Orange Citrus Chicken greatness

For several reasons, Wes and I have been diligently working on not eating out and cooking at home. I was kind of scared about this at first, but then I found this Taste of Home cookbook at WalMart called Simple and Delicious and fell in love with cooking! Now, I'm not that "come up with my own recipe" type cook yet. But, I can read! So I can follow pretty much any recipe that I come across! 

I've learned several things throughout our 3ish months of cooking at home (for the most part). 

1. No matter how many different ways I cook or flavor pork chops, I just don't like them. I've tried over and over!

2. The back part of my oven cooks things way faster than the front part of my oven. 

3. There is a difference between the cheap cookie sheets and the more expensive cookie sheets.

4. Wes doesn't trust any meat in leftovers except for chicken. ???

5. Making your own salad is ten times better than buying the salad in a bag.

6. If you share your recipes, people will share with you. (hint hint...)

7. I'm not good at trying to cut a recipe in half to feed just the two of us. I seem to cut some parts of the recipe in half but not others. who knows...

8. Fresh garlic and pre-minced garlic in a jar cook at much different rates... I keep burning the pre-minced kind.

9. Sometimes nothing is better than a really good baked potato.

10. And cooking crescent rolls to go along with the meal makes anything taste good.

So I'm always looking for new recipes, well, really always wanting people to recommend recipes that they have really enjoyed. So please feel free to pass some along! I have a whole little folder on my gmail account for them (amandam dot blog at gmail dot com). 

One of my all time favorite recipes is from my sweet friend Rachel. It's an orange citrus chicken recipe that she has come up with by combining some of her favorite orange chicken recipes. You will LOVE it! So, I'm cooking this tonight if all goes as planned. My mouth is watering already...

Ingredients: 

- 3-5 chicken breasts (however many you need to feed your family)

- olive oil

- 1 tbs butter

- 1 tbs minced garlic 

- 3 cups of orange juice

- 3/4 cup of brown sugar

- 1 tbs of balsamic vinegar

- ginger spice

Do you have those ingredients? Ok, here's what to do next, from the chef herself...

1. Cut 4-5 chicken breasts (1/2 frozen they are easier to cut) at a diaganal angle so they cuts are very thin (kind of like pei wei chicken would be) and about one inch wide apeice. 

2. Heat a little olive oil in a skillet and add in one tablespoon of butter ( I use the heart smart kind). 

3. Add in garlic (you can use fresh, but i keep a jar of minced garlic in my fridge and I probably addded one tablespoon of minced garlic and sauteed it in the butter)

4. Then saute the chicken until it is all yummy and golden brown around the edges. THen take out the chicken and put on a plate to the side. (It took me about 8-9 minutes to get the chicken nice and "dry" and sauteed)

5. Add in about 3 cups of orange juice into the same skillet you have been using. Then add about 3/4 of a cup of brown sugar to the mix (never said this was all light weight or anything ...ha!). 

6. Add about a tablespoon of balsalmic vinegar, and a GOOD sprinkle of ginger spice ( you can again use fresh, but our ghetto athens walmart doesn't carry it)

7. Bring to a boil. Add the chicken you have already cooked into the mixture and let it boil at a low pace until the sauce becomes thicker and more like a marinade. I let mine boil prob about 8-10 minutes. You will know when it has begun caramalizing and looking good.

8. I heated up two bags of uncle ben's instant rice and served the orange chicken over a bed of rice.

9. For a side, I did fresh snapped green beans (boiled in water with a little garlic salt until tender).

You will not be disappointed! (I hope!) It is super yummy and doesn't take that long. 

Now... feel free to post, comment, or email me some deliciously great recipes of your own! and... maybe skip the ones that involve pork :)