Orange Chicken (Take Out-FakeOut)

Wow, has it really been almost a month since I've posted?  Goodness. I think I announced it, but in case I didn't, this month of January is my very first month to be working officially from home.  At first I was concerned I'd be easily distracted so I've purposefully stayed off my blog (which I used to compose while at work).  But I've discovered I tend to lean more towards the "workaholic" side and so even phone calls to my family this month have been non-existent (sorry Mom!)  While I don't necessarily intend to cut back on my zeal for letting my work consume my day, I will have to find a happy balance between doing a lot of good and hard work, and having recoup time.  I've been heavily into couponing and am reaping good results.  I only allow $200 a month for groceries at our house (including household cleaners and makeup/beauty items as well).  It's tight, but I've been sticking to it!  Coupons have helped. I mainly follow this site and it's been wonderful: http://www.couponcloset.net/   It's been fun watching the register total almost $100, and then walk away only paying $40 or less because I had coupons.  Some week's shopping trips are better than others and I'm learning along the way.

Last night I made a good meal, it was a version of "Fake takeout Orange Chicken".  I really liked it.  Blake and I both thought it needed more sugar though, but I'd start with the amount listed here and slowly add to taste at the end if you don't think it's sweet enough.


Chinese Orange Chicken-"Fake Take Out"

• 1 and a half lbs thawed chicken
• 1/2 cup flour (to just coat chicken pieces)
• 1 T kosher salt, (use less if you're using table salt)
• 6 oz (1/2 can) frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed (can also use lemonade concentrate!)
• 3 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 3 Tbsp ketchup
• olive oil or pam for browning chicken
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes

The Directions:

--cut chicken into medium sized chunks

--put flour and salt in a bowl, dredge chicken and shake off excess

--brown chicken in a skillet with a bit of olive oil (you are not trying to cook the chicken--just lightly brown the outside to give it texture).

--place into crockpot

--mix the rest of the ingredients in a separate bowl and pour over the top of chicken pieces

--cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours, low for 6-7hours

--Serve over rice, drizzle with remaining sauce.

I will make this again!  I didn't like the preparation time, about 20 min or more, but, it was worth it and gave me a fix for my Chinese Food cravings.  It was good as leftovers for lunch also.

Christmas

Things have been fun lately :)  We went to that Ball Brothers concert last week and they did a great job.  It's always good to see good people doing well!  The concert was good and we got to stay and talk with them a while afterward.

The Ball Brothers .com

 Blake up there about to sing Blue Christmas with other audience members

 Explanations happening

I've also been planning my Christmas weekend menu.  It looks something like this at the moment.  Most things are to be made in the crockpot :)
FRIDAY DINNER:
-Beef Stew (Crockpot), cornbread
-Pecan Pie
SATURDAY -
Breakfast:
Bkfst casserole (make on Friday)
Christmas Dinner
- Asian Pork Tenderloin (turn crockpot on by 9am)
- Mashed Potatoes (30 min)
- Green Beans (4 min)
- Sauteed squash and zuchinni (10 min)
- Nana's Apple Salad (10 min)
- Rolls
Dessert:
-Poor Man's Dessert (crockpot)
-Ice Cream
SUNDAY -
       LUNCH:
-BBQ Chicken, chips (crockpot)
- spinach velveeta dip (Crockpot)
 DINNER:
- cheesy chicken (crockpot)
Monday LUNCH:
-Taco Cornbread Casserole
-Dip and Chips


My inlaws are over for a couple nights before they fly out of OKC to CA.  My mother in law is NOT a cat-person.  And Doogan knows it.  He kept wanting to sit in her lap.

I forgot to post about this a week ago, but I had a wild weekend with Doogan a week and a half ago.  I noticed in his litter box that he peed BRIGHT red blood and so I had to take him to the emergency vet clinic.  With cats, they can get "crystals" in their urinary tract that can plug their bladder and be fatal, so you have to take them in immediately if you see infection signs.  I spent 2 hours at the clinic and he had a regular UTI, so I was relieved but still rattled that he was so sick.  Because the urine was SO thick with blood that had to be so painful.  I'm impressed with the little booger for handling it like a champ.  We had his follow up visit to the vet yesterday and all looked well.  They told me to include some wet food for him for now so he can get enough fluids to completely flush himself out.  After the vet visit, I got a hankerin' for some Starbucks.  It's really close by.  So we drove over and also noticed a Chickfila, and it was breakfast time! So we drove through, with Doogan, and got chicken biscuits, then drove over through Starbucks for coffee.  All the while with Doogan happily out of his box.  The Starbucks people were delighted with Doogan and gave him a small cup of whipped cream.  Strangely, this cat who eats anything, turned his nose up at the whipped cream.  I was shocked.

