Sesame Chicken

I love trying out new Chinese recipes! This one has been on my list for a while now, it was quick and easy to make.

Sesame Chicken-Let's Dish
1 lb chicken, cubed
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
dash of ground cloves
dash of ground cinnamon
2 tbsp oil
1/3 cup teriyaki sauce
1/3 cup honey
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 onion, sliced
1 green pepper, sliced
2 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
brown rice

In a large resealable bag, combine flour with spices. Add in chicken and shake to coat the chicken. Heat oil in pan and fry chicken until browned on both sides. Place chicken on paper towels to drain.

Mix together sauce ingredients. Place peppers and onions in pan and saute for 5 mins. Place chicken back in the pan and add in sauce ingredients and cook until thickened. Stir in sesame seeds. Serve over rice.

**I really liked the flavor the chicken had, but I think next time I won't bother frying it. I didn't find that it really added to the flavor, so I will use it like a rub and brown the chicken and add in the sauce. This was really tasty and delicious!

Pineapple Beef Stir Fry

K isn't too much of a fan of stir fry...I LOVE it! Mostly because its an easy way to get lots of veggies(hence why he isn't a fan of it) and can use up leftovers! I got a great deal on some steaks at the store yesterday and this was on my menu so I went with it.

Pineapple Beef Stir Fry-shared from Taste of Home
1 lb steak, sliced thin
20 oz can of pineapple
1 onion, sliced
1 red pepper, sliced
1 green pepper, sliced
1 tsp grated ginger
1-2 tsp minced garlic
1 jalepeno, seeds removed, diced
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp corn starch
2 tbsp canola oil
hot cooked rice

Mix together 3/4 of a cup of pineapple juice(from can), soy sauce, ginger, and garlic. Pour 1/4 cup over beef, cover and refrigerate for 30 mins.

Place oil in pan and allow to heat up. Stir fry beef until cooked through. Remove from heat and keep warm.*My beef let off a lot of juice, so I removed that as well and kept it aside. Stir fry onions and peppers. Mix together cornstarch and reserved sauce. When just about done add in the rest of the sauce and pineapple. Bring to a boil and let thicken. Add in beef and allow to warm through.

Serve over hot rice. I decided to use some lo mein noodles I had in place of the rice.

**I felt something was missing in this recipe, but it was very tasty. I loved using the lo-mein noodles as well. K liked it and the boys just liked the noodles of course!

Orange Chicken

One of the other things we have done is pretty much given up eating out. This is really because we are on a VERY tight budget. Our menu is extensive some weeks and when Monday rolls around...although it may vary because I have been doing my menu planning on Tuesday/Wednesday, you will see that we try out a LOT of different foods/cuisines. We LOVE chinese...but it doesn't always love us. So I made this delicious dinner this evening and K(my husband) said it was much better than the restaurant! Definately a keeper!

Orange Chicken-adapted from Thoughts of a Wanderer
*sorry no picture as of yet...it was quite beautiful, almost too nice to eat!


Chicken;
2 chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces
3 tablespoons cornstarch
salt & pepper to taste
olive oil

Sauce:
1 1/2 cup water
1/2  orange, juiced
1 lemon juiced
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons chopped green onion(omitted)
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 tbsp cornstarch

- Throw chicken pieces, cornstarch, salt and pepper into a large ziplock bag and shake, shake, shake until coated.
- Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a deep skillet over medium heat and cook chicken until done.
- Remove chicken from skillet and wipe out (or use saucepan if your skillet isn’t deep enough). Add ingredients for sauce except for the cornstarch and bring to a slight boil. Add cornstarch to thicken if you like a thicker sauce (I always do this…it makes it feel more decadent and restaurant-like to me). Add chicken pieces into sauce and heat through, about 5 minutes.
- Serve over your choice of rice. We had it over Brown Jasmine rice and sliced cucumbers for a side.

what I did different: 
- added 3 tsbp cornstarch right to the sauce before I added it to the pan. If you have used cornstarch before, it thickens best in cold liquids this kept it from becoming lumpy.
-did not pack the sugar, as we are also watching our caloric intake.
-in a pinch, you can sub white wine vinegar for rice vinegar(something I learned when I forgot the rice vinegar!)
-zest of whole orange


Kid Help: have them shake the bag of chicken to coat the chicken, help squeeze the lemon/orange for the juice, help measure rice/water, and choose a veggie as a side


Next time: I will either bake the chicken pieces or cook them right in the sauce. We didn't feel that frying the chicken really added to the flavor.