KITCHEN KREATION: General Tso's Chicken

Family, I'm back! Tonight I decided to try my hand at making Chinese at home again. Hubby's favorite dish whenever we go out to eat at a Chinese restaurant is General Tso's Chicken. As a matter of fact, the decision as to whether we will be back or not is primarily based on if the restaurant has a good General Tso's. It has to combine the exact right amount of sweet and spicy in order to score my hubby's affection. If the General Tso's is not up to par, there is a good chance that we will never be back.

The problem with the General Tso's that is sold in the restaurant is that it is battered and deep fried then smothered with a sweet sauce. There might be 2 or 3 broccoli sprigs thrown on just to say that there are vegetables on the plate. The caloric intake of a plate of General Tso's tends to average around 1300 calories with a staggering 3200 mg of sodium! Since hubby is being dragged along in my attempts to make us both healthier, I decided to make his favorite dish at home with my own little spin on it.

To start off, there was no batter anywhere near my chicken. It was also pan fried with about a tablespoon of oil versus being deep fried in oil. I also did not use any MSG and used low sodium sauces as much as possible. Hopefully my version is at least a little healthier. We'll find out when I calculate everything on SparkPeople. Hope you enjoy my healthier version!

INGREDIENTS
2-3 pounds of boneless skinless chicken
12 ounce bag of frozen broccoli
½ onion – sliced thinly
1 clove garlic – minced
½ tsp ground ginger
2 Tbsp corn starch
¼ cup low sodium soy sauce

1 cup low sodium chicken stock
1/3 cup sugar
¼ cup low sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp sesame oil (stir fry oil)
2 Tbsp cooking sherry
1.5 tsp hot chili garlic sauce
1 Tbsp hoisin sauce
2 Tbsp cornstarch
water


DIRECTIONS

1. Make sauce by adding chicken stock, sugar, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, cooking sherry, hot chili garlic sauce, and hoisin sauce to bowl. Stir well until rice has dissolved.
2. Rinse chicken well. Cut into bite sized 1 inch pieces.
3. Pour in ¼ cup soy sauce & 2 Tbsp corn starch. Mix well and marinate for 5 minutes.
4. While meat is marinating, prepare vegetables. Thinly slice ½ yellow onion.
5. Heat 1 Tbsp vegetable oil in hot wok. Add chicken and sauté until browned. Remove from wok and let drain on plate with paper towels.
6. Add another Tbsp of vegetable oil to wok. Add onions, garlic, and ginger. Saute until tender and fragrant.
7. Add chicken to wok and stir well to incorporate flavors.
8. Make thickener slurry by mixing 2 Tbsp cornstarch and water in a small bowl. Should just have enough water to dissolve the cornstarch. Stir well until dissolved and add to sauce.
9. Stir sauce well and add to hot wok.
10. Bring chicken and sauce mixture to a boil. Lower heat and let simmer for 10 minutes or until sauce begins to thicken.
11. Serve with rice and enjoy!

This just in, according to SparkPeople, for six servings, my version only has 301 calories and 1404 mg sodium. That's a big improvement from the numbers in the restaurant, but I will have to tweak this a little more to get the sodium levels down lower. May omit the dark soy sauce next time and the soy sauce used to marinate the chicken. I think next time I will just coat the chicken in the corn starch and saute it up that way. Will keep you posted.

I checked again and if the soy sauce used to marinate the chicken and the dark soy sauce is omitted, the sodium levels drop down to 799 mg. I think I can live with that...


Hubby gave this one two thumbs up and said that if I keep this up, I'm gonna give the local restaurants a run for their money. LOL!!!

New Delhi Indian Restaurant: Philadelphia, PA

LOCATION: 4004 Chestnut St
Philadelphia, PA 19104
www.newdelhiweb.com

For phase 3 of our date day, the hubby and I went to this amazing Indian restaurant located near the University of Pennsylvania. My brother told us a while ago that this was the best Indian food that he had found in Philly, so of course we had to try it. Let me tell y'all, that food was so doggoned good, I am convinced that SOMEBODY'S grandma absolutely had to be in the back cooking. Everything was so well seasoned. Hubby ordered the buffet, and I ordered from the menu.


