Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Dollhouse remodel almost complete.

We made some good progress on the girls dollhouse today. Since I am done painting now, may add some stenciling or something later, but for now the painting is done, Jason took over and got the new flooring put in.






















He of course said it was a pain in the ass, but did it with minimal bitching...well, that I could hear from in the nice toasty house while he was in the freezing garage anyway LOL.

Looking good!

Paint cans to help hold the floors down while the glue dries.
The floors make a world of difference.

Tonight's dinner wasn't "skinny" exactly, but it was not totally unhealthy either. It is one of the higher cal meals we have had recently, but it was good. Low fat baked crispy orange hoisin chicken.
















It is important to heat the pan in the oven first to make sure the chicken gets crispy in the short cooking time. Great served over Chinese noodles or rice for a delicious meal in 30 minutes. 

 Serves 4-6; Preheat a baking pan in a 425 degree F oven. 

4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut in thick strips (about 4 or 5 per breast) 
1 egg + 2 tbsp water whisked together to make an egg wash (we used 2 egg whites instead of a whole egg) 

 Combine: 
1 cup flour 
1/2 tsp black pepper 
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper 
1 TBsp ground ginger 
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg 

Dip the chicken pieces in the flour mixture, then in the egg wash then dredge them again in the flour mixture. Place on a lightly oiled baking sheet and lightly drizzle or the tops with a little more peanut oil. 

Bake at 425 degrees F for about 20 minutes. Flip the pieces at half way through the cooking time. While the chicken is baking, prepare your sauce. 

 3 cloves minced garlic 
3 tbsp peanut oil

Heat peanut oil in a wok over med-high heat. Quickly add the garlic and stir fry for only about a minute.

To the wok add 2 cups orange juice. 

Simmer to reduce the orange juice volume by half before adding all at once 
1/2 cup Hoisin sauce 
4 tbsp rice wine or Chinese cooking wine 
3 tbsp rice wine vinegar (or apple cider vinegar in a pinch) 
6 tbsp brown sugar 
2 tsp chili paste (optional or to taste or use chili flakes to taste) 
4 tsp soya sauce 
2 tsp toasted sesame oil

Bring to a boil and thicken with a slurry of 2 tsp corn starch dissolved in 1/4 cup cold water. 

Toss in:
1 diced red pepper
1 cup sliced button mushrooms (optional)
1 cup steamed snow peas

Add in the baked chicken pieces. Serve over rice or Chinese noodles. Just the chicken with the veggie sauce (noodles or rice extra) will run you about 380 calories and 11 grams of fat.



Photo challenge...day 4: Tiny.

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