We were parked, eating our food.  Doogan climbed all over every inch of the car.

He did really well for about 45 minutes, then started panting and getting anxious so we hurried home and he was fine.  It was funny to see drivers on the road discover we had a cat in our car.

Today is my Christmas party at work.  They're bringing in food for lunch and we'll have a dirty santa gift exchange.  I'm holding my breath this year since my boss always is the one who gives something extremely inappropriate and rags on the whole staff for not giving inappropriate gifts of their own.  It's uncomfortable.

And I can post about that because....dun dun dun...I am quitting my job!!  I have one more week left and then I embark on a home-office situation.  I will be working full-time from home now on Blake's concerts.  It's exciting but also scary.  Even though my paycheck was small, it was something "for sure" that we could count on.  But, I am confident that this will help our concert ministry expand even further, so I'm excited.  AND to top it off I won't have to go to an 8-5 job anymore!!  I'm ecstatic.

Blake sing impromptu at Ball Brothers Concert

This was funny.  This group is a friend of ours so it was a hoot.  They pulled random people onstage (including Blake) to sing Blue Christmas....

Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin

Wow! This recipe was really really good.  Blake actually made it :)

Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin
5 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tsp garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
2 (1 pound) pork tenderloins

We made it in the crockpot, set to high for 5 hours.  It still tastes wonderful, but that was too long.  I would say 4 hours on high plus 1 hour on low would work.  Or a total of 6 hours on low.

The original recipe tells you how to make it in the oven.  But we all know I don't use the oven. :)  This was really good, the flavor was strong and spicy and the flavors kept morphing as you tasted it.  This might go on my Christmas menu.

Spinach Velveeta Dip

 I took this over to my friend's house the other night and both our husbands went crazy over it :)

So, this amount made enough for 2 men and two ladies - you might want to double it if you expect more men around...


Spinach Velveeta Dip (serves 3-4)
-1/2 pkg. frozen spinach (thawed and drained)
-8 oz Velveeta Cheese, cut into cubes
-1/2 can  Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, drained
-1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional, i liked it)


-I used a 2qt crockpot, set to low - cook for 1-2 hours.
-Cut velveeta up into cubes
-thaw and drain spinach
-drain and stir in diced tomatoes, add pepper flakes if you like it spicy
-Toss into crockpot (or stovetop would be fine, on medium)

New Website Design

Blake's website got a facelift!!

www.blakebolerjack.com

Chicken Enchilada Chili

I made some awesome chili last night!  Hit the spot.  I was craving chili, but wanted to try something different.  I was gonna do this Bush Beans recipe, and then I saw this one and I could use the enchilada sauce that had been in my pantry for months.

I got it from my favorite crockpot cooking site:  A Year of Slow Cooking


Chicken Enchilada Chili

• 1 1/2 pounds chicken (or 3 frozen chicken breasts)
• 1 1/2 cups prepared enchilada sauce (all I had was a small 10oz can and it was fine)
• 2 chopped celery stalks (I didn't have any celery)
• 2 (14.5 oz) cans tomatoes with seasoning 
• 2 (15 oz) cans pinto or white northern beans, undrained
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 1/2 tsp chili powder
  1 tsp cumin

Dump everything in crockpot and stir.  Plop chicken on top. Cook on low 8 hours.  Shred chicken with a fork before serving, stir again.  Top with shredded cheese.

We ate a lot of it, then I froze some of it.  We'll see if it freezes well.  It should since it doesn't have rice or potatoes in it.

I do have Thanksgiving pictures to post, and some new decorating accomplishments to post, but the pics are on my iPhone.  And the computer room is under construction at the moment so I don't have a place to conveniently plug my iPhone in to retrieve the many pictures I have to post.  So hold your horses and I'll get to it!