Sweet & Sour Chicken

This recipe takes a little time but is sooo worth it. 

What you need:

~1 lb chicken breasts

Cooking oil

Flour for dredging

1 egg, beaten

For the sauce: 

3/4 cups sugar

4 tbsp ketchup

1/2 cup white vinegar

1 tbsp soy sauce

A pinch of minced garlic

Pineapple chunks (1 small container or can. Canned is fine, but fresh is much better)

2 roma tomatoes, cut into chunks

1 red or green bell pepper, cut into slices

First, start by making crispy chicken.

1. Put the flour in a bowl and the egg into a separate bowl

2. Heat a pan with a little cooking oil 

3. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces

4. Dip the chicken a few pieces at a time into the egg, then into the flour

5. Put the chicken pieces into the pan over medium heat. Don't crowd them--you may need to do this a couple times. Once you've put the chicken pieces into the pan, don't move them until they are almost cooked through and you can easily lift the sides of the pieces. If the sides stick to the pan, keep cooking them. Once they've turned gold and crisp on the bottom, flip them and cook all the way through. 

Next, the sauce. Just mix it all together in a small pot over medium heat. Stir occasionally to make sure it doesn't burn. Bring to a boil, then bring the heat back down. The sauce should start to thicken, but if it doesn't, add a little bit of cornstarch or flour. 

Tip: The sweet & sour sauce can be made a day ahead of time and stored in a covered container in the fridge. 

Once the chicken is done, put it in a serving bowl and add the sauce.

Serve over white rice with broccoli or other vegetables.

Just as good as take-out!

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One-Pot Mac & Cheese

I've tried a couple different one-pot mac & cheese recipes, and this one is my favorite so far. A lot of other recipes use powdered or evaporated milk, which I don't usually have on hand. This one just uses milk, which we always have on hand.

What you need:
2 cups elbow noodles
2 1/4 cups skim milk
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp salt
1 heaping cup of shredded cheese (I used cheddar)

Steps:
1. Put milk, butter, salt, and noodles into a pan. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring often until milk starts to boil.
2. Reduce heat to low and simmer 15 minutes, stirring very often.
3. Once almost all of the milk has been absorbed, test the pasta. Add more milk and keep cooking if the pasta isn't done yet. For whatever reason, I had to add quite a bit more milk. But I didn't measure how much I added...surprise, surprise.
4. Once the pasta is done, add the cheese and stir until melted.

The one-pot method is a little deceiving, because you can easily make mac & cheese using a single pot without boiling the noodles in the milk. Cooking the noodles this way just makes the mac & cheese extra cheesy, though it does take extra time.

Recipe from Bakestravaganza.

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Crockpot Potato Chowder

I love potato chowder, and nothing beats it cooked on the stovetop. But sometimes, you don't have time for that. Bring in the crockpot.

What you need:

• 5 medium potatoes, cut up. They will blended later, so it doesn't really matter how you cut them. 
• 2 lbs frozen corn
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 6-8 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups cream or milk
• salt & pepper to taste
• optional garnishes: cheddar cheese, green onion, bacon

Steps:
1.Combine everything except the cream/milk in a crockpot
2. Cook on low for 10 hrs / high for 6 hrs
3. Blend half of the soup with an immersion blender
4. Add the cream/milk and cook uncovered for 15 more minutes
5. Garnish with cheddar cheese, green onions, and bacon crumbles

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Thai Peanut Noodles

What you need (again, not much measuring here. Just throw stuff in until the ratio looks good to you.): 
spaghetti, enough for 2
red bell pepper, diced
peanuts, chopped
green onions, chopped
edemame

For the chicken & peanut simmer sauce*:
cooking oil 
chicken (I used a pound), cut up into bite-sized pieces
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp Thai sweet red chili sauce
2 tbsp water
*I only used about 1/2 pound of chicken for the pasta (for 2 people). If you have leftovers, use them in a Thai Peanut Chicken Salad.

Steps:
1. Heat the oil in a pan, and start to cook the chicken
2. Mix up all the simmer sauce ingredients
3. When the chicken is getting close to done, add the peanut sauce (save just a little), peppers, peanuts, onions, and edemame
4. While you're cooking the chicken, cook the pasta in a different pan
5. When the pasta is done, add it to the pan with the chicken and add the rest of the peanut sauce. Stir it all together.

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Thai Peanut Chicken Salad

This is a good way to use up extra chicken from Thai Peanut Noodles.

What you need (I just cut up enough ingredients to make a large salad. There wasn't much measuring here): 
For the salad:
red bell pepper, diced
salad (I had a butter lettuce blend, so that's what I used)
peanuts, chopped
green onions, chopped
carrots, chopped
A bit of salt

For the chicken & peanut simmer sauce*:
cooking oil 
chicken (I used a pound), cut up into bite-sized pieces
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp Thai sweet red chili sauce
2 tbsp water
*I only used about 1/2 pound of chicken for the salad, so using 1 pound will make a larger salad. Or, save the other 1/2 pound for Thai Peanut Noodles

Steps:
1. Heat the oil in a pan, and start to cook the chicken
2. Mix up all the simmer sauce ingredients
3. When the chicken is getting close to done, add the peanut sauce, saving just a little bit
4. Allow the chicken to simmer in the sauce for a bit, but keep the heat low
5. When the chicken is done, cool it in the fridge, along with the rest of the peanut sauce
6. When the chicken is cool, add it with all of the salad ingredients in a big bowl. 
7. Drizzle with the rest of the peanut sauce. 

Recipe adapted from My Kitchen Escapades.

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Spicy Thai Coconut Soup

I wouldn't want to eat this soup every day, but it was a good enough recipe to keep for another time.

What you need:

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced
• Some ginger...I have one of those bottles you keep in the fridge...so I just gave it a good squirt
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp sambal oelek (or thai red curry paste)
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 3 tsp soy sauce
• You'll see some green stuff in my photo. Yeah, I have no idea what that is. Probably spinach, maybe green onion.

The original recipe from Food Wanderings in Asia called for a few more ingredients (mushrooms, lemon grass, koriander), but I'm not that fancy, and someone in the house doesn't like mushrooms.

Steps:
1. Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add garlic, ginger, and pepper. Cook for 3 minutes.
2. Add the sambal oelek and cook for another minute.
3. Add the coconut milk, broth, sugar, and soy sauce. Bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.

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Italian One-Pan Wonderpot

Tastes great and involves minimal cleanup? This is a keeper!

What you need:
4 cups chicken (or vegetable)
2 tbsp olive oil
12 oz fettuccine
1 28oz can of diced tomatoes (undrained)
1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 tbsp dried basil
1/2 tbsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
A bit of pepper

With this recipe, you cook the pasta in the broth.
1. Heat the olive oil in the pot. Add the garlic and cook just a minute or two until it turns white.
2. Add the broth and bring to a boil.
3. Break the noodles in half and add them to the pot. Also add the tomatoes, onion, basil, oregano, pepper flakes, and pepper. Make sure everything is covered by the broth.
5. Bring to a rolling boil over high heat, then turn the heat down to medium.
6. Continue to boil over medium heat for 10-15 minutes. Stir every few minutes to keep the pasta from sticking to the bottom, but avoid over stirring.
7. It's done when the pasta is al dente and most of the liquid has been absorbed. If the liquid gets absorbed too quickly and the noodles are not yet done, turn the heat down a bit and add a little more broth.

Recipe adapted from BudgetBytes.com.

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Summer Sausage Salad

This is probably one of the easiest salads you can make.

What you need:
1 summer sausage
1 package of pre-cut, pre-washed salad (whatever kind you like best)
1 package of cherry tomatoes
1 block of cheddar cheese
A little salt
A little olive oil

1. Cut up the sausage into small pieces
2. Wash the tomatoes and cut each one in half
3. Cut half of the block of cheese into small cubes
4. Toss all of these with the salad, a pinch of salt, and a drizzle of olive oil

Yum! Just adjust the ingredient amounts to your liking. We also tried it with cold cheese tortellini, but we liked the blocks of cheese better.

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