Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken

This is another GREAT Pinterest find!! My husband walked in the house and said what smells so good ... he thought I bought Panda Express. I would make this again and again and again, it was really good! I served it with pot stickers and minute rice.

Chicken:
3-4 boneless chicken breasts
salt & pepper, to taste
1 cup cornstarch
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil

Sweet and Sour Sauce:
3/4 cup sugar
4 tbs ketchup
1/2 cup vinegar
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tsp garlic salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Rinse your chicken breasts in water and then cut into cubes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Dip chicken into the cornstarch to coat then dip into the eggs. Heat your 1/4 cup oil in a large skillet and cook your chicken until browned but not cooked through. Place the chicken in a 9x13 greased baking dish. Mix all of your sweet and sour sauce ingredients in a bowl with a whisk and then pour evenly over the chicken. Bake for one hour and during the baking process you will need to turn the chicken every 15 minutes.

(Recipe from Life as a Lofthouse)

Sweet and Spicy Coleslaw

My friend Sarah gave me some of her yummy Jalapeno Jelly and I've been looking for ways to use it and I came across this recipe watching TV which uses the jelly in the dressing. The idea of mixing these ingredients together sounds a little wacky and scary but the flavor of this salad will knock your socks off, it's that amazing!! You have to try it! PS ... I found a package of pumpkin seeds at the gas station :) Something about this dressing keeps your apples from going brown so you don't have to serve it right after you make it.

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:
1/2 to 3/4 head of red cabbage - thinly sliced
1 red apple (any kind you like) cut into small chunks
1 green apple (any kind you like) cut into small chunks
1/3 cup roasted, salted pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1/3 cup jalapeno pepper jelly
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, apples, pumpkin seeds, and cilantro. In a small bowl, combine the jelly, vinegar, oil, salt, pepper, and cumin, stirring until smooth. Pour dressing over the cabbage mixture; toss gently to coat. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.

* Recipe adapted from: Paula Deen

Honey Sesame Chicken

I found this recipe on Pinterest via this super cute blog called Table for Two Her recipe is a crock pot recipe but I did mine on the stove. Her recipe can be found HERE mine is just adapted from hers and is below. Enjoy!!

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, about 4

Garlic Salt 

Pepper

1 cup of honey

1/2 cup of soy sauce

1/4 cup ketchup

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

1/2 Tbsp. Cornstarch

TINY bit of water
1 can  of pineapple chunks & juice from can

Sesame seeds (which I forgot)

Instructions:

1. Trim all the fat off the chicken breast. Slice in thin slices. Add a small amount of oil to a skillet, once oil is heated add chicken to skillet. Season to liking with garlic salt and pepper. They will cook fast and before every thing else is done, that is okay. Once cooked remove skillet from heat.
2. In a medium sized pan, combine honey, soy sauce, ketchup, oil, garlic, about 1/4 - 1/2 the can of pineapple juice and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine well.
3. In a small bowl add cornstarch and a tiny bit of water, mix very well until there are no lumps, slowly add to your sauce, make sure you are stirring the whole time. Once well mixed into the sauce, simmer sauce and continue to stir until it gets thick. This may take a few minutes - do not add more cornstarch! If you can't get it to thicken just turn the heat up. You want to to cook for a couple minutes to cook out that chalky cornstarch flavor/consistency.
4. When done, remove chicken from skillet and add to sauce, also add the pineapple chunks. You could do mandarin oranges or snow peas or broccoli too. Mix well and serve hot over rice and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.

Chinese Cheesecake Rolls

Makes 5-7 cheesecakes

Ingredients:
Canola oil, for frying
1 package of cream cheese - softened
3 tablespoons ricotta cheese
4 tablespoons powdered sugar 
3 drops of almond extract
Fresh blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries - whatever you like or have
1 package of egg roll skins
Water
Whipped cream

Directions:
1. Heat 1-inch of canola oil in large saute pan, to 325 degrees F.

2. In a bowl mix the cream cheese, ricotta, powdered sugar, and almond extract until thoroughly blended.

3. In a small bowl add some warm water - doesn't matter how much, you'll just be dipping your fingers in it. Lay an egg roll skin on the counter. Dip your fingers in the water then with your fingers trace the edges of the egg roll. You should have 4 edges with a thin line of water. Then place 1 1/2 tablespoons of cheese mix in center back of egg roll skin and place 3 to 5 pieces of fruit in the center of cheese mixture.

