General Tso’s Chicken

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, sliced into 1-inch cubes
1 1/2 cups cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 cups vegetable oil for frying
2 teaspoon garlic, minced

Marinade:
1 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 egg whites

Sauce:
1/4 cup chicken stock, or substitute water
1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon Chinese hot chili sauce
1 teaspoons sesame oil/or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch

1. Prepare the marinade: In a large bowl, combine the soy sauce, rice vinegar, and egg whites. Coat the chicken to the marinade mixture and let sit for 10 minutes.

2. Prepare the sauce: In a small bowl, combine the chicken stock, tomato paste, sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar, chili sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and the 1 teaspoon of cornstarch. Stir until the sugar and cornstarch are dissolved. Set the sauce aside.

3. In a large bowl or deep plate, toss the 1 1/2 cups cornstarch with the salt and pepper. Coat the marinated chicken in the cornstarch and shake off any excess before frying.

4. Heat the 3 cups of vegetable oil in your skillet or wok. Working in 2 or 3 batches add the first batch of chicken cubes and fry until golden brown on the outside and cooked through, about 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Repeat with the rest of the chicken.

5. Drain the oil into a heatproof container and save for discarding. Wipe the wok with a paper towel to remove any brown bits, but don’t wash.

6. Reheat the wok or skillet over medium-high heat. Add another 1 tablespoon of oil and swirl to coat the base and sides. Add the garlic to the skillet/wok and stir-fry until just fragrant, about 20 seconds. Pour in the sauce mixture and stir until thickened, about 1 to 2 minutes.

7. Return the chicken to the wok and stir well to coat with sauce. After the chicken is coated you can also add steamed veggies if you would like. Garnish with white sesame seeds and scallions. Serve with rice or noodles.

I found the inspiration for this recipe on Pinerest and Appetite for China. I tweaked it a little using what products I could find at my local grocery store. And it turned out AMAZING!!!

Another Pinterest find!!!

{How did I ever get by without this site?!?}

Homemade Hand Soap

What you need:

1 cup of grated bar soap (I used Yardley Oatmeal & Almond) ($0.97)

1 table spoon Glycerin ($3.47)

10 cups of water

You will need to grate the bar of soap using a cheese grater.

I grated the soap in a 9×13 pan. While making a batch of the  homemade Laundry Soap  with my mom today she showed me a trick that made the grating so much easier…lay the grater on its side! (OK maybe you already knew to do that, but I didn’t.)

Found this idea on Pinterest. (and FYI Pinterest  is absolutely addicting!)

The website where the recipe (would you call this a recipe since you don’t eat it?) is at says it will be enough for 9 months – year of laundry.  Not sure  if that will be the fact for us considering that we are a family of five but even if I get 4-6 months out of it, I will save tons of money using this instead of Tide or Era, heck even the store brand laundry soap.

I found all of the ingredients at Walmart except for the Borax. Not sure if they were out or they don’t carry it but I was able to find it at Chief, our local grocery store.

1 4 lb 12 oz box Borax -($5.15)

1 4 lb box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda -($2.16)

1 box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda -($3.24)

3 bars of Fels-Naptha soap -($0.97 each or $2.91 for three)

1 3lb tub OxyClean ($7.52)

That is a total of $20.98

I grated the Fels-Naptha soap with the large side of grater then mixed everything (it is the whole box of each ingredients) in a large garbage bag.

So the one time cost of getting what I need to make, store and measure was $16.91.

Let me know if you try this out.

Source: {beingcreativetokeepmysanity.blogspot.com}

While Caleb napped last night Brayden, Andrew and me had fun making a Gingerbread (sugar cookie) house.

Last night we crafted with wooden cutout shapes from www.craftcuts.com.  I was thrilled that craftcuts.com wanted to be apart of our Countdown to Christmas. They sent us snowmen, trees, and snowflakes that we painted and decorated with gems.

Christmas will have come and gone by this time next week! Where did the month of December go? For that matter where did the year 2011 go?

We had a pretty busy week-end so I am going to combine the past three days in this one post.

Friday I went to Angie’s wedding, so Josh and the boys spent some male bonding time together. Josh took them to Burger King (their favorite place to eat) and then I think that they did some Christmas shopping for me.

We also took the boys to do their Christmas shopping for family and I helped them wrap their gifts.

Sorry no fun pictures of that stuff.

Dolphin Tale is a true story about a boy finding an injured dolphin, caught in a crab trap on the beach.  The boy and the workers at Clearwater Marine Hospital nurse the dolphin, that they name Winter, back to health after she loses her tail.  Along with the help of another doctor that makes prosthetic’s for wounded vets, they are able to make a prosthetic tail for Winter.  This is a great story about compassion, family, and working together to help others, both human and animals!

Dolphin Tale is such a great movie and would make a wonderful last minuet gift for anyone on your Christmas list!!!

Caleb’s 7th grade band concert.

Last night we had fun making angels out of clay pots and a bag full of goodies that I picked up at Goodwill. This was such a fun project and I think that they turned out great!!!

Hard to believe that we are at our halfway point already! Day 12 with 12 days left!

The boys and I made beaded candy canes and as we were making them I read them the following story.

The Candy Cane Story

A candymaker in Indiana wanted to make a candy that would remind people of the true meaning of Christmas; so he made the candy cane to incorporate several symbols for the birth, ministry, and death of Jesus Christ. He began with a stick of pure white, hard candy. White to symbolize the Virgin Birth and the sinless nature of Jesus, and hard to symbolize the Solid Rock, the foundation of the Church, and the firmness of the promises of God.

The candymaker then shaped his cane into the form of a “J” to represent the precious name of Jesus, who came to the earth as Savior. It could also represent the staff of the “Good Shepherd” with which He reaches down to to reclaim the fallen lambs who, like sheep, have gone astray.

Thinking that the candy was somewhat plain, the candymaker stained it with red stripes. He used three small stripes to show the stripes of the scourging Jesus received. The large red stripe was for the blood shed by Christ on the cross so that we could have the promise of eternal life.

Spending time with my sweet Andrew!