Caramelized Chicken Over Rice

Missy Tippens

Well, it's been a crazy week. I've had a family member in the hospital due to a fall, and even though I haven't been able to visit because of Covid regulations, it's made for a chaotic week anyway.

So I'm very thankful for the Dinnerly meals! I wanted to share a little about one that I made that we loved.

I'm not sharing the whole recipe because it's a paid service, and I don't feel like I'd be allowed to share. But I thought I'd tell you about the sauce, which was very unusual.

First, I cooked the snow peas. Then the chicken. I set those aside and used the skillet to make the caramel sauce. Yes, caramel!

Side note:  How do you pronounce that? I say car'-mul (two syllables). :) I was born in the mountains of eastern Kentucky and raised in the southwestern part of the state.

Okay, back to the recipe. You just make a basic caramel using sugar and water (swirling, not stirring). Once it starts to turn amber, add tamari soy sauce and 1 tbs. white wine vinegar. Be prepared: it will foam like crazy just like when you add cream to caramel.

Once it has thickened, add back in the chicken and snow peas. We served it over rice. It was delicious!! A little sweet. A little salty. Such a perfect combination. :)

Have y'all ever used caramel in a savory dish like this? And please tell me how you pronounce caramel and where you're from. I love to hear the differences!

www.missytippens.com

Quick Chicken Stir-fry

Missy Tippens

I recently had a pack of chicken and couldn't decide what to do with it for dinner. Actually, my daughter and I had different opinions about what to make with it! So we finally agreed on stir-fry. It just so happened, she had some sauce she'd used in another recipe, so we decided to use that.

This was so easy and had a lot of flavor (and a little kick).

Chop chicken into bite sized pieces

Sauté in skillet in a little olive oil with garlic and chopped bell peppers.

Add any vegetables you'd like. We had a package of frozen green beans to use. (The cupboard was bare!)

When chicken is done, stir in this wonderful sauce. Serve over rice.

A quick, simple dinner--great for settling disputes over what to do with a pack of chicken! :)

And just for fun, look at the beautiful flower arrangement from church last week. I love the berries!

www.missytippens.com

Egg Roll Bowls

Jan here, with another healthy and simple meal. Actually, Ruthy shared a similar recipe a year ago or so, but it's worth repeating!

We have this one quite often, mostly because it is SO easy!

Here's what you need:

1) Protein. I often use ground beef or diced chicken, but you can use any kind of protein you want. Pork, tofu, scrambled egg... Sometimes I even mix and match.

2) Veggies. I use a bag of coleslaw mix as my base, and then add whatever I have on hand. Onions are always good! Slivered carrots, corn, snow peas, chopped kale, garlic.... Again, I often mix and match.

3) Oil and other liquids. I love to start with sesame oil to soften the onion and garlic, and finish off with soy sauce. Oyster sauce adds a nice flavor, too, but I don't have that very often. You really don't need very much liquid - enough cooks out of the cabbage.

4) Herbs and spices. Don't forget the ginger! A couple teaspoons of ground ginger MAKES this dish. Add other flavorings as you like - cilantro is great, and so is a dash of cayenne.

Set your burner to medium heat.

Use a big pot (I use my 3 quart cast iron dutch oven - it's like a deep frying pan). Cook your meat then add your veggies. Pile the sliced cabbage on until you think the pan is going to overflow...then add another handful.

As the cabbage cooks down, stir the mixture carefully. It only takes about five minutes for the veggies to cook through without turning to mush. 

Taste, and add more soy sauce if needed.

Serve in a large bowl either as it is, or serve it over a bed of rice.

Yummy!

One reason for our quick dinner this week is that the weather has been warm and mild! It won't last, so we take advantage of the break to take refreshing trips up into the Hills.

We really don't need an excuse to go hunting for these views, do we?

*sigh* 

There was no wind the day we were up here, in one of our favorite spots just west of Mt. Rushmore, and all was silent. A few pecks from a woodpecker. A chickadee's chatter. Silence.

There's nothing like it to refresh my soul.

Jan Drexler lives in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her husband and growing family. When she isn't writing, she loves hiking in the Hills or satisfying her cross stitch addiction.

You can find Jan on Facebook, Jan Drexler, author, or her website, Jan Drexler.com.

Tippens Children Cooking

Missy Tippens

I've tried to teach all my kids to cook. My sons took to it pretty quickly. But my daughter resisted. She only wanted to bake! But this year, in the suite-style dorm that has a kitchen, she has started trying some of my recipes. First, we stocked her kitchen well with my hand-me-downs as well as ordering her some of her own pots, pans and utensils. Since then, I've been getting calls from the grocery store asking what to buy. Later, I get calls asking questions during the cooking. :)

I'm so proud of her progress!! And she's proud of herself, which is always nice. I want all my kids to be able to take care of themselves and to eat well, so I'm pleased!

She called this week asking questions about ingredients for stir-fry. Then later, she sent me photos, telling me she had done my blog post for me. LOL

So...drum roll...a Tippens child meal...

First, this is the recipe she used. Vegetable-Chicken Stir-Fry from the Betty Crocker website.

All the ingredients gathered above.

The beautiful chopped vegetables. And yes, if you see that in the background, they have a gas stove in the dorm! I was a bit surprised by that.

She cooked the rice with onions and white wine, by toasting the rice grains with the oil and onions before adding wine and vegetable broth. She said she watched a video on how to cook perfect rice. :)

These are some photos of the stir-fry.

And here's the finished product! She said it was delicious.

I'm grateful for the post material. I haven't cooked much lately because I've been working on her college financial aid forms for the last two or three days. THE LAST TIME EVER!! After 3 kids and 4 years of college for each, I've done the FAFSA 12 times and the Profile (which is ten times worse) 8 times. I'm SOOO thankful for all the financial aid we've received. Our kids were able to attend their dream colleges because of it. But I'm also thrilled to be done with the paperwork. :)

Hope you all have a great weekend!

www.missytippens.com

Chicken (or Pork) with Peppers (or Snow Peas) and Cashews

It was providential that Dana was scheduled to guest chef last week, because I had unexpected oral surgery which meant days of living on yogurt and ice cream. #nocomplaints

But hubby wanted to eat real food and he had his eye on the huge jar of cashews we'd bought at Costco.

He decided he wanted  pork with peppers and cashews.
That worked for me (as you'll see below).
The recipe is easy. I had an assortment of colorful little peppers. I stir fried them, stir fried the pork separately, mixed in the sauce and scallions. Served over rice. Sprinkled liberally with cashews! The catch here is the sauce. Ssssh. Don't tell anyone. It's really just pork gravy thinned out with a dash of soy sauce added in.

But, if you recall, I couldn't eat anything that chunky. I had gotten to the point that I could eat something more than gruel, so I settled on pastina. Remember that cute little star pasta from when the kids were babies?


First I mixed my trusty honey mustard in water and shredded in the cooked pork.

Simmer until very soft.

Serve over pastina!  

So yesterday, hubby was eyeing those cashews again. This time we went for chicken with snow peas and cashews.

So easy. Which was good since I'm in deadline mode.

Oh, and my other cheat - I was tired of buying scallions for him and only using half. So I decided to try these. He never noticed the difference!

What's your favorite stir fry?