreek which helps to produce more milk flow.

However, Im still eating clean, with no sugar or white flour.

Well, I hope you all have a good one!

Sincerely,

Sunshine Mama

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Pseudo Chicken Chow Mein Dear GE

January 29, 2013

Dear GE -

Please stop building stoves that no one can fix.  This is my second GE monogram stove, and after waiting 8 days for a technician to come out and repair it (for which I paid $99.95 for his service trip), I still do not have a functioning stove.  Im assuming the length of time it took for the technician to come out is a direct result of other GE stoves not working and requiring attention elsewhere.  If your product really was superior - Im guessing that my technician would have been there the day after my request and my problem would be solved by now.

As it is, even after my technician visit, my stove STILL DOES NOT WORK.  I explained clearly on the phone the error messages I was receiving on the stove top, explained exactly the situation, and when the technician arrived I had to explain this all over again.  Clearly the dispatch did not properly note my situation, so when the technician arrived, he had no idea of anything.  In addition, he did not have any parts to install for my stove, even when the error message my stove was giving clearly indicated that I was going to need a particular part.   With no parts, there is no repair and how one can call themselves a repairman when it doesnt get repaired is beyond my comprehension.  A better word for todays situation is to call the repairman a visitor, because all he did was VISIT with my stove.  "How are you doing today?  Oh. Not feeling well?  So sorry to hear that.  I hope you can feel better next time when I come!"

Im disappointed in your service, your commitment to your product, and the lack of timeliness in regards to repairing my stove.  I have three children to feed and a non working stove has hindered this process.

Fortunately for me, the portable stove I paid about $20 works just fine, so please convince me as to why I should even bother having my stove repaired when I have a cheaper solution at my fingertips?

Frustrated,

Joanne Choi

P.S.  The only good that has come out of this stove situation is that Ive become really inventive in the kitchen and Ive learned to stir-fry one pan meals.

Now that my rant is over, let me talk about the recipe itself.  Because of my one burner situation and a non functioning stove, Ive had to think carefully how to prepare meals.  This dish, because it is a noodle dish, I boiled the noodles much ahead a time and just sent them aside until I needed them.  It did not affect the flavor of the dish.  Having all the vegetables cut up, everything ready to go makes the execution of this dish fast and simple.

Pseudo Chicken Chow Mein
Serves 6

Ingredients
1 lb spaghetti or linguine noodles
? cup chicken stock
¼ cup soy sauce (I use the kikkoman low sodium)
3 tablespoons Chinese oyster sauce (Lee Kum Kee brand is my favorite)
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon sambal (Chinese chile sauce)
1 to 1¼ lbs boneless, skinless, chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch chunks
¼ cup vegetable oil (you’ll probably not use all of it)
2 tablespoons freshly minced ginger
2 tablespoons freshly chopped garlic
8 bunches of bok choy, washed, and then pulled apart into individual leaves
3 scallions, thinly sliced

Method
Cook pasta according to package directions, about a minute less than it asks for.  (9 minute pasta, cook for only 8 minutes.)  Drain, and set aside.

In a small bowl, or measuring cup, mix together chicken brown, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, and sambal.  Set aside until needed

In a large nonstick skillet or wok, heat 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil over high heat.  Add chicken, season with salt and pepper, and cook, until golden and fully cooked, about 7 minutes.  Add ginger and garlic, and cook until fragrant.  Add cooked noodles and bok choy and begin tossing so that noodles get coated with oil and bokchoy begins to cook, another 2 minutes.  Stir in sauce and cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce is absorbed and noodles are evenly coated, about 5 minutes.  Sprinkle scallions on top and give it one final toss.

Serve right away (although the cold leftovers are also pretty good.)

Printable recipe

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Dry Brined Fried Chicken Wings On pushing through

Because of my work with young writers for nearly 20 years, I know how hard it can be for some students to write.  Sometimes the thought of writing overwhelms, intimidates, or causes such stress that students act out in ways that are less than attractive.  However, Im ready for such behaviors and attitudes and more often than not, I expect them.

