Sweet and Sour Chicken and Fried Rice

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken

The chicken coating:

3-4 boneless chicken breasts
salt + pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil

The sweet and sour sauce:

3/4 cup sugar
4 tbs ketchup
1/2 cup vinegar
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tsp garlic salt

       Start by preheating your oven to 325 degrees. Rinse your chicken breasts in water and then cut into cubes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Dip chicken into the cornstarch to coat then dip into the eggs.  Heat your 1/4 cup oil in a large skillet and cook your chicken until browned but not cooked through. Place the chicken in a 9x13 greased baking dish. Mix all of your sweet and sour sauce ingredients in a bowl with a whisk and then pour evenly over the chicken. Bake for one hour and during the baking process you will need to turn the chicken every 15 minutes.


Fried Rice                                                                                             

3 cups cooked white rice (day old or leftover rice works best!)
3 tbs sesame oil
1 cup frozen peas and carrots (thawed)
1 small onion, chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup soy sauce


      On medium high heat, heat the oil in a large skillet or wok.  Add the peas/carrots mix, onion and garlic. Stir fry until tender. Lower the heat to medium low and push the mixture off to one side, then pour your eggs on the other side of skillet and stir fry until scrambled. Now add the rice and soy sauce and blend all together well. Stir fry until thoroughly heated!  

Red and White Mostaccioli

RED-AND-WHITE MOSTACCIOLI

by: Liz Edmonds- The Food Nanny
1 pound uncooked mostaccioli or other tubular pasta
Alfredo Sauce (I used Bertolli jar Alfredo sauce)
1 (26-ounce) jar meatless spaghetti sauce (I added ground meat)
or 3 cups homemade sauce, divided (see Note)
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
RED-AND-WHITE MOSTACCIOLI (“little mustaches”)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook the pasta according to package directions; drain.
3. Meanwhile, prepare sauce of Fettuccine Alfredo (omit the pasta).
4. Spread a thin layer of spaghetti sauce in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Layer
half the pasta, half the Alfredo sauce, half the spaghetti sauce, and
11/2 cups of the cheese. Repeat the layering with the remaining pasta,
Alfredo sauce, spaghetti sauce, and cheese.
5. Cover with aluminum foil and bake about 30 minutes or until it is hot and
bubbly.

Serve with a tossed green salad and Italian or French bread.

Note: You may use meat sauce or meatless; I prefer meatless. When I make my
own spaghetti sauce (p. 62 made meatless), I often double the recipe so I can
freeze half of it to have on hand for this recipe. But purchased sauce is almost
as good.

ALFREDO SAUCE:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese
1 pint heavy cream
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and ground black pepper
1 pound uncooked fettuccine
FETTUCCINE ALFREDO
1. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Mix in the cream
cheese. Stir in the cream and garlic powder. Increase the heat and bring
to a boil. Decrease the heat and simmer, stirring often, while you cook the
pasta. If the sauce needs additional thickening (for example if you're serving
it as a dipping sauce without pasta), you may sprinkle in flour, 1 teaspoon at
a time. Cook and stir for desired consistency.
2. Cook the fettuccine according to package directions; drain.
3. Stir the Parmesan cheese into the sauce and season with salt and pepper
to taste.
4. Toss the sauce and the pasta in a large bowl and serve immediately.
Serve with a tossed green salad and hot French bread or bread sticks.
Variations:

For Chicken Alfredo, stir-fry bite-size chunks of chicken in 1 tablespoon olive
oil until cooked and add to the sauce.

If you’re a seafood lover, toss the sauce with cooked medium shrimp or
chunks of crab.

Mexican Stuffed Shells

 These were surprisingly good!! I didn't even serve them with sour cream. The only thing I put on them were the green onions.

Mexican Stuffed Shells


Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 package low-sodium taco seasoning
4 oz. cream cheese
14-16 jumbo pasta shells
1.5 cup salsa
1 cup taco sauce (This is a smooth, tomato based sauce found in the Mexican section)
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 cup monterey jack cheese
3 green onions
Sour cream

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a frying pan cook ground beef; add taco seasoning and prepare according to package directions.  Add cream cheese, cover and simmer until cheese is melted. Blend well. Set aside and cool completely.  While ground beef is cooking, cook the pasta shells according to directions; drain. Set shells out individually on cutting board/baking sheet so that they don’t stick together.

Pour salsa on bottom of 9×13 baking dish.  Stuff each shell with the meat mixture. Place shells in 9×13 pan open side up. Cover shells with taco sauce.  Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, add shredded cheese and bake for 10-15 more minutes, with the foil removed.  Top with any condiments you’d like (green onions, black olives, etc.) Serve with sour cream and/or more salsa.

Thai Peanut Noodles

Got this recipe off a friend's blog. It was super yummy!!!! I used 2 tsp. of Sriracha in the sauce and it was the perfect amount, it was spicy but not so much that Emily couldn't eat it. Blake made himself a burger since he has an allergy to peanuts. I made sure he was ok with me making it before I bought everything to make it!! I didn't want him to feel left out!!!

