Thursday, July 1, 2010

Sweet and Sour Chicken from Scratch for Lunch

I've been dieting and exercising lately, (10 lbs gone today), and I've started cooking as well.  I've never enjoyed cooking in the past, and I don't do anything super-involved, but I'm having fun trying out a few not-easy-to-mess-up-recipes.  Today, I made Sweet and Sour Chicken from scratch.  It's a hybrid of two different dishes I make:  Sweet and Sour Pork and Chicken and Rice Casserole.  Yes, this is cooking for dummies.  :)

I use this recipe to make the sauce:
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup white vinegar
6 tablespoons of canned pineapple juice and pineapple chunks
1 tablespoon corn starch
2 teaspoons of soy sauce


I mix everything together in a saucepan, add lots of pineapple chunks as well, bring it to a boil, reduce heat and let it cook until clear and thick.  Then I add the sauce to the chicken breasts and brown rice when they're done baking in the oven.  The chicken, uncooked rice, and water cook for 1 hour at 350 and then uncovered for another 15 minutes to absorb all the water.  Season your chicken a bit before baking.

I like this recipe because you get sweet and sour sauce that doesn't look neon orange.  It's sweet and tasty and keeps me full until my next meal.  It's simple, but it's yummy, and you can make the same dish with pork chops.  I think I like it better with pork, but chicken was thawing, so chicken it was!

~Lori

2 comments:

  1. I agree with you about the sauce, bright red doesn't look natural. Thanks for the recipe.

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  2. COngrats on the 10 pounds! I love sweet and sour, I think I'll try this too.

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