Today I walked into another hour of volunteering with a group of 3rd graders.  The teacher is a wonderful writing instructor and appreciates that I can help students focus on their writing and she pretty much allows me to wander and help as I see fit.  Today I walked around for a bit offering some advice, when out of the corner of my eye, I saw a student whose head was buried under his hands on his desk and clearly was off task.  I walked over and sat down next to him.  He moved away.  I waited patiently for him to lift his head, and when he finally did (about 3 minutes later) he said, "Go away."

     "But Im here to help you.  Let me see what you have so far," I said gently.
     "Go away.  I dont like this."
     "Come on.  At least show me what youve got," I cajoled.  I waited a bit longer and he finally sat up and glared at me.
     "Sit up straight and show me what you have," I told him.
     "Im tooooo tired!" and he proceeded to yawn like a lion ready to settle down for a long nap.

I waited some more.  After a long few minutes of struggle and cajoling and working with him, we had a basic plan for his writing.  I asked him to start.  He once again put his head under his desk.  I asked him to start again.  His body slumped more and I kept on waiting.

     "Why wont you go away?" he asked, voice muffled, from his face down position.
     "Because Im here to help you and I want to see you get your thoughts on paper," I reminded him.
     "But I dont WANT your help," he said.
     "I know.  But Im here anyways."
     "Can you PLEASE just go away?" he begged.
      "Not until youre sitting straight at your desk and you try to do what weve planned out."
      Across the desk, his classmate kept muttering under her breath, "You should give up.  Hes not going to do it. Youre making him do something he cant do.  Youre being mean to him.  Hes always like this."

Some stubborn teacher gene in me kept at the activity, despite the peanut gallery commentary across the desk.  I spent more than 20 minutes with him, and finally at the end of the 20 minutes, he began to write.  He even wrote on the three things that we had agreed upon.  He even asked me how to spell "ferris" (as in wheel) which he had misspelled "ferres."  He even managed to put in his periods and capitalize the beginning of every sentence.

Was it the worlds most deep and profound piece of writing?  Or course not.  Not in 20 minutes from a 3rd grader.  But I felt good afterwards because he finally pushed through to the end, albeit with the most protracted protests ever.  I learned a lot from my 20 minutes with him that sometimes you just have to push through.  He had to push through, if only to get rid of my annoying presence.  I had to push through to just finish something that I had started.  And sometimes, just pushing through means you get to the other side and you can look back upon what youve accomplished.

When I think about cooking chicken wings, I often find myself daunted.  There is the oil, the flour, all the dredging, the mess, the smells, the overwhelming extra of all that STUFF.  This means I dont fry often and if I do choose to fry, I like to fry for many people if Im going through the motions anyways.  I had these dry brined chicken wings in my head, ever since I saw a recipe in my BonApetit magazine that talked about dry brining fried chicken.  I finally decided to push through and go ahead and make the recipe that was sitting in my head in hopes of something great.  I was not disappointed.  The chicken was juicy, flavorful with the lightest flour coating to make things a little bit crispy.  If youre looking for a wing with a thick, super crunchy coating, this is not the wing for you.  But if you like the light, crispy, golden taste of fried chicken - well then - push on through and make these.

Dry-Brined Fried Chicken Wings
Ingredients
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
3 to 4 lbs chicken wings, wing tips removed, drummettes and wings separated

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

Method 
Whisk 1 Tbsp. salt, 2 tsp. black pepper, paprika, cayenne, and garlic powder in a small bowl. Sprinkle all over chicken wings and mix well, making sure all chicken receives some of the spicy mixture.  Place chicken in a medium bowl, cover, and chill overnight.

When ready to fry, let chicken stand covered at room temperature for 1 hour before frying.. Whisk flour, salt, pepper in a bowl.

