Sweet Ginger Chicken (General Tso's Chicken)

The reason why this post has two names is because I got this recipe from My Name is Snickerdoodle. When I first made this chicken recipe, I was thinking of Empress of China (my old work place) and how their General Tso's chicken was dark brown, carmelized, sweet, and oh-so-yummy. But after making it for the first time, I realized that it was not even the same thing. Don't get me wrong...it was good. That's why I made it again! But I just felt that the name didn't fit. So I decided to call it Sweet Ginger Chicken. I modified it a bit from the original website that I got it from. I cut back on the sugar and increased the ginger & garlic portions. The second time around, I experimented with some chopped red onions. It was still delish!


I made this last night for my parents and my youngest brother, Phillip. They said it was good. So I guess my modifications weren't bad! :) Next time, I'll try dark meat. I might even try deep-frying it (that's what Empress of China does). Man, I miss that place!

Sweet Ginger Chicken

Sweet Ginger Chicken
(Adapted from My Name is Snickerdoodle)


Ingredients:

• 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast
• 1/3 c. flour
• 2 tbsp. veg. oil+1 tsp. veg. oil
• 3 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tbsp. cornstarch
• 3 tbsp. water
• 1/4 c. soy sauce
• 1/4 c. pineapple juice
• 1/4 c. rice wine vinegar (or regular vinegar)
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. freshly grated ginger
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger powder
• red pepper flakes (optional or save until the end)
• 1/4 c. chopped red onions (optional)
• 1 tsp. chopped green onions

Directions:

1. Cut chicken into 1" pieces (or any size you'd like).
2. Place the flour and the cut chicken into a large zip-lock bag, seal, and shake to completely coat the chicken.
3. Cook chicken pieces in 2 tbsp. oil over med-high heat until browned.
4. Meanwhile, combine sugar and cornstarch in a small saucepan.
5. Slowly whisk in water, soy sauce, pineapple juice, and vinegar. Mix well.
6. Stir in garlic, garlic powder, ginger, and ginger powder. Cook until thick and bubbly. (Turn heat down to keep warm.)
7. You could add red pepper flakes now or save until the very end (just before serving).
8. When the chicken is cooked and browned (7-8 minutes), drain onto a paper towel.
9. In the same pan, heat 1 tsp. oil. Cook the chopped red onions until fragrant and translucent (4-5 minutes).
10. Add the chicken pieces back into the pan. Stir around a few times to coat the chicken with onion.
11. Pour the sauce over the chicken and cook for another minute.
12. Place chicken into a plate and sprinkle with chopped green onions. Serve with rice.

Creamy Grilled Chicken Piccata with Penne Pasta

A couple weeks ago, I decided to make Creamy Grilled Chicken Piccata with Penne Pasta.  I haven't had much luck cooking lemon-butter type pastas in the past.  They always turn out too tangy.  And guess what?!  This recipe came out too sour too!  Alyssa didn't like it.  The chicken was good, but the sauce was sour.  I ended up adding a little bit of salt and sugar to balance out the sourness.  At first, it seemed runny, so I did not add any pasta stock.  Luckily, I saved some because I ended up using it.  It really helped to balance out the sourness.  I didn't grill my chicken, however, because the hubby was at work.  I ended up pan-frying it.  It turned out good too.  I served it with my Garlic Parmesan Monkey Bread that Alyssa helped me make.  Like always, I ended up making too much.  I love to share and feed people, so I fed one of my co-worker.  She loved it!  But then again, she loves everything I cook...hmmm...  Either I actually cook good or she's just being nice.  :)  I might consider making this again in the future.  Enjoy!

