Through a child's eyes....... (chicken on a stick)

My Grand daughter is six years old has long golden hair with big beautiful blue eyes. I love the way she “sees” the world, constantly learning and experiencing new adventures while consuming multi loads of information in that little brain of hers.

On one of my visits with AnnaClaire, she said she was hungry and wanted “Chicken on a stick”. I instantly asked “Where do I get chicken on a stick” ? She looked at me with an expression of disbelief. She could not understand how I didn’t know where to get it.

With her little hands propped on her hips as if to be totally impatient with me, she continued on, “You know Nana! chicken on a stick“. So now my mind was thinking, is this a special place? I know I’ve heard of chicken on a stick at festivals or maybe the fair. For the life of me, I could not figure out where they would sell that in this area.

AnnaClaire was getting frustrated, I could tell. “Come on Nana, let’s go get it“. I grabbed my cell phone and made an emergency “mommy” call. “Where do I get chicken on a stick”? My daughter Haley responded ” I have no idea what you’re talking about, Annaclaire has never had chicken on a stick before”.

Ok, so Haley was no help with this predicament….. after spending a few more moments trying to reason with a six-year-old impatient girl, She finally belted out very loudly and matter of fact…..”Nana…..! you know….. chicken with a BONE inside of it…..chicken on a STICK. “

The lightbulb suddenly went off in my head…..she’s calling the bone….a stick! It makes very good sense to her, bones look like sticks. (note to self : different perception)

We can learn so much from a six year old can’t we?

Maybe we should try to look at things a little differently, another perspective. It may reveal new and different ideas leading us to a new opportunity. Always think outside the box and don’t be afraid to “try” something new. You never know, you just might discover that sticks and bones are very similar!

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Note: I searched Chicken on a stick and up popped a recipe! Haven’t tried it yet, so if anyone attempts this, please comment and let us know!!!!!

Ingredients (Make about 6 sticks):

• Chicken meat, 1 pound (boneless, I used chicken fingers breast meat. You can use thigh meat too)
• Soy sauce, 1 tsp
• Ginger, 3 slices
• Garlic, 1 clove
• Chicken powder, 1 tsp
• Cooking oil, 1 tsp
• Bamboo skewers, about 6 or 7 sticks (or you can use the metal skewers)

Peanut sauce:

• Chunky peanut butter, 1 cup
• Brown sugar, 2 Tbsp
• Hot chili sauce, 1 tsp
• Garlic, 2 cloves, finely chopped
• Honey, 3 Tbsp
• Soy sauce, 1 Tbsp
• Hot water, ½ cup
• Lime, 1

Steps:

1. If you are using the bamboo skewers, soak them in water first. They will not get burnt.
2. Finely chop 1 clove of garlic and ginger. Put both in a big mixing bowl.
3. 1 tsp of soy sauce, 1 tsp of chicken powder into the bowl.
4. Cut chicken into cubes like 1.5 inches. Put the chicken cubes into the mixing bowl. Mix them well with the seasoning. Add a tsp of cooling oil to the mixture. Mix it well. Cover the mixing bowl with a lid or plastic wrap, and let it marinated in the fridge for at least 20 mins. I also tried the lazy person’s version of not cutting the chicken at all, ie just put the whole piece on a stick. They didn’t cook as nice as the ones that are cut. See the picture.
5. Prepare the pickled cucumber if you are getting fancy: Peel the cucumber, remove big seeds if there are any. Cut cucumber into small cubes like 2 cm long. Add vinegar, sugar, water, and a pinch of salt to the cucumber. Mix them well. Let it get marinated for at least 20 mins in a refrigerator.
6. Prepare the sauce: mix all the sauce ingredients in a small serving bowl. Cut the lime in halves and squeeze the juice in. Mix it well.
7. When the chicken is marinated. Put chicken cubes in the skewers.
8. Start the grill. Cook the chicken for 5 -7 minutes on one side. Flip it over to cook the other side for another 5-7 minutes or until it is fully cooked.
9. Serve hot with the peanut sauce.