One of the things that I find hardest as a mum is the constant feeding of my family. The planning, shopping, cooking, cleaning it away on a never ending loop. It is not that it is a difficult task, just that sometimes it is a thankless, never ended one and one that I find really easy to get stuck in a rut with. This recipe for Chinese Chicken is new to me and the family, but it is one that has already made it on to our regular menu plan. It is simple to prepare, quick to cook and means four empty plates here. Oh and BIG bonus is that it is perfect for cooking with kids.

We have used Marley Spoon before, but this time we tried their family box with recipes pitched at busy families. We decided to opt to have a couple of meals delivered on a Friday, so we could relax and enjoy cooking them as a family over the weekend. The selection of meals are great with both vegetarians and meat/fish eaters catered for. We decided to step a little out of our comfort zone and widen the kids foodie horizons with some of our choices. I was truly glad we did. This Chinese Chicken is a really delicious meal that is better than anything we have had from the supermarket and is now one of our top fakeaways for the weekend as it takes 30 minutes from start to finish.

Chinese Chicken

Ingredients

300g Jasmine rice
3 Chicken Breasts
5g Chinese five spice
half a cabbage
1 onion
20g fresh ginger
1 garlic clove
2 spring onions
45g peanuts
100g hoisin sauce
Vegetable oil
Seasoning

Method

Prepare your rice as per the instructions on the packet and start cooking it. Once it is cooked set aside with the lid on.

Slice your chicken in to 1cm thick pieces, we went with bite size pieces and place them in a bag with 2 tablespoons of oil and the chinese five spice mix and give them a good old shake to coat the chicken.

Peel and finely slice the onion.

Peel the garlic and ginger and finely chop, we crushed our garlic and grated the ginger – this is often easier for kids than chopping.

Finely chop the peanuts.

Chop your spring onions in to 1.5 cm pieces.

Shred the cabbage. You can slice it about 2ch thick, but we love ours finely shredded.

Heat a wok or a large frying pan and cook your marinated chicken for around 5 minutes and move to a plate. Then add the ginger and garlic to the pan for 3 minutes and then the cabbage for 3-5 minutes until wilted. Return the chicken to the pan and add the hoisin sauce and cook for a further couple of minutes until everything is hot.

Add half the spring onions and peanuts to the pan and mix.

Add your rice to your plates and top with your Chinese Chicken stir fry before garnishing with the remaining spring onions and peanuts.

As you can see this was one of the dishes Maxi prepared and cooked. At 10 it was perfect for him. He loves the recipe cards that you get from Marley Spoon with the images and instructions. It is a really empowering way to get your kids cooking. As it wasn’t a recipe I was familiar with he could follow the instruction card and I made sure that I kept my mouth zipped! Once you have the basics of this recipe down you can mix up your vegetables and sauces we have had it with broccoli and oyster sauce since we had the original dish.

The Benefits of Marley Spoon Family Boxes

For busy people a recipe box like this is invaluable. The quality of the food is second to none and there is none of that starting to cook and realising you have run out of an important ingredient. Everything you need bar oil and seasoning is provided, There is zero waste and the meals are extremely generous in portion size. We always had enough left over for lunches!

They are a great way of injecting some excitement in to mealtimes with new dishes that are quick to cook and tried and tested. I loved not having to worry about meal planning and purchases for the weekends – which is a big win in my book.

The recipe cards are simple to follow and the family boxes are a great way to get your kids cooking balanced meals. We made curry, meatballs, lentil pie and lemon and herb chicken, as well as family favorites like bangers and mash.

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Disclosure: We were sent some fab free family recipe boxes to try