(Not even remotely) Authentic Thai Peanut Chicken

Hello, Blog! Instead of deep thoughts, today I'm using you to jot down a recipe for a friend. This dish is not what a food critic would recognize as Thai Peanut Chicken. It does have four things going for it, though:

1. It's ridiculously easy
2. It's ridiculously fast
3. I always have all of the ingredients in the house
4. My kids love it.

Without further ado:

1. Start boiling water. Trust me, the sauce is fast. Cooking the pasta is the hard part. Use whatever pasta you want to get rid of... I generally go with either macaroni or spaghetti noodles. Once the water's hot, give it salt and oil. If you have peanuts in the house, throw in a handful.

2. Throw some minced garlic and chopped garlic in a cast iron skillet. Top with some EVOO and give it some heat... start getting the flavor out of the aromatics.

3. Add 2T of soy sauce, 1T of rice vinegar, 1T of lemon juice, and 1T of brown sugar. Mix it up and add a can of chicken.

4. Once the chicken seems to be a little bit flavored, add half a cup of creamy peanut butter. I've done will with Kroger, Peter Pan, and Jif. Doesn't matter that I can tell. Go wild. Add 1T of milk. Keep stirring the mixture and make sure it doesn't burn. It'll probably get too thick; just add some of the water from the pot o' noodles. Get a nice creamy / slightly runny consistency. Cut the heat to the skillet.

5. Drain the noodles (and peanuts, if you've got 'em), add to the skillet, and mix. Serve with a small bottle of Frank's Hot Sauce... I find this dish to be really bland as-is, but my kids love it that way. Judi and I are pretty free with the hot sauce, which makes it a ton better. We also ruin the authenticity even more by mixing in peas. Sounds odd, but it tastes fine and it gets the kids a vegetable.

Enjoy! If you make any improvements, I'd be glad to hear about them.