Heat oil in a large heavy pan (or cast iron skillet if youre lucky to have one.)   Heat over medium-high heat until thermometer registers 350°. Meanwhile, set a wire rack inside a large rimmed baking sheet to allow chicken wings to drain after frying.

Dip chicken, one at a time into flour mixture, lightly coating the entire wing in flour.  Carefully add 10 to 12 wings into the hot oil and cook for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Using tongs, remove chicken from skillet/pot, allowing excess oil to drip back into pan; transfer chicken to prepared rack.

Repeat with remaining chicken pieces; let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Printable recipe

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Lemongrass Chicken Stir Fry Learning to accept change

Sons number one fear is change.  If he has new clothes,  a change of routine, a change of schedule, or a change of location - any sort of change from his normal everyday life makes him nuts, and consequently makes me nuttier.  His fear about change, his resistance to change, and his often stubborn inability to embrace change and accept it is a facet of his character that I hope, in time, will begin to soften.

Its not like Im a huge lover of change either.  I dont like change in my daily life, in my routine, in the things that are familiar, but Im also adult enough and wise enough to understand that change, is not only often necessary, it is a good thing.  For the most part, change, when it is with the goal of overall improvement is something that I welcome.  Change is good.

But, recent events in my life have taught me that adults are almost just as stubborn about change as children.  They want to know the whys of change, the whats of change, how is this going to affect ME and my life of change, and they fight change tooth and nail.  Oftentimes in communities, bringing about change becomes even more fractious and antagonistic as people pit themselves against one another, very much in the same way I put myself against Son when he is fighting his change. People try to protect their own interests, instead of thinking about the goals of the greater good.  Nowhere do I see this more in communities where I want to see improvement, like schools.  Teachers isolate themselves so that they can avoid change, leadership forgets to motivate for change, and parents sit by and talk about the days of old, without ever pushing for new ideas and transformation.

If you are unaware, a radical shift (or maybe it wont be that radical, who knows?) is brewing on the horizon, that will hit your childs school in the United States in two years.  45 states in the US have adopted new nationwide standards in mathematics and language arts.  There are 5 states that still have yet to adopt the new standards (Texas, Virginia, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Alaska) but the rest of the nation has adopted these new state wide standards.  In theory, the entire nation will be teaching and learning the same thing.  No longer will there be state by state variances.  (in theory.)

If youre not aware (and Ive only begun studying this in the past six months or so), there will be a shift in what is being taught in language arts nation wide.  There will be a shift to more narrow field to focus on, and more depth in studying the topics that are covered.  Teachers will have to change what they teach, as shift will move towards more informational texts (less fiction taught in school), more explanatory writing (less personal biography taught), and more depth required in each of these areas.  I see the return of research in high schools, research papers and lengthy reports on a single topic, and a shift to challenging kids to decode texts to get facts and information, instead of the focus on just getting kids to "read whatever" in class.

Change is coming.  I know that teachers are scrambling, because they are going to have to change.  I have to change what I focus on teaching.  Students have to accept shifts in what they are learning in school  But I have to believe and take a leap of faith, no matter how hard, that this change is good.  This change is worth it.  This change is going to make lives better.  Im not sure how it will, but I trust the intelligent people that are putting things together, working like crazy, and coming up with ways to challenge our educational system so that it can improve.  How can we be happy as a nation, when we perform so poorly against the world?  Im not fighting this change.  Im learning how I can embrace it.  Im studying the standards, figuring out what they mean, and preparing myself to assist Children to move with the change.

Change is good.  We may not like it when its hard, but itll be worth it.  I believe it.

To learn more about the Common Core State Standards, read about them here.  Each of your states department of education will also have a stance and a statement regarding this.

If youre reading to change things up in the kitchen, I suggest making this Lemongrass Chicken.  Its not your typical stirfry with flavors, but change is wonderful in the case of this dish.  Served with jasmine rice it just makes you happy.  (certainly makes me very happy.)  The flavors are slightly exotic, but comforting at the same time.  The stir fry ingredients take a bit of time to prep, because cutting and mincing lemon grass is difficult, but the flavor is SO worth it, believe me!

