Rice Noodles and Chicken with Peanut Sauce {gluten, dairy, and egg-free}

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Education and food are a great combination!  Kids (and grown-ups) can learn much by spending time in the kitchen and through tasting foods from other cultures.  Today we took a detour in our homeschool schedule and spent the morning learning about China and the celebration of Chinese New Year.  (In case you're interested, the Chinese New Year began on January 23rd ushering in the Year of the Dragon.)  The credit for this inspired learning detour goes to my friend Gina Shatney (of the famed Gina Chicken).  She planned out this great morning full of educational activities to teach a small group of children about Chinese New Year.  Sadly, my youngest daughter woke up ill this morning so we weren't able to participate (we'd prefer not to share nasty germs with friends).  Fortunately, Gina sent over some of the materials she had prepared so we were able to do many of the educational activities here at home (thanks, Gina!).

Chinese dragons that my kids made today

Among the things she sent us, was the suggestion that we prepare an authentic Asian lunch of rice noodles and chicken with peanut sauce.  She also sent along a mixture of herbs for making tea, a few oranges and a kiwi.  Apparently, fruit is a standard dessert in China.  My children discovered they like kiwi (guess I've neglected to introduce that one!).  Their reviews were mixed on the lunch - my 7 yr old son said he liked it a lot, except for the peanut sauce (go figure!).  I liked it!

I'm sure recipes for this dish are a dime a dozen, but just for fun I'm share what we put together today.

Rice Noodles and Chicken with Peanut Sauce

Rice noodles (about half a 16 oz bag, or 8 oz)
1-2 chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 TBSP rice vinegar
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp ground ginger

Prepare rice noodles according to package instructions.  I boiled them for about 8 minutes, then drained.  Next, cut up chicken into very small pieces and cook in a skillet with a little bit of oil. Once the chicken is cooked, transfer that into a bowl with your rice noodles.  Then, in your skillet, mix together sauce ingredients (peanut butter, honey, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic and ginger) and heat it as you stir, just to get the ingredients all mixed in and heated through.  Pour sauce over rice noodles and chicken.  Toss and serve.  Be sure to enjoy some fresh fruit along with this dish, and maybe read a children's book about China.