Kung Pao Chicken

I thought Kung Pao was just the name of a movie. Like that spoof kung fu movie Kung Pao: Enter The Fist, where the main character gets in a kung fu fight with a cow, among other ridiculous things (this is not an endorsement of that movie. In fact you probably shouldn't watch it at all). But apparently it's a real thing. Or else the editors at Kraft Food & Family are trying to play a joke on us all. Also I realize that this magazine exists solely to get people to buy Kraft products, in the hope that you will love their recipes so much that they will become regulars in your house and that their products will become staples in your cupboard. My momma didn't raise no fool. But I still bought "that ingredient" anyway. The recipe looked really good in the picture. And it's like Chinese food that you make at home. So we tried it.

Kung Pao Chicken
1/4 cup water
5 cups small fresh broccoli florets (we didn't use this, we had it with carrots, but I didn't cook them, just served them on the side)
1/4 cup Kraft Catalina dressing, divided (see?)
1/4 cup Planters Creamy Peanut Butter (as if I would buy their peanut butter...I just used what I already had)
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp chili sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp minced gingerroot (I bought this in a tube like toothpaste, already minced)
1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs

Bring water to boil in large nonstick skillet. Add broccoli; cover. Simmer on medium-low heat 5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Meanwhile, mix 2 tbsp dressing, peanut butter, soy sauce, and chili sauce until well blended; set aside.

Remove broccoli from skillet (this step was so easy for me ha ha); set aside. Heat remaining dressing in skillet on medium-high heat. Add garlic and ginger; cook and stir 1 minute. Add chicken; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in peanut butter mixture; cook 5 to 7 minutes or until chicken is done and sauce is thickened, stirring frequently to scrape up browned bits from bottom of skillet. Transfer chicken and broccoli to serving plate. Serve with hot cooked rice and garnish with sliced green onions before serving.

Okay so my peanut butter mixture was never saucy. So it never needed to "thicken." It mixed together very well, but stayed the texture of peanut butter. So it kind of burned in the skillet, and didn't stick to the chicken all that well. Still, the chicken was very moist and yummy, and Sam and Emma (and of course Steve & I) all liked it. But Nathan hated it so bad he was crying. He ate a bite and cried the whole time. After the 2nd bite I lost my Mean-Mommy-You're-Going-To-Eat-That-It's-Just-Chicken-And-You-Love-Chicken outlook, and took pity. We didn't make him finish his. I said to him after, "sorry I made something you didn't like buddy." He said, "that's okay Mommy. Next time just try not to make yucky chicken. Just make regular chicken."