Lemongrass Mini Lesson

If youre relatively unfamiliar with using lemongrass, the stalk is super hard to cut, because it is so fibrous.  This recipe, however, uses the inner stalk of the lemongrass, which is far more tender.

Cut off the top of the lemongrass, leaving about a 3 to 4 inch piece.

Using your knife, split the lemongrass stalk lengthwise, so that you can access the tender portion of the stalk.  Discard the tough outer leaves (or if youre making a curry, you can keep it around to add to curry.)

Using your knife, mince the tender stalk into tiny pieces.

Lemongrass Chicken Stir Fry
Serves 6

Ingredients
1 ½ pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs, fat trimmed, meat cut into 3/4-inch pieces
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon curry powder (I use Trader Joes)
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons canola oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 plump stalks of lemongrass, tender white inner bulb only, minced
2 shallots, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced ginger
½ cup chicken stock
¼ cup sake
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon sugar

Method
In a medium bowl, toss the chicken pieces with 2 tablespoons of canola oil, 1 teaspoon salt, curry powder and turmeric powder. Set aside.

Mix together in a bowl chicken stock, sake, fish sauce and sugar. Set aside.

In a large skillet or a wok, heat 2 tablespoons of the canola oil until small puffs of smoke begin to appear. Add half of the chicken and stir-fry over high heat until browned in spots, about 3 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate. Repeat with the remaining chicken.

Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in the skillet. Add the lemongrass, garlic, and ginger and cook over high heat, stirring, until fragrant, 2 minutes. Add chicken stock mixture and bring to a bowl and cook until liquids are significantly reduced, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken to the sauce and simmer until heated through, then serve.

Garnish with cilantro if desired. Serve with rice.

Printable recipe

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Sake Chicken Wings Building community

In recent days, my normally quiet, peaceful, child-friendly community has been shaken up.  One of our own community members has perpetrated crimes against others of our community and the neighborhood, community and city have been shocked and outraged by the incidents.

It hasnt been an easy week as somehow I have found myself midst much of the dialogue about the crimes as well as conversations about how to proceed after the crimes.   Because of the very nature of the incidents, it has become clear in the past week that our community has to get to know one another.  This week I met so many new faces, even though they are old people of the neighborhood; I have shaken hands with as many people as possible and most likely have failed at putting the proper name with each face that I have seen. Ive met people that Ive only heard about and have even gotten to know fairly quickly people that were not known to me even a week ago.  It has been a week filled with anger, outrage, discourse, conversation, and unfortunately much disagreement.

Our community is in the process of recovery and healing after the crimes and dealing with lots of anger and frustration.  As we begin the process of trying to build up our community and getting to know one another, I find myself turning to the words of Atticus Finch, in Harper Lees novel, To Kill a Mockingbird.  In this particular passage, Scout, Atticus daughter comes home, completely frustrated from a day at school.  Her day at school leads to anger towards her nanny which just puts her in an awful mood. At the end of the day, when shes in her arms of her father venting her frustration, he gives her some advice.   "...if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, youll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks.  You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view--until you climb into his skin and walk around in it" (Lee 33).   In order for me to manage being a part of this community, it will help me immensely if I can just understand individual people and where they are coming from.  I need to know from where they are coming, where they are going, and where theyve been.  I need to stop thinking about how people are so different from me, and instead focus on how I can understand them better.

I wont lie.  It really hasnt been easy at all.  Ive suffered many sleepless nights this past week, and the sleeplessness has less to do with the crimes themselves and more to do with the rebuilding of this space in which my family and I live.  But I keep hearing Atticus telling me, in his ever-so-gentle, matter-of-fact way (by the way - if youve not read the book - you MUST), that I too, must climb into anothers skin and walk around in it.

