Sweet and Sour Chicken

We love Chinese at this house.  My second daughter, home from college for Winter break, will always request it.  She helped me with this meal, we actually made home made cream cheese wantons to go with (recipe to follow, soon).  We were not counting points/calories with this meal.....  Oh well, maybe next time?  Enjoy!  It was not as putzy as I thought it would be.  Served with wontons, rice and egg rolls (didn't make the egg rolls, might try it one day...).

Sweet and Sour Chicken

3-5 chicken breast

Breading:
salt and pepper
1 c. cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 c. canola oil

Sauce:
3/4 c. sugar
4 T. ketchup
1/2 c. white distilled vinegar
1 T. soy sauce
1 tsp. garlic salt

Rinse chicken, trim off fat or extras,  cut into 1 inch cubes. Season with salt and pepper. Dip chicken into cornstarch, coat all the way, then dip into eggs. Heat oil in large skillet. Cook chicken until browned. Place in baking dish. Jellyroll pan works great!

Whisk sauce ingredients until smooth, warm slightly on stovetop. Pour evenly over chicken. Turn chicken so the sauce gets on both sides, bake in oven at 350° degrees for 15 minutes, turn chicken, cook for 15 more minutes.

Navy Bean and Ham Soup

It's freezing out!  I know I shouldn't complain, we could have a lot more of this frigid weather....  A must for these chili days is soup!  This is what I like to call "real" homemade soup.  You need a soup bone, dried beans, potatoes.  Not a can in sight.  Save those ham bones, they are filled with flavor!  If you have never prepared dried beans with this quick method, do it!  It works great!  I love, love, love this soup!

Navy Bean and Ham Soup
7 c. water
1 lb. navy beans
1 sm. onion, chopped
2 lg. carrots, grated
2 c. cubed cooked ham
2 lg. potatoes, peeled and cubed small
1 ham bone
1/2 tsp. salt
1 bay leaf
dash pepper

Heat water and beans to boiling in large kettle; boil for 2 minutes.  Remove from heat; cover and let stand for 1 hour.  Stir in remaining ingredients, excluding potatoes (add potatoes after soup has simmered for 30 minutes).  Heat to boiling; reduce heat, cover and simmer until beans are tender, about 1-1/4 hours (do not boil or beans will burst).  Remove ham bone and bay leaf; trim meat from bone and stir into soup.

Change in format

Hello everyone, I would like to let everyone know (and apologize :) that I will no longer be posting Weight Watchers point values.  The Weight Watchers program continues to change, in order to keep from confusion as to which program I am following, I am going to discontinue this portion of my blog. I am a great supporter of Weight Watchers, those of you following their plan.....  Way to go!

BBQ Spare Ribs

This was my first ever attempt at making ribs, the real kind, like the ones you order at a rib joint.  I always assumed they must be a little difficult, or at least you must know exactly what you are doing.  Boy was I wrong!  I'm actually feeling kind of silly about this :).  I figured there was no way I could replicate the "falling off the bone" ribs that I love to order.  I did it!  This recipe is really as easy as it looks, with awesome results.  The recipe calls for 6 pound of spareribs, I think I had closer to 10 pounds, I didn't change the sauce amount, it goes a long way.  Having extra to keep in the fridge would actually be kind of nice, it's really good!  These ribs have been my sister Sandy's "Famous Ribs" for a long time (I guess I didn't believe her when she told me how easy they are to make :).

BBQ Spare Ribs

6 lbs. pork spareribs
1-1/2 c. ketchup
3/4 c. packed brown sugar
1/4 c. vinegar
1/2 c. honey
1/3 c. soy sauce
1-1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground mustard
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. pepper

Cut ribs into serving size pieces; place with meaty side up on racks in two greased 9 x 13-inch pans (if you don't have racks, don't worry about it, just put into pans).  Cover tightly with foil.  Bake at 350° for 1-1/2 hours or until meat is tender.  Drain;  remove racks and return ribs to pans.  Combine remaining ingredients into medium saucepan, heat on stove-top, no need to boil, just enough to make sure everything is blended well; pour over ribs.  Return to oven, uncovered, for 35 minutes or until sauce coats ribs, basting half way through.  Ribs could also be grilled for that last 35 minutes.