Sweet & Sour Chicken

I made this the other night and it was surprisingly easy and quick, not to mention unbelievably good. I am trying to really simplify my cooking lately and it is difficult for me since I love to try new things even if they are difficult. However, this was an easy fulfillment of my missing hobby lately. And you know it's good when my husband said, "So where did you buy the chicken?" I'll take that as a compliment, thank you!

Sweet and Sour Chicken
from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

*Note: if you like extra sauce, double the sauce ingredients – pour half over the chicken and follow the baking directions in the recipe and pour the other half in a small saucepan. Cook the sauce on the stovetop at a simmer for 8-10 minutes until it reduces and thickens. Serve it on the side of the chicken.

*Serves 4-6

Chicken:
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil

Cut boneless chicken breasts into chunks. Season with salt and pepper. Dip chicken in cornstarch and then in egg. Fry in a little oil until brown but not cooked through. Place in a single layer in a baking dish. Mix sauce ingredients (below) together and pour over chicken.

Sauce:
¾ cup sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup
½ cup vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt

Bake for one hour at 325 degrees. Turn chicken every 15 minutes so it is evenly coated with the sauce. Serve over rice.

Chicken Mole

Ah yes - a challenge has been set before me, and no better time for it with all those babies out there coming soon. I don't know about you - but everyone I know is pregnant! I had a friend ask for freezer meal ideas and this one is one of my favorites. I used to really hate mole, but decided to try this and love it now.

Ingredients

3.5-4-lb. frying chicken, cut into serving pieces (I usually just through in frozen cooked chicken or slightly thaw 2 chicken breasts)
5 Tbs. olive oil, divided
4 Tbs. chili powder, divided
salt & cayenne to taste
2 onions, peeled & chopped
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 cups chicken stock
1-14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup chopped raisins
1 Tbs. sugar
1 Tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350, and line a baking sheet wiht aluminum foil.

Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper twoels. Combine 3 Tbs. oil, 2 garlic cloves, and 2 Tbs. chili powder in a small bowl. Season to taste with salt and cayenne. Mix well, and rub mixture on chicken. Arrange chicken on the prepared pan, skin side down.

Bake chicken for 20 minutes, then turn with tongs, and bake skin side up for an additional 20-25 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink.

While chicken baeks, make sauce. Heat remaining 2 Tbs. oil in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and remaining garlic and cook, stirring frequently, for 3 minutes, or until onions are translucent. Stir in remaining chili powder and cumin and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.

Add peanut butter, raisins, sugar, and cocoa powder. Stir well and bring to a boil. Then turn to low and simmer sauce for 15 minutes, or until lightly thickened. Season to taste with salt and cayeene. Serve sauce on top of chicken.

Note: The sauce can be prepared up to 2 days in advance and refrigerated, tightly covered. Reheat over low heat, stirring occasionally.

Note: Can double recipe and freeze in heavy resealable plastic bags. (I often don't even need to double it to freeze it for my small family of 3)

Source: $3 Meals

Linguine and Quinoa Meatballs

Recent Costco purchases: 20 lb. bag of organic brown rice, 10 lb. bag of organic quinoa & 10 lbs. of organic whole wheat spaghetti. Must put all to use and here is one way I did.

Typically, meatballs are made with bread crumbs, but this adds quinoa instead to add more protein. I also revamped my spaghetti sauce from the Risotto Cakes recipe 2 more times! I put it in a food processor and added a little water. Then we had mini english muffin pizzas. Then instead of making this sauce, I just added a little more water and used my sauce. I am looking forward to trying this sauce, though, because I pretty much love anything with balsamic vinegar!

