Sweet and Sour Chicken

Ingredients

Batter to coat chicken:
• 8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1 inch cubes
• 2 1/4 cups self-rising flour
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 quart vegetable oil for frying

Sauce:
• 1 (8 ounce) can pineapple chunks, drained (juice reserved)
• 2 green bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup water (divided)
• 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
• 2 drops orange food color
• 1/4 cup cornstarch


Directions
1. Combine flour, 2 tablespoons oil, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, salt, white pepper, and egg. Add 1 1/2 cups water gradually to make a thick batter. Stir to blend thoroughly. Add chicken pieces, and stir until chicken is well coated.
2. Heat oil in skillet or wok to 360 degrees F (180 degrees C). Fry chicken pieces in hot oil until golden. Remove chicken, and drain on paper towels.
3. In a saucepan, combine 1/2 cup water, sugar, vinegar, reserved pineapple juice, and orange food coloring. Heat to boiling. Add pineapple and green bell pepper pieces and allow to simmer for a couple of minutes. Turn off heat. Combine 1/4 cup cornstarch and 1/4 cup water in a cup and mix thoroughly; slowly stir mixture into saucepan. Continue stirring until sauce thickens.
4. Spoon sauce over chicken and eat with rice and egg rolls.

Freezer version
Freeze fried chicken and sauce separately. On serving day: Thaw sauce. Pull chicken out of freezer as oven is preheating to 350 degrees. Place chicken on cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes to crisp outside. In meantime, put sauce in a pot and heat through.

EXTRA TIPS
-Don't pour sauce over all of the chicken. If you have leftovers it makes the chicken soggy. Store them separately in the fridge and the next day, crisp the chicken in the oven at 350 for 10 ish minutes or pan fry the chicken for a couple of minutes, then put sauce on individual portions.

-If you don't have self-rising flour, just add an additional 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder to the regular flour.

-The full version makes A LOT, so I like to double the sauce, or if I'm making it just for my family, I half the batter and the chicken and keep the regular amount of sauce.

White Chicken Chili

2 teaspoon minced dried onions

1 teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon oregano leaves

½ teaspoon garlic powder

2 cans (14 ½ ounces each) white beans

2 cups cooked, cubed chicken

1 cup chicken broth

1 can (4 ½ ounces) chopped green chilies (optional)

* Mix all ingredients in large saucepot. Simmer 15-20 minutes or until heated through.

Freezer meal: Follow all directions, when done place in ziploc bags and freeze. On cooking day- Thaw. Heat through in large pot.

Breaded Parmesan Chicken

INGREDIENTS:
1 clove garlic, minced
1 stick unsalted butter (1/2 cup), melted
1 C dried bread crumbs
1/3 C grated Parmesan chicken
2 Tbls. chopped parsley
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
1 lrg. pinch Italian Seasoning
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken meat, cut into 2x2 in pieces or smaller

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 450. In bowl, combine garlic and melted butter. In another bowl, mix bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, parsley, salt, garlic salt, Italian seasoning, and pepper. Dip chicken pieces into butter then crumb mixture to coat.

Place chicken pieces in 9x13 in. baking dish. Drizzle w/ remaining butter and bake uncovered for 15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.


* To freeze: Place chicken pieces into two 8x8 in. tin pans and bake 15 mins or until cooked through. Cool, cover with foil and put in freezer.

** To eat freezer meal: I've never done this before, but I think you would want to heat the oven to 350 and bake the frozen chicken for 20 minutes or until hot through. Remove chicken from oven. Heat oven to 450 and bake 5-10 minutes to get the outside crispy.

Honey Mustard Chicken

Makes two meals for six people, three meals for four or four meals for three people!

12 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup honey
1 cup prepared mustard
2 tsp dried basil
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp dried parsley

Preheat oven to to 350F. In a 9x13 baking dish, lightly greased, place chicken breasts. In a small bowl, combine honey, mustard, basil, paprika and parsley, mixing well. Pour half of mixture over chicken, using a spoon to make sure that all the chicken has some sauce on top to prevent chicken from drying out. Lightly cover with tin foil. Bake for 30 minutes, remove foil and turn chicken over. Pour remaining sauce over chicken and cook for 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked.

Allow to sit for 10-15 minutes, then divide chicken into appropriate freezer containers for the servings you desire (makes 2 meals for six people; 3 meals for four people; or four meals for three people). Allow to cool and freeze.

On cooking day, thaw completely in fridge (take it out the night before or morning of). In a preheated 350F oven, cook for 20-45 minutes depending on number of breasts, or until completely hot throughout. Serve!

Chicken Flautas

6 (10 inch) flour tortillas
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp. cooking oil
2 c. shredded cooked chicken
1 c. canned black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 c. salsa
1/2 c. shredded Mexican cheese
2 Tbsp snipped fresh cilantro

Warm tortillas in microwave for 30 seconds or until heated through.
In a large saucepan, cook onion and garlic in the 1 tsp hot oil until tender. Stir in chicken, black beans, salsa, the cheese, and cilatnro.
For each flauta, spoon about 1/2 cup filling across each warm tortilla about 1 1/2 inches from one edge. Roll up tortillas as tightly as possible. Secure with wooden toothpicks. Place flautas on a large baking sheet and brush with 1 Tbsp cooking oil. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown and heated through. Serve as directed.
Serve with guacamole, salsa, and sour cream.

Navajo Tacos

3 Cups cooked chicken
1 15-oz can refried beans
1/4 cup water
2 cups chicken broth
1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
1 4oz can chopped green chilies
1 10oz can tomatoes with chilies
1 package flour tortillas (or I used 20 corn tortillas)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

• Shred chicken, set aside.
• Heat refried beans and mix with 1/4 cup water to make spreadable, set aside.
• In saucepan combine chicken broth and flour. Add butter, green chilies and tomatoes with chilies. Heat until the butter is melted and continue cooking until sauce is thick and bubbly.
• In greased foil *pan make the following layers using half for both layers: torn tortillas, refried beans, cheese, chicken and sauce. Repeat layers using remainder of all ingredients. Cover with heave foil. Label and freeze.

To serve: Thaw. Bake for 1 hour at 350. Top with cheese. Serve with lettuce, sour cream and salsa.

*Makes 1 9x13 pan of 2 9x9 pans.

Russian Apricot Chicken

6-8 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
1 Package Dry Onion Soup Mix
1 Cup Apricot Jam
1 Cup russian Salad Dressing

Arrange chicken in a 9x13 greased baking dish. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Bake 45 minutes at 350. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Place in freezer bag. Label and freeze.

To serve: Thaw. Heat until hot and bubbly. Serve with rice.

This recipe may be frozen prior to baking. Freeze in freezer bag. To serve: Thaw. Pour into 9x13 greased baking dish. Bake uncovered at 350 for 1 hour.