Ive been preoccupied and unwilling to cook this week, but this dish of sake chicken wings, I did manage to make.  It is the ease and mindlessness of prep that allowed me to put this dish together, and with steamed rice and a bit of ginger sauce, Children gobbled them up with little complaint and discussion.   It was nice, just to think about something else, however brief.

Sake Chicken Wings with Ginger Sauce
Serves 4

Ingredients
1 ½ to 2 lbs chicken wings, sectioned off into wings and drummettes (or if you’re lucky only the one part that you like)
½ cup sake
½ cup soy sauce

2 inches ginger root, peeled finely chopped (I use my mini food processor)
1 scallion, finely chopped
¼ cup vegetable oil
¼ teaspoon salt

Method
Mix sake and soy sauce in a container where you will marinate the chicken. Add the chicken. Cover and marinate - at least 4 hours, if not overnight.

Make ginger sauce by mixing together finely chopped ginger root, scallion, oil and salt in a bowl. Mix and set aside.

After chicken has marinated, prepare to cook. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a roasting pan or baking sheet with aluminum foil. Drain marinade (throw it away) and carefully lay chicken wings in a single layer on a baking pan.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until wings are dark golden, much fat has rendered, and the skin is crispy.

Serve hot with ginger sauce.

Printable recipe

Im thinking the next time I invite a few neighbors over, Ill be making these.

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Asian Chicken Salad Similarities between Sunday School and urban school teaching

To all the Sunday school teachers I know -  your work, sacrifice, and effort is amazing, and blessed by our Father above.  To my beautiful Sunday School kids - thank you for your smile every single week.

Last week, as I sat in my sweltering Sunday School classroom and tried to get my class of 16 three to five year olds under control, I was instantly aware of how my years teaching in an urban school (which served the most under served communities of San Francisco) and my suburban Sunday school classroom had in common.  I do believe God used my years as a high school English teacher to prepare me for my challenges with three to five year olds in Sunday school.

This is what I realized.  In both my urban school and Sunday school...

Kids like to put their feet up on their desks.  Sometimes they like to take their socks off too.

Its hard to get everyone to pay attention to you.  Sometimes you have to resort to some unusual tactics.  Humor generally goes very far in grabbing attention.  So does making crazy faces.

Kids know when you care and respond to your caring.  Compliments on their clothing always make them smile.

When kids dont get their way, there is often times pouting, throwing of objects, or a child lying on the ground having a fit.  (This happened often in high school believe it or not.)

Well-rested children make better students.  Students that did not sleep well the night before often disrupt the lesson or will fall asleep right in class.

When kids are bored, they go to the bathroom.  This is just as disruptive in high school as it is in Sunday school.

Students love their teachers to bits and pieces. 

Im exhausted at the end of a lesson.

There is oftentimes a lack of appreciation by parents for the efforts of teachers.

And finally, teachers arent teaching for the fabulously high pay or the prestige - theyre teaching because they believe that kids can be taught and there is wisdom that they have to impart to the students.

God uses all things for the benefit of His kingdom.  My crazy years teaching high school trained me for teaching my 3 to 5 year olds.  And even though Im tired out, tuckered out, and oftentimes VERY sweaty after class, Im grateful for the opportunity to use my training to serve my beautiful students and God.

After my teaching is over, the first thing I often think about is lunch.  Im usually starving and last week, during the crazy-heatwave-with-no-air-conditioning-day, I wanted a cold salad.  I wanted something refreshing and reviving, and had I had the ability, this is what I would have made.

As it is, I ate it three times today.  Once for my lunch, once for snack, and once for dinner.  I just love all the textures, flavors, and overall crunchity crunch of the salad.  If you are looking for your typical, sweeter Asian chicken salad, this is not it.  This has more complex notes with the lime juice and fish sauce, and is a bit of a nod towards a Vietnamese salad.  

