Orange Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry

 I made this to go along with the egg drop soup!  It was delicious.  I have a recipe for Orange chicken, but it is fried.  This recipe is much healthier, except for the sodium content.  Another delicious recipe from Jamie.  I changed a few things like decreased the amount of chicken carrots and celery.  I omitted the bell peppers because I didn't have any.  I think that would add color and a great flavor.  Next time I'll be sure to add those!  Amy said it was the best chicken she had ever had.  I even forgot the salt and pepper and it was great!

Orange Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry

2 chicken breasts

1/2 C flour

1/4 t salt

2 T olive oil

4 large carrots

1 onion

1 bell pepper (red, green or orange)

4 stalks celery

salt and pepper to taste 

Sauce:

3/4 C fresh orange juice

1/4 C soy sauce

1/2 t ginger

2 t rice vinegar

1/2 C brown sugar

1/2 t sesame oil

pinch red pepper flakes

2 T corn starch

1 C chicken broth

1. Cut chicken breasts up into 2 inch cubes. Combine the flour and the 1/4 t salt in a small bowl. Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture until all of the pieces are covered.

2. Heat up a large skillet. When it's nice and hot add 1 T oil and toss your floured chicken into it. 

3. Cook your chicken until it is golden all over. (About 10 minutes)

4. While your chicken is cooking up, chop up your veggies. Make sure they are about the same size.

5. When your chicken is pretty and golden, take it out of the pan and place it on a plate.

6. Add another T of oil into the hot skillet. Add your veggies and cook over medium high heat until crisp tender...about another 10 minutes.

7. While your veggies cook add all sauce ingredients to a medium sized sauce pan. Whisk them together until they are all combined nicely. Bring to a boil. Once it boils it should thicken up nicely for you.

8. When your veggies are crisp tender add your thickened sauce and chicken into the pan. Stir it all around and there you have it. Serve over a bed of rice.

Egg Drop Soup

I made this tonight, and it was delicious!!!  One serving is only about 70 calories so it really is healthy, although it's packed with sodium.  I halved it and it was perfect for our family of 5 with a little bit left over.  I suppose some kids didn't get a full serving. I also used frozen peas and carrots because I ran out of raw carrots. It was delicious and everyone but Amy loved it.  Once again another hit recipe from Jamie!

Healthy Egg Drop Soup

12 C water

11 bullion cubes

1/2 C chopped carrots

1/2 C frozen peas

2 T soy sauce

1/2 T rice vinegar

pinch red pepper flakes

1/2 t sesame oil

2-4 T olive oil

4 beaten eggs

1/2 bunch green onions, chopped.

1. Place all ingredients but the eggs, green onions, and the peas in a large pot.
2. Bring to a hard rolling boil. Let it just a keep on boiling until your carrots are tender.
3. Add your peas let it boil until they are heated through. This shouldn't take long, only 2 minutes or so.
4. Add your eggs while the soup is still at the hard rolling boil. They should cook up pretty fast for you.
4. Remove from the heat when the eggs are cooked and add your green onions. Enjoy!

Teriyaki Chicken

Here's another great recipe from Jamie!  I  made this a while ago, and made it again tonight and thought I should post it.  So easy and so good!  I only used 3 chicken breasts for our family of 5.  I served it over rice, and doused it in the sauce. Click on the link for awesome photos!

Teriyaki Chicken 

Yield: 5-6 servings

Time: 40 minutes, give or take a bit.

5 chicken breasts cut into 2 inch pieces

2 C water

1/3 C soy sauce

1 1/2 t garlic powder

3/4 C brown sugar

1 1/2 t rice vinegar

1/2 t ginger

1 t sesame oil

1/4 C cold water + 4 T cornstarch

green onions (optional)

1. Place all ingredients but the 1/4 C water and cornstarch into a medium sized sauce pan.

2. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium low and cook for about 20 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink on the inside.

3. Take the chicken out of the liquid and set aside on a plate.

4. Mix the cold water and cornstarch in a small cup until smooth. Pour it into the sauce pan and stir to incorporate. Turn the heat up and bring to a boil. The sauce should thicken up nicely for you. 

5. Remove from the heat and add the chicken back into the sauce. Serve over rice and enjoy! You can sprinkle with green onions as a pretty option. 

Sweet and sour chicken

I got this recipe from my new cookbook (my MIL's neighborhood cookbook she gave me for my birthday). I played around with a couple of recipes. I omitted the green pepper because I didn't have any. Otherwise I would have used it. I only used a couple of chicken breasts.

