Kung Pao Chicken...

I love Kung Pao Chicken.  It's my favorite Chinese dish.  I have never cooked Chinese food before, it's always intimidated me.  But, for some reason, this week I decided I was going to try to make Kung Pao Chicken.  After considerable internet research for a good Kung Pao recipe, I decided to go with a bottled Kung Pao sauce.  The homemade sauce recipes I found required Chinese wine and I didn't want to send the time or money searching for it.  I got a bottle of Panda Express Kung Pao sauce at Safeway and I stopped at Freshmart, the new fruit and veggie store in Salem to pick up the veggies.  It turned out to be a delicious and healthy dinner.  I served this with a quick "fried" rice recipe I threw together.

Kung Pao Chicken

• 1 pound chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
• Panda Express Kung Pao Sauce
• 1-2 tablespoons Vegetable oil
• 8-12 dried Chinese peppers
• 1 Zucchini, diced
• 1/2 Green bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 Red bell pepper, diced
• 3 green onions, diced
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 4 stalks celery, diced
• 2 tablespoons minced ginger
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 can sliced water chestnuts
• 1/2 cup Peanuts

1. Marinate chicken in Kung Pao sauce, enough to coat, for 2 hours.
2. Heat large, deep skillet on high with vegetable oil.  Add dried Chinese peppers when oil is hot.  Cook peppers until they turn dark in color.  Remove peppers from the oil.
3. Add chicken in marinade to oil and let cook through, approximately 4 minutes.
4. Add all vegetables and cook 2-3 minutes.
5. Add 1/4 - 1/3 cup Kung Pao sauce and stir to combine, cooking until sauce thickens slightly.
6. Add peanuts.
7. Serve and enjoy.

A Vacation, Day 2...

Day 2 of our vacation was really still just me.  For my own graduation gift, I decided I wanted to go to a spa.  I had exhaustively researched spas in the Bend area and finally landed on Shibui Spa.  They told me I could come early and soak in their soaking tub and I took full advantage of this.  Then I had the Three Sisters Fix Facial and a pedicure.  It was amazing.  What a relaxing place.  One more reason I wished I lived in Central Oregon.  I then wondered a very empty Sisters (no one's around on Mondays) and had lunch at my favorite deli, Depot Deli.  I headed back to Eagle Crest and Cesar arrived around 5pm.  We ordered pizza in and spent the evening relaxing and watching movies.