Ingredients

SAUCE

¼ cup olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

3 celery stalks, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise

1 large carrot, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise

1 tsp hot red pepper flakes

1 28-oz. can tomatoes, chopped, with juices

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tbs balsamic vinegar

Salt & freshly ground black pepper

MEATBALLS

3 Tbs canola oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 lb. lean ground beef

1 ½ cups cooked quinoa

½ cup finely grated Parmesan

1 egg

3 Tbs. fresh parsley leaves, very finely chopped

½ tsp. salt

¾ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1 lb. linguine

1 large handful fresh basil leaves

Preparation

To make the sauce, heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, carrot, and red pepper flakes and cook until tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the tomatoes, garlic, and vinegar and simmer for 20 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside to keep warm.

To make the meatballs, preheat the oven to 425. Heat the canola oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, partially covered, until very soft, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the beef, quinoa, Parmesan, egg, parsley, salt, pepper, and cooled onions. Stir until a smooth, homogenous mixture has formed.

Roll the meat mixture into 2-inch balls and set them on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet in neat rows. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until nicely browned but still soft to the touch.

In a large pot of boiling water, cook the linguine al dente. Serve the pasta with some meatballs and the sauce and top with a sprinkling of torn basil leaves.

Source: the 10 things you need to eat and more than 100 ways to prepare them

Tex-Mex Stuffed Peppers

In case you can't tell, Mexican food is my favorite and also, in case you can't tell, I'm obsessed with trying new recipes. This one is on constant repeat because it makes fantastic leftovers, is cheap, and just plain delicious.
*Notes: The original recipe called to make them like this.

I found it too difficult to actually stuff the peppers so I make them like this:

Also, I cook the peppers a little before I stuff them, brushing with a little olive oil on both sides. Put as much cheese as you prefer and can be done with any ground meat.

Tex-Mex Stuffed Peppers

From Robin Miller

Ingredients

1 cup instant rice

1 tsp. olive oil

½ lb. lean ground beef

1 Tbs. Chili powder

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. dried oregano

½ tsp. garlic powder

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

1-15 oz. can of Santa Fe Corn

1-15 oz. can of pink beans, drained and rinsed

½ cup sour cream

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

4 large bell peppers, trimmed, seeded and cut in half, lengthwise

½ cup shredded Monterey jack cheese.

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375. Coat baking dish with Pam. Cook rice.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add beef and cook until not pink. Add seasons and cook for one more minute.

Add rice, corn, beans, sour cream & heat through.

Remove from heat and add cilantro.

Stuff peppers with beef mixture and arrange side by side in pan.

Top with cheese & bake until peppers are soft and cheese is golden and bubbly about 30 minutes.

Creamy Corn Chowder

from Our Best Bites

I know it might defeat the purpose of copying all my recipes from these other blogs. My whole purpose in this blog, however, is not to make up my own recipes but share recipes that we may be hesitant to try. So there, that's my defense :).

Like I mentioned in a previous post, sometimes I think of an ingredient I have that I need to use (for example, this time it was potatoes) and work around that. This soup was sooo good and cheap and easy to make. In her blog post, the author mentioned that if you don't put bacon in it, you can put smoked paprika in. I did so anyways and I put a dash of liquid smoke in too because for some reason that night the creamed corn and onion taste was just overpowering for me and making me nauseated. All I had to buy was an onion for this because I had already had everything else stocked. Also, I put 2/3 of skim milk and 1/3 whole milk because that is what I had. Next time, though, I will use all skim because it is definitely thick enough without the whole milk. Enjoy!

Creamy Corn Chowder

2 Tbsp. butter
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. water
2 1/2 c. milk (skim or 1% work just fine and lighten it up considerably)
2 regular-sized chicken bouillon cubes, 1 Knorr chicken bouillon cube, or 2 tsp. chicken base
1/2 lb. bacon (optional)
1 onion, minced
2 red potatoes, diced into small cubes
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can corn, drained
Salt and pepper to taste (you'll need a considerable amount of salt--probably at least 1/4 tsp. More about this later)
A few dashes of hot sauce (like Tabasco or Cholula)

Fry bacon until crisp. In the meantime, melt butter over low heat in a soup pot. When melted, add flour to make a roux and whisk until it comes together in a little ball. Add water and whisk until completely combined and there are no lumps. Add milk and chicken base or bouillon and bring to a simmer. Add potatoes, onions, and garlic, and simmer (but don't boil!), stirring very frequently, for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Add crumbled bacon and corn and heat through. Add a few drops of hot sauce and then salt to taste. The reason why I don't have an exact measurement is that while the soup REALLY needs salt, bacon also really differs in its saltiness, so it can be super easy to make this soup waaaaay too salty. Start with about 1/4 tsp., give it a few minutes, and then add more if you need it.

Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with extra bacon and/or cheese if you want. Because, you know, if there's anything a perfectly healthy bowl of soup (it's only 3 Weight Watchers points!) needs, it's some extra bacon and cheese!

Thai-Style Ground Beef

I am no fan of Thai food. Sorry, maybe I just haven't had the right stuff. I really don't like curry and it saddens me. It always sounds and looks so good to me, but I cannot even tolerate the smell, let alone the taste.

This is the best thing I've eaten in a long time. Of course I think you could use ground turkey or a substitute to make it healthier. I did not love it so much on rice, but really liked it as lettuce wraps. We're making it again tonight! I have to give a shout out to this cooking blog "Just Cook Already." I came upon it by accident and they are really good about consistently updating unlike ourselves. Here is the link to the recipe. Enjoy!

Pineapple Chicken

(Weight Watcher friendly)

8 oz. crushed pineapple, undrained (1 small can)
2 TBSP Apple Cider Vinegar
2 TBSP Soy-sauce
1 tsp garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. black pepper
2 TBSP Splenda (sugar optional)
1 1/2 c. cooked rice
1-2 lb. breast, cubed

Combine all ingredients except rice in large ziplock bag. Marinate in refrigerator for 30 minutes or longer. Place chicken and all marinade in a sprayed baking dish. Bake 30 minutes or until done @ 350 degrees. Serve over rice.

Serves 6
Weight watcher points: 6 points each
By: Lindsey Simon

Thai Chicken Pizza

I got this recipe from my friend Kristin Lowe. It is super delish! I also add 2 tablespoons of gluten which I found made the crust light and puffy. Try it-you won't be disappointed. It goes great with Sriracha sauce. Spicy!!
Peanut Sauce:1/4 c. creamy peanut butter2 T. Hoisin sauce (I did not include this when we made it because I haven't been able to find it)1 clove garlic, minced1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes1 T. granulated sugar2 T. brown sugar2 T. water2 tsp. sesame oil (or canola oil)2 T. soy sauce1 1/2 tsp. minced onion1 tsp. minced ginger-root

Mix above ingredients in microwave safe bowl. Pour this mixture into blender and blend for 15 seconds or until mostly smooth. Pour back into bowl and microwave for 1 minute. The peanut sauce should be darker now. At this point, you can add more sesame oil to achieve desired consistency.

Toppings:1 cup cooked, chopped chicken1 1/2 c. grated mozzarella1-2 green onions, sliced (you could also try using thinly sliced red onion instead)1/4 c. grated carrot2 tsp. minced cilantro1 T. chopped peanutsSpread peanut sauce onto prepared pizza crust. Sprinkle 1 c. mozzarella, onion, chicken, carrots, cilantro, nut, and then the rest of the mozzarella. Bake pizza for 10-15 minutes at 425 degrees, or until edges of crust turn golden brown.Here's the pizza crust recipe I use (thanks to Mike's mom) just in case you don't have one you like:

Pizza Crust 1 1/2 c. warm water1 pkg. yeast (2 1/4 tsp.)2 tsp. salt3 T. Oil31/2 - 4 C. flour, enough to make a stiff doughDissolve yeast in water. Add other ingredients and knead for 8 minutes. I actually don't let the dough rise at all, so pizza night is actually pretty time friendly. I just plop the dough on a cookie sheet on which I've drizzled olive oil and sprinkled corn meal and use my hands to roll it out. Then put your toppings on and bake it up.