1 tsp salt
6 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 egg
A little water
4 chicken breasts

sauce:
1/4 c. ketchup
1 green pepper, diced
1/3 c. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. white vinegar
1/4 c. pineapple juice
1 Tbsp. soy sauce

Cut chicken into pieces. Mix salt, egg, cornstarch and a little water. Add chicken. Mix until chicken is covered. Cook in hot oil until browned.
For sauce: mix all ingredients together. Bring to a boil over med-high heat. Then to thicken, mix in 2 Tbsp cornstarch mixed with a little water; stir until mixture reaches desired thickness.

Chinese Chicken

I could have sworn I'd posted this one too. But I guess not. I am making this tonight. This is from our HP ward cookbook, submitted by Tara B. You can use a whole chicken cut up, or boneless skinless chicken breasts.

1/2 c. soy sauce
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. margarine
1/4 c. water
1/2 tsp. dry mustard

Whole fryer chicken

In a small sauce pan, combine ingredients, mix well. Cook for 5 minutes over medium heat. Let cool for 3-4 minutes. Pour into 9x13 baking dish. Place skinned chicken, breast side down in sauce. Bake 45 minutes to 1 hour at 350 F.

So easy, so good. It goes great with streamed rice or fried rice.

Peanut Noodles

I thought I had posted this a long time ago. But I couldn't find it. So this may be a repeat. We have this often. It's really easy, the kids love it. We usually do it when Aaron isn't home because he gets tired of Thai food. He's gets a lot of it at lunches, journal clubs etc. I do it pretty much as written, only I use the whole green onion and just a dash of red pepper.

Peanut Noodles

• 8 ounces spaghetti
• 1 bunch green onions, sliced (white parts only)
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
• 1/3 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup hot water
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1. Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling water until done. Drain.
2. Meanwhile, combine oil and onions in a small skillet. Saute over low heat until tender. Add ginger; cook and stir for 1 to 2 minutes. Mix in peanut butter, soy sauce, water, vinegar, sugar, and red pepper flakes. Remove from heat.
3. Toss noodles with sauce, and serve.

Thai Peanut Chicken

I made this last night and everyone loved it. I doubled the sauce (not the cayenne) as suggested by others but only used 2 large chicken breasts, and less oil. I didn't use as much rice either. I wish I had fresh ginger, but instead I had some ground ginger. It was quick and easy, and doesn't heat up the kitchen too much.
Thai Peanut Chicken

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups uncooked white rice
• 4 cups water
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
• 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into thin strips
• 3 tablespoons chopped garlic
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger root
• 3/4 cup chopped green onions
• 2 1/2 cups broccoli florets
• 1/3 cup unsalted dry-roasted peanuts

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine the rice and water in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes, or until rice is tender. In a small bowl, stir together the soy sauce, peanut butter, vinegar, and cayenne pepper. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a skillet or wok over high heat. Add chicken, garlic and ginger, and cook, stirring constantly, until chicken is golden on the outside, about 5 minutes.
3. Reduce heat to medium, and add green onion, broccoli, peanuts, and the peanut butter mixture. Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes, or until broccoli is tender, and chicken is cooked through. Serve over rice.

Crockpot Teriyaki Chicken

I got this from our HP ward cookbook. Submitted by Kimber S* I love this recipe and use it fairly often. I'm surprised I haven't used it since I started this blog.

4-5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 oz tomato sauce
1/4 c. soy sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. brown sugar

Place chicken in bottom of crockpot. Mix remaining ingredients together. Pour sauce over chicken. Cook on low 6-8 hours. Serve with or over hot cooked rice.

I used less chicken (2 breasts) and cut them into small chunks. Then I cooked it on high for an hour and medium for 1 1/2 hours.

Asian Ground Beef and Pepper Saute

This was really good. I used some yellow pepper as well. The parsley and ginger were not fresh. And I didn't use any chile paste. I did add some chili powder though.

Asian Ground Beef and Pepper Saute

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup dry jasmine rice
• 2 cups water
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger root
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup beef stock
• 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon chile paste
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium saucepan, bring the rice and water to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes.
2. In a skillet over medium heat, cook and stir the ground beef until evenly browned. Drain, and set aside.
3. Heat the olive oil in the skillet over medium heat. Stir in the red bell pepper, green bell pepper, parsley, garlic and ginger. Season with red pepper, salt, and pepper. Cook and stir until tender.
4. Return the beef to the skillet. Mix in the beef stock, soy sauce, chile paste, and Worcestershire sauce. Cook and stir until thickened and heated through. Serve over the cooked rice.

This was really good. I used some yellow pepper as well. the parsley and ginger were not fresh. And I didn't use any chile paste. I did add some chili powder though.