Thai Peanut Noodles

Ingredients:
1-2 Lbs. chicken, cut into thin strips
vegetable oil (to saute)
1 Tbsp Sriracha chili sauce
juice of 1 lime
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, minced
3-4 shakes soy sauce
salt & pepper (to taste)
16 oz. (1 pkg.) linguine noodles
**peanut sauce (see below)
peanuts
2-3 limes, sliced
The following are all to taste, add as much or little as you want
-shoestring carrots (I just used the packaged kind)
-broccoli florets, chopped
-green onion
-peanuts (chopped)
-bean sprouts

Directions:
In a large skillet, saute chicken in oil, Sriracha, lime, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, salt & pepper. While chicken is cooking, prepare the linguine (to al dente) and make the peanut sauce. After the chicken is cooked, remove from the skillet and wrap in foil to keep warm. Re-oil the skillet, add vegetables and saute (except for the bean sprouts, add those a few minutes before serving so they are still nice and crunchy and don't get overcooked). Add the chicken and bean sprouts to the skillet, cover, and reduce heat. Drain noodles and toss with a little olive oil (to keep the noodles from drying out and sticking together). Now there are 2 ways you can finish the dish: 1. mix the sauce with the noodles and TOP with veggies & chicken OR 2. you can add the noodles and sauce to the skillet with the vegetables and toss until everything is well coated with sauce. Garnish with peanuts and limes.

**SAUCE:
1 c. chicken broth
6 Tbsp. (heaping) creamy peanut butter
2-4 tsp. Sriracha chili sauce -- more or less depending on hot hot you like it
3 Tbsp. honey
6 Tbsp. soy sauce
3 Tbsp. fresh minced ginger
4-5 cloves garlic, pressed or minced

Combine chicken broth, peanut butter, chili sauce, honey, soy sauce, ginger, and garlic in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until sauce becomes smooth and well blended

Burrito Enchiladas

Burrito Enchiladas

{Santa Fe lime rice}
1 cup rice, either long grain or basmati
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
juice of 1/2 lime
2 TBSP butter
1/4 tsp cumin
1/3 cup cilantro
melt butter in a pot & add all seasonings & cilantro. add rice & cook over medium heat for 2 minutes stirring constantly. add stock & lime juice return to simmer, turn to heat to low. cover & cook about 30 minutes.
set aside.

{chicken}
1 pound chicken, cooked & shredded


{sauce}
1 cup salsa verde
1 package buttermilk ranch
1/3 cup cilantro
1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup mayo
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp coarse salt
1 Tbls fresh lime juice
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 cup sugar
Put in a blender and blend away
( I usually do one and a half of this for the six burritos. I love the sauce so I like more of it then the recipe calls for.)


{Burritos}
6 burrito size tortillas
shredded cheese
1- 15 oz can black beans, drained
rice, recipe above
Put the chicken, rice, beans and cheese in the tortillas. wrap them up cover them with sauce and then put them in the oven on 350 for 40 min covered with tin foil, then I take the tin foil off sprinkle more cheese on top and then cook them for another 10 minutes. Top with sour cream, guacamole, and/or pico!

Cilantro Lime Shrimp

I served this with rice and roasted asparagus. It was good!!

Cilantro Lime Shrimp
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 4 • Serving Size: 6 oz • Points: 4 pts
Calories: 197.3 • Fat: 4.1g • Protein: 35.9 g • Carb: 2.4 g • Fiber: 0.1 g
2 tsp olive oil
2 lb shrimp, shelled and deviened
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 lime
salt and pepper
Heat a large frying pan on medium-high heat. Add oil to the pan, when hot add shrimp. Season with salt and pepper. When the shrimp is cooked on one side, about 2 minutes, turn over and add garlic. Sauté another minute or two until shrimp is cooked, careful not to overcook. Remove from heat. Squeeze lime all over shrimp and toss with cilantro. Serve hot.

Stuffed Cabbage Casserole

Stuffed Cabbage Casserole

Ingredients:
1 1/2 T olive oil, divided (more or less, depending on your pan)
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 large onion, chopped small
1 T finely minced garlic
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. Paprika
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste (for seasoning meat mixture and cooked cabbage)
1 1/2 heads green cabbage, coarsely chopped
1 can (14.5 oz.) petite dice tomatoes with juice
1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
1/4 cup water (just enough to rinse out each of the cans)
2 cups cooked rice (I used brown rice)
2 cups low-fat cheese (optional; I used a blend of 80% low-fat mozzarella, 10% low-fat cheddar, and 10% Provolone.)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350F/180C.  Spray a large glass or crockery casserole dish with non-stick spray.  (I used a dish that was 9 x 13.)

Heat 1-2 tsp. olive oil in a large frying pan; add ground beef and cook until it's done and nicely browned, breaking apart as it cooks.  (I like to use a potato masher to break the meat apart once it's partly done.)  Remove ground beef to a bowl.

In the same pan, add a little more olive oil if needed, then add chopped onion and cook over medium heat until the onion is translucent and starting to brown, about 5 minutes.  Add the minced garlic, dried thyme, and paprika and cook about 2 minutes more.  Then add the diced tomatoes with juice, tomato sauce, and ground beef.  Rinse each of the cans out with a little water (about 1/4 cup total) and add to the pan.  Let mixture simmer until it's hot and slightly thickened, about 15-20 minutes.

While the meat mixture simmers, cut cabbage in half, cut out the core, and remove any wilted outer leaves, and then chop the cabbage coarsely into pieces.  (They don't have to be all the same size.  I chopped it into pieces that varied from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches.)  Heat about 2 tsp. olive oil in a large frying pan or dutch oven with high sides, add the cabbage and cook over medium-high heat until the cabbage is wilted and about half cooked, turning it over several times so it all wilts and cooks.  Season cabbage with salt and fresh-ground black pepper.

When the meat and tomato sauce mixture has cooked 15-20 minutes and thickened a bit, stir in the 2 cups of cooked rice and gently combine.

Spray a large glass or crockery casserole dish with non-stick spray and the layer half the cabbage, half the meat mixture, other half of cabbage, and other half of meat mixture.  Cover tightly with foil and bake 40 minutes, or until the mixture is just starting to bubble on the edges.

Remove foil and sprinkle on cheese (if using.)  Bake uncovered an additional 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and starting to slightly brown.  Serve hot.