4. Fold left and right sides of skin in 1/2-inch, and then roll from back to front, insuring that the roll is sealed. Use some more water if you need to, to seal the egg roll up. Repeat steps 3 & 4 for all your cheesecake rolls

5. Place in oil and cook both sides until golden brown. Let drain on paper towels for 2 to 3 minutes.




6. Serve with whipped cream and more fruit.

*Recipe adapted from Food Network ~ Guy Fieri

sweet chili dipping sauce

I'm always looking for a good dipping sauce for pot stickers, egg rolls, crab rangoon and sometimes I even use the dipping sauces as marinades for chicken for salads or just grill the chicken. I found this delicious recipe on Pinterest. It's simple, fast and yummy!! {I used it as a marinade for chicken, then grilled the chicken & served it with pot stickers and Sweet & Spicy Coleslaw}

Makes little less than 1 cup

4 tablespoons light soy sauce
4 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons warm water
2-3 garlic clove peeled and minced
Red pepper flakes to taste
Hot mustard to taste (optional)

Whisk everything together till the sugar dissolves.

If you want the recipe for the spring rolls click HERE

PF Chang's Chicken Lettuce Wraps

I made this post a few years back - before I had ever ate at PF Chang's ... I think these taste way better then theirs! I would recommend chopping your chicken, water chestnuts, mushrooms & onions finer then I did - it just makes it more like the original ... enjoy!!

From the kitchen of: Tami


STEP#1:
Special Sauce
(pot sticker sauce; I use this with my pot stickers. It makes a lot so I freeze it in ice cube trays and then put them into freezer bags. Then I pull out two or three when I need them so I don't have to make the sauce every time.):
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
4 T. Soy Sauce
2 T. Rice wine vinegar
2 T. Ketchup
1 T. Lemon Juice
1/8 tsp. Sesame oil
1 T. Hot mustard
2 tsp. hot water
1-2 tsp. garlic and red chili paste (you can find this on the oriental foods isle)

Make special sauce by dissolving the sugar in water in a small bowl. Add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice, and sesame oil. Mix well and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Combine hot water and hot mustard and set aside as well. At time to serve add desired amount of mustard and chili paste to special sauce to pour on wraps.
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STEP #2:
Stir fry sauce:
4 T. Soy sauce
4 T. Brown Sugar
1 tsp. rice wine vinegar

Bring oil to high heat in wok or large frying pan. Saute chicken until fully cooked. Meanwhile, prepare stir fry sauce by mixing the soy sauce, brown sugar and rice wine vinegar together in a bowl.
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STEP#3
3 T. oil
1 Lb. ground chicken
1 cup water chestnuts
2/3 cup mushrooms
3 T. chopped onions
1 tsp. minced garlic
4-5 iceberg lettuce leaves.

Add garlic, onions, water chestnuts, mushrooms, and stir fry sauce to chicken. Saute mixture until mixture is heated through and sauce starts to thicken. Serve in lettuce leaves and top with special sauce.

Makes 3 big servings - serve with pot stickers or crab rangoons

Beef & Broccoli Stir-fry

Make 4 servings

Ingredients:
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup pineapple juice
3 garlic cloves crushed or finely minced
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Stir-fry meat
1 bag of frozen broccoli
2 pkg. Top Ramen noodles

Directions:
1. I make a marinade for my beef and marinade the meat for at least 8 hours. For the marinade ~ In a medium bowl combine the first 6 ingredients, add meat and put in refrigerator to marinate.

2. Boil noodles. Cook meat - using 1/2 to 1 cup of the marinade. While noodles and beef are cooking steam the broccoli. Your meat will cook very fast, be careful not to over cook it. When the noodles and broccoli are cooked add it to the same pan that the beef is in, mix together and serve with pot sticker, egg rolls or crab rangoons

Pineapple Chicken

Recipe From: www.Fabulesslyfrugal.com


Ingredients:
2 Cups unsweetened pineapple juice
1 Cup vinegar
3/4 Cup water
1 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup brown sugar
3 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 Cup ketchup
1/3 Cup cornstarch
4 Chicken breasts
1 can (8oz.) pineapple chunks, drained
1 Medium green pepper, cut into chunks - optional


To Prepare For Freezing:
In a gallon size freezer bag combine the first 9 ingredients, then add chicken. Seal and freeze. Set aside pineapple in pantry so you'll have it when you make this meal. Slice and freeze pepper in a separate bag.


To Prepare After Freezing:
Thaw ingredients enough to place in crock pot. Cook on low for 5 hours. 30 minutes before it is finished turn to high & whisk in cornstarch, once completely dissolved add your pineapple & pepper, cook an additional 30 minutes - make sure you continue to watch it & stir it in these last 30 minutes - it's ready once your sauce has thickened. Once it was done I took out the chicken and cut it into chunks & then served it over cooked rice & with pot stickers!