From the buffet, he had both meat and vegetarian dishes and there wasn't a single thing that I "sampled" from his plate that I did not like. (hehehe)


I ordered the Chicken Tikka Masala in medium heat with a side of garlic naan bread.
OH. MY. WORD.


Is "deliciousness" a real word? Because that is the only word that I can think of to describe that plate. Yummy spiciness, succulent chicken, tender pieces of basmati rice, oh and we can't forget the garlic naan. I think that was pure heaven on a plate. We will definitely be going back. Especially since apparently, the buffet changes from day to day. Hubby says that he has to go back to taste some of the other entrees. I'm sure that his research will be purely for scientific purposes and to help me out on my blog posts.
Riiiiigghhhttt...
LOL




So anyway, if you are up in the Philly area, check out the ambience and the food at the New Delhi Indian Restaurant. It won't disappoint.

Honey's Sit & Eat: Philadelphia, PA

Location: 800 North 4th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19123-2207
http://www.honeys-restaurant.com/

I know, I know, fam, I have truly been missing in action. Well, that's because the hubby and I recently moved out of Missouri and are now living up on the east coast. This weekend was the first weekend in over a month that we didn't have anything too pressing to do, so how did we spend it? We had a day-long date! Talk about fun times!

To start our date off, we went to Honey's Sit & Eat located in Northern Liberties right here in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We found Honey's from a review online talking about their breakfasts. It was featured on Food Network on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives with Guy Fieri.
Even though he ate the Chicken Chili Frito Pie on the show, it gave us the idea to see what yelp.com and urbanspoon.com had to say about this cool little spot.


Both sites had really good reviews for their breakfast and brunch. So, to start our date day off right, we went to Honey's to try their breakfast. The reviews online were right on point. I had the Huevos Ranchero with scrambled eggs. It was so good. I couldn't eat it all because they give you such a monstrous portion. The eggs were layered on top of some spicy beans and crispy corn tortillas. It had a small side of lettuce with pico de gallo sitting next to it. A dollop of sour cream and a scoop of jalapenos on the plate made the perfect condiments. I think I was supposed to have some salsa with it but everything was so good and the beans were already spicy, I didn't even really miss the salsa. I seem to vaguely remember mentioning that fact to my hubby as I was stuffing my face full of this delicious meal.


Hubby decided to be adventurous and ordered the Bubby's Brisket 3-Egg Omelet. It came with their special slow-cooked brisket and had spinach and carmelized onions folded into the eggs. Hubby asked if he could have cream cheese added too and man, did that make a difference! The cream cheese added this extra creaminess to the omelet. I'm thinking about doing that at home from here on out. Try it, folks, you will be pleasantly surprised. Don't even get me started on the home fries with peppers and onions or the potato latke. Notice the latke didn't even make the pictures, it was so good, by the time I thought about snapping a shot of it, it was half-way gone. LOL!!!


All in all, we both definitely recommend Honey's Sit and Eat. I can't wait to go back for lunch or dinner one of these days because the breakfast did NOT disappoint. Happy Eating!


After breakfast, hubby and I went to see the final Harry Potter movie in 3D at the Imax theater, we did a little shopping, and for dinner, went to this AMAZING Indian restaurant. Reviews on that to follow. Hope everyone else is having a great weekend! We sure are!!!

KITCHEN KREATION: Okra & Sausage Stew

As promised from yesterday's post, today's recipe is a healthier version of a Southern Classic. I decided to experiment with okra tonight by making an okra & turkey sausage "stew". I actually combined a couple of recipes found on YouTube. The first came from Ateyaa titled, Okra, Shrimp, Sausage, Fresh & Dried Shrimp, & Crab. Click on the link to watch her video. She had a LOT of stuff going on in her version and since the hubby doesn't like seafood, I decided to omit all of that. The other recipe came from a southern cooks cookbook with a similar recipe which didn't have the meat but suggested to add the corn and stewed tomatoes. What resulted was a delicious blend that I made a little healthier by adding smoked turkey sausage instead of smoked pork sausage. I also used "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Light" and cooking spray instead of the butter and oil. As stated in the previous blog, I am not a fan of okra or tomatoes, but I am finding myself experimenting more and more with new recipes and new vegetables. Even I liked this one. Try it out and let me know what you think.

