This recipe is TOTALLY EASY, TOTALLY SIMPLE and so GOOD, you'll eat two bowls of it.  I guarantee!

A few weeks back, I picked up two well written & illustrated cookbooks for my kiddos, so they could learn to cook on their own.  We agreed that for two nights out of the week they will prepare a dessert and a dinner, but not on the same nights.  They chose which day they wanted to make supper, then another to make dessert.  For the sake of my sanity, I asked them not choose the same days to do the opposite dish.  They're not ready to work without my supervision and I'm not patient enough to teach two kids, two different recipes at the same time.  My eye twitches just thinking about it.

Last night, Max cooked up Chicken Chow Mein and it was surprisingly delicious.  I had it again for lunch and it was even BETTER!  I told my husband not to skip his lunch or I would eat it for him.  He promptly took his share of the leftovers. This recipe is definitely one that will go into the monthly rotation of family favorites for us.  AND! I won't be the one who cooks it, YIPPEE!!

Now before I get started with the recipe, you need to know that my grocer didn't have authentic Asian egg noodles that are traditional in chow mein recipes, but they did have Thai Rice Noodles.  I've read other recipes that have substituted pasta noodles with egg noodles, but THAT IS NOT THE SAME.  Different ingredients, different texture, and I just won't do it.  I went with the Thai rice noodles and was completely happy.  Ok, let's cook!

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

Serves 4

• 8 ounces of dried egg noodles or Thai rice noodles
• 1 teaspoon oil

Cook the noodles according to the directions on their package.  Drain and keep warm until ready to toss into stir-fry mix.

For the stir-fry

• 1 package (12 ounce) frozen stir-fry vegetables (broccoli, carrots, sugar snap peas, water chestnuts), slightly thawed
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled & grated
• 3 garlic cloves, minced

• 2 tablespoons oil
• 2 chicken breasts, cut into strips

• 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• pinch of salt and pepper to taste

After you have all the vegetables chopped, the meat cut up into strips, and you've just dropped the noodles in the hot water.

Max dropping the rice noodles in the pot.

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Heat a large skillet over medium high heat, add 2 tablespoons oil and chicken.  Stir-fry it for a few minutes until golden, then move the chicken onto a plate.

Put the garlic, ginger, and thawed vegetables EXCEPT green onions, in the frying pan.  Stir-fry them for 4 to 5 minutes, turning them all the time.  Add the chicken, green onions, and drained noodles.  Mix everything together.

Blend the soy sauce and lemon juice together, then pour over chow mein mixture.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Cook for 2 more minutes to heat through.   Get out the chopsticks, it's DINNER TIME!!!

He was really jazzed about cooking dinner. He talked me through his steps like he was on TV.

TASTY EXTRAS

The original recipe says we can use steak or pork fillet instead of chicken.  And for a vegetarian chow mein, replace the meat with 2 zucchini and half a head of broccoli.  The frozen bag of vegetables I suggested really didn't have enough broccoli for our liking, so the extra half of head would make it even better next time.

Y'all let me know how this recipe works for your family.  HAVE FUN!
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Nutritional analysis per serving: 374 calories | 9g total fat, 1g sat fat, 0g trans fat | 34mg cholesterol | 298mg sodium | 53g total carbs | 4g dietary fiber | 4g sugars | 17g protein | Vitamin A 25% | Vitamin C 41% | Calcium 5% | Iron 8%