Crab Rangoons

Recipe from: http://blogchef.net

Ingredients:
12 ounces of cream cheese (at room temperature)
50 wan ton wrappers
1 cup imitation crab meat (or canned)
2 green onions (minced)
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon soy sauce
1 egg (beaten)
oil (for frying)

Directions:
Step 1: In a bowl cream the cream cheese, soy sauce, green onions and garlic powder. Stir in the crab meat (if using imitation crab it should be chopped into pieces).

Step 2: In a separate bowl beat 1 egg. Lay out a wanton wrapper so it forms a diamond shape and place 1 teaspoon of filling just below the center of each wrapper.

Step 3: Brush the opposite corners of the wanton wrapper with the egg mixture. Fold over the edges of the wrapper to form a triangle and seal tightly.

Step 4: Deep fry the rangoons in batches at 375 degrees for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown.



Sweet and Sour Sauce:
½ cup vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup orange juice
¼ cup pineapple juice
¼ cup ketchup
2 tablespoons cornstarch


Directions:
Make sweet and sour sauce by mixing vinegar, sugar, salt, orange juice, pineapple juice, and ketchup. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Mix 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch in 1/8 cup of juice and stir in until thickened.

Asian Teriyaki Chicken & Noodles

Sometime we’ll have a pantry full of food but we’ll keep going grocery shopping because we think we can’t make any meals out of what we have. So the other day I was trying to get creative and make a meal with what I had in the pantry with out more grocery shopping & this is what I came up with. It has such a delicious flavor and is so quick - it’s for sure a hit!!

Serves: 2 people (per package of noodles you make)

What you need:
2-3 Chicken Breast cubed
Garlic Salt
Crushed Red Peppers
Black Pepper
KC Masterpiece - Honey Teriyaki Sauce (you can get at Walmart)
Asian Sides - Teriyaki Noodles - 1 package
2 Pineapple Slices

What to do:
*Cube chicken into bite size pieces - set aside

* Put 1 ½ cups of water into a pan to boil

* While the water is heating up to a boil, start cooking chicken in a skillet. Season to taste with black pepper, garlic salt & crushed red peppers. Once chicken is all white (not fully cooked yet) place some water into skillet and add Honey Teriyaki sauce. Make sure it’s enough to cove all the chicken in the water/teriyaki mixture. You want more teriyaki sauce then you do water - I just eyeball it.

*If the water is boiling in the other pan open the bag of Asian Sides - Teriyaki Noodles and place in boiling water. Set timer to 7 minutes and simmer noodles until cook so they are not hard. While the noodles are cooking the chicken is still cooking in the skillet in the water/teriyaki mixture.

*When there is 1 minutes left for the noodles drain the chicken and set aside on a plate. In the same skillet that you cooked the chicken in place your pineapple slices with some Honey Teriyaki sauce. Cook until they are heated .

*Once noodles are finished cooking stir in chicken and place pineapple slices on top.
Enjoy!!

Panda Express Orange Chicken

Recipe From: Shantel D.

Serves: 6

Ingredients:
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken, chopped into bite sized pieces
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
white pepper (to taste)
oil (for frying)
1/2 cup cornstarch, plus
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon gingerroot, minced
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon crushed hot red chili pepper
1/4 cup green onion, chopped
1 tablespoon rice wine
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil


Orange Sauce for Stir Fry:
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons water
5 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons white vinegar
1 orange, zest of


Directions:
1~Place chicken pieces in large bowl.
2~Stir in egg, salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon oil and mix well.
3~Stir cornstarch and flour together.
4~Add chicken pieces, stirring to coat.
5~Heat oil for deep-frying in wok or deep-fryer to 375 degrees.
6~Add chicken, small batches at a time, and fry 3 to 4 minutes or until golden crisp.
7~(Do not overcook chicken).
8~Remove chicken from oil with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels; set aside.
9~Clean wok and heat 15 seconds over high heat.
10~Add 1 tablespoon oil.
11~Add ginger and garlic and stir-fry until fragrant; about 10 seconds.
12~Add and stir-fry crushed chiles and green onions.
13~Add rice wine and stir 3 seconds.
14~Add Orange Sauce and bring to boil.
15~Add cooked chicken, stirring until well mixed.
16~Stir water into remaining 1 tablespoon cornstarch until smooth and add to chicken.
17~Heat until sauce is thickned.
18~Stir in sesame oil and orange zest if desired.
19~Serve over rice.

