Delicious Reading: Stay-home takeout

Our family rings in the new year with a feast of Chinese takeout food. Our kitchen table is littered with little cardboard containers, chopstick wrappers and paper fortune slips. I know the sweet and sour pork, General Tso's chicken and fried rice we enjoy is not "real" Chinese food -- it's the version that American palates have favored -- but it is also unlike the usual stir fry I make at home. It seems special to my kids as a once-a-year kind of treat.

This is a problem when I start craving it in February. Looking for something budget- and waistline-friendly, I turned to Pinterest. By combining ideas from several food bloggers, I was able to develop a recipe I thought would scratch the itch. I worried, though, that I might end up making peanut butter and jelly for my kids. This was one dish versus the many I bring home on New Year's Day, and there were no plain rice or chicken nugget-like parts.

When my youngest asked what I was making for dinner, I gave an answer that was not technically a lie: "Chicken and noodles." She hopped happily out of the kitchen, saying, "Oh boy! I love chicken and noodles!" I was afraid she would be horribly disappointed, but other than requesting that her chicken be kept separate from her noodles, she was a fan! The whole family loved this dish, and I hope you will, too. In the time it would take to pick up takeout, you can stay home and make this.

Cashew Chicken and Sesame Noodles

__Chicken ingredients:__

2 pounds (4 to 6 thighs) boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut into bite-size pieces

1/4 cup flour

Dash pepper

__Directions:__

Put the flour and pepper in a bag and shake the chicken in it. Heat some canola oil over medium heat and cook the chicken in it. When the chicken is no longer pink, make the sauce:

__Chicken sauce ingredients:__

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons ketchup

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 cloves minced garlic

2 teaspoons ginger

__Directions:__

Add the sauce and 1/2 cup cashew pieces. Let the sauce simmer with the chicken over low heat while you boil 1 pound thick spaghetti and mix up the noodle sauce.

__Noodle sauce ingredients:__

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 teaspoons sesame oil

3 cloves minced garlic

1 teaspoon sesame seeds

__Directions:__

Toss the sauce with the noodles. Serve the cashew chicken over the noodles and garnish with sliced spring onion.

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About Brooke

Brooke Clubbs is a communications instructor, a freelance writer and a mom of three. She lives in Jackson.