Lighter Orange Chicken

I made this the other night for Mike and I… not only was it super easy, but it was delicious! I put juuuuuust a little too much Siracha in it… but other than that, it was amazing! Enjoy!

Lighter Orange Chicken
Lighter Orange Chicken

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced into small 1-inch pieces
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp canola oil
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tsp orange zest
  • 1/3 cup fresh orange juice
  • 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp low-sodium chicken broth
  • 3 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
  • 3 Tbsp honey
  • 2 1/2 Tbsp granulted sugar
  • 3/4 tsp onion powder
  • 1/4 tsp dried ginger
  • 2 Tbsp white vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp Sriracha hot sauce (optional)
  • 2 Tbsp cornstarch
  • Chopped green onions and sesame seeds, for serving

Directions

Heat a wok over moderately high heat. Add canola oil and once hot add chicken and season lightly with salt and pepper. Cook chicken, tossing occasionally, until it has cooked through, about 5 – 6 minutes. Transfer to a plate, leaving the little bit of remaining oil behind. Reduce burner to medium heat and return skillet to heat. Add garlic and saute 30 seconds. Remove from heat. Add in orange juice, 1/4 cup of the chicken broth, the orange zest, soy sauce, honey, sugar, onion powder, ginger, vinegar and Sriracha. Season with salt and pepper to taste and return to heat. In a small bowl stir together cornstarch with remaining 2 Tbsp chicken broth until well blended. Pour mixture into wok, cook and stir constantly until sauce bubbles and has thickened well. Remove from heat and toss chicken in sauce mixture.

Serve warm with white or brown rice and top with green onions and sesame seeds.

From: Cooking Classy

In Memoriam: Stuart Scott

This morning the sports world woke up to the sad news that Stuart Scott lost his seven year battle with cancer at the very, very young age of 49.

I was able to meet Stuart back in 2004 at Tiger Jam in Las Vegas. He was a really cool guy and my heart goes out to his wife and two little girls.

If you haven’t seen it, watch the video below… one of the most moving speeches I’ve heard in a long, long time.

Requiescat in pace, Stuart.

A Most Excellent Day

Today is my 34th birthday… I can’t believe how quickly time goes by! Wow, how old does that make me sound?!

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned how important spending time with the people I love is… and that’s what my whole day was about. I spent the morning with my awesome hubby getting our old truck sold, then headed out to go riding with my niece Katie. Her birthday was a while back and we’ve been waiting for good weather to go riding (that was our gift). Today was the big day… and it was a blast!

Katie & Missy
Katie & Missy
Katie & I Riding
Katie & I Riding

Finally, I ended the night with my CERT friends… the coordinator team met up for an end of year dinner at Chevy’s. They surprised me with the whole sombrero/singing thing (honestly surprised… the waiter slapped it on my head from behind and scared the crap out of me!) and it was great to just share a meal together.

Tomorrow the festivities continue (I always seem to have more of a birthday week!) with a pizza oven extravaganza, after I ride with my sister (because it’s not a good day if I don’t get to ride!). Life is pretty darned good… here’s to enjoying every minute between now and 35!

DIY Daily Calendar Journal

Instead of focusing on resolutions this year, I decided to try something a little different. I found the idea on Pinterest which led me to this site with a cute little tutorial. The idea is that you write the year and then a sentence (or phrase) about the day. Each year you add a line to the card and over time your perpetual calendar becomes almost a diary of sorts.

Mine is not nearly as fancy… and I didn’t use the printables… instead I used regular index cards (in fun colors, of course) and wrote the date on the top right corner of each one.

Here’s what my little box looks like:

Daily Calendar Journal
Daily Calendar Journal
Daily Calendar Journal
Daily Calendar Journal

I found the containers at Staples (because I’m obsessed with that place) as well as the index cards and the dividers. I made a box for my mom, sister, and aunt. We’ve tossed around ideas such as using it as a God Box Project or a gratitude journal as well… I’m going to stick to the sentence about each day. I’m going to try to do it each night before bed and to be honest… if it’s a crummy day, then the sentence may reflect that. I’m a firm believer that everything is not always rainbows and sunshine and sometimes it’s therapeutic to get the not-so-good stuff documented. I’ll use it as sort of a “put the day to bed” moment.

Here’s to an amazing 2015! Stay tuned over the next few days… I’ll be posting a review of my new Erin Condren life planner! I can’t wait to share it!