Baked Sweet And Sour Chicken

We rarely go out to eat and never fast food partially because of the prices (thank you Dave Ramsey) and mostly because I'd rather cook myself so I know exactly what we're eating. I must admit as I walk past the Chinese food section at our local grocery store, my eyes are always drawn to my favorites; sweet and sour chicken, orange chicken, and sesame chicken. So I just stand there for a minute, enjoy the aroma and then keep walking. Last night I experimented with a recipe for sweet and sour chicken, I made it gluten free, and it was simply yummy-licious!
Ingredients:
3-4 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless (I used chicken tenderloins about 8 strips)
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs beaten
1/4 cup oil (I used peanut oil but you could use canola or the oil of your choice)
Sauce:
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar (loosely packed)
1/4 cup white sugar (I used organic cane sugar)
4 T ketchup (I used a gluten free brand)
1/3 cup vinegar (I used white vinegar)
1 T soy sauce (I used a gluten free brand)
1 T garlic powder
pinch of sea salt
* optional 1/2 cup pineapple chunks

Rinse the chicken and cut into cubes. I put my cornstarch in a bowl, then added the chicken to the bowl, put the lid on and shook it so the cornstarch covered the chicken. Dip the coated chicken cubes into the beaten eggs and place on a plate. It's a little messy so I just piled my chicken on a large plate until all of the pieces were coated with eggs. Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat on the stove.
Add the chicken to the pan and cook until the outsides are slightly browned - the chicken will not be entirely cooked (that's ok). Place the chicken in a 9x13 pan (I used an 8x11 because I didn't use the full amount of chicken). To make the sauce, whisk all of the ingredients together and pour over the top of the chicken (the sauce will be rather thin). Place the chicken (uncovered) in a preheated 325F oven. Bake the chicken for an hour but make sure you stir it every 15 minutes. Your sauce will thicken as it bakes. Serve with brown rice, white rice or stir fried rice.

* If you want sesame chicken just add sesame seeds, you can toast about 2 T sesame seeds in about 1-2 T sesame oil or peanut oil for about 2 minutes and add to the chicken before you bake it.

This is absolutely awesome but my favorite part was watching my granddaughter (she has Celiac Disease) smile as she was enjoying every bite! She hasn't been able to eat Chinese food since she was diagnosed and it is one of her favorites. All of my taste testers, even the 4 year old agreed this is better than take-out! Enjoy and be blessed!

Love and peace,
~ Simply Tammi

Grandma's Bread Pudding and Caramel Sauce

I was trying to think of something for dessert last night and homemade bread pudding was my choice. Our Dad was not a dessert lover but bread pudding was one of his favorites. Our grandma made the best bread pudding, hope you like it! Ingredients : 5 cups slightly dried out bread, any kind. I used Italian bread. 1/4 cup raisins (optional) 2 cups milk 1/4 cup butter 1/2 cup white sugar 2 eggs 1 T vanilla 1/4 tsp nutmeg 1/2 tsp cinnamon Caramel Sauce Ingredients 1/2 cup butter 1/2 cup white sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup heavy cream 1 tsp vanilla Directions : Cut the bread in cubes. I cut some of the crust off (on about half of the bread). Place bread into a greased casserole dish or an 11x9 inch pan. Add raisins. Microwave milk and butter about 4 minutes on 60% power or heat in a saucepan over medium heat on the stove. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon. Slowly add the mixture to the egg and milk an...

Grilled Orange Roughy

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Homemade Goulash

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