It’s no secret that having a baby changes everything. Including the way one prepares dinner and writes one’s blog.
For example… Eleanora is one month old today (!!) and I finally got back into the kitchen last night to make a simple stir fry that took two days and a surprising amount of planning to pull off.
And when I say “simple,” I’m not kidding. It isn’t the fanciest thing you’ve ever seen on The Lexingtonienne. But it’s fresh and it involves vegetables and it was made by me.
Our New Roommate requests quite a bit of attention, which makes cooking an interesting feat to accomplish. So I poached my chicken and chopped my veggies the day before, while my assistant took naps in interesting poses.
And when I was cooking my stir fry, I employed the babysitting services of a pacifier that kept falling out of the baby’s mouth. So I would add an ingredient, stir, then scurry into the living room to deposit the pacifier back into Eleanora’s little kisser.
This step — add, stir, return pacifier to baby’s mouth — was repeated until all ingredients were added.
As far as processes go, this one was definitely a bit… different. But it worked, and this stir fry is REALLY good. So if you are a busy, distracted person, it’s a great recipe to try.
EASY STIR FRY (pdf)
Canola oil
1 small onion, sliced
2 zucchini, sliced
2 C cooked chicken breast, shredded or chopped *
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained and rinsed
1 can bamboo shoots, drained and rinsed
1 C shredded carrots
1 C cashews
1 C fresh pineapple, cut into bite-size pieces
1/2 C store-bought stir fry sauce
1 tsp chili paste (leave this out if you don’t like spice because it is SPICY!)
Soy sauce
Black pepper
*I poached two chicken breasts the day before, stored them in the fridge overnight, then shredded them up with two forks. I microwaved the shredded chicken for 1 minute before adding to the stir fry, so it wouldn’t be fridge-cold when added.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add enough canola oil to lightly coat the pan. Saute onion until beginning to soften, then add zucchini. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients one at a time, stirring between additions. Season to taste with soy sauce and pepper, and cook until all ingredients are hot. Serve over rice.
xoxo,
