Crock pot Orange Chicken

Okay... Yesterday I decided to make Orange Chicken.  I found 2 recipes but decided on this one.  I ended up cutting up 12 chicken breasts (since I was at it) and this was the results after 3 hours on high in our crock pot.  It could be that I didn't make enough sauce.  It was good, but I think I like the Sweet & Sour Chicken (previously posted) better.

Here is the Recipe:

Ingredients:
• 3-4 boneless chicken breasts, chopped into small chunks
• 1/3 cup flour
• olive oil
• 1/2 T salt
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 3 T ketchup
• 6 oz. frozen orange juice concentrate (thaw or throw it in the microwave for 45 seconds)
• 4 T brown sugar

In a bowl, mix the orange juice, brown sugar, vinegar, salt, and ketchup.

Pour the flour in a small bowl.
Cover the chicken breast chunks in flour and shake off the excess.

Pour a small amount of olive oil in a skillet and brown the flour-covered chicken.

The chicken doesn't need to be fully cooked since it's going in the crock pot.

After the chicken is done cooking, pour the pieces into the crock pot.
Then cover the chicken with your sauce mixture and give the pot a stir.

Cook on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 2-3.

Serve over rice and even add veggies if you want a healthier meal.
Enjoy!

Chicken Pot Pie

Tonights dinner was home made Chicken Pot Pie. It was super easy to make and tasted great. The only thing I would do different would be to double or triple everything except the biscuits. In this case there were more biscuits than meat and vegetables.  I also just cooked some chicken breasts and cut them up rather than buying rotisserie chicken.  Make it more like a Marie Calendars pot pie.

The recipe is below:
Serves 4| Hands-On Time: 25m| Total Time: 40m

Ingredients

• 1  3 1/2- to 4-pound  rotisserie chicken, meat shredded
• 1  10-ounce package  frozen mixed vegetables
• 1  10.75-ounce can  condensed cream-of-mushroom soup
• 1/4  teaspoon  kosher salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  black pepper
• 1  10-count tube  refrigerated biscuits

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400° F. Combine the chicken, vegetables, soup, salt, pepper, and 3/4 cup water in a large bowl.
2. Transfer the mixture to an oven-safe casserole, cover with foil, and bake for 15 minutes.
3. Remove the foil, cover the filling with the biscuits, and bake until the biscuits are golden brown and cooked through, about 15 minutes.

Home Made Pumpkin Pie

It was really pretty easy and taste DELICIOUS!!  If I can do it anyone can.
The only thing we did different was that we did not make our own crust & we didn't make the streusel topping.  We probably should have made our own crust as we burned ours, but the pumpkin filling was still delicious.

Below is the recipe:

Compliments of Jamie Ford
Serves:	8-10
Prep Time:	1 hr. 40 min.
Cooking Time:
Bake Time:	1 hr.

Ingredients

	Pie Crust
1-1/3 cups	all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp.	salt
1/2 cup	all-purpose shortening
3 Tbsp.	ice water
	Macadamia Streusel Toppping
1/4 cup	chopped Macadamia nuts
1/4 cup	brown sugar
1 Tbsp.	melted butter
	Pie Filling
2 cups	Cinderella or your favorite cooking pumpkin — baked and puréed (see directions)
2/3 to 3/4 cup	sugar
1/2 tsp.	salt
1-1/4 tsp.	ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp.	ground cloves
1/2 tsp.	ground ginger
2 large	eggs — lightly beaten
12 oz. can	evaporated milk

Directions

To bake the pumpkin(s), preheat oven to 350°F. Wash pumpkin(s), cut in half and scoop out seeds. Place cut-side down in a roasting pan with approximately 1 inch of water. Roast for about 1 hour or until flesh is tender. Allow to cool slightly and then scoop pumpkin flesh from shells. Purée flesh in food processor. Pour purée into a strainer lined with a coffee filter. Set over a bowl for 30 minutes to drain remaining water.

Increase oven temperature to 400ºF. To make pie crust, combine flour and salt in a large bowl and cut in shortening until coarse crumbs form. Add ice water 1 tablespoon at a time while forming dough into a ball with your hands. Chill for 15-20 minutes. Let dough sit at room temperature for 5 minutes. Roll a 10-inch dough circle on a floured surface. Transfer to 9-inch pie pan and flute edges. Set aside.