Creamy Grilled Chicken Piccata with Penne Pasta

Grilled Chicken Piccata with Penne Pasta
(adapted from Plain Chicken)


Ingredients:


-Chicken:

• juice of 1 lemon (3 tbsp.)
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tbsp. minced garlic
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. basil or oregano
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

-Pasta

• 2 c. dried penne pasta
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 1 tbsp. minced garlic
• juice of 2 lemons (6 tbsp.)
• 1/2 c. half and half (or heavy cream)
• 1 tsp. sugar (or more)
• salt & pepper (to taste)
• 1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
• 2 tsp. dried basil
• 2 tbsp. capers
• reserved pasta stock (if needed)

Directions:

1. Combine first 6 ingredients and mix well. Place chicken in a ziplock bag and pour marinade over chicken. Marinate for 1 hour.
2. When ready to cook, grill chicken until done. Allow chicken to rest for a few minutes and then slice into strips to serve over pasta.
3. While chicken is grilling. Cook pasta according to directions (10-12 minutes). Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water and drain. 
4. In same sauce pan, melt butter over medium heat. 
5. Whisk in garlic and lemon juice. 
6. Pour in half and half & sugar and whisk until hot. 
7. Add some salt and pepper to taste. 
8. Add the parmesan cheese, basil and capers, and heat until cheese is melted. 
9. Check the consistency of the sauce and add some of the reserved pasta water to loosen the sauce if necessary. Toss in pasta.
10. Serve in pasta bowls with grilled chicken on top. Sprinkle with more parmesan if desired.  Also, serve it with my Garlic Parmesan Monkey Bread!  :)

Blogger Mobile-Date Night

Just had date night with the hubby at Wild Turkey. We had 2 dozen oysters, a party platter, & 2 beers each. I'm full (for now). It was nice being away from the kids...and eating without having to feed the kids at the same time. Thanks Alice & Soto for volunteering to babysit! I'll surely return the favor when that time comes. :)

Amy Lay
Sent from my iPhone

Sausage and Cheese Biscuit Muffins

Remember when I made the Garlic Parmesan Monkey Bread because my biscuits were expiring?  Guess what I found this morning when I looked in the fridge?  Another can of Pillsbury Grands! Flaky Layers-Original that expires TODAY!  So I decided to make Sausage & Cheese Biscuit Muffins. 

I first saw this recipe on Cooking with my Kids and made it for my first grade team last Wednesday for our weekly morning meeting at school.  It was a big hit, and everyone loved it.  I didn't use bacon, though (it was still frozen).  I didn't have time to cook it.  I cooked up some breakfast sausages (the night before, of course) to crumble into the muffin tins.  And since I had a lot of breakfast sausages left, I had to use that up.  I also had some chicken left, so I made 8 chicken, cheese, and chives biscuit muffins.  YES, I still had chicken leftover (even though I made Chicken Tortilla Soup with Penne Pasta yesterday for lunch. 

Did I mention that when I cook, I cook a lot?  Alice and I love to cook and bake.  She only has 2 adults in her household, and I have 2 adults plus 1 1/2 children.  But we both somehow end up cooking enough food to feed an army...not just one time...or two time...but ALL.THE.TIME.  It's ridiculous.  You would think we learned from our mistakes, but nope.  We're just two crazy people who love to cook.  Her husband doesn't really like to eat leftovers. My husband doesn't mind leftovers, but would prefer beer.  I end up eating it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Sometimes, I drop some food off for my parents and youngest brother Phillip.  Sometimes I invite them over.  Sometimes Alice and Soto comes over.  Sometimes I go to their house to eat.  And on rare occasion, the leftovers go into the trash.  :(

Ok, so that was my blurb about cooking too much all the time.  Back to my muffins...Today, I made some with breakfast sausage & cheese and some with chicken, cheese, & chives.  Some of the muffins even have a small piece of regular sausage in it.  I don't remember which one, but it'll be a suprise when I bite into it!  :)  I used the Pillsbury Grands! Flaky Layers-Original 8-ct. (16.5 oz. cans).  It has to be flaky layers or else you can't split them.  I took each biscuit and split them into 3 more layers (giving me 24 pieces of biscuit).  That was enough to fill 24 regular muffin cups.  I wasn't kidding when I said I always make a lot.  I'll be giving some away, eating some for breakfast this week, and maybe freezing some?  We'll see.

This recipe is easy to make.  It just takes time.  After splitting the layers, stretch out each piece and put them into the pre-sprayed muffin cups to create a biscuit cup.  Fill it with shredded cheese, your meat preference, more cheese, and the egg mixture.  Don't fill the muffin cups too much with the egg mixture or it'll overflow (since the egg puffs up and expands).  When you're finished filling, bake it until it is golden brown and enjoy warm.  You see my pretty biscuit muffins below?  YUM!