ZEN SALAD

*recipe inspired by Zen Bento's Zen Salad. You can visit their website at: http://www.zenbento.com/
I've been experimenting in the kitchen and this is my version of zen bento's zen salad. i don't know if any of you want this recipe, but here it is if you do. and don't hate me if you don't like it. but roger and i do so i'm hoping you will too:) peace and love.
From the kitchen of: Kami

Marinating Sauce:
1/2 tablespoon Kikkoman Soy Sauce
2/3 Cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1/4 cup water
2 t. chopped ginger
1/2 t. pepper
4 large garlic cloves chopped (optional) –I have always left this out
3 skinless boneless chicken breasts

Directions:
whisk soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, and garlic in large bowl.
marinate chicken 2 hours (or more). Grill chicken until done.

Ginger Soy Dressing:
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/8 – 1/4 cup water
Dissolve on low heat on stove. Let cool than add remaining ingredients!
1 t. chopped ginger
1/4 – 1/2 t. soy sauce
1/8 - 1/4 t. pepper
1/8 – 1/2 t. chopped garlic
1/8 – 1/4 cup vegetable oil (has to be vegetable oil)

In this order pour over:
Cabbage
white rice (sticky rice is the best)
crushed dry ramen noodles
diced grilled chicken sprinled with sprinkled with seseme seeds

Sweet & Sour Chicken

*Recipe from "What's for Dinner" - Erick & Megan - you can visit their site at: http://friendssharingrecipes.blogspot.com

I saw this recipe and it sounded really good, so I made it for dinner last night and it was awesome! It was really easy to make. I did make some slight changes from the original recipe because it was not clear on all directions and it tasted a little too sweet for me. Enjoy!

Serves: 2-3 People

Ingredients:
2-4 Chicken Breasts
2 Egg whites
½ Cup of Flour
Black pepper
Garlic Salt
Cooking oil
Pineapple Chunks (drained) – optional
1 Cup Chicken Broth
1 Cup Vinegar
7 TBS. Ketchup
2 tsp. Garlic Salt
2 TBS. Soy Sauce
½ Cup Sugar
*1-2 TBS. Kraft Sweet & Sour Sauce or Garlic Chili Sauce (in Chinese food section of grocery store * this is optional, I added it because before it was too sweet for me & it took the sweet edge off some)

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350.

-Cube 2-4 chicken breasts.

-Heat medium skillet with cooking oil.

- In a small bowl place 2 egg whites, in another small bowl add flour & black pepper & garlic salt to taste – not too much!

-Dip cubed chicken into egg whites then into flour mixture, fry in a skillet of oil. Remove chicken pieces when they are browned and set on a paper towel plate to drain.

FOR SAUCE:
Boil the following ingredients (it will be really runny, it will NOT get thick while boiling - it will get thick as it cooks in the oven, boil for 2 minutes) I double the sauce because we like it saucy!(So this is doubled)
1 Cup Chicken Broth
1 Cup Vinegar
7 TBS. Ketchup
2 tsp. Garlic Salt
2 TBS. Soy Sauce
½ Cup Sugar
*1-2 TBS. Kraft Sweet & Sour Sauce or Garlic Chili Sauce (in Chinese food section of grocery store * this is optional, I added it because before it was too sweet for me & it took the sweet edge off some)

-Remove sauce from heat and stir in pineapple chunks

-Put the fried chicken pieces in a baking pan, pour the sauce over chicken and bake for 30-45 minutes at 350. Bake uncovered, but you can cover the dish with tin foil if the chicken starts to get brown. Serve over rice.

Sesame Chicken Marinade

When I was planning Kim's bridal shower I asked everyone who was coming to send me a recipe card and I was going to make her a recipe book and this is one of those recipes that she got and I made a copy for myself because it sounded so yummy and it is! It's so fast and easy!

8 teaspoons sesame oil
1 Cup soy sauce
6 Garlic cloves minced
8 Tablespoons brown sugar
Chopped green onion
Sesame seeds

- Marinate chicken breast for 1-2 hours
- Grill chicken, serve over rice or in a salad or pasta
*This is the recipe doubled because it never seems to make enough, however if you want a smaller amount then divide everything in half

Japanese Chicken Salad

From: My Great Grandma Barnes


Mix together in a medium bowl:
1 Cup chopped cooked chicken
2 Tablespoon sesame seeds
1/2 Head chopped cabbage
2 Green onions chopped
1 Package ramen noodles - crunched & not cooked


Dressing (blend & pour over salad just before serving):
1 1/2 Tablespoon sugar
1/2 Cup oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 Tablespoon rice vinegar