"Vees-da-knees" Noodles

My first meal cooking with C was a success! There were quite a few things that I would do differently next time, but overall it was a complete success. Especially when most of the dinner table conversation was telling C how good the meal was, instead of complaining about the meal.

C is only 5, and she's not the linguist her older brother is, so she cannot say "Vietnamese." And the amount that I know about Vietnamese cuisine could fill a post-it note--the regular-sized, square kind. So I will tell you about our experience cooking "Vees-da-knees" noodles, and all my Vietnamese friends and readers will hopefully forgive us for our ignorance. From what I can tell, the recipe we adapted is not a traditional pho, so I'm not exactly sure what makes it Vietnamese. We also added a couple of ingredients, which could make it some kind of Asian fusion dish instead of Vietnamese. See what you think.

We started with the carrots. C has already had some experience with using a peeler, and by the time she got to the third carrot, she was able to peel the entire thing herself.

Next up, we had to grate the carrots. This was a little tricky because I chucked out my box grater long ago in favor of a Microplane Professional coarse grater, hand held as you see in the picture. Perfectly fine for me; hard for 5-year-old hands to keep in place. So I held the grater while she grated the first half of the carrot. Then she got tired and I grated the second half.

Then we chopped half an onion. Actually, I did the chopping and C watched. I explained how I cut the onion and why - I am very particular about how I cut onions and use a technique that I learned from Ainsley Harriott (a lot of chefs use it, really), but is also explained by The Pioneer Woman.

Moving on to the broccoli. I cut off the biggest part of the stalk for her, but C wielded the knife for cutting the florets. I tried to talk her into just snapping them apart with her hands, but I think she was really interested in using the knife. We talked about how sharp it was, how she needed to keep it away from her fingers, etc. Even after I took this picture, I tried to show her how to cut away from her other hand, not toward it [shudder]! Thankfully, we got through the awkwardness of cutting the broccoli without incident.

#1 thing I would do differently next time, is I would pre-cut the chicken thighs before C and I started working on the recipe. It was very difficult to do that while also helping her with the vegetables, so what happened was I helped her with the vegetables and then she waited and watched while I cut the chicken. Not exactly the most efficient plan.

After I got all the chicken cut, we finally had our mise en place and could begin cooking. I heated up the wok and set to work. C wanted to watch, but I advised her to keep her stool a good distance away from the stove since everything was so hot. The noodles didn't take long to cook, so I left them in the pot until I was ready to add them to the dish - probably wouldn't do that next time, but they weren't over mushy, thankfully. First went in the chicken, then the carrot/onion mixture. I decided to add some garlic (inspired by a pho recipe I found online and the recipe we were using hardly had any flavoring at all). I added one clove, but C insisted we should put in 2 and, of course, she should be the one to add the second.

Next we added the broccoli and drained the noodles. When the broccoli looked sufficiently steamed, we added the drained noodles. Then stirred it all together and presto! we were done.

We had a little bit leftover, even after Daddy and Z had seconds. In the flurry of preparing the meal, we forgot to make our side of strawberries and yogurt. Not wanting to spend another 10 minutes in the kitchen after dinner cutting up strawberries, I promised C we would do it another night.

"Vees-da-knees" Noodles

an adaptation of "Vietnamese Noodles" submitted by Minh, 4th grade in Yum Yum! Let's Make Some!, a publication of the Division of Marketing and Community Relations at All Children's Hospital, St. Petersberg, FL ©2010.

Ingredients

6 oz. lo mein or other kind of Asian noodles
3 boneless, skinless chicken thighs - trimmed of fat and cut into very small pieces
1/2 large sweet onion, chopped - or one small onion
3 carrots, peeled and grated
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups broccoli, cut into florets
1 tsp. canola oil
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. Better Than Bullion reduced sodium chicken base
1 cup hot water.

