As I previously mentioned on my Facebook page, this recipe is one of my family’s favorite Chinese-American dishes. Served with white rice and orange slices, it’s the perfect meal.  Here’s the recipe.

Orange Chicken

2013-08-27 09:32:20

Serves 6

If you're looking for a simple Chinese dish for dinner, be sure to give this recipe for orange chicken a try.

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Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

25 min

Total Time

35 min

Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

25 min

Total Time

35 min

Ingredients

Chicken-

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1-1/2” cubes)

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

1 egg (beaten)

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

Orange Sauce-

1 ½ cups water

2 Tablespoons fresh orange juice

¼ cup lemon juice

1/3 cup rice vinegar

2 ½ Tablespoons soy sauce

1 Tablespoon orange zest (grated)

1 cup packed brown sugar

½ teaspoon ginger root (minced)

½ teaspoon garlic (minced)

2 tablespoons green onion (chopped)

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

3 Tablespoons cornstarch

2 Tablespoons water

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, salt, and pepper. Dip chicken in egg mixture and shake in flour mixture to coat. Deep fry chicken in batches at 375 degrees in a deep fryer, skillet (or use a wok) until completely cooked. Place cooked chicken in a 9 x 13 baking dish.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan combine 1 ½ cups water, lemon juice, orange juice, rice vinegar, and soy sauce. Blend well over medium heat for a few minutes. Stir in brown sugar, orange zest, ginger garlic, and onion. Bring to a boil.

Combine 3 tablespoons of cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water and mix thoroughly. Slowly stir cornstarch mixture into sauce until it thickens. Pour sauce over breaded chicken, and if desired add red pepper flakes. Place in preheated oven for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring a few times or until sauce begins to thicken over chicken.

Remove from oven, plate and garnish with green onions.

Enjoy.

By Noel's Kitchen Tips

Noel's Kitchen Tips http://noelskitchentips.com/

I’ve been a full-time working mom since my oldest (turning 21 in August) was born. I worked up until two weeks before he was born then went back to work when he was just 6 weeks old. Not because I wanted to, because financially I had to. And I still had to manage putting a healthy meal on the table for my family.

I’ve learned after having four kids to divide, manage and multi-task in everything I do in the kitchen when it comes to meal planning for my family. That’s when I feel in love with my crock pot and freezer cooking.  I soon discovered how to make some wonderful family meals that I didn’t have to spend a whole lot of time cooking. It’s absolutely wonderful  and stress free for a mom to come home from work  and your family dinner is made and ready.

Freezer Cooking and the Crock Pot

You can start off your freezer cooking with the focus being on one main ingredient like beef or chicken. Most people like to use chicken because it tends to  be cheaper and it’s always on sale. Browse your local grocery store ads for the best deals for your family. Need some ideas on freezer cooking meals for the crock pot? How about:

• Chili Cilantro Lime Chicken
• Sweet and Tangy Meatballs
• Sausage and Peppers
• Teriyaki Chicken
• 5-Spice Beef
• Lazy Day Stew
• Shredded Chicken and Chicken Stock
• Browned Ground Beef–Italian and Mexican Style

Grab yourself some zip-loc freezer bags and allow yourself at least 2 to 3 hours in your schedule. Once you get the hang of meal prepping and putting the ingredients together, it may only take you an hour or two. You can do your grocery shopping the day before for all your ingredients so you don’t feel so overwhelmed or the morning of if you have the extra time and feel comfortable. 

Depending on the size of your family, you can divide up each recipe into two zip-loc freezer bags allowing your family 10 meals for the freezer.

Need help with meal planning? Check out A Busy Mom’s Guide to Family Meal Planning. It’s 68-pages of creative ways to provide good quality meals for your family while maintaining your food budget.

Save money and make sure not to waste those tasty leftovers from your weeknight dinner. Need some inspiration? I’ve got it.

I confess. We do eat leftovers and if my schedule is busy for the week, I do plan our meals for leftovers. We love leftovers and sometimes it just taste better the next day. Especially Lasagna, right?  I really can’t imagine why someone would not like leftovers. Yes, serving leftovers does give me a night off in the kitchen but it’s also a way for me to be creative with the leftovers and it saves not only money but  delicious food from going to waste.

Future Meals for the Week

When meal planning for the week, think of leftovers…can you freeze them for a future meal? Create a new dish another night during the week? Maybe cut down the expense of eating out at lunch? These are just a few factors to take into consideration when you’re meal planning. If you do, you may learn to love leftovers. Here are some simple guidelines for tackling leftovers.

Limit the Leftover Serving Time

Don’t serve your leftovers (if it’s the same dish) for dinner more than two nights in a row. If you have any leftovers after the second night, package them well into two cup portions, label and stash them in the freezer.

Sometimes, I’ll even rotate the leftovers in the menu in future weeks. On my meal planning calendar, I use an {*} and arrows to show when leftovers will be served and how they are to be used in another dish that week.

 Just Eat It

Leftovers can be eaten for breakfast or lunch. Your leftover dinners don’t have to be served just at dinner time. When cleaning up in the kitchen after dinner, pack leftovers in a container and bring to work with you. I do this all the time and it’s cut down my eating out costs BIG TIME. Plus it’s a lot healthier. Breakfast is another time leftovers can be eaten. A warmed-up meal of brown rice and black beans are really beneficial  as whole grains and beans have the necessary carbohydrates to fuel the brain. Our kids love leftover foods like this for breakfast because they just toss it into a tortilla, roll up and warm up and they have themselves a breakfast burrito.

Mark your Leftovers!

Don’t let your leftovers get eaten until your ready! I’m telling you from experience on this one. If you plan to have leftovers for another dinner that week or add to your week’s lunch, MARK YOUR LEFTOVERS.  I have to put notes on food to remind my kids and the hubby not to eat something. I can’t tell you how many times in the past I’ve gone to pull out the leftovers and they’re gone. Thus resulting in a back up dinner plan. Labeling your leftover food also helps when putting it away in the the freezer too.  I use to always think I’ll remember what’s in a container or the freezer bag but I would forget. So now I label and add it to my freezer inventory list.  Your labels don’t have to be fancy.  A piece of scrap paper attached with a masking tape, or an Avery label and a black sharpie are easy and inexpensive methods.

What’s on your meal plan this week?  Any leftovers?  Does your family love leftovers?