Orange Chicken

This looks harder than it really is. You and your kids will love it!

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1-1/2” cubes)
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 eggs (beaten)
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
Oil (for frying)

Orange Sauce-
1 ½ cups water
2 tablespoons orange juice
¼ cup lemon juice
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon orange zest (grated)
1 cup packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon ginger root (minced)
½ teaspoon garlic (minced)
2 tablespoons green onion (chopped)
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water

Combine flour, salt, and pepper. Dip chicken in egg mixture and shake in flour mixture to coat. Deep fry chicken in batches at 375 degrees in a deep fryer (or use a wok) until completely cooked.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan combine 1 ½ cups water, lemon juice, orange juice, rice vinegar, and soy sauce. Blend well over medium heat for a few minutes. Stir in brown sugar, orange zest, ginger garlic, and onion. Bring to a boil.

Combine 3 tablespoons of cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water and mix thoroughly. Slowly stir cornstarch mixture into sauce until it thickens. Pour sauce over breaded chicken, and if desired add red pepper flakes and garnish with green onions. Serve over rice. Enjoy.

Mini Breakfast Quiches

I love these for a quick breakfast. I keep them in the freezer and then heat one up each morning. My little one loves them as well..I have altered the ingredients slightly so that she would eat them. The best part is that they are low calorie. Enjoy!

4 eggs
1 C egg substitute*
3/4 C shredded low-fat sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 C shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 C cottage cheese
5 oz frozen spinach (that's half a standard frozen box)
1/3 C roasted red peppers, diced
1 oz finely diced ham, canadian bacon, or crumbled bacon (about 1/4-1/3 C)
1/4 C finely diced onions
1/4 t kosher salt
1/8 t black pepper
1/2 t hot sauce

foil muffin tin liners

*1/4 egg substitute = 1 whole egg, so if you're using all eggs, or some eggs and some egg whites, you can adjust accordingly.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350

Thaw spinach (you can nuke it in the microwave) and squeeze out all the liquid. Putting it in a clean kitchen towel and ringing it works well. After it's drained of all the liquid, give it a rough chop.

In a bowl, combine all ingredients and stir well.

Place foil cupcake liners in the muffin tins and spray with cooking spray. As you're dividing the egg mixture into the muffin cups make sure to keep stirring it so all of the ingredients are well-dispersed. My pan takes about 1/4 C in each hole and it fills them up perfectly. You want them to fill right up to the top.

Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes. The tops should be just barely set on top. You can store them in an airtight container in the fridge, or freeze them. When reheating in the microwave, make sure to take off the foil liner! And if you're reheating from frozen, I try to take them out the night before so they can thaw in the fridge. Then when you microwave them, set them on a folded paper towel to drain excess moisture.

Makes 12

Nutritional information for 1 mini-quiche:

83 Calories, 7.5 g Protien, 3 g fat
2 Weight Watchers Points
Southbeach Diet Phase 1

Moist** and delicious banana bread

What you need:

1 & 3/4 cups flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

3 large, very ripe bananas

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

1/2 cup butter or shortening

What to do:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease 9x5x3 bread pan.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl. Set aside.

Heat butter in microwave until thoroughly melted and let cool until room temperature, but do not let it solidify again.

Peel and mash bananas in a separate bowl. Add vanilla extract to bananas. Then add the two eggs and mix until eggs are fully beaten.

Slowly beat in butter to the banana mixture. Again, make sure the butter is cooled so that it doesn't cook the egg in the mixture.

Combine dry and liquid ingredients and beat no more than 15 seconds. The mixture will be visibly lumpy which is how it's supposed to be. Don't over-mix the batter or the end product will be too hard. Once combined, gently pour into baking pan and put in oven immediately as the baking powder will be activated by the wet ingredients!

Bake 50 minutes or until you can stick a toothpick into the center of the loaf and it comes out clean.

Once the pan is cool enough to touch, carefully invert the pan. The loaf should drop right out, so make sure you support it with your other hand. Let the loaf cool at room temperature on a wire rack and enjoy!

** Sorry Chez, I know you hate this word!!! Hahaha!

Fajita Marinade

1 lb of flank steak or skirt steak...or chicken
1 large yellow onion, sliced
4 large bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, de-ribbed, sliced lengthwise into half-inch wide strips

Marinade: ** (I double the marinade)
Juice of 1 lime
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1. Mix all marinade ingredients. Set the steak in the marinade and let it sit at least an hour, the longer the better.
2. Heat to high heat a large pan. Add a teaspoon of olive oil to the pan. Add the steak, searing on each side for 3 minutes, or to how you like it done.

* watch your burner temperature here; you want the heat high enough to give the meat a good carmalization, but not to burn while it cooks all the way through.

3. Remove from pan & let sit (COVER WITH FOIL) while you cook the peppers & onions.
4. Reduce the pan heat to medium high. Add a little more oil to the pan if necessary. Add the onions, bell peppers. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes, until the onions are slightly translucent. If desired, squeeze a lime or 2 over the peppers.
5. Slice the meat against the grain into thin slices.