Method

1. Prepare the noodles according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop them cooking and set aside.
2. Dissolve the Better than Bullion, sugar, and salt in the 1 cup of water. Add cut-up chicken thighs and mix well.
3. Heat the 1 tsp. canola oil in a wok or large skillet over a high flame, coating the pan with the oil. Add the chicken and broth and cook at a rapid boil for approximately 5 minutes, until chicken is cooked through and fork tender.
4. Add the chopped onion, grated carrots, and minced garlic. Stir and cook for about 2 minutes.
5. Add the broccoli florets and cook for about 3-4 minutes until broccoli is bright green and can be pierced with a fork.
6. Add the prepared noodles, stir and continue cooking until warmed through, about 1-2 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

First meal planning session

Z's menu for Wednesday

Hey, kids. Let's read this: 10 tips to build a healthy meal, courtesy of our own U.S. Department of Agriculture! I really appreciate seeing our tax dollars at work, and the USDA nutrition programs are among those under utilized and under appreciated (IMHO). Granted, they haven't always been that great. I used mypyramid.gov about 10 years ago, and then found it useless once I became pregnant. I was relieved to see that the new choosemyplate.gov has a handy link for pregnant and breastfeeding women in addition to a lot of kid-friendly resources and guides for educators and parents (Thank you, Mrs. Obama!). But I digress...

The new "plate" model for healthy eating is so much more straightforward than the pyramid ever was. Children can easily visualize how much of each type of food they should be eating during a meal. Makes my job of trying to explain how to create a balanced meal a lot easier.

After pulling out a few cookbooks (and realizing that the only halfway decent children's cookbook I have is my 1980s BH&G Junior Cookbook, featured on Reading Rainbow), we set to work finding ideas that resonated with my cooking students. Z didn't need the cookbooks. He already had a good idea of what he wanted to prepare - starting with cauliflower, a vegetable he hasn't had much of but is convinced he will like because it isn't green. Then he went on to add his other favorites - sausage and macaroni and cheese. Not a bad place to start. Maybe next week, he'll be ready to branch out a bit.

C flipped through the entire BH&G Junior Cookbook without finding anything she liked, except a cake decorated with candies arranged to look like a hot air balloon ("That's what we'll make for my 6-year-old birthday!"). So we moved on to another cookbook with me reading the names of the recipes to her (she's not quite reading on her own yet). Her interest was piqued by a recipe for Vietnamese noodles found in a free cookbook we got when visiting the children's museum in St. Petersburg, FL several years ago. It was the sketch of a bowl of noodles that drew her attention. The recipe only had shredded carrots and onion in it, and she readily agreed to add some broccoli.

Next we headed out to my favorite neighborhood market, Fresh Farms. C picked out some lovely broccoli to go in her noodles, along with some boneless/skinless chicken thighs. I taught her how to tell if the broccoli was good or not. And she made the choice of thighs vs. breasts - a good one, I think, as the flavor of thighs always does better in a stir-fry.

Lucky for us, this afternoon was a sample-palooza at the market. The children really enjoy going around tasting all the different fruits, breads, cheeses and such. A representative from Greenridge Farms was offering samples of their smoked sausage, which Z eagerly agreed was exactly what he wanted for his meal (on sale, too!). The sample was not as greasy as the freshly smoked Polish kielbasa I had been purchasing from the deli counter, so that makes me happy. In finding the right head of cauliflower (I have never seen a kid so excited about cauliflower), we inspected several before finding one without any brown spots.

It was a good day at the market. The children are excited about cooking, and I hope that it lasts. To assist in meal planning next week, I picked up four children's cookbooks at the public library. Perhaps one of them will inspire my budding cooks to branch out and try new things. Maybe even try a meal without pasta or noodles?

Introduction: embarking on adventure in the kitchen

Before children, I had an impressive repertoire of semi-gourmet dishes that we would enjoy on a regular basis. But since my first baby started eating big people food, I found myself looking for go-to recipes that I know I can prepare quickly (30-40 minutes) and that I know my children will eat. As my children have grown and become more articulate, they have become more vocal in their opinions about our meals. They will still eat it—whatever the offensive food is that day—but they make sure I know they aren't happy about it.

Last summer (June 2012), I tried getting my son involved in preparing some meals. My theory was that if he put forth some effort into making the meal, he would be more inclined to try new things and less inclined to complain. It went over fairly well, the problem being we only tried it a couple of times. We never made it a habit.

So this summer (2013), we're going to make it a part of our summertime routine. Here's the schedule:
Monday: plan meals together and do our grocery shopping for the week
Tuesday: 5-year-old C helps with the cooking
Thursday: 7-year-old Z helps with the cooking

As we plan our meals, we'll be learning what a well-balanced and nutritious meal looks like, dispelling any dreams of nothing but pancakes for dinner. As we cook, we'll be practicing our math skills and learning the science behind cooking. And at the end of the day, I'll blog about it. :-)