Roasted Fresh Veggies

Last week my sister and nephew came into town, so the Hubby and I took them to one of the many lakes up here, my mother-in-law was at the cabin, so we had a nice day surrounded by family.  As we were leaving my mother-in-law gave us a bag of fresh veggies which included carrots, two types of potatoes and green peppers.  So when making dinner the other night I knew I had to finish off the vegetables before the went bad so I roasted them in the oven with fresh herbs and olive oil, and can I say, they were great.  Now the recipe I am going to share with you is not very precise because when you have fresh vegetables they are not the same size as vegetables that you get from the store and for the amount of herbs its however you like and feel free to add or subtract herb depending on what you enjoy or don't enjoy.

Ingredients:

1 Green Pepper
2 Red Potatoes
2 Idaho Potatoes
3-5 Carrots, Peeled
1/8-1/4 C Olive Oil
1 tsp. Salt
1tsp. Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp. Onion Power
(I only used the powder because I did not have garlic cloves nor an onion in my kitchen at the time)
handful  mixture of Fresh Basil, Rosemary, and Parsley, chopped.

1.  Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. Wash and chop all of the vegetable, I do the potatoes last.
3.  Mix in the salt, garlic and onion powder, and seasonings.  Stir well and place on a baking sheet and bake for 30-45 minutes, depending on how big you chop your veggies.

 

4.  If you like feel free to stir the veggies half way through the baking time, I don't because I like the crispy sides that come when you let it bake.

The texture and taste was perfection, I even liked having the powders used because it brought a little extra in, that I can not explain.  I urge you to mess around with the amounts and  types of seasoning that you use, possibly trying dehydrated onions or oregano.  If you are looking for a way to have fresh herbs of you own without having to buy them from the grocery store, I started planting my own because it is SOOOOOOOO much cheaper than buying them from the store.

Please make this as a side dish and ENJOY.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

I LOVE sweet and sour chicken, honestly I am pretty sure I  could eat it everyday.  So when I find a recipe that not only has me making the chicken the way I like it, but also has me making the sauce, I have to try it.  The hubby likes Chinese food, but he is very wishy-washy when it comes to liking it.  Now this recipe does take some time for preparation but the ingredient list is very small and most of them I already had in my kitchen.

Ingredients:

Chicken:
2-3 Boneless Chicken Breasts
1 C. Cornstarch
2-3 Eggs, Beaten
1/2 C. Corn Oil (vegetable oil will work too)
Salt and Pepper

Sauce:
3/4 C. Sugar
4 Tbsp Ketchup
1/2 C. White Vinegar
1 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
1 tsp. Garlic Salt

Directions:
1.  Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2.  Cut the chicken into cubes and season with salt and pepper.

3.  Dip the chicken into the cornstarch, and coat them all over, the dip the chicken into the eggs.
4.  Heat the oil in a skillet and cook the chicken until it is browned, but not thoroughly cooked.

5.  Place the chicken on a 9x13 greased baking sheet.

6.  Mix all of the sauce ingredients together and whisk until smooth.

7.  Pour the sauce over the chicken and bake for 45 minutes-one hour.

This chicken is moist and delicious, and the sauce is perfect!  I served this with my fried rice recipe and it was just as good as I find at take-out restaurants.  The only warning I can give you, is when you are baking the chicken to be careful when you open the oven door, the hot vinegar burns your eyes so make sure your are facing away from the oven when you open it.  Other than that, make this and ENJOY!