A friend of mine from grade school saw the picture and thought that it looked kind of like a thick gumbo to him. That got me thinking again... I bet this would be really good over some rice and made a little spicier with some cayenne pepper. Sounds like a plan for the leftovers. Hubby and I just ate it straight like this in a bowl and man was it good. Hope you like it!


INGREDIENTS

2 packages frozen cut okra (12 oz)
1 package frozen kernal corn
1 medium onion - chopped
1 can stewed tomatoes
8 oz can tomato paste
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 Tbsp I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Light
1 Tbsp flour (optional)
1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1 package Smoked Turkey Sausage
cooking spray


DIRECTIONS

1. Melt 2 tablespoons of light butter in large skillet.
2. Add okra, onions, and vinegar to skillet. Cover and saute over medium heat for approximately 20-30 minutes stirring frequently until okra is no longer slimy.
3. Add corn and tomatoes to mixture. Stir well.
4. Add salt, pepper, and flour. Stir well to blend seasonings. The flour will thicken the sauce.
5. Reduce heat, cover skillet, and simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Spray another skillet with cooking spray.
7. Chop smoked turkey sausage and saute until browned lightly.
8. Add turkey sausage to okra mixture and mix well.
9. Can eat plain or over rice.

KITCHEN KREATION: Watermelon Lemonade Spritzer

Back to Monique's blog at YesDivasCanCook. This delicious drink came from her video entry to Recipe Lion, found here. I'm not sure if it was a contest or not, but she added it to her email for summer recipes. Since I happened to have some watermelon already chilling in the refrigerator, I thought I would try this yummy looking drink. It was pretty easy to make and tasted amazing! Of course I changed it a bit by adding a little coconut rum to it. Trust me, it was great! LOL

Here's the recipe, I hope you enjoy!

INGREDIENTS
16 oz. Seltzer Water
3-4 cups watermelon – cubed
2/3 cup hot water
½ cup sugar (more or less depending on how sweet your watermelon is)
½ cup fresh lemon juice – equiv. to 2 large lemons
2-4 oz Coconut Rum (optional)


DIRECTIONS

1. Combine sugar with hot water to make simple syrup. Stir until sugar has dissolved, set aside.
2. Add chopped watermelon to blender, puree until chunks are gone, approximately 1 minute.
3. Strain watermelon puree in mesh strainer to remove pulp and seeds over your serving pitcher. May have to use a spoon or spatula to stir the watermelon to press juice through strainer.
4. Add simple syrup and lemon juice into serving pitcher. Stir to combine.
5. Pour seltzer water into serving pitcher. Stir well.
6. Add coconut rum to mixture and stir well (optional).
7. Pour into glasses directly over ice.
8. Garnish with a slice of lemon or a watermelon wedge and enjoy!

KITCHEN KREATION: Fresh Tomato Pie

Ok blog family, I know I have been missing in action lately, but I am truly blaming it on the fact that things have been really busy and hectic around here. I narrowly missed not one but two tornadoes this past week, I got to fly to Philadelphia to visit some family, and then had to come back and put my car in the shop. Wooo! It has been a crazy week...

So anyway, I decided to make it up to my dear hubby who has been so supportive and patient with the craziness around here. Tonight I decided to make my BBQ Chicken pizza which he loves and I decided to experiment with a new drink (the Watermelon Lemonade Spritzer). Thanks, Monique, it was AMAZING!!! I also tried another one of her recipes the Fresh Tomato Pie. Now keep in mind that I am NOT a fresh tomato eater at all and even I had to say, dang, this is good! Tomorrow, I will be experimenting again with an Okra and Sausage Stew (and no I don't eat okra either). Of course all recipes have my spins on them based on what we like to eat over here, so be sure to stay tuned!

The tomato pie recipe actually came from the YesDivasCanCook blog email, but she said that she will put up the video in a few weeks. Here is my slightly adapted version of her recipe. If you like tomatoes or even if you like Italian food, you have GOT to taste this! It tasted like everything that should go in spaghetti without the actual pasta. Hubby gave this recipe two thumbs up and as the self-proclaimed tomato hater of the family, I even had to admit it turned out really delicious. Hope you like it.