Asian Chicken Cabbage Salad

Serves 6

Ingredients

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon honey

2 teaspoons (or less) sambal oelek (chili sauce - this controls the heat)

1 teaspoon fish sauce 

1 teaspoon grated peeled ginger

Kosher salt

6 cups of shredded cabbage

3 medium carrots, peeled, shredded

3 cups chopped rotisserie chicken

2 cups baby spinach, thinly sliced (roll up leaves and julienne)

6 scallions, chopped

½  cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

½ cup sliced almonds (optional)

2  tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

Method

Whisk together vegetable oil, lime juice, sauce, honey, sambal, fish sauce and ginger.  Taste and add salt if desired.

In a large bowl, add cabbage, carrots, chicken, baby spinach, scallions, cilantro, almonds, and sesame seeds.  Pour dressing over and toss.  Serve immediately.  

Printable recipe

Definitely a favorite kitchen tool of mine.  Been using it to whisk dressings.

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Poached Chicken with Three Sauces Friends show up when you need them most

To SH - my hero in my time of need

You know the saying that friends are the ones that are with you when times are hard?

I experienced this, this past weekend when I was under the weather.  The symptoms, to my confusion, were very much like those I had when I was pregnant, only I was sure I was not.  But the overall malaise, inability to feel like my normal self, and the strong desire to lay down and stay down for hours on end were very debilitating to my ability to mother my children.  Add the fact that Husband was out of town for work and it meant that it was me and me alone to care for three rather nice Children.

But cooking was the last thing on my mind.  And there were many commitments to push through which I did, by barely eating and drinking little.  I slept when I could and lay down when I could.  And finally on Sunday, although I was feeling a bit better, I was in no mood to do anything but stand.  Cook?  HA.  I figured out a meal that would require minimal cooking (rice porridge made with frozen rice in the fridge, bacon, and some sliced cucumbers) and sat there feeling proud of my ability to think of throw something together despite my complete desire to just tell the kids to starve.

But, like a spark in the night, I got a text. "Are you home?  Im bringing you food."

"Yes.  Im home.  But you dont need to."

"Im bringing you food.  Make rice if you dont have any.  Be there in a minute."

My friend and neighbor SH brought me a complete meal.  Poached chicken, three sauces (with a special one of ginger made just for me because she knows I like it) and some vegetables.  And Children attacked that meal like there was no tomorrow.

"Mommy?  Is there more chicken?  Why does this chicken taste so good?"

"Mommy, why is Auntie S a better cook than you are?"

"Mommy, can Auntie S make this chicken for me tomorrow?"

I was too grateful to care that Children had decided that someone elses cooking far exceeded my own.  After all, it had been a long while since Id seen Children gobble up food that quickly.

I texted friend SH lots of thanks and then asked if she would teach me her chicken method.  She readily agreed and I get to post it.  YIPPEE!!

The most lovely thing about this chicken is that the great bulk of the time is cooked without your help.  The chicken is allowed to sit in hot water, on a stove that is OFF, until it is poached to perfection, which according to my friend is a Chinese method.  We talked about the merits of cooking it this way, one of them being the ability to make it ahead and the other being that it is energy effective.  Once the heat is set, you just allow hot water to do most of the work, which is really very smart.  The method may seem a bit finicky at first as there are two separate water boil markers, as well as a time when you have to lift the chicken out of the water to drain lukewarm water out of cavities, only to fill them up again with hot water.  But give it a try, because once mastered, you can have poached chicken without barely thinking about it.

The result is a super moist and succulent poached chicken. It is not dry, it is not stringy, but rather, lush and silky.  It can be served warm, room temperature, or even chilled, as long as you have hot rice and delicious dipping sauces.

