Orange Chicken

Roasted Chicken with Smokey Orange Sauce

Made: August 11, 2013

Ingredients
- Cooking spray
- 8 (5-ounce) skinless chicken breast halves (with bone)
- Salt and ground black pepper
- 1 cup orange marmalade
- 1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke

Directions
- Preheat oven to 400 F
- Coat a large roasting pan with cooking spray
- Season chicken all over with salt and black pepper
- Arrange chicken in prepared pan and set aside
- In a small bowl, combine orange marmalade, soy sauce and liquid smoke
- Mix until blended
- Pour mixture over chicken
- Roast 35 minutes, until chicken is cooked through
- Serve 4 chicken breast halves with this meal and refrigerate remaining chicken until ready to use

I used boneless chicken thighs instead of breasts with the bone and I didn't have any liquid smoke; trying to make something with ingredients we already have. I cooked the thighs for 45 minutes instead of 35 to make sure they were cooked all the way through. But they came out nice and juicy and super tender. The sauce wasn't too orangey or bitter, so it was a nice balance.

(recipe used: foodnetwork.com)

Asian Rice

Fried Rice

Made: July 14, 2013

Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked white rice
- 3 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1 cup frozen peas (thawed)
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 2 eggs, slightly beaten
- 1/4 cup soy sauce

Directions
- On medium high heat, heat the oil in a large skillet (or wok)
- Add the peas, onion and garlic
- Stir fry until tender
- Lower the heat to medium low and push the mixture off to one side
- Pour your eggs on the other side and stir fry until scrambled
- Add the rice and the soy sauce
- Blend together
- Stir fry until thoroughly heated

I thought 3 tablespoons was a lot of the sesame oil, but it complemented the soy sauce just right. I always have trouble with the eggs as they always run into whatever else I'm cooking in the pan, but overall it came out nice. I'll have to tweak it to see how I could get the rice drier and not so mushy though.

(Recipe used: found on facebook)

Buttered rice with Fish

Parleyed Rice Pilaf + Marinated Cod

Made: February 23, 2013

Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 1/3 cup dried minced onion
- 4 teaspoons butter
- 2 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules
- 2 cups instant rice
- 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley

Directions
- In a small saucepan, bring the water, onion, butter and bouillon to a boil
- Stir in rice and parsley
- Remove from heat
- Cover and let stand for 5 minutes
- Fluff with fork

I only had bullion cubes; so I used two for this recipe. I paired this with marinated Cod filets (the marinate was a ginger soy sauce) instead of the pairing recipe from our book. Since they were pre-marinated, I wanted to find a suitable side to match.

If interested in the fish recipe: read on below! (I cooked the fish as directed for time estimation, but I did not make the sauce)

Asian Snapper with Capers
Ingredients
- 4 red snapper fillets (6 oz each)
- 4 1/2 teaspoons Mongolian Fire oil or Sesame oil
- 1/4 cup apple jelly
- 3 tablespoons ketchup
- 2 tablespoons capers, drained
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger-root

Directions
- In a large skillet, cook fillets in oil over medium heat for 3-5 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily with a fork
- Remove from pan and keep warm
- Stir the jelly, ketchup, capers, lemon juice, soy sauce and ginger into the skillet
- Cook and stir for 2-3 minutes or until slightly thickened
- Serve with red snapper

(Recipe used: Taste of Home Quick Cooking Annual Recipes 2013)

Tomato Stir Fry

Beef Broccoli Stir-Fry

Made: January 14, 2013

Ingredients
- Vegetable cooking spray
- 3  cups broccoli florets
- 1 boneless beef sirloin steak
- 1  can Campbell's Condensed Tomato Soup
- 1/4 cup water
- 2  packages oriental flavor ramen noodle soup

