Have I told you about the toddlers obsession with Chinese food? He LOVES Low Mein and Chicken with Broccoli. He even attempts to eat with those kid chopsticks they hold together with a rubber band. It's totally cute. So for lunch yesterday I thought, why not make a homemade version with what I had on hand?
To my surprise...
He liked it!
Although after the picture taking session a mom/som battle of epic proportions began. After about 4-5 bites he declared "I'm Full."
"OK" I said, as I don't like to force him to eat past fullness. However, I save the plate and if he returns (in a reasonable amount of time) and asks for a snack I make him finish his meal first. Well, that's exactly what happened yesterday. About 10 minutes after leaving the table he asked for candy. I told him he needed to finish he lunch first. (side note: I only gave him half a portion although kept the full portion in his pictures.)
Without going into all the nitty gritty details, the next hour was SHEER torture for mom and child alike. I wasn't giving in and either was he. He'd ask, I put the plate on the table. He'd cry. I told him he didn't have to eat it IF he wasn't hungry BUT he wasn't getting any candy until he did. Tears, yells, and cries later a majority of his lunch was gone and he TOTALLY forgot about the candy. LMAO So whole grain pasta, zucchini, carrots and chicken eaten and NO candy. I chalk that up to a win for mom. ;~P
Anyway, I'm still marking it as toddler approved as he never stated he didn't liked it and when I asked him if he did he said yes. Which makes the whole mom/son battle completely illogical. KIDS! *sigh*
Ingredients
- large boneless chicken breast (about 8oz) cut into chunks
- thick slice of sweet onion chopped
- handful of baby carrots (about 3oz) sliced
- half of medium zucchini chopped
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- â…“ cup chicken broth
- 3oz whole wheat angel hair pasta
Instructions
Put a pot of water on high and bring to a boil for the pasta
Meanwhile, heat a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Brown the chicken with the onion and carrots. Add the zucchini. Lower the heat to medium.
Whisk the soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, oil and chicken broth together. Set aside.
Stir the chicken and veggies. By this time your water should be boiling. Add the pasta. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until desired doneness.
Drain the pasta and plop on top of the skillet. Pour the soy sauce mixture on top. Work the pasta around the veggies and chicken, it will want to clump together. Keep stirring until they are well mixed up. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook until most of the liquid is absorbed, about 5 minutes.
Serve!
📖 Recipe
Lo Mein-ish Angel Hair
Ingredients
- large boneless chicken breast about 8oz cut into chunks
- thick slice of sweet onion chopped
- handful of baby carrots about 3oz sliced
- half of medium zucchini chopped
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- â…“ cup chicken broth
- 3 oz whole wheat angel hair pasta
Instructions
- Put a pot of water on high and bring to a boil for the pasta
- Meanwhile, heat a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Brown the chicken with the onion and carrots. Add the zucchini. Lower the heat to medium.large boneless chicken breast, handful of baby carrots, half of medium zucchini chopped, thick slice of sweet onion chopped
- Whisk the soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, oil and chicken broth together. Set aside.1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, â…“ cup chicken broth
- Stir the chicken and veggies. By this time your water should be boiling. Add the pasta. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until desired doneness.3 oz whole wheat angel hair pasta
- Drain the pasta and plop on top of the skillet. Pour the soy sauce mixture on top. Work the pasta around the veggies and chicken, it will want to clump together.
- Keep stirring until they are well mixed up. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook until most of the liquid is absorbed, about 5 minutes.
Laura Cunnington
Mine turned out way less pretty than yours. Lesson learned: have everything prepped before you start cooking! Also, next time think I might try with mushrooms. So good!
Laura Cunnington
This is going to be dinner tonight 🙂 I love finding new recipes that make me look forward to having a healthy meal!
Joline
Just got done eating this. I have four people I cook for: myself, husband, and two children. One of which is MUCH pickier than your boy sounds, because it seems at least your boy will eat his veggies.... Anyway, we really liked it, thought it was a bit bland, but some cherry tomatoes from a different recipe that I had were very good in it, kind of kicked it up a bit. Thank you for a quick yummy recipe that MY toddler actually mostly ate without a fight.
S
I make aversion of this, but I use the Choice Ramen noodles instead of Angel Hair. Hubby and I spilt it. It's great for our Chinese fix!
W4nzz
Yummy,, i will try it later..
Stacey
I've made this twice now - I love it! I didn't have any rice wine vinegar, so I googled for a subsitute. I ended up using cider vinegar instead. It came out great! Thanks Roni!!
Ashley
I used rice vinegar and it tasted great.
amy
hi im really trying to make this but i cant find rice wine vinegar..all i c is red wine vinegar or rice vinegar could i use one of these?
Ashley
I made this for dinner last night and I'm having leftovers at work today. I used tofu instead of chicken. But this recipe is awesome! My husband and I are planning on making this often. Thanks for a great recipe Roni!
Michele
Thanks, Roni! I was thinking it was too high. Can't wait to try it!
roni
Oh wait! I used the wrong kind of chicken!! Editing now!
Nice call!!
roni
Well the tsp has 5 and the chicken (according to NutritionData.com) 13. Thats 18 for the whole recipe divided by 2 is 9.
Did you think it should be lower or higher?
Michele
Hi Roni, This sounds great and I would love to try it but I have a question. How does it come out to 9 gm of fat per serving with only 1 tsp. of oil? I can't figure it out. Thanks!
roni
Misty - I haven't. Thanks for the tip!
Chubby Chick
Yay for you! lol
This looks delicious! 🙂
Misty Kroon
Have you ever tried it with Shiritaki tofu noodles. These noodles are amazing and have little calories. I make a lo mein with it as well and it takes just like the fatty version!
Michelle
You GO MOM! Looks yummy!
Priyanka
I simply love Chinese food, I was just searching for some fun lunch idea and found it!
I have never been a troublemaker when it came to food, at least that's what my Mom says! But when I read your Mom/Son story, it totally reminds me of the hour and a half long action packed shows (which was normally on air in our house three times a week) between my brother and Mom in relation to eating food. It might have been a painful period for my Mom and Brother,but it was really a spectacle to watch for my Dad and me! lol
Jess
I love chinese! This looks awesome.
They have some really cute kid's chop sticks that actually look like an 'M' with long legs - it makes it easy for kids to figure out how to use them. (Kind of like big tweezers) 🙂
Anne Marie
That looks yummy! Can't wait to try it!
kyree90
That does look delicious. I'll have to try it sometime ...
Christine
Yum sounds delicious. I made a stir fry with similar ingredients--my recipe said to whisk corn starch in with the liquid ingredients--it made it nice and thick and saucy. I think I will add the pasta instead of rice next time. Thanks for the idea!