Orange Chicken and Veg Stir Fry

My kids love Panda Express.  Who doesn't?  So I try to make stir-fry's as much as I can...it can be a pain with all of the ingredients, but once you buy them all you'll have everything to make plenty of Asian dishes.
So we had Orange Chicken tonight...but not deep friend and coated with all that gooey (too sweet for me) sauce.  I made my own sauce and it was pretty darn good.

Here's my recipe:

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
cornstarch
salt (to taste)

First cut up the chicken into 1 inch cubes. Lightly dust with cornstarch and toss with salt.
Set aside.





Veggies:  (feel free to interchange with your favorites)
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1-2 C sliced mushrooms
2 peppers (one red, one yellow)


Sauce:
2 C water
1/2 C fresh orange juice
1 T fresh lemon juice
Grated rind from 1 orange
Grated ginger (or ground)...to taste
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 C rice vinegar
2 T low sodium soy sauce
1/2 C brown sugar
1/4 C cornstarch

Mix all sauce ingredients in a bowl with a whisk.  Heat in a saucepan to boiling, then lower heat and simmer until reduced and thickened.

Heat wok or large frying pan on high heat.  Add peanut or canola oil. Sear chicken all over to form light crust, cook almost all the way.  Take out chicken, drain on paper towels.  Add veggies to wok, cook on high heat, constantly stirring for 3-5 minutes. Add chicken, stir fry for another minute or so.  Add thickened sauce (might not need it all) and toss all together with chicken and veggies.
Top with extra chopped green onions and red pepper flakes, if desired.
We love to eat with sticky white rice and chopsticks.

Easiest Homemade Bread

I attempted to bake some bread today.  I think I succeeded.  I put some ingredients in a bowl, mixed it up, baked it, and I had two loaves of homemade bread.  It was good. It wasn't great.
I need to practice.

Here's my recipe:
5 to 5 1/2 C bread flour
1 1/2 T fast-acting yeast
4 T sugar
1 1/2 t fine sea salt
1/4 C canola oil
1/2 C milk
2 C hot tap water
Extra flour for kneading.

Mix flour (start with 5 cups), yeast, sugar and salt in mixer.  Add oil, milk and water.  Mix on low for 5 minutes or until it starts to form a ball.  (If yours is still very sticky, add a little more flour here. I didn't do this until later, and I think that was my mistake.) I tried to take out and knead at this point, but it was still too sticky, and I couldn't get it to stay together.  I added 2 tablespoons or so of flour and put it back in the mixer, I let it go for another 5 minutes.  This tightened it up and I was able to knead much better on my board.  Knead for just a few minutes, then cut dough into two parts.  I formed two round loaves.
Spray cookie sheet with spray, then place loaves on it.
Cover with dry towel and place in warm spot to rise, about 45 minutes-1 hour.

Slice an "X" with tip of sharp knife on each loaf.  Bake in a preheated 350 oven for 30-40 minutes.  Check bread at 30 min. Should be golden brown on top, and hollow sound when tapped.
I had to bake mine a little longer, it wasn't quite done inside.

It tasted good, like homemade bread should.  But it was a little underdone in one small section...and I believe my mistake was adding the extra flour after it had been in the mixer and taken out, and then back in again.
I've been reading online, next time I will use cornmeal or sugar on my board instead of extra flour.