Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken

We had this last night and it was EASY and delicious! 

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken
The chicken coating:
3-4 boneless chicken breasts (I used 1 pound)
salt + pepper
1 C cornstarch (I will not use this much next time; a lot was wasted)
2 eggs, beaten (I only had one on hand and it worked fine)
1/4 C canola oil

The sweet and sour sauce:
3/4 C sugar
4 T ketchup
1/2 C distilled white vinegar
1 T soy sauce
1 t garlic salt

Start by preheating the 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 C oil in a large skillet and cook your chicken until browned but not cooked through.  Place 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 minutes (I just flipped them twice). 

The recipe at Life as a Lofthouse serves the chicken with this fried rice.  We prefer white and it worked well that way as well.

 Fried Rice
 3 C cooked white rice (day old or leftover rice works best!)
3 T sesame oil
1 C frozen peas and carrots (thawed)
1 small onion, chopped
2 t minced garlic
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 C 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!  *

"Man Pleasing Chicken"

Man-Pleasing Chicken

1 ½ pounds chicken thighs (I used 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts)

½ C Dijon mustard

¼ C Maple syrup

1 T rice wine vinegar (I used red wine vinegar)

fresh rosemary

Preheat your oven to 450ºF. Then, mix together 1/2 cup of dijon mustard, 1/4 cup of maple syrup, and 1 tablespoon of rice wine vinegar. Put chicken thighs into an oven-proof baking dish. Then, salt and pepper the thighs. Pour your maple mustard mixture over them, turning the thighs in the mixture so they are fully coated. Put the chicken thighs into the oven, and let them bake for 40 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 165ºF. Baste the tops of the chicken with more sauce half way through. Sprinkle with fresh rosemary.

I got this recipe from http://www.wittyinthecity.com/2011/08/man-pleasing-chicken/.

Chipy Chicken

This is a go-to meal in the kitchen of Erin B.!

She says, "SUPER EASY!!!! For variety, I had two kinds of chips. I covered some chicken in Sour Cream chips, and then covered the other chicken with BBQ chips."

Can I just say that I am so excited to try this because I think Axl would actually eat it!! I'll let you know how it goes--I'm going to try with Fat-free mayo and perhaps baked chips.

One chicken breast per person--sliced in half to make a chicken tender
mayo/miracle whip
chips (I used walmart brand sour cream and also BBQ)

Preheat oven to 400.
Coat chicken in mayo. A thin coat is fine...you just need enough for the chips to stick to.
Crush up several handfuls of one flavor of chips. Coat the chicken with the chips.
Place on cookie sheet.
Bake for 20 minutes.

White Chicken Chili

I've been wanting to try this recipe from my mom for a long time now, and the fall weather finally got me in the mood! We loved it and it'll definitely be in the rotation from now on!!

1 large jar of great northern beans (I had never seen a jar of beans before, but sure enough, they do exist. This jar, I believe, was a whopping 48 ounces! I found it at Kroger and the brand was "Randall's".
1 large box of chicken broth (mine was 4 cups)
2 packages chili-o (I'm totally blanking out right now and am not sure if I actually used 2 packets versus 1...I'll have to do some experimenting and come back and fix this.)
1 can rotel
1 lb chicken

Boil the chicken in the chicken broth. Remove the chicken and shred. Mix in all other ingredients and bring to a boil. Add chicken and simmer for a while.

Tofu Stir-Fry

This is a go-to meal in the kitchen of Brooke J.!

14 oz. package tofu
3 T cornstarch
2 T low-sodium teriyaki sauce
1/2 t ground ginger
1/4 t garlic powder
2 T olive oil
1 C broccoli florets
1 C thinly sliced carrots
1 C red/green bell pepper
1 small onion, cut into wedges
1 C any other veggie you like (I like to do squash or zucchini or both sometimes!)
1 C low-sodium chicken broth

Directions:
1. Cut tofu into 1/2 inch cubes; place in resealable plastic bag. Add cornstarch, teriyaki sauce, ginger, and garlic powder to bag; shake well. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. In a large skillet or wok, heat the oil and add carrots and onions. Cook about 3-5 minutes. Add all other veggies. Cook for another 4-5 minutes or until veggies are crisp-tender. Add chicken broth and tofu. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.

Yields 4-5 servings

Curry Chicken

This is a go-to meal in the kitchen of Daphne H.!

Daphne says, "I know it sounds like it takes a long time and it's complicated, but it's really easy!"

1/2 onion
3 cups finely chopped celery
a heaping T of chicken base
1/4 C margarine or butter
1/3 C all-purpose flour
2 T curry powder (if you don't like spicy use 1 T)
2 C chicken broth
1 C tomato juice
3 C cubed, cooked chicken

In a saucepan (you will need atleast a 10 in saucepan, if you have bigger, use bigger). Cook onion and celery in butter until tender but not brown. Stir in flour and curry powder. Add chicken broth, tomato juice and chicken base. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Stir in chicken; heat through. Serve with rice. Makes 6 servings.

Chicken Curry Broccoli

3 or 4 chicken breasts
1 bunch broccoli, cut into spears
onion
celery
1 C mayonnaise
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1-1/2 T curry powder
1 T lemon juice
mushrooms, sauteed in butter (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Boil chicken breast halves in water along with some onion and celery. (can also add bay leaves, salt and carrots). Cool chicken (and de-bone if necessary).

While the chicken is cooking, steam broccoli spears until a knife goes into the stem pretty easily (but the heads are still bright green). Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, mix mayonnaise, soup, curry powder, and lemon juice. Place the steamed broccoli in a large casserole dish. Put the cooked chicken pieces on top of that. Then cover with the sauce. Heat in oven for 30-40 minutes. Should be bubbly and starting to brown. Serve over rice with a spoonful of sauteed mushrooms (optional).