A good stir fry starts with a trip to the farmer's market.

With recipe list in hand we search for bok choy, carrot, green onion, and yellow peppers.

With a little help from Jr. Jr. we have everything from our list.  (we bought two bunches of carrots and learned quickly that they need to go into the fridge.  The one bunch we didn't stir fry was limp by morning)

To make a simple stir fry with rice noodles:

Make sure you have bok choy, carrot, a yellow pepper, green onions, rice noodles, soy sauce, vegetable oil, shrimp (we used 1/2 pound uncooked wild caught). Set out three bowls for Jr. to put veggies in (one for onion, one for carrot & pepper, one for bok choy)

Wash everything first.  Pull the bok choy apart first so you can get all the dirt off
Let Jr:
Snip green onions with scissors (keep rubber band on to hold together, encourage even snips)
Chop carrots (this needs a sharp knife, so you may need to do this if your child isn't ready)
Snip or cut bok choy (Jr. snips the leaves with scissors then cuts the harder parts)
Slice pepper into chunks.

Meanwhile Mom or Dad can remove tails from shrimp and put rice noodles into a pan of hot water to soak for 8 minutes.

Once everything is prepped it's time to heat up the wok and add 2 tbs vegetable oil.

Add green onion and shrimp. Let cook until shrimp turns pink.  Remove from wok and set aside.

Add 2 tbs vegetable oil and carrot and yellow pepper.  Cook for  a few minutes, until peppers soften a little.  Drain and add noodles and soy sauce.  Toss noodles with vegetables until soy sauce covers evenly.  Add bok choy, shrimp and onions.  Cook for a minute or two so bok choy just starts to wilt a bit.

Serve and enjoy.

house rules

I feel compelled to have rules. Don't know why.
Here they are. (Truth be told they are really just encouragements.)

For the kids:

1. If you need to spit it out put it on your plate, not mine.

2. You must try a taste. No mouse bites. Licks don't count.

3. Don't say "yucky." Say "I don't care for it."
No one likes everything so it's okay to say it when you don't. This rule is
important if you have more than one kid. "Yucky" can hurt some one's feelings
or more a sibling feel self conscience if they like it. For little kids, one "yucky" from a big brother or sister and you'll never get them to try it!

For Parents:

1. Let them experiment with ingredients. My barometer: If I raise an eyebrow
at the suggestion I say "yes." If my stomach turns I say "no." I'm not encouraging
a raw egg and ketchup mish mosh, but diced apples in your udon will be a learning
experience. (Remember to always take a taste. It's okay to say you don't care for it.)

2. Embrace the fact that the kids are with you in the kitchen. Embrace the fact that
everything will go a lot slower and you'll need a lot of extra patience. But, don't beat yourself
up if it's six o'clock and your just getting started on dinner and everyone is moments from
melting down. Just explain what's going on and tell your child they can help another night.

a world of food

We all love our comfort foods, especially kids. A food with a strange smell, an unfamiliar look and and equally strange name will most likely get a locked jaw or emphatic "no" from your average child. But we are trying not to be average here, right?

I'm looking for ways beyond bribery to get my girls to try new things. My plan is to make an adventure out of it. Once a month we are going to go on an outing to an ethnic market or specialty shop to taste something we have never had before. Something strange, something a little scary. Maybe even something seemingly a little gross.

I hope you'll try this too and let me know how it goes.