Sweet and Sour Chicken

This sweet and sour dish is not your usual red hued fanfare. The sauce is made with something a little different, pepper jelly. I make my own pepper jelly from this recipe, but I use a low sugar pectin and reduce the sugar by half. I save moolah by making my own jelly and can control the heat by mixing the types of peppers but you can purchase your jelly as well. It can usually be found in the peanut butter and jelly aisle.

Served over a mix of rice and quinoa

Sweet and Sour Chicken
Ingredients:

• 2-3 chicken breasts, cubed (can use pork as well)
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon each salt, pepper and garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 bell pepper, sliced
• 1 can (20 ounce) pineapple chunks, drained, reserve 1/3 cup of juice
• 1 cup pepper jelly
• 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar

Directions:
Mix 1/3 cup pineapple juice, pepper jelly, vinegar and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch in a bowl, set aside.
In a small mixing bowl add chicken, 1 egg, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, and seasonings. Mix until the chicken is evenly coated.
Heat oil in a medium to large pan over high heat (woks work great). Add meat and cook until lightly browned, separating the pieces as needed. Add the onion and bell pepper, cook for 2-3 minutes.
Add the sauce, continue to cook until sauce thickens slightly.
Mix in the pineapple chunks and remove from heat. Let sit for 5 minutes or until pineapple chunks warm through.

Yield: 4 large servings

A favorite mix of peppers for my homemade pepper jelly is jalapeno and habanero. The habaneros add a nice heat to the sweet and sour flavors. I use 3/4 pound of jalapenos and 10 habaneros for each batch. Pepper jelly is also awesome on baked brie with walnuts served with some toasty bread.

Brown Sugar Kettle Corn

It's movie night and you can't have movie night without popcorn! This treat is addicting, before you know it, the whole batch it gone and everyone is asking for more. It has just the right amount of sweet and salty with a bit of a caramel surprise from the brown sugar. And with this Whirly Pop the kiddos will be asking to help. Popcorn is a whole grain full of fiber making this snack a bit guilt-free.

Never leaves our stove top!

Ready for the movies

Brown Sugar Kettle Corn
Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup popcorn kernels
• 2 tablespoons oil (I like coconut oil)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• salt to taste

Directions:
Put the sugars, butter and cinnamon in a small bowl. Heat oil in Whirly Pop (or large pot with lid), put 2 to 3 kernels into pot. When those pop, add the rest of the kernels. Start to crank the Whirly Pop slowly (or swirl the pot), as soon as those kernels start to pop quickly add the sugar mixture. Continue to crank the Whirly Pop (or swirl pot) to prevent the sugars from burning.
When popping slows down to 2-3 per second, remove from heat. Caution, it is very hot!
Pour half into a large bowl, lightly sprinkle with salt, pour remaining popcorn into bowl, sprinkle with salt.
Toss to coat and to break up into small pieces. Enjoy!

Yields: 12-14 cups popped