INGREDIENTS

Pie Crust
5 tomatoes, seeded & diced
1/2 small red or yellow onion – sautéed
1 clove garlic - minced
3 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
3/4 cup Light Mayonnaise
1/2 cup fat free mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
fresh basil, chopped (optional)
cooking spray


DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Press pie dough into 9-inch pie dish plate and poke holes in crust to prevent crust from rising.
3. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until slightly golden.
4. Sauté onions in skillet using cooking spray until tender.
5. Add minced garlic to onions and cook until fragrant, approximately 1 minute. Stir well.
6. Season diced tomatoes and onions with Italian seasoning, oregano, salt & pepper. Stir well to coat the seasonings. Taste and adjust the seasonings accordingly.
7. Pour the mixture into the pie shell and spread evenly.
8. Mix mayonnaise and cheeses in small bowl.
9. Spread mixture evenly over the onion and tomato mixture.
10. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until lightly golden.
11. Top with fresh, chopped basil (optional)
12. Let sit for 5 minutes and serve.
13. Serve warm or cold.

NEW NOTE: Hubby just had his 2nd piece and said, "Babe, you just made a pie out of tomatoes and it's the freakin' bomb!" LOL

I just entered all the data for this recipe into the SparkPeople recipe calculator and 1 serving (1/8 of pie) is only 221 calories! It would probably be even less if I used fat free mayo (may have to try that next time).

Happy Mother's Day!

Wishing all of the mothers out there a blessed & happy Mother's Day today!
Whether you are a birth mother, an adoptive mother, a grandmother, sister, aunt, or cousin who is taking care of & raising children, I wish you a wonderful & relaxing day today. You definitely deserve it for all that you do and as a child to a wonderful mother, we appreciate you!

A lot has happened between Mother's Day of 2010 and Mother's Day of 2011. I can honestly say that I am so happy & blessed to have a mother who loves me enough to drop everything and to come take care of me, to sit by my bedside, and to pray for me. Thank God I have a praying mother, not sure where I would be right now if I didn't have her interceding to the Lord on my behalf.

That being said, we took another Mother's Day picture in front of her house this year. I look at this picture and I'm amazed when I look at the picture from last year where we are in almost the exact same pose. Can't wait to see next year's picture. What a difference a year can make...

TGIF Music Blast: Adele - Rolling In The Deep

Ok, this has been my favorite song of the week. This is Adele's first and lead single from her sophomore album "21".
Let me tell you, I have been singing this song at the top of my lungs off and on all week. I love Adele's voice. It is so sultry and soulful and the words to this song are amazing. Check it out, you'll find yourself tapping your foot to the old feel of this song.

There's a fire starting in my heart
Reaching a fever pitch, and it's bringing me out the dark
Finally I can see you crystal clear
Go ahead and sell me out and I'll lay your shit bare
See how I'll leave with every piece of you
Don't underestimate the things that I will do
There's a fire starting in my heart
Reaching a fever pitch
And it's bringing me out the dark

The scars of your love remind me of us
They keep me thinking that we almost had it all
The scars of your love, they leave me breathless
I can't help feeling
We could have had it all
Rolling in the deep
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)
You had my heart inside of your hand
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)
And you played it to the beat
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)

Baby, I have no story to be told
But I've heard one of you
And I'm gonna make your head burn
Think of me in the depths of your despair
Making a home down there
As mine sure won't be shared

The scars of your love remind me of us
They keep me thinking that we almost had it all
The scars of your love, they leave me breathless
I can't help feeling
We could have had it all
Rolling in the deep
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)
You had my heart inside of your hand
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)
And you played it to the beat
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)
We could have had it all
Rolling in the deep
You had my heart inside of your hand
But you played it with a beating

Throw your soul through every open door
Count your blessings to find what you look for
Turn my sorrow into treasured gold
You pay me back in kind and reap just what you sow

(You're gonna wish you never had met me)
We could have had it all
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)
We could have had it all
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)
It all, it all, it all
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)

We could have had it all
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)
Rolling in the deep
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)
You had my heart inside of your hand
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)
And you played it to the beat
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)

You could have had it all
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)
Rolling in the deep
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)
You had my heart inside of your hand
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)

But you played it
You played it
You played it
You played it to the beat.