Sweet and Sour Chicken

I'm going through this weird phase that, I admit, I don't fully understand. It's Chinese food.

My mom loves Chinese food. I remember growing up, she would frequently pick up beef and broccoli with an egg roll. It was her guilty pleasure. It wasn't until high school that I was even the tiniest bit willing to try it. It was okay. I wasn't impressed.

That all changed in college. Being from the OC (and missing home), I became obsessed with the popular show, "The OC." I swear, every single meal, those people ordered in Chinese or Thai food. Every single meal. It got to where my roommate and I would order-in Chinese before we even started an episode. We wanted to be prepared.

Fast forward about 7 years, and here I am, married, with only reruns of The OC to watch. Yet I still get the strongest craving for Chinese food. The difference is that I now have bills to pay and just can't justify spending $10 on rice and chicken. This has caused me to take matters into my own hands.

I very recently made Spicy Cashew Chicken, which was to die for. But Tim called me from his late night in the office solely to tell me that this Sweet and Sour Chicken was the best chicken I have ever made. Take it or leave it, but the pickiest eater in the world has spoken.

Also, yes, that is a paper plate in my picture. I have taken a stand against endless dishes and now buy paper. So sue me.


Chicken Ingredients:

• 4 chicken breasts
• Salt/pepper
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 cup oil
• 2 eggs

Sauce Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup distilled white vinegar
• 3 tbsp. soy sauce
• 2 tsp. minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

Directions:

Cut up chicken breasts.

Season using salt and pepper.

Place chicken in a deep bowl and cover with all the cornstarch. Mix well.

Heat oil over high heat.

Whisk eggs and pour over chicken. Mix well.

Once oil is heated, throw the chicken in the pan. Cook 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.

We're looking to brown the chicken, but it doesn't necessarily need to be cooked 100% of the way through. I probably cooked it 85% through. I'm using percentages because it makes me feel smart.

Combine sauce ingredients.

Whisk together.

Pour half the sauce onto the chicken, turning so all the chicken is coated.

Back at 325 degrees F for one hour.

Every 15 minutes, turn and "baste" chicken with remaining sauce, leaving about 1 cup for the very end. 

Once completely finished, pour remaining sauce over chicken. Serve with brown rice and spring rolls.

Love and Chinese,

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Alice Spring Chicken

Tim and I have a long, drawn-out history with Outback. During our college years, we pushed and pushed to make Olive Garden "our place." After all, they had unlimited soup, salad and breadsticks. But when it came down to it, the dim lighting and Bloomin' Onion won out. Big time.

When I'm in a cooking rut, one of my favorite things to do is recall what our favorite eat-out meals are. For me, that's always Mexican. For Tim, it's always thick, juicy chicken breasts. When we visit Outback, Tim regularly gets Alice Spring Chicken, so I wanted to replicate it as closely as possible. It's not very complicated. Think chicken, honey mustard, bacon and cheese.


Ingredients (2 chicken breasts):

• 2 chicken breasts
• 4 slices of bacon, cooked
• 1/2 cup Colby cheese
• 1 tbsp. feta cheese (optional)
• Honey mustard
• Salt/pepper
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

First, heat up your olive oil over medium/high heat. Add salt and pepper to each side. Place your chicken breast in the pan and cook for 3-5 minutes on each side until browned. You don't have to cook it all the way since we're going to throw it in the oven later, but you want it just about fully-cooked.

Drizzle some honey mustard on each chicken breast. How much is up to your discretion.

Place 2 slices of cooked bacon on each chicken breast. I use microwaveable bacon, but if you want to fry up the bacon the good ole' fashioned way, more power to ya'.

Sprinkle the cheese on top of the bacon. I don't know what it is about feta, but I can't get enough of it. I thought it worked well wit this recipe, but it's totally optional.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes. Serve with some garlic mashed potatoes and sweet tea.

Love and finding "your place,"

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Spicy Cashew Chicken

I have a problem. It is an expensive, tolling addiction that I am working through.

My problem is PF Chang's.

We rarely did PF Chang's back in California because the closest one was 45 minutes away, and I don't know many kids who count Chinese food as one of their all-time favorites. We were more of a hot dog family. But ever since we moved to Greenville, where we have one conveniently located on Woodruff Road, I've become a Chinese-eating-machine. Every birthday, double-date or anniversary, I beg Tim to take me there. "It's just rice and chicken," he claims. But it is so much more than that.

The other thing about PF Chang's is that it's kinda' pricey. We're not stingy, but we always tend to walk out of there with a $40 check between the two of us. That's 35 1/2 trips to Taco Bell. That's a new pair of jeans. That's almost half my grocery budget for the week. All that being said, I'm trying to make a few Chinese favorites at home. I found this recipe on Pinterest, and it's originally by MommaChelle. I made a few very slight revisions, but if you want to see the original recipe, click here. I can't even talk about how good this is. It'll make me cry. This is, like, special-occasion-at-home good. It's so good that I'm kicking myself for not saving this for Valentine's Day.

I can't talk about this anymore. My mouth is watering, and all I have for lunch is a turkey sandwich. But seriously, please try this recipe. It's one of the best things I've ever cooked. For real.


Chicken Ingredients:

• 3 chicken breasts, cubed
• 1 tbsp. cooking white wine 
• 2 tbsp. low sodium soy sauce
• ¼ cup oil
• 1/2-1 tsp red pepper flakes (you can add more or less depending on how spicy you want it)
• 3 green onions, sliced diagonally
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 1/2 cup cashews, salted or unsalted
• 2 tbsp. toasted sesame seeds

Sauce Ingredients:

• 5 tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
• 4 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp white vinegar

Rice ingredients:

• 1 cup rice
• 2 cups water

Directions:

First and foremost, the rice. Every package has different directions, but I'll give you mine.

Boil 2 cups of water. Add 1 cup of rice.

Turn heat to low so that it is simmering. Cover with a lid and leave for 30-40 minutes. Try your hardest not to lift the lid and peak.

Cut chicken into cubes and place in a bowl.

Add the soy sauce and the white wine.

We're going to let that marinate while we get the other ingredients set up.

Whisk together sauce ingredients. Set aside.

Drain the chicken.

Heat oil over high heat in a wok or a large pan.

Now it's time to determine just how spicy you want this dish to be. I used 1 tsp, but this is the determiner for the entire dish.

Add to the oil and mix well.

Add the drained chicken to the pan/wok and let cook until browned on both sides.

Green onions. I find them awkward and hard to handle for some reason. Regardless, they're needed. And tasty.

You can use as much or as little as you're comfortable with. I chopped up 3.

Add garlic to the chicken and continue to cook on a medium heat.

Add the cashews. Believe it or not, they will soften.

Add the sauce we prepared earlier. It will thicken up quite nicely, just make sure to stir, stir, stir!

Toast your sesame seeds. You can do this by putting them in a pan and turning the heat on medium/high for about 3 minutes. Gently stir every 30 seconds or so.

Add the green onions and sesame seeds to your chicken.

And don't forget about your rice!

Serve hot. I also purchased frozen spring rolls, which were seriously tasty.


Love and a Chinese addiction,

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