Poached Chicken with Three Dipping Sauces
Serves 8

Ingredients
4 ½ to 6 lbs whole chicken (the better your chicken, the better your flavor, since there isn’t a lot of extra going on in this recipe) - this chicken needs to be fully defrosted if frozen with no frozen bits. A fresh chicken will work better here.
5 slices of ginger
1 onion, or leek, or a few cloves of garlic (to flavor the water)

4 inches ginger root, peeled finely chopped (I use my mini food processor)
3 scallions, finely chopped
½ cup vegetable oil
¾ teaspoon salt

2 jalapenos, finely chopped (I use my mini food processor)
1 tablespoon sugar
¼ cup rice wine vinegar

5 scallions, finely chopped
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
¼ cup soy sauce (I prefer low sodium, Kikkoman green)

Method
Fill a large stockpot with water. The water should be at a level which will allow you to completely SUBMERGE your chicken underwater, with no problem. Bigger is better here. (I tried a smaller pot only to have to dump and start over in my bigger pot.) If in doubt, until you master this recipe, err with the bigger pot. You don’t want overflow of chicken water all over your kitchen. You can do a test run with your raw chicken, by submerging in water to see how much you need. Remove chicken before boiling water.

Cover your stockpot and bring water, ginger, and onion/leek/garlic to a boil. In the meanwhile, salt chicken liberally and give it a bit of a salt scrub. Rinse thoroughly and set aside, until water is fully boiling.

Once water is fully boiling, place chicken into the water, making sure that it is completely submerged in the water. Leave pot uncovered and bring chicken and water to another rolling boil again. While waiting it to boil again, you can skim off any scum off the surface of the water, if you intend to use the broth for rice porridge or something else. If you don’t want to use the broth for anything, go ahead and just wait for the chicken and water to boil again.

Once water is boiling, using tongs carefully lift chicken out of the water. You want to drain all the cavities of any lukewarmish water. While water is boiling, carefully re-submerge chicken into the water to fill all the cavities with hot boiling water. Cover pot with lid and TURN OFF stove. Do NOT remove lid of pot for the next 1 hour if your chicken is under 5 ¼ lbs, or the next 75 minutes if your chicken is over 5 ¼ lbs.

While your chicken is enjoying a nice soak in the hot water, begin making your 3 dipping sauces.

For the ginger sauce, mix together finely chopped ginger, finely chopped scallions, oil and salt together in a bowl. Mix and set aside.

For the jalapeno sauce, mix together finely chopped jalapenos, sugar, and vinegar. Set aside.

For the scallion sauce, place chopped scallions in a bowl. Heat two tablespoons of oil in a small, fry pan or sauce pan. The oil should be hot enough that it shimmers or you can test by carefully putting one scallion piece in the oil to see if it sizzles. If the oil sizzles the scallion, then carefully pour the two tablespoons of oil over the scallions in the bowl and allow the scallions to be cooked by the oil. Add soy sauce and mix. Set aside.

Once the 60 minutes or 75 minutes of chicken cooking in water is up, uncover pot, and remove chicken from water and place in a bowl (in order to catch residual liquid). Allow chicken to cool enough so that you can handle it without screaming OUCH!

Once chicken has cooled sufficiently (30 minutes or so), begin cutting chicken as you wish. I don’t like skin so I removed skin, cut of drumsticks, wings, and removed the meat from bones and roughly cut it into bite-sized, dippable pieces.

Serve chicken warm, room temp, or cold from fridge, with dipping sauces. Allow diners to dip however they please. Perfect with hot rice.

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Curried Chicken Slaw Leggings gate

There are a variety of battles that parents have to fight with their children on a daily basis.  As parents become wiser, we choose our battles (hopefully) more wisely, making the best choices so that our parenting can be effective.  It doesnt make sense to fight every single battle to its fullest and it certainly is near impossible to be the victor in every single fight that transpires between children and parents.

Ive found that mornings, before school, are the most difficult time to wage war with Children.  I choose very carefully what I want done, what needs to be done, and battles that need to be won at 645 am.  I want the kids clothed, I want their teeth brushed, I want breakfast eaten, lunches packed, backpacks readied and hair brushed.  If all those things get done with minimum fuss, its a good morning.  Inevitably someone (Son) wont brush his teeth or hell forget his socks, and someone else will forget to comb their hair and then I am prepared to fight the battles to keep the rickety car on all four wheels running to school on time.

