Sweet and Sour Chicken

1 pound of boneless and skinless breasts, cut into 1" chunk

1 egg white

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (or 1/4 teaspoon table salt)

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 10-ounce can pineapple chunks (reserve juice)

1/2 cup juice from the canned pineapple

1/2 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup ketchup

1 teaspoon kosher salt (or 1/2 teaspoon table salt)

1/2 - 3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon cooking oil

1 red/green or yellow bell pepper, cut into 1 inch chunks


1 In a bowl, combine the chicken with the egg white, salt and cornstarch. Stir to coat the chicken evenly. Let sit for 15 minutes at room temperature or up to overnight in the refrigerator.

2 In the meantime, whisk together the pineapple juice, vinegar, ketchup, salt, and brown sugar. At this point, I tasted the sauce and needed more brown sugar...be your own judge here. The recipe reflects the amount I think I used.

3 Heat a large frying pan until very hot, I use my electric skillet, since I don't have a wok. Pour in the 1 tablespoon of cooking oil and swirl to coat. It's important that the pan is very hot. Add the chicken and spread the chicken out in one layer. Let the chicken fry, untouched for 1 minute, until the bottoms are browned. Flip and fry the other side the same for 1 minute. The chicken should still be pinkish in the middle. Dish out the chicken onto a clean plate, leaving as much oil in the pan as possible.

4 Turn the heat to medium and add the remaining 1 teaspoon of cooking oil. Let the oil heat up and then add the bell pepper chunks. Fry for 1 minute. Add the pineapple chunks and the sweet and sour sauce. Turn the heat to high and when the sauce is simmering, add the chicken pieces back in. Let simmer for 1-2 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Timing depends on how thick you've cut your chicken. The best way to tell if the chicken is done is to take a piece out and cut into it. If it's pink, add another minute to the cooking.

Serve over a bed of rice of your choice. 

Taste the sauce and add more brown sugar if you’d like. Original recipe calls for a lot less sugar, and I found it to be too sour for us. Also, I doubled the sauce ingredients (reflected above) because my guys like lots of sauce to go over rice.

This was a real winner for Doug, Jonah and I. Jonah loves getting Sweet and Sour Chicken from our local take out place, but I thought I could make it at home and sure enough the first time was a winner....of course any recipe I have tried from Steamy Kitchen is a winner! I have a sneaky suspicion this may be slightly healthier than take out....just a suspicion!

Source: Adapted from Steamy Kitchen

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Ham and Swiss Sliders

Serve 'em up with some yummy sweet potato fries!

These little sandwiches have been all over the internet for quite a while. I have eaten them on different occasions, but have never made them until tonight. They are easy to put together, cook quickly and taste scrumptious! Here's what you need to make them for your crew...

1 package of King Hawaiian Rolls
1/2 pound shaved ham
6-8 slices of Swiss Cheese
Mayo or Miracle whip

Poppyseed Dressing:
1/4 cup butter
1 tablespoon poppyseeds
3/4 teaspoons yellow mustard
1 tablespoon finely diced onions
2 quick dashes of Worcestershire sauce

To make the sandwiches, slice the rolls in half. I did this with them still at attached to each other, so I had two large slices of bread to work with, a top and a bottom. You could certainly separate them if you wanted.

Spread miracle whip/mayo on bottom layer of rolls.

Evenly distribute ham over bottom of bread layer.

Top with slices of Swiss Cheese.

Spread mayo/miracle whip on cut side of top layer.

Place top layer of rolls on top of cheese, and place in baking dish.

Make poppyseed dressing by melting butter, then whisking in remaining ingredients.

Pour dressing over top of rolls.

Let sit 5-10 minutes.

Cover with foil and bake 15 minutes at 350* or until cheese is melted and sandwiches are heated through. Uncover last couple minutes to brown the tops.

Serve 'em up!

This is actually 1/2 of the recipe I used. I think it is plenty for most families, but if you have big eaters in your house, just double it up!

Banana Bread

A little early in the season for the baking mood to strike, but when you have overripe bananas, you either pitch them in the trash, or bake up some banana bread! I chose to bake and put it in the freezer to take to Caleb next time we see him. He likes it...a lot! It's easy to make and boy does it ever make your house smell good.

1/2 cup butter, at room temp
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2-3 overripe bananas, smashed
2 cups flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar till well incorporated.

Mash your bananas.

Add eggs, banana and vanilla, continue to mix until mixture is creamy and well combined.

Add flour, one cup at a time, along with baking soda and salt, mixing as you go until all dry ingredients are mixed well.

Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray and transfer batter to pan. The batter will be very thick, take a knife and even it out, making sure to get in the corners.

Bake in a 350* for 1 hour or until done. Stick a knife in the center to check for done-ness. Pop back in oven for a few minutes if not completely done.

Slice it up warm for a real treat or cool completely and wrap it up  to share with someone you love!



Baking tip....

I really don't know if this serves the same purpose as sifting, but when a recipe calls for sifted flour, this is what I do....I grab my wire whisk and "whisk" the flour in the canister. It becomes much lighter and  is so much more simple than actually sifting, which I can  make a mess with! And it's kinda fun...okay, maybe I need to get out more!