Busy Mom's Orange Chicken

The main ingredient of this Orange Chicken is, well, the chicken.  I understand that it probably is healthier for me to cut up my own chicken breasts, dip them in eggs and bread them with almond meal or something like that.  However, 355 days out of the year, I just don't have time for that.  So, the main ingredient for this meal is pictured below.  

That's right!  Trader Joe's saves the day, once again!  This tenderloins are actually very tasty and are around $7 a bag.  Well worth it to me!  By the way---an extra bonus is that these chicken breast are very low in sodium for a frozen item!  Although, the chicken is the main ingredient, it is all about the sauce, which is the homemade portion of this recipe, fresh squeezed OJ and all!

Busy Mom's Orange Chicken

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

1 bag of Trader Joe's Breaded Tenderloin Chicken Breasts

Homemade Orange Chicken Sauce (recipe below)

Directions:

1) Heat oven to 400*F.

2) Spread chicken across a 9 x 13 casserole dish.

3) Put Chicken in oven for 10 minutes. (While chicken is cooking, prepare sauce!)

4)  Turn chicken over and cook for another 8 minutes.  

5)  Pour half of sauce over chicken.  Turn chicken over to make sure it is coated in the sauce.  

6)  Bake chicken for 7 minutes.  Pour most of the remaining sauce over chicken.  Garnish with green onions.  Enjoy!

Homemade Orange Chicken Sauce
1 1/2 cups water
2 Tablespoons Orange Juice (fresh squeezed)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 Tablespoon orange zest  (Tip:  zest orange before juicing it.  A LOT easier!)
1 1/2 Tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 c honey
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic (fresh)
1/4 teaspoon ginger
2 Tablespoon white or rice vinegar
3 Tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup water

1)  In a saucepan, combine all ingredients except for the cornstarch and the 1/4 cup water.
2)  Turn on heat and bring to a boil.
3)  While the sauce in heating up, combine 3 T cornstarch with 1/4 cup water.
4)  Slowly mix cornstarch into sauce until it thickens.
5)  Pour over Chicken.  (Follow instructions above.)

If you are wondering what we eat this delicious Orange Chicken with, we always pair it with this rice medley from Trader Joe's.  It takes 3 minutes in a microwave for steamed rice.  Nothing beats that!  I make sautéed veggies to have with it most of the time, but tonight, I quartered Brussels Sprouts, put them in a 13 x 9 pan, sprinkled olive oil, sea salt, pepper, and fresh garlic and onions on it and put it in the oven with the chicken.  It took about 5 minutes more to bake than the chicken, but WOW!  It was worth it! 

If you use the whole bag of chicken, this meal feeds a good amount of people.  It tastes great the next day, so leftovers are always nice!  My husband is getting it in his lunch tomorrow!

Day 11: Green Piña Colada Smoothie

I am all about smoothies. Since Troy and I started having one everyday last March, our health has improved in so many ways. We bought a Vitamix last May and have been making plenty of smoothies since. On Mondays, Troy and I have our normal morning smoothie for breakfast and another smoothie for dinner because Troy leaves 20 minutes after he gets home from work to teach an evening class. My desire is to be more creative with the dinner smoothie so we don't tire of the same smoothie. (To view my other smoothie recipes, please click here to visit Witness My Fitness!)

I looked up pineapple coconut smoothie recipes on Pinterest and discovered one that I thought I could modify. One rule I have for smoothie making is that I must include a vegetable. The original recipe didn't have veggies or protein. The smoothie I came up with turned out delicious! It was a nice change of flavor. It sort of took me back to Hawaii! So, here is the modified version of the recipe I pinned!

Green Piña Colada Smoothie
Yields 2 Smoothies at about 225 calories each

3/4 c. Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
1 scoop of unflavored whey protein
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
2 cups frozen spinach
1 VERY* ripe banana
1 1/2 cups frozen pineapple
Handful of Ice

Add all ingredients to blender. Blend until smooth. Enjoy!

*Remember:  The browner the banana, the sweeter it is and the more antioxidants it contains!

(Owen approved of this smoothie recipe!)

Day 9: At Home Paris Date Night

I love my husband.  I love dating him.  With three kids, sometimes it's hard to get out of the house on an official "date."  This is why I love the idea of at-home date nights.  Don't get me wrong, I like to be taken out on the town, just like any other girl, but this is a nice alternative if babysitting is lacking or it's raining and you just feel like being cozy with your hubby.

Troy's birthday gift:  A year of dates!

In August, my husband turned 40.  I wanted to do something unique and special for his birthday.  With the help of Pinterest, I came across the idea of giving him a year of dates.  The blogger (Find Joy in the Journey) who first posted about this did one date night a month.  I decided to do two---one at-home and one away from home date each month.  It was a lot of work to pre-plan and pull this together, but it was so much fun.  And, here we are, months later, still having fun with this gift!

Our candlelit dinner.

An extra dinner guest showed up.