Directions
- Spray a 10-inch skillet with the cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat for 1 minute
- Add the broccoli and stir-fry until tender-crisp
- Remove the broccoli from the skillet
- Remove the skillet from the heat
- Spray the skillet with the cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat for 1 minute
- Add the beef and stir-fry until well browned
- Stir in the soup, water and 1 ramen seasoning packet (reserve the remaining seasoning packet for another use) and heat to a boil
- Return the broccoli to the skillet and cook until the mixture is hot and bubbling
- Cook the noodle soup according to the package directions without the seasoning packet
- Drain the noodles well in a colander
- Serve the beef mixture over the noodles

I cut the serving down since I only needed two servings instead of 4. I used a small top sirloin and whatever leftover frozen broccoli I had left as well as only 1 package of ramen noodles. Overall, it was a different take on a stir-fry and a quick dinner.

(Recipe used: recipe.com)

Chinese Crab

Tropical Crab Rangoon Appetizers

Made: October 2, 2011

Ingredients:
- 1 can (13.8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated classic pizza crust
- 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
- 1/2 teaspoon Chinese hot mustard, if desired
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1 can (8 oz) sliced water chestnuts, drained, coarsely chopped
- 1 can (6 oz) lump crabmeat, drained
- 1/4 cup pineapple ice cream topping
- 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- 4 medium green onions, chopped

Directions:
- Heat oven to 400°F
- Prep cooking sheet
- Unroll pizza crust dough on cookie sheet; press dough into 17x12-inch rectangle
- Bake 7 to 9 minutes or just until crust is light golden brown
- Meanwhile in large bowl, beat cream cheese, mayonnaise, mustard and garlic salt with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth
- Stir in water chestnuts and crabmeat, being careful to break up crabmeat as little as possible
- Spread crabmeat mixture over partially baked crust to within 1 inch of edges
- Spoon small spoonfuls of pineapple topping evenly over crabmeat mixture; spread evenly
- Sprinkle with Monterey Jack cheese and onions
- Bake 12 to 15 minutes longer or until cheese is bubbly and crust is golden brown
- Cool 5 to 10 minutes before cutting

I made mine a bit different. When I opened my pizza dough, it stuck to the sides and was uncooperative ... and then broke in 1,000 different pieces. So I ended up using crescent rolls instead. I still had some issues. I broke those trying to lay them out. Then I had the worse time getting them off the foil even though I lightly sprayed that (just in case).

Rob eats everything, but the ladies in the family do not. So I didn't use water chestnuts, pineapple ice cream topping or the green onions. And then I forgot to add the cheese. :x But it still came out super yummy and reminded me of the ones we get from the Chinese take out place, just deconstructed. :) I'm sure this would be a yummy crab dip as well.

(Recipe from: Pillsbury)

Ramen Noodles & Beef

Easy Beef & Noodle dinner

Made: May 12, 2011

I wanted to make something with ground beef ... It's one of my favorite ingredients to use. I don't know why, but I just love cooking it. :D So I saw this recipe and thought it was quite easy and very delish. So I tried it out!

Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 2 cups Muir Glen organic diced tomatoes with Italian herbs (2 14.5 oz cans)
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- 1 package (3 oz) beef-flavored ramen noodle soup mix
- 1 1/2 cups Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers frozen green beans

Directions
- In a 12in nonstick skillet, cook beef & onions over medium heat, until beef is thoroughly cooked; drain.
- Add tomatoes, water, Italian seasoning & seasoning pack from soup mix; mix well.
- Heat to boiling.
- Break up noodles; stir in noodles & beans.
- Bring to boil.
- Reduce heat to low, cover & simmer for 5 minutes, or until noodles & beans are tender.

I never heard of the "Muir Glen" brand of organic veggies; so I told Rob to use his best judgment while shopping. I used Del Monte diced tomatoes with herbs. :) I also substituted frozen corn instead of green beans (and they were normal Giant brand) since Mom had green beans for lunch and I wanted to use some of the stuff we already had home. I had to add a dash of sugar to the tomatoes to reduce the amount of acid; so it was a pretty sweet dish with that and the corn. It got good reviews all around and seconds. :D

(Recipe used: Pillsbury)