24 biscuit muffins

You could try stuffing the muffins with chopped ham or turkey.  Or you could make it vegetarian using cooked spinach, broccoli, zucchini, or whatever ingredients your heart desires.  I think I will try ham and spinach or ham and mushrooms next time.  This is very similar to the quiche I make.  But instead of using canned biscuits for the shell, I buy the pre-made flaky shells found in the frozen section.  I'll save that for another day!

  



Sausage and Cheese Biscuit Muffins

Sausage and Cheese Biscuit Muffins
(Adapted from Cooking with my Kids)

Makes 24 regular muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 can Pillsbury Grands! Flaky Layers-Original 10 ct. (16.5 oz)
• 8 eggs
• 8 tbsp. milk
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
• salt & pepper
• shredded cheese

Directions:

1. Cook the sausages and drain (or veg). (You could precook the night before and store it in the fridge).
2. Preheat the oven to 400 and spray muffin pans with cooking spray.
3. Whisk the eggs, milk, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, salt & pepper together and set aside.
4. Split each biscuit into 3 layers (to make 24). 
5. Stretch out each piece to cover the muffin cups.  Gently push it down and around the sides.
6. Sprinkle the muffin cups with a tiny bit of shredded cheese.
7. Then fill the muffin cups with the cooked meat (or veg).
8. Top with more shredded cheese.
9. Scoop the egg mixture evenly into all of the muffin cups.  Don't overfill the cups. (I start off with 1 tbsp. per cups until all are filled.  Then I go back and add a little more until my eggs are gone).
10. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the biscuits are golden brown and the eggs are set.  Enjoy warm!

Just for Laughs:
Me:  (Taking my Canon out to take this picture.)  "What?!  This is my new hobby."
Hubby:  "Oooo.  I'm a blogger now.  I'm taking pictures." (in a moking tone)
Me:  "Very funny."

Blogger Mobile-Alyssa and Her Easter Eggs

She found a lot of eggs at Lana's 4th birthday party. Here she is cheesing away...can't even see her eyes.  So I told her to open her eyes, and this is what I get...lol

Blogger Mobile-My Baby Boy!

This is my son, Austin Scott Lay.  He is 10 months old.  He is a joy to have around because he is so playful and calm.  Austin learns quickly and copies everything you do.  He loves to play with his older sister, even though she smothers him with her love ALL.THE.TIME!  He's my baby boy!

Out with the OLD and in with the NEW

Saturday lunches are usually the time when I clean out the fridge and do something with the leftovers.  I need the space to store new groceries for the upcoming week, which I buy on Sundays.  Today, I had leftover penne pasta with sausages in marinara sauce (which my daughter did not really like because the sausages were a bit spicy) and some lemon-marinated chicken breasts.  I also had 4 ripe avocados...thanks to Alice for buying me 4 of them!  Originally, I asked Alice to buy me 1-2 small avocados for our soup last week.  She ended up buying me 4 unripe avocados.  And guess when they decide to ripen?  TODAY!

I eat leftovers all the time.  But after the 2nd time around, I like to make something else out of it.  It's still leftover, but in a different form.  I made my version of Chicken Tortilla Soup with Penne Pasta (recipe below-adapted from All Recipes).  And I made Guacamole with Tortilla Chips (store-bought chips, of course).  I can't tell you how I made my guacamole because I didn't write it down or really measure how much diced onions I used.  I could sit here and try to think about what I added, but that would require more time and lots of thinking.  But what I could tell you is that I looked at two recipes to come up with my version:  The Pioneer Woman and Budget Savvy Diva.  Both looked good, but wasn't quite what I wanted.  Maybe I'll type one up somewhere in the near future.  But in the meantime, you could enjoy my pictures!

