Thai Chicken and Pineapple Stir Fry

Where in the heck is time going?!

I'm having a hard time finding time to blog. Let alone breath. But I'm hanging in there...barely.

My birthday came and went. I find that tends to happen as you get older. This has been a year of growth for me. I have learned a lot about myself and about the people in my life.

I have found that I so often spend time worrying about the people letting me down instead of appreciating the people there rubbing my back as I am crying over the people who disappoint me. I have an amazing select few in my life who make up for all of those who don't really care. Gosh, I'm lucky.

I've also found that I tend to confuse positivity with having high expectations. I strive to be a positive and optimistic person, but sometimes in doing that I set these high, sometimes unreachable expectations which only lead to disappointment. It's easy to forget to appreciate things for what they are, and accept people for who they are and what they offer you, rather than what they didn't. I will spend my 24th year here remembering that for sure.

I'm going into this year a more positive, open, understanding and thankful person. I have all the wonderful people in my life, or who were once in my life to thank for that...and all the moments I have that remind me of these things, and the many MANY other things I need to keep in the back of my mind at all times.

This is a rather serious post eh?

On a less serious note, I carved pumpkins for the first time in forever on my birthday. I have announced many times how much I love lazy sundays and my birthday was just that. I appreciate the simple things in life...and thankfully my birthday represented that.

I spent my birthday with someone who showed up at my door with Coldstone Birthday Cake Remix, took me to a pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins and carve "awesome" faces on them...by "awesome" I mean slightly embarrassing but still humorous as they looked like a couple of 6-year-olds did them (this is ironic as we are a couple of old folk), then we had a very fancy candlelit dinner on my coffee table and devoured Taco Bell...yep, per my request. My birthday ended with an intense game of Cribbage...and I won. Perfect day :)

None of that has anything to do with Thai food...or chicken...or pineapple...or even stir fry. But here it is. It's yummy. And I am OBSESSED with Gina's Skinny Recipes. Literally.Ob.Sessed.

Thai Chicken and Pineaplle Stir Fry
Adapted from skinnytaste.com

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp oil, divided
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced ginger
2 cups cubed assorted colors bell peppers (1/2-inch cubes)
1 red chili pepper, chopped (optional or to taste)
1 small white onion, chopped
1 cup fresh pineapple chunks
1/2 cup chili sauce
cilantro leaves (for garnish)

Directions:

Mix chicken and fish sauce in medium bowl. Add cornstarch; toss to evenly coat. Set aside.

Heat 1/2 tablespoon of the oil in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add garlic and ginger; stir fry 30 seconds. Add bell peppers,onion chili pepper if using and pineapple;stir fry 3 to 5 minutes or until peppers are tender-crisp.

Add soy and chili sauce; cook and stir until heated through. Remove from skillet.

Heat remaining oil in the skillet. Add chicken; stir fry5 minutes or until cooked through.Return bell pepper mixture to skillet; stir fry until well blended.

Garnish with cilantro. Serve with brown rice or plain.

Baked Chicken Eggrolls

Does anybody else have an endless list of all the things you wanted to be growing up? I was thinking about my list the other day. I have gone through life changing my mind about what I thought I wanted to be.

Of course it all started with wanting to be a princess. Not that I knew what that meant...to me it was big pretty sparkly dresses, endless amounts of ice cream and unicorns to ride. Then I learned that you become a princess by marrying a prince and ew...boys had cooties, so that went out the window.

With the longing of sparkly attire still fresh in my heart there was a short period of time when I wanted to be a figure skater. In fact, I was certain I could make it to the olympics...I mean I could almost skate backwards on roller skates, how hard could ice skating be? This is also the point in life where I learned gravity is no friend of mine...

We still haven't become acquainted...

From the falling I realized being a singer/dancer was out of the question.My ego forced me to try it anyway but I bruised my pride one day when my brother and I were putting on a "concert" for my mom and her video camera....

Yes, this has been documented.

I was twirling around on top of the dresser whipping around my mic like I was "Miss Thang" when my foot slipped and I plummeted to the crack between the dresser and the wall. I brushed myself off and pretended I did it on purpose...I mean performers look cool when they fall right?

My dreams and aspirations after the multiple face plants were a bit more realistic. Thank God for that because otherwise I would be that girl on American Idol singing off key and trying to bust out moves that only cause me to break my ankles. Either that or I would be like that "Friday" girl and be the most hated "performer" on YouTube.

I'm not interested in being hated. Though now that I think about it...I could so be the next William Hung...or even the "pants on the ground" guy...hmm...perhaps realism is overrated?


Baked Chicken Eggrolls
Adapted from Tasteofhome.com

Ingredients

12 ounces (around 2 cups)  rainbow blend cabbage
1 can (14 ounces) bean sprouts, drained
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1 garlic clove, minced
2 cups finely diced cooked chicken
4 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon canola oil
1 teaspoon brown sugar
Pinch cayenne pepper
salt, pepper to taste
16 egg roll wrappers

Directions:

Coat a large skillet with cooking spray; add the first six ingredients. Cook and stir over medium heat until vegetable are crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Add chicken; heat through.

In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch, water, soy sauce, oil, brown sugar salt, pepper and cayenne until smooth; stir into chicken mixture. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened; remove from the heat.

Spoon 1/4 cup of chicken mixture on the bottom third of one egg roll wrapper; fold sides toward center and roll tightly. (Keep remaining wrappers covered with a damp paper towel until ready to use.) Place seam side down on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Repeat.