If you arent the parent who deals with the morning routine of getting everyone ready 7 days a week, because yes, even Saturdays and Sundays requires me to hustle and get kids to either Korean school or church, you have no idea how fragile the ecosystem is at the hour.  There are only so many conversations and interchanges that can happen before something falls apart and there is a tantrum and kids are late to school.  It really takes only one or two things to tip the balance and turn a basic morning into a hellish one.

When Husband said to me in passing, "Im not really into the girls wearing black leggings all the time" I didnt really have any idea where the conversation would end up.  Suddenly he took it upon himself to decree the Land where he ruled a "black leggings free-zone" where Daughters would not be permitted to wear leggings.  To his credit, he had some thought behind this decree and it wasnt made blindly simply because he didnt agree with the fashion, but he WOULD NOT BE THERE TO ENFORCE IT.

Enforcing it became my job.  As I stated earlier, the fragile balance in the morning is just that - fragile.  There are certain things that shouldnt happen at 645 in the morning, and one of them is fighting about the choice of bottomwear.  After Husbands decree, the balance of the morning was off.  Instead of getting dressed, Daughters came and presented their case to me as to why they SHOULD be allowed to wear leggings to school.  (Their points had merit, mind you.)  I was left torn (again at 645 am), choosing whether to be swayed by convincing arguments from a 7 and 9 year old, or to stand unified with Husband over a rule I wasnt so sure I was behind in the first place, merely for reasons that I wanted to AVOID CERTAIN BATTLES.  As I was contemplating how to navigate the decision, minutes ticked on the clock and the pressure to just get moving and the rest of the morning going pushed me to throw my hands up into the air and say, "Wear what you want!"

Husband came home and casually observed that yes, the girls were still wearing the leggings, and asked me, "Why are they wearing the leggings?"

I shrugged my shoulders and said, "You werent here to enforce it."  His look of dismay and disbelief was enough to make me inwardly laugh.  He stomped upstairs and proceeded to give another 30 minute lecture as to his reasoning WHY they shouldnt wear the legggings.

He then came downstairs and engaged ME in an interrogation.

"Why did you let them wear the leggings?  They were fine yesterday when I told them they couldnt."

"They werent fine.  I had to listen to their reasons as to why you were WRONG and why they should get to wear the leggings!"

"What do you mean?"

"They pretend to listen to YOU but they come to complain to me.  Youre like some policy maker way up on the hill somewhere making rules and leaving it to someone else to enforce.  Im the enforcer and I have to field all the complaints and I cant stand it."

We went back and forth for a while, up to the final point where I couldnt look at him any longer.  I simply said, "If this continues, Im either going to break down in tears or throw something."

Girls wore black leggings again today.  And I just throw my hands up in the air.

To recover from my angst and unbalanced morning, I made this curried chicken slaw.  Something about cabbage and curry called to me and I thought Id put it together in this salad.  It was crunchy, satisfying, and soothing to my jangled sense of self.  The salad is balanced with a touch of sweet, spicy, savory, and balanced with the chicken against the veggies.  Its easier to make than navigating the craziness of clothing for sure.

Curried Chicken Slaw
Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients
6 cups of your choice of cabbage - can mix red and green
2 carrots, peeled and julienne or grated
2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
¾  cup cilantro with some stems, roughly chopped
¾ cup chopped scallions
½ cup sliced almonds

1/3 cup canola oil
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon black pepper

Method
In a large bowl toss together cabbage, carrots, chicken, cilantro, scallions and almonds.

In a smaller bowl or a jar with a lid, mix together oil, vinegar, mayonnaise, curry powder, salt, and black pepper.

When ready to serve, drizzle curry dressing all over vegetables,  Toss until all is coated.  Enjoy.

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