Oh, and since I mentioned out with the OLD and in with the NEW, I bought a new toy for my kitchen today.  It's a 4-cup glass measuring cup!  :)

Guacamole with Tortilla Chips

Chicken Tortilla Soup with Penne Pasta

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:

• 1/2 tsp. olive oil
• 1/2 c. chopped red onions
• 1 garkic clove, minced
• 1/8 c. white wine
• 1 c. cooked chicken breast (shredded or diced)
• 1/2 c. frozen whole-kernel corn
• 1/2 tbsp. chopped, deseeded jalapeno pepper (optional)
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp. Worchestershire sauce
• 1/4 tsp. chili powder (optional)
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 can (14.5 oz.) chicken broth
• 1 can (14.5 oz.) Italian diced tomatoes
• 1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
• 1 c. water
• other ingredients I added today: diced potatos and diced zucchinis

Suggested Toppings:

• tortilla strips
• sour cream
• chopped or sliced avocados
• chopped cilantro
• chopped green onions
• shredded cheese

Directions:

1. Heat oil in med-high heat.  Saute onions and garlic for about 2 minutes.
2. Add the white wine and stir around a couple of times.  Then add the rest of the ingredients (except for the toppings)
3. Reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes.
4. Ladle into bowsn and top with tortilla strips, sour cream, chopped cilantro, sliced avocados, or whatever else you have in hand.
5. Enjoy!

Blogger Mobile-Late Night

So it's past midnight, and I'm still awake. What is going on here? I remember a conversation that Alice and I had about not being able to sleep when there's something bothering her. I wonder if that's it. But what could possibly be bothering me? I have the perfect life with the perfect husband and 2 perfect kids! LoL. Who am I kidding?! I'm no where near perfect. If you put me on the perfect spectrum, then I'd fall on the opposite end and possibly fall off of that spectrum. That's how far off I am to being perfect! I wondered today why I can't be a happier person. Maybe that's it. That was one of my NY Resolution, and I strayed away from it. I had forgotten what I promised myself. :( "Tomorrow's another day. And I'm thirsty anyway. So bring on the rain."

Garlic Parmesan Monkey Bread

So I decided to make some kind of bread to go with my pasta yesterday...partly because I like breadsticks and partly because my canned biscuits are about to expire.  I went to my reliable Pinterest to see what options I had.  I found two:  Easy Parmesan Knots and Mini Garlic Monkey Breads.  I pondered on both ideas all day long at work. 

I asked my cousins, Alice and Phanny, for their help (which wasn't much help because they liked both).  I DID TOO!  I thought and thought...why not take the best of both worlds?  I took a little bit from each recipe and tweaked it (with the help of my 3-year-old daughter, Alyssa, of course!). 

This is what we came up with...Garlic Parmesan Monkey Bread.  I has a lot...I mean A LOT...of garlic.  I started off using garlic powder, but it didn't seem enough.  So I added minced garlic.  What can I say?  I love garlic!  I especially love the aromatic smell of the garlic frying in oil.  OMG!  And as Alyssa was stirring the ingredients, she said it smelled bad (the garlic)...but guess what?!  She loved every bite!

  

This recipe is so easy to make and even easier to eat!  My daughter and I devoured 4 pieces in 10 minutes.  It was also good the next morning when I turned it into mini sausage & cheese garlic Parmesan monkey biscuits!  Whew!  What a long name!  Let's just call it mini breakfast GP monkey biscuits!  OK, that was still long.  Oh well.  I'll try to post pictures of that later.

So here is my version of this yummy Garlic Parmesan Monkey Bread:

Garlic Parmesan Monkey Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 can (12 oz.) Pillsbury Golden Layers Refrigerated Biscuits
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 6 tbsp. butter (melted)
• 1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp. dried parsley

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line a baking pan/cookie sheet with foil.
2. Cut biscuits into 4 pieces (or whatever sizes your heart desires) and place into a large bowl.  I used kitchen scissors.
3. Combine the olive oil and melted butter together in a small bowl.
4. In another small bowl, combine the Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, minced garlic, oregano, and parsley together.  Mix well.
5. Stir the dry ingredients into the oil/butter mixture and mix well.  Pour over the cut biscuits.
6. Gently toss the biscuit pieces to evenly coat it with the mixture.
7. Dump all of the coated biscuits onto the foil and space them evenly apart.
8. Bake 10-12 minutes until golden brown.  Serve warm.  Refrigerate leftovers for yummy mini breakfast GP monkey biscuits!  :)