Easy Orange Chicken

My youngest surprised us by saying he really likes one of the lunches from school. And it's certainly one that I never would have realized & am proud of him for trying! He gets very excited when the school lunch menu reads that it's gonna be Tangerine Chicken.

Not too long ago, my youngest wanted to know if we can have it at home, too. Hmmm...I started trying to research it. I did find some recipes for it to try. I attempted one in the lazy cooker, and it didn't turn out well at all! Plus it took a lot of extra work that I didn't want to do.

However, we were willing to try it again...but I was not willing to search far & wide, or even pay more to get tangerine anything. But I did have some orange marmalade hanging around...so I decided to try an orange chicken. And after doing some looking into some recipes & figuring out what might work better for us, here's what I came up with:

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EASY ORANGE CHICKEN

Ingredients:

1 bag breaded chicken chunks (I used popcorn chicken & some leftover chicken nuggets)
1 jar orange marmalade
1/2 C barbecue sauce (I used KC Masterpiece Original)
1/4 C orange juice
2-3 T cornstarch
1/4 C sweet & sour sauce
3 T soy sauce
3 T teriyaki sauce
2 T ground ginger
1 T garlic powder
1 T onion powder
2 T chili powder
1/2 C mandrin orange slices with syrup
1-2 T dried orange peel or zest of orange
1-2 palms full of sesame seeds


Directions:

Cook chicken in the oven to package directions

Place remaining ingredients in a large pot & bring to a boil on medium heat

Once orange sauce is boiling, lower to a simmer & stir occasionally

Once chicken is done in the oven, pull out & add to the sauce in the large pot

Be sure to coat the chicken chunks, thoroughly, with the orange sauce

Serve


Yield: 4-6

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Oh. My. Yum.

Serve this chicken with steamed rice (we used speedy quick Minute Rice). Even serve it on top of the rice! And it's beautiful!!

My youngest got seconds! That's a huge win! HUGE!! And my hubby was equally impressed. YEA!

So, we will be serving it again. And it would be an easy one to fix up for something like Chinese New Year.

Very happy to be adding another one to the dinner rotations!

Oh...and the popcorn chicken was SO good to use with it!!

ENJOY!

Citrus Mint Water

How's that hydrating going? Going well? Need to get started? Cuz I've got another water for you!

A couple of years ago, I got on a weird kick of mixing the flavors of citrus (usually orange) with mint. It's a surprising flavor that is bright, sunny & refreshing!

Since I've been playing with flavoring my own water, I thought I'd go back to this flavor just for something different.

Here's what I did:

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CITRUS MINT WATER

Ingredients:
* 1 small to medium orange, thinly sliced & deseeded
* 1 medium lemon, thinly sliced & deseeded
* 1 limes, thinly sliced & deseeded
* 1 long or 2 short mint stems (you may tear off the leaves to use, if desired)
* 1 gallon filtered or tap water (approximately)
* ice cubes (optional)


Directions:
~ wash off all produce

~ thinly slice citrus fruits & remove any seeds

~ place all ingredients into 1 gallon pitcher (preferably with a slotted lid)

~ fill the pitcher the rest of the way with filtered or tap water

~ add some ice cubes, if desired

~ place in refrigerator for at least 1 hour to allow flavors to steep into the water (longer is better, like overnight)

~ serve & repeat


Notes:

= The flavor may be strong; if the flavor is too much, try it with a couple of oranges & the mint.

= Freeze water into ice cubes to give drinks like water, tea (sweet or unsweet), or Sprite a new kick of flavor

= Use to brew up a cup of black tea.

= You may refill the pitcher with the same ingredients about 4 times

= As always...use a fun cup or reusable bottle for another layer of encouragement of hydration!

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This flavor is VERY strong compared to other waters I've posted. Be prepared for a flavor rush! But imagine the amount of vitamin C you are placing into your body while hydrating! And doing so without the extra sugars, syrups & chemicals in other juices & mixes. You're welcome!

ENJOY!