January's at-home date night was Paris Movie Night.  The "date" really started with the kids awake.  I put my PJs on and when Troy came home from work I handed him his PJs to get comfortable.  I then took him into the kitchen and treated him to a candlelit dinner of tomato soup and cheese and bell pepper paninis while the kids watched Curious George in the living room.  Of course, we had Owen visiting us throughout dinner, but it still was romantic.  We then had a "PJ dance party" with the kids so we could wear them out and send them to bed.  Oh, yes, I had fun at the dance party, but it served many purposes!  We sent them to bed and the "date night" continued!   I made chocolate fondue and we watched Charade, which is one of my favorite movies that takes place in Paris.  We had so much fun and the fondue was a very special treat!  We went somewhat healthy with what we dipped---strawberries, marshmallows (only 2!), graham crackers (only 2---and natural ones at that!), and some clean eating cookie dough bites, which will be tomorrow's post.  We drank orange flavored mineral water out of a wine class, lit candles, and sat fireside to enjoy our fondue.  As I said, SO MUCH FUN!

Dance party---wearing the kids (and the parents) out!

The Paris-themed movie

Fireside Fondue

Us!

I have really enjoyed dating my husband.  All the ideas on Pinterest are a great help to get creative and cheap ideas!  Please visit my "30 Days of Pinterest" board to see all the ideas!

Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon (WW Version)

Upon receiving a Weight Watchers magazine in the mail this week, I was thrilled to find a Weight Watchers version of Boeuf Bourguignon. It is Julia Child's recipe, with a healthier twist. The original is 17 points, and the WW version is 8. For those of you who aren't familiar with WW speak, 17 points is quite a bit! I have wanted to make this since Troy and I saw the movie Julie & Julia because it looked mouth-watering in the movie!

So, this week, I attempted to make it and succeeded! It wasn't a difficult recipe and I got the roast I used in it for $1.99 a lb! Score! For a little more Europen flair, I served the meal with Orangina, a French baguette, and a spinach salad.

Here is the recipe....enjoy!

Boeuf Bourguignon
(Taken from WW Magazine January/February 2010)

2 lbs bottom round roast, trimmed of fat and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1/4 c all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 (14 1/2 oz) can low-sodium beef broth
1 c red wine
1 (16-oz) package frozen pearl onions (I used 3 fresh brown onions and it was delish!)
1 (10-oz) package of cremini mushrooms (I couldn't find these, I used brown bella instead)
2 Tbsp tomato paste 4 garlic cloves, chopped 1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme 1 bay leaf 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp black pepper 1 lb carrots, thickly sliced 2 Tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
*I also added 1 bag of Trader Joe's Fingerling Potatoes

Directions
1. Toss beef and flour in medium bowl until evenly coated. Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat (I don't have one...a large pot with a lid works just fine!). Add beef, in batches if necessary, and cook, turning occasionally, until browned, about 6 minutes. Transfer to medium bowl with slotted spoon.
2. Add broth, wine, onions, mushrooms, tomato paste, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, salt, pepper; bring to a boil, scraping up browned bits from bottom of pot. Sir in beef and reduce heat. Cover and simmer 1 hour. Stir in carrots (and potatoes, if you are adding them). Cover and simmer until beef and vegetables are fork-tender, about 30 minutes. Serve, sprinkled with parsley.

St. George/Zion Trip: Day 1

For New Years "Weekend," our family headed to the South-West corner of Utah. We left the day before the rest of the family left because we wanted to have more time to look around St. George, the town in Utah where we were staying. We got in around 1am, so the next morning, we slept in and got out of the hotel room before noon to explore the town. The first place we headed was a chain that we don't have here in California (and OH how I wish we did!) called Jimmy John's. This was a sandwich shop that makes their own bread and has makes their sandwiches with all-natural ingredients. It was SO delicious. It blew Subway out of the water, although that isn't very hard to do. The next stop was the super Wal-Mart. If there is a Wal-Mart where we are vacationing, we always go there because they always have local stuff and souvenirs. Jackson was alseep when we got there, so we layed a pallet of blankets down in the cart and set up in there. The setup worked because he slept over an hour in the cart! Troy shopped around Wal-Mart while I got my haircut in the salon there. It was the best haircut I've ever gotten for the price...15 bucks! I really needed the haircut, too!
From there we drove around town and stopped at a frozen custard shop. One word: AMAZING! Okay...I can actually provide you with a few more words on this subject: smooth, rich, frozen glory. The best thing about this stuff was that somehow it is less fat than ice cream!After the yummy custard, we went by the Mormon temple in St. George. Legend has it that when it was finished, Brigham Young came to see (and bless) the temple. It had taken a lot of people and work to finish it, but he wanted the steeple to be higher. The builders decided to let it be because tearing it down would be too much work. Soon after, lightning struck the steeple and broke it to the ground. They took it as a sign from God to build a taller steeple. I'm not sure that's what the "sign" meant, though!From there, we met the rest of the family that just arrived in St. George at the Cracker Barrel there. This was the reason why most of the family came to St. George. That's right. The Cracker Barrel! I had a mediocre meatloaf dinner there. That is my favorite thing to get there and I was disappointed. They got to do more than that to win me over! We finished the day up at Cracker Barrel and returned to our hotel room for the adventure awaiting us the next day!

