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 24: Homemade Microwave Popcorn

Who would have guessed that 1/2 cup popcorn kernels plus a paper bag and a few minutes in the microwave equals a delicious snack?  This is so simple!  I actually just saw this in a pin a few days ago.  I just had to try it!

Instructions:

1)  Get a paper lunch bag.

2)  Put in the bag a 1/2 cup of kernels in the bag.  I chose these red popcorn kernels. 

3) Fold the bag over twice.

4)  Put it in the microwave for 2-3 minutes, or until the popping slows to 1-2 pops per second.  (My bag took 2 minutes.)

5) Sprinkle with a little salt and butter (we used Earth Balance Whipped Spread).  Shake in bag.

6)  Enjoy!

To view the tutorial I got the instructions from, please go to this link to Squawkfox.com.  There are a few ideas for popcorn toppings as well on the site.

Day 16: Regrowing Food from Scraps

Last year, I worked very hard to produce a beautiful garden.  It was beautiful, green, and lush.  But, it lacked one thing.  It wasn't fruitful.  I was so disappointed when my beautiful tomato plants bore no fruit.  That's right.  Not even one tomato.  I was successful in growing basil, mint, and rosemary...oh and about 25 little strawberries, but that certainly isn't enough to feed a family.  Considering I planted seven tomato plants, three cucumber plants, eight green bean plants, two strawberry plants, and a couple of melon plants, I should have seen more fruit than I did!

This year, I am hoping to have more fruit.  A couple of weeks ago, I came across a pin that explained how to grow food from kitchen scraps.  I thought, "Why not?"  I would love to grow things from my scraps and perhaps not have to buy those items anymore.  About ten days ago, I followed the directions on wakeup-world.com to regrow celery from a celery stalk.  It is so simple!  I just put the stalk into a dish of water and filled the water up to cover all but a half inch of the stalk.  I made sure the top of the stalk was moistened on a daily basis.  Within a few days, leaves started to grow out of the stalk.  Now, about ten days later, there are little shoots growing up to form a new stalk of celery.  I planted it in moist soil and I am hoping to enjoy our first regrown celery in a couple of weeks!  It already smells so good!  Owen is very excited as well.  He loves watering our little plant everyday.  Next, I'd like to try regrowing onions, garlic, and potatoes!

Day 1

Day 7

Day 10

My little helper.

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 10: Cookie Dough Bites

Clean eating can be fun.  No really.  It can.  I love to see what I can make out of really simple, healthy ingredients.

I found an article on healthy "late night" snacks on Pinterest.  I made these cookie dough bites the other night and was pleasantly surprised with how good they turned out!  There are very few ingredients and they take less than 5 minutes to make and a few minutes to chill.  Enjoy!

Cookie Dough Bites

Indredients:
(Yields 30 balls)

2 1/2 cups almond meal
1/4 tsp sea salt
10 Tbsp butter*
1 Tbsp vanilla
1/3 cup honey
3 Tbsp semisweet chocolate (chopped)
1/4 cup shredded coconut (optional---I added this because I LOVE COCONUT!)

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together.  Roll into balls and put onto wax paper on a cookie sheet.  Chill until firm. You can also freeze these babies for future late night snacks.  If you want to add a bit more sweetness, but more calories, you can dip them in melted semi-sweet chocolate.

*I am going to make these again this week and try making them with coconut oil.  I have a feeling it will work and taste scrumptious!  I will update the results!

Day 7: Vegan Breakfast Cookies

My two oldest aren't big breakfast eaters.  I make pancakes because they ask for them, but they will eat a lot more pancakes if they eat them for dinner than breakfast.  They would rather have a nice big cup of chocolate milk.  I have yet to find a healthy option for that.  So, I'm going to the next best thing:  cookies!

Oh wow.  Wow!  I have to be truthful.  I just put these cookies in the oven and I had to step away to write this post because I kept eating the dough.  I have a feeling these won't just be "breakfast cookies" they are going to be "anytime" cookies!  The real test will be how much my children like them, though!

Here it goes!

Vegan Breakfast Cookies (Adapted from Diary of a Mad Crafter)

• 1 1/4 cups regular rolled oats
• 3/4 cup coconut flakes 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup of almond meal (I use Trader Joe’s)
• 2 tablespoons ground flax
• 1/4 cup oat bran
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips
• 3  very ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 Preheat oven to 350F. Grease or line cookie sheet with foil.

Get the wet ingredients together, and then dry. Mix together until it comes together.   Using a 1/4 cup scoop, I dropped the dough onto my pan, and flattened them out with my fingers. If you get stuck to the dough, just dip your fingers in some water before flattening them.

Bake them for 20-25 minutes, or once they’ve browned. Let them cool on the pan for 10 minutes or so, and then move them to a cooling rack. Enjoy!

(Just to let you know, each cookie is about 215 calories, but high in healthy fats and protein!)

Update:  As I finished this post, they came out of the oven and I couldn't wait for them to cool.  They are oozy-gooey deliciousness!  Owen likes them, too!  Now, for the other kids...

Day 3: DIY Jewelry Cleaner

A couple weeks ago, my sweet toddler dumped my store bought jewelry cleaner out on our bath rug. Bummer. I then realized I didn't need or want to spend 5 bucks on another jewelry cleaner. I would make some. No doubt, Pinterest came to the rescue, once again! I found a recipe a few weeks ago and put it to use today.

DIY Jewel Cleaner

You will need:
2 cups hot water
1 Tbsp of each: Salt, Baking Soda, Dish Soap
A bowl
Foil to cover bottom of bowl
Jewelry

Directions:
Put foil in bowl. Add water. Add salt, baking soda and dish soap. Add jewelry. It should fizz a bit. Set timer for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove, rinse, and enjoy the sparkles!

Results: I cannot tell you how clean and sparkly my ring is. I'm afraid the iPhone camera doesn't show how sparkly it really is! I had trouble focusing on the ring in the "after" photo because it was so shiny! I'm never going to buy cleaner again, that's for sure!