To make the pie filling, combine sugar, salt and spices in a small bowl. In a larger bowl, beat eggs and stir in puréed pumpkin and sugar/spice mixture. Slowly stir in evaporated milk and mix well. Pour into pie shell and bake for about 1 hour. Meanwhile, combine ingredients for the streusel topping in a small bowl, then sprinkle on top of pie during the last 5 minutes of baking. You know the pie is done when a small knife tip inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool pie to room temperature (approximately 2 to 2-1/2 hours) before serving. Serve with fresh whipped cream. Refrigerate any leftovers as if!

Baked Sweet & Sour Chicken with Fried Rice - Follow up

Tonights dinner was a lot of work, but was well worth it in the end.  Violet says it's the best meal yet.  That IS high praise!  Charity had seconds on the chicken when she finished her rice and vegetables (LOL).

We didn't have time to make fried rice, so we had plain white rice and vegetables.  This one definitely goes in the keep pile :-)

I think that the next time I make it, I will try and spice it up just a bit.  Not too much taht Violet won't like it, but just enough to give it some zing.  We'll see what Bethany thinks when she gets home tomorrow.

I hope you all try it and let me know what you think.  If you modify it any, please let me know as I am curious to see how it tastes.

Happy Cooking!!

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken with Fried Rice

This is what I am going to try and make tonight (Smile).
I'll let you know how it comes out!








INGREDIENTS:

Chicken Coating
     3-4 boneless chicken breasts
     salt + pepper
     1 cup cornstarch
     2 eggs, beaten
     1/4 cup canola oil

The sweet and sour sauce:
    3/4 cup sugar
    4 tbs ketchup
    1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
    1 tbs soy sauce
    1 tsp garlic salt

Start by preheating your 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. 

Fried Rice                                                                                             
     3 cups cooked white rice (day old or leftover rice works best!)
     3 tbs sesame oil
     1 cup frozen peas and carrots (thawed)
     1 small onion, chopped
     2 tsp minced garlic
     2 eggs, slightly beaten
     1/4 cup soy sauce

On medium high heat, heat the oil in a large skillet or wok.  Add the peas/carrots mix, onion and garlic. Stir fry until tender. Lower the heat to medium low and push the mixture off to one side, then pour your eggs on the other side of skillet and stir fry until scrambled. Now add the rice and soy sauce and blend all together well. Stir fry until thoroughly heated!   **You could really play around with this rice too! Try adding some diced ham, or green onion :) 
 

Broccoli Cheese Braid - Follow up

Well, as you can see, my braid looks nothing like the original.  I think it looks like a skeleton's rib cage :-)

I only took 1 short cut and that was that I used canned chicken.  When JB and I mixed it up it looked more like a fancy chicken salad sandwich mix.  We also added some Cauliflower.

It was quite simple to make except for the braiding part.  It tastes WONDERFUL!!!

If you decide to make it, please let me know what you may have done differently.

Broccoli Cheese Chicken Braid

It has been mentioned in the past that maybe I should blog about my cooking experiences.

I am fairly new to cooking, so right now this blog will contain mainly recipes that I have gotten from other sources that I have tried and liked.

I have tried other recipes prior to this and I will post those when I get a chance.

Tonight I am going to try and make this recipe.  It looks fairly easy and delicious


INGREDIENTS:

- 2 cans Pillsbury Original Crescent Rolls
- 2 cups chicken chunks, cooked
- 2 cups cheddar cheese
- 2 cups broccoli, frozen, steamed and chopped
- 1/2 cup light mayonnaise
- 1 egg yolk
- fresh rosemary





INSTRUCTIONS:

- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
- On a parchment paper lined cookie sheet, spread both cans of of crescents lengthwise for form a long rectangle.
- Press each of the seams to form a single layer of dough
- in a large bowl, combine chicken, cheese, broccoli and mayonnaise
- Spread mixture over the center of the croissant dough evenly to create a log
- Using a sharp knife, cut horizontal strips 1 inch apart down each side of the crescent dough.
- Fold the dough strips over the top of the chicken mixture, alternating left and right to create a braid.
- Brush the top of the braid with a beaten egg yolk and sprinkle fresh rosemary on top
- Bake for 28 - 30 minutes until golden brown.
_____________________________________________________________________

I will post a picture of what my braid looks like when it is done.
and share any lessons I amy have learned.

Happy Cooking!!