Spray tops of egg rolls with cooking spray. Bake at 425° for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Buffet-Style Chinese Donuts

I don't know about anybody else but when I go to a Chinese buffet I load up on 3 things...crab rangoons, egg rolls and chinese donuts. Clearly, I go for the healthiest of all options.

Now this is somewhat strange and slightly reminiscent of "A Christmas Story" but every year when I visit my family in Minnesota for Christmas we go to a Chinese buffet Christmas Eve and cook a huge dinner Christmas day. Where did this little tradition come from? I'm not quite sure but you would all probably be rather surprised to hear that the buffet is busy that day every year!

Who woulda thought?

But little did I know that, as I am discreetly unbuttoning the top button on my jeans to shovel the eighth chinese donut in my mouth as if I would never see one again, I can make these at home...easily.

Now bear with me, I don't fry things ever really. This was one of the first times I had played around with frying. As Shawn took his first bite of his donut after I made them, we discovered that the inside wasn't done...it was raw in fact. Oops! So what I did was throw them on a baking sheet after I pulled them out of the oil and baked them at 350 for 10 minutes and they came out just fine. So if you are like me and frying-dumb then try that out.

Buffet-Style Chinese Donuts
From food.com

Ingredients:

1 (10 count) can refrigerated biscuits
1/3 cup sugar
oil, to deep fry in

Directions:

Use either a deep fryer, or a large deep skillet. Be sure to add enough of oil to line the bottom of the pan a couple of inches deep. Heat oil to 350 degrees.

Remove biscuits from can and fry a few at a time in the fryer. When browned on one side, turn over.
When golden brown on both sides remove from oil, and drain on paper towels.

Pour sugar into a small container, and once the doughnuts have cooled slightly toss the doughnut into the sugar, and coat on both sides.

Be sure to fry only a couple at a time.

Chicken and Broccoli Stir-Fry

Did everyone have a good Easter?! I sure did. Growing up, my family did not always do too much for Easter. I do remember some egg hunts and egg decorating growing up...but other than that Easter was never a big production...

Because it was never a big deal, it was never on my list of favorite holidays. But this year, I went with Shawn to visit his family and it was a good time. We ate lamb and yummy veggies and had key lime pie for dessert. We also brought Kirby along who had a blast...thinking that the whole celebration was all about him...

Of course.

The main event of the day? I played with the Xbox Kinect...not only did I play with it but I did the Michael Jackson dance game. So much fun, great workout, highly recommend it...

I want one!

Maybe some day...maybe. But by the time I could afford it the Kinect will be old news...sigh...

I was really hoping to make some carrot cake cookies or whoopie pies for easter this year but time flew by and I couldn't find any to spare...boo! Maybe next year...

This stir-fry here is something I made for Shawn and I a few weeks back. I actually really enjoyed it. The ginger added something really special. If you're looking for something to deviate from the stir-fry you always make, try this. For real.

Chicken and Broccoli Stir-Fry
From foodnetwork.com

Ingredients:

1 pound chicken breast (about 2 breasts), cubed
3 scallions, whites only, thinly sliced on an angle
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-inch piece peeled fresh ginger, minced
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon dry sherry
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
About 1/3 cup water
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
5 to 6 cups broccoli, trimmed sliced stalks and medium florets (keep the 2 cuts separate)
3/4 to 1 teaspoon red chili flakes, optional
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
toasted sesame seeds, optional

Directions:

(Marinate the chicken while you prepare the rest of the ingredients)

In a medium bowl, toss the chicken with the scallion whites, about half the garlic and ginger, the soy sauce, sugar, 1 teaspoon of the cornstarch, 1 teaspoon of the salt, the sherry, and the sesame oil. Marinate at room temperature for 15 minutes. Mix the remaining cornstarch with 1/3 cup water.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil and heat. Add the broccoli stems, and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add the florets and the remaining garlic, ginger, 2 tablespoons of water, and season with 1/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Stir-fry until the broccoli is bright green but still crisp, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

Get the skillet hot again, and then heat 2 more tablespoons oil. Add the chicken and chili flakes if using. Stir-fry until the chicken loses its raw color and gets a little brown, about 3 minutes. Add the hoisin sauce, return the broccoli to the pan and toss to heat through. Stir in the reserved cornstarch mixture and bring to a boil to thicken. Add more water if need to thin the sauce, if necessary. Taste and season with salt and pepper, if you like. Mound the stir-fry on a serving platter or divide among 4 plates and garnish with sesame seeds; serve with rice.

Asian Chicken Salad

I had a lot of random vegetables that I needed to use and wanted to make something different. I don't make a whole lot of asian food (although I love to eat it...don't get me started on crab rangoons and chinese donuts/bread). I found this recipe online and actually had all the ingredients. I was pleased with how it turned out It was very light and refreshing.

Asian Chicken Salad
Adapted from Foodnetwork.com

Ingredients

Salad:
1 large carrot, peeled
3 cups shredded napa cabbage, from 1 small cabbage
3 cups shredded romaine lettuce, from 1 small lettuce
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and deveined, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons fresh Thai basil leaves or fresh mint leaves, chopped** see Cook's Note
2 small chicken breasts, grilled
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted** see Cook's note
1 tablespoon toasted white or black sesame seeds*

Dressing:
1/4 cup peanut or vegetable oil
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar*
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, optional

Directions:

For the salad: Using a vegetable peeler, shave the carrot and add to a large salad bowl. Stir in the cabbage, lettuce, pepper, Thai basil, chicken, almonds, and sesame seeds.

For the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, if using.

Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well.

*Cook's Note: can be found in specialty Asian markets
**Cook's Note: To toast the slivered almonds, arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for 8 to 10 minutes until lightly golden. Cool completely before using.