Thursday, January 28, 2016

General Tso's Chicken...QUICK & EASY!!


One of our absolute FAVORITE meals is General Tso's Chicken with rice and veggies.  It's also one of our splurges as far as calories and price.  I recently decided to make it at home.  This recipe is simple & easy to make and clean up after.  This had my husband running up the hall to investigate the source of the smell ;)

Ingredients::
1 lb chicken breast cut into small nuggets
1-2 cups of flour (for dredging)
2 tbsp. EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup white distilled vinegar
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tbsp. cornstarch, mixed with 3 tbsp. water


Instructions::
Heat oil first, on medium heat.  Dredge chicken in flour and cayenne, fry in oil until golden brown and crispy. Drain excess oil.  While your chicken is cooking, get your sauce mixture going (sugar, soy sauce, pineapple juice, vinegar, garlic & ginger), heat this mixture on a lower setting. When sauce is smooth and well-mixed, add cornstarch mixture SLOWLY and stir until you reach your desired thickness.  Then pour the mixture over your chicken.  Serve with your favorite veggies and rice.  I used Squash and Zucchini from last summer's garden, along with Broccoli and Basmati rice. 










Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Kids Rooms are DONE!!

We FINALLY got the kids' rooms done.  We moved in last February after our floors were done.  And we decided to put painting off until we were settled in.  We decided that Christmas was THE perfect time to do it.  Everything is magical, suprises abound & the kids were BOTH SO appreciative for their newly painted rooms.

Kyleigh's room was a horrible Pepto-pink with a wallpaper accent wall. If you check out one of my previous posts, you'll see JUST how awful it was.  When we thought we had a house the previous year, I had picked out a beautiful color called Pre-dawn Sky for her.  It's a poppy color that just fits my daughter's personality.  Here is the end result (ALONG with her IKEA Trofast organizer that has simplified life just a tad.)





Kade's room was just a flat, dull, boring white.  Which is the absolute complete opposite of my entertainer of a boy. He chose a "creeper" green (you Minecraft parents & peeps know what I'm talking about!) I don't have  a before picture but it's easy to imagine a blank room. And here is the end result of his room.



I have SO many more plans for this house.  And hopefully, many more posts showing off things we've accomplished due to many hours of Pinteresting & HGTV binging.  Thank you for reading!!