Pot Stickers…

A favorite in my family is Pot Stickers. When I was a child, my mother would make huge batches of this Chinese appetizer for dinner. There was five us and it was an all day process, pressing one teaspoon of the meat mixture at a time into the wrapper.

When my husband and I got married, my father-in-law thought he won the lottery, when he found I knew how to make these.  My father-in-law wore contacts and traveled several times a month for work. Air travel dehydrated him to the point his contacts would get uncomfortable to wear. He sound found that if he ate pot stickers, twenty minutes later his eyes would not be so dry.

To be honest, I always thought he was pulling my leg and used it as an excuse to get me to make them for him. It was not until I wore contacts, I was able to test his theory. I was surprised to find that my eyes did not feel as dry after eating them. Strange, I know! I would not recommend though you give up eye drops for pot stickers.

Today I made 100 hundred pot stickers for a friend of my husband. A few weeks back, we had them for dinner and my husband took the leftovers to work. There was more than enough so he shared them with his friends. On Thursday, I got a text from husband asking if I would consider making 100 pot stickers for this person.  At first, I laughed off the request until a response came that it was serious request. So I sat watching the Oakland A’s playing the Chicago Cubs and made pot stickers all afternoon.

Click