Sweet & Sour Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 C White Sugar

1/4 C Brown Sugar

1/4 C Cornstarch

1/3 C Vinegar (white, rice or apple cider)

2/3 C Water or Pineapple juice

1/4 C Soy Sauce

~4 Tbsp Ketchup

Directions:

1. Mix together sugars and cornstarch. This is important to do so that once the liquid is added it doesn't clump up your cornstarch.
2. Add water (or juice), vinegar, soy sauce and ketchup. I like to mix the water first so that I can make sure that the sugar and cornstarch mix well, then I add the rest.
3. Bring mixture to a boil and boil until clear, usually about five minutes.

Hint: Double or triple so that you can freeze the leftovers for easier dinners later on :)

Chinese Lemon Chicken Sauce

I love lemon chicken, but I have never found a recipe that makes it like the Mandarin Chinese restaurants do. I made some from a recipe that I found and it turned out nasty. Needless to say, it got dumped down the sink. I then proceeded to modify the recipe so that now it really is just a recipe that I came up with using the ideas from other recipes. Here goes:

Ingredients:

• 1/4 C cornstarch (flour will also work. Modify this to make the consistency thinner/thicker)
• 1 C white sugar
• 1 C chicken broth
• 2 - 4 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 - 2 tsp lemon zest
• 3 slices lemon (basically I used 1 lemon for these three things)
• dash of soy sauce, to taste

Directions:

1. Mix together the sugar and cornstarch. This is important to do because it prevents the cornstarch from clotting.
2. Add the chicken broth and lemon juice and mix well.
3. Pour into a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil. Make sure to stir almost the whole time or you will get burned sauce on the bottom. While you are waiting for the sauce to boil, zest your lemon rind and mix it in well.
4. Once the sauce is boiling, let boil while stirring consistently for at least 1 minute. After that the sauce should be thick. If its not as thick as you would like, make a flour/cornstarch slurry out of 1/4 C flour and just enough COLD water to make it pourable. Mix it well so that there are not any lumps. Pour in small quantities into your boiling sauce until it comes to a desired thickness. Once again, let boil for at least 1 minute to boil out the taste of the flour.
5. While it is still boiling, add the lemon slices and let boil for 1 - 2 minutes then remove them from the sauce.
6. Pour over stir-fried chicken or other meat of choice.

Hint: I like to double or triple my sauces and then freeze all of the extra to make it easier the next time we have the meal.

Orange Chicken Sauce

We like to make Chinese food and this one has been made many times at our house. Even the kids love this sauce.

Ingredients:

2-4 TB Cornstarch (depends on how thick you like your sauce)

1/2 C Water

1-1/2 C Sugar

1/2 C Ketchup

1/2 C White Vinegar

Dash of Soy Sauce

1 Orange (I use the zest from about half of this orange and then I use all the juice from it)

Red Pepper Flakes (to taste - I like to have just a slight zing to it)

Directions:

Mix together the cornstarch and water (make sure to use cold water or you will get clumps). Mix all of the rest of the ingredients together and cook in a saucepan. Once boiling, boil until thickened. It will also be slightly clear. I like to double this recipe and freeze the other half so that it makes an easy dinner down the road.

General Tsao’s Chicken

More commonly know at our house as "Daddy Chicken."  :)  Here is Jon's version as per everybody's requests.

Ingredients:
--- Sauce ---
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger root
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup hot chicken broth
--- Chicken ---
3 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into bite size pieces
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tsp Sesame Oil
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
Red Pepper Flakes (add for desired heat - approx. 1 tsp for very mild, kid friendly heat)

Directions:

1. To Make Sauce: In a large bowl combine cornstarch and water. Mix together. Add garlic, ginger, sugar, soy sauce and white wine vinegar. Then add chicken broth and stir all together until sugar dissolves. Refrigerate until needed.
2. To Prepare Chicken: In a Wok, add oils. While the pan is heating up, sprinkle on the white pepper and red pepper flakes. This helps release the heat from the red pepper. Don't let the red pepper cook too long or it will burn.  Allow to cook for only 30 seconds or so.  Add the chicken and mix around to coat the chicken in the oil mixture. Add a few dashes of soy sauce.  Cook until chicken is done. If there is any excess liquid, drain this out of the pan before continuing on to the next step.
3. To Make Mixture: Remove sauce from refrigerator and stir. Move the chicken to the sides of the wok and add sauce to wok. Cook until sauce thickens.  Serve with rice and steamed broccoli for our favorite full meal plan.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

I like to 1 1/2 or even double the sauce because I think they are too dry otherwise.

Ingredients:
--- Meatballs ---
2lbs. ground beef
1 1/2 cups oats
2 eggs
1/2 cup onion
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
--- Sauce ---
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons mustard
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
dash Worcestershire sauce

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375.  For the Meatballs, combine all ingredients in bowl and shape into balls. Place in a greased 9x13 pan.  For sauce, mix all ingredients well. Pour over meatballs.  Bake uncovered for 45 mins.  Serve with rice.

You can also freeze it, just cover with heavy duty foil. Thaw in fridge overnight.