Sweet and Sour Chicken Stir Fry

I love this sweet and sour chicken, it has just the right amount of sweetness. I also really like this recipe because I hardly had to buy anything for it, most everything I had in my pantry so it was a really low cost meal.

Sweet and Sour Chicken Stir Fry
adapted from Our Best Bites

1 cup rice
2 1/2 c. water
1 chicken bouillon cube

1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water
1 8 ounce can pineapple chunks, drained and juices reserved
3 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon rice vinegar

3-4 teaspoons vegetable oil, divided
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast or thighs diced into 1 inch pieces
(you could also use pork tenderloin, or sliced boneless pork chops)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
about 1 cup snow peas
1/2 medium bell pepper, stemmed , seeded, and cut into 1/2 inch squares
1/2 large onion, or 1 small onion cut into 1/2 inch squares


Instructions
Rinse rice in colander. Place rice, water, and crumbled chicken bouillon cube in medium saucepan. Cover with lid and bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium low and cook 20 minutes or until rice is soft and cooked through.

While rice is cooking...

Combine cornstarch and water in a medium sized bowl and stir to dissolve. Add the reserved pineapple juice*, ketchup, soy sauce, brown sugar, and vinegar to the bowl and stir to combine.

*If you’re using a stainless steel pan, save pineapple juice for de-glazing it

heat 2-3 teaspoons of the oil in a wok or large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, salt, pepper, garlic, and ginger. Stir-fry until the chicken is cooked and no longer pink, 3-4 minutes. Remove chicken from pan and cover to keep warm.

Add the remaining 1-2 teaspoons oil to the pan and add the broccoli and bell pepper. Stir-fry over medium-high heat until the vegetables are crisp-tender and the broccoli is bright green, 3-5 minutes.

Return the chicken to the pan and add the pineapple chunks and sauce mixture. Bring to a simmer and cook until everything is heated through and the sauce has thickened, 1-2 minutes. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste. Serve over the hot cooked rice. If desired, top with sesame seeds and chopped fresh cilantro or parsley.

Serves 4 or 5

Hawaiian BBQ Dinner- Homemade Teryaki Chicken & Macaroni Salad

I was given these recipes from a Hawaiian family I know, they are delicious! I crave having this meal all of the time!

Teryaki Chicken

2 c. soy sauce
2 c. sugar
3 Tbs. fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced (if garlic cloves are small, use 6)
1 c. water
Chopped green onions for garnish
4-5 boneless skinless chicken breasts

In a medium saucepan, combine soy sauce through water. Whisk to combine, pour half into a gallon zip lock bag (set aside remaining half in saucepan for later use), add chicken and marinate for 2-3 hours, no longer. At about the time that the chicken will be done marinating, take the saucepan with the remaining sauce in it and heat on medium heat until it starts to simmer, turn heat down to low and let simmer for 15-20 minutes to reduce while chicken is on the grill.
Grill chicken on medium high heat for 15-20 minutes or until done, turning once halfway through cooking time. Brush with cooked, reduced sauce if desired. Throw away zip lock bag with uncooked marinating teryaki sauce in it, do not use this sauce, it must be thrown away.

To serve I like to place the chicken on the rice, drizzle some of the reduced sauce over the top and sprinkle on some green onions. It is so good!

For the rice I like to either cook in chicken broth instead of water to add flavor, or cook in water and add chicken bouillon to it. I add a little salt too.


Macaroni Salad

1 box elbow macaroni
4 eggs
1 1/2 c. mayonnaise
1 1/2 Tbs. sugar
1/3 c. red pepper, finely chopped
1/4 c. red or yellow onion, finely chopped
1/4 c. grated carrot
1/3 c. sweet pickle relish
1 1/2 tsp all season salt
pepper to taste

Begin by bringing a large pot of water to boil. Add in the eggs, cook for 5 minutes and then add in the macaroni, boil for 7-8 more minutes until el dente, drain.
Peel the eggs and throw away the yolks, chop up the egg whites.
Add the egg whites and macaroni into a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and stir well to combine. Add more salt and pepper to taste if desired. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

Bacon Rolls

Thanks to my sister Becky for this great recipe! My husband loves sushi, I don't, so this recipe is great because it's got enough of the sushi ingredients to make him happy, and no raw fish to gross me out! The flavors all go really well together. I watched my sister make these on New Years Eve, so tonight was my first attempt at them and they turned out pretty good. I always had the impression that California rolls were hard to make, but they're not. My sister had all of the tools, the sushi serving set and the rolling mats, but they are not necessary.

Bacon Rolls

2 c. sushi or short grain rice
strips of bacon
strips of cream cheese
2 ripe avocados, sliced in strips
green onions (cut top and bottom off and then slice in half to form strips)
Seaweed wrappers
Soy Sauce, ginger, wasabi for serving

Cook the rice with 4 c. of water.
While rice is cooking cook bacon on stove top until done, or cook on a sheet pan at 425 for approximately 20 minutes.
Let rice cool, if rice is not sticky enough add 1 Tbs. rice vinegar and 1/2 Tbs. sugar, stir gently to combine.
Lay out seaweed wrapper, place a thin layer of rice over seaweed leaving 1" space on top, dip fingers in water to prevent rice from sticking to fingers.
Place 1 slice bacon, 1 slice cream cheese, 1/2 green onion, and 3 avocado slices at bottom. Roll up tightly, before you reach the end, dip your finger in water and run it along the top edge of the seaweed, finish rolling and press down on wet side to seal. Continue with remaining ingredients. Dip sharp knife in water and slice "logs" into 1 1/2" rolls. Serve with soy sauce, ginger, or wasabi.

Sesame Pork Tenderloin

Pork tenderloin is my favorite thing to barbeque. It's almost fool proof, it always comes out super moist and flavorful. This is a new recipe I tried tonight for dinner and it was so good!

Sesame Pork Tenderloin

1 pork tenderloin (apprx. 1 lb)
1/4 c. soy sauce
1 1/2 Tbs. olive oil
1/4 tsp ground ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 c. honey
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. sesame seeds, toasted (to toast place in shallow pan over medium heat and stir until light brown in color, this releases the oil in the seeds and makes them more flavorful.)

Remove pork tenderloin from bag, you will have two pieces. There is a thin, almost clear skin/membrane on part of the tenderloin. Pull it off.
Place pork in resealable gallon plastc bag. Add soy sauce, olive oil, ground ginger, and garlic cloves. Seal and marinate at least four hours or overnight (I did mine overnight)
Preheat grill, on my lowest heat my grill is about 375 and that temp works great.
Spray grill with non stick cooking spray. Place pork on grill. Cook for 12 minutes on each side.
While cooking combine honey and brown sugar.
After pork has cooked 12 min. on each side, brush honey mixture over top half of pork, sprinkle with sesame seeds. Turn over and brush remaining half with honey mixture and sprinkle with remaining sesame seeds. Grill 5 minutes on each side.
Remove pork and place on tin foil, bring foil up kind of like a tent so that the pork is covered. Let sit for 10 minutes. Slice and serve! This is great served with rice and garnished with green onions.