Celebrating Chinese New Year
Celebrated by more than 20% of the world, Chinese New Year is also known as the Spring Festival. By welcoming spring we’re also saying goodbye to some of the coldest days. It’s a fresh start and new beginnings that I everyone can relate to.
There are other Asian countries that celebrate the new year as well. It’s often referred to as the Lunar New Year in places like Vietnam, and North and South Korea. What some of you may not know is that my oldest daughter is half Korean so we often bring her culture into the home and that includes celebrating the Lunar New Year.
Ready to celebrate the Chinese New Year? If you’re wanting to have a celebration here are a couple ideas to spread the culture to your family.
Similar to other American holidays, gifts are often exchanged during the Chinese New Year. Children often receive “lucky money” in red envelopes from friends and family alike. Often there’s upwards of $150 per packet!
You can easily create these packets with this FREE Chinese New Year red packet file. This file will only work in Cricut Design Space. Click the link above to download the file. In no time you’ll have fun packets to use to spread good luck to friends and family.
Another fun fact about this time of year is that you’re supposed to eat dumplings daily! Sometimes you can even see folks eating dumplings for every single meal. That can be pretty pricey unless you have a secret weapon in your back pocket.
My secret weapon is Ling Ling. Ling Ling provides authentic Chinese cuisine and yes, you could eat them every day and not get tired of them. If you’re my friend you know I actually do eat dumplings 3-4 times a week. I’m a tad bit obsessed with the chicken and vegetable Ling Ling dumplings but there are also pork and vegetable, or vegetarian. You can tell that the freshly sourced ingredients are clean and high quality.
My favorite way to prepare my dumplings is to bring a pot of water to boil then place dumplings in the water. Bring the water back to a boil and continue to cook for 5-6 minutes.
After they’re cooked through, place in a hot skillet with 1 TBLS of oil (flat side down). Do not move the dumplings while they’re frying or they may rip. Fry for 3-4 minutes then enjoy!
I usually end up buying huge bags at BJ’s Wholesale Club but you can find them at your local grocery stores like Target, Publix, and Walmart. Check out the store locator to see how close you are to the convenience and amazing taste of Ling Ling.
Chinese New Year is February 5th this year so make sure you have your money pockets prepped and you pick up Ling Ling dumplings!