An Old Favorite

For those of you who have requested it, I am re-posting this delicious recipe. It is healthy and perfect for the fall! Enjoy!

White Bean Chicken Chili

In an effort to make Troy low cholesterol, low fat meals, I found this recipe on AllRecipes.com and I tweaked it a bit for more taste. I thought some of you would be interested in this recipe, seeing as it is healthy! (Note: Even the garnish can be healthier, with low fat cheese and Reduced Fat Daisy Sour Cream) I made it for my husband and a few friends and we all loved it. Click on the recipe card to make it bigger. You can even print the card out to add to your own recipe collection. Enjoy!

Date Night

Last week, Troy and I got some much needed time alone. We left a sleeping baby girl and a fussy little boy (temporarily satisfied with a Happy Meal) at home with the in-laws and headed to Chick-fil-a and the movies. We sat in Chick-fil-a's outdoor seating. The mild fall night air was wonderful, and most importantly, it was peaceful. We had nice adult conversation over sandwiches, waffle fries and sweet tea (and a side salad, if you must know!).

Next, we went to see Julie & Julia. I haven't seen a movie in the theaters since "UP" at the end of May. Needless to say, I didn't want to waste my time on any bad movies. I was so glad we decided to see Julie & Julia! We really enjoyed ourselves, and I walked out of the theater feeling like cooking a really good roast and giving my husband big, long kiss. There was a lot of cooking and romance in the movie. It was a very pro-marriage movie. Julie & Julia showed the good, the not-so-good, and the simply realistic side of new and older marriages. And there wasn't any shortage of mouth-watering footage of good food!

Overall, Troy and I had a wonderful time to ourselves. I have seen the importance of alone time (aka without kid time) with my husband. I honestly can say that each time I go on a date with my hubby, I feel our love is a bit renewed and refreshed! I also discovered that going out without the kids renews my love for them as well. I come home from date nights feeling that I can handle the somewhat sleepless nights and extremely busy days with a little more sanity!

Oh, and by the way, does anybody have a good recipe for Beef Bourguignon?

San Diego Trip Day 2 (Finaly!)

Sorry, folks...I took a little longer than I said I was going to!

Day two of our San Diego trip was a very cloudy and very, very cold one. We went to the San Diego Zoo that day. Jackson and I had never been to this zoo, so we both were very excited. We saw a lot of animals and we all thoroughly enjoyed it! After the zoo, we went to a Mexican restaurant called El Indio. The chips and guacamole were delicious, as well as all the other food...mmmm!

So, here are a "few" photos from the day...The family with the camels...watch out! They spit.One of my favorite animals...the koala! The baby was so adorable!
This is our little monkey eating a banana (one of his favorite things, he so affectionately calls, "num-nums")....
The Silver Back Gorilla. Massive.Jackson with the monkies.Happy Jackson with the monkies! He refined his monkey sound on this trip to the zoo!
The family with an arangatang family...the mother was holding the little baby's hand while they were sleeping....how cute is that?!?Jackson crashed after the monkies!
The hippo happened to turn around right when I took this picture!Me with the panda. What? You can't see it?Here is another view! They are so precious!Us with the elephants.Troy and Jackson with the giraffes...Jackson really liked them.
So, there it is, our trip to the zoo! Check back soon for Day 3 of our trip...and don't worry...that is the last day!

Back in Sac

Last weekend, we headed up to Sacramento for Troy's Grandpa's funeral. The funeral went well. Troy got the opportunity to preach the gospel, and Noah got the opportunity to sing a few songs. It was a beautiful, clear, crisp day for the funeral and it was held in a beautiful location. It is always a great blessing to attend a funeral where the gospel can be shared.

It was a long trip there and back, but we made it through all right. Jackson just had to stop every few hours. Overall, Jackson was a real trooper, and let us know when he wanted to go outside by saying "mail." (He says "mail" for outside because I always go outside with him to get the mail...clever kid!).

We also went a few places in Sacramento. We went to Old Town and to another old mining town called Placerville. So, here are a few photos from our road trip.

Jackson and his Poppy take a nap in the back seat.

Pea Soup Anderson's

We stopped at Pea Soup Anderson's for some soup. Jackson really enjoyed his soup...

I mean he really, really...

really enjoyed it!

(And so did I!)

Jackson and Poppy...Hap-Pea, and Pea-Wee!

Old Town Sacramento

Jackson roaming the streets of "River City."The Fam on the tracks.The tracks.The American RiverOld TownWe found a really cool place to take photos!

Placerville

"Momma, please?""Plllleeeaase?"

The Fam in the oldest hardware store West of the Mississippi...established 1847. They had the best caramels, too!

Jackson found a treasure amoungst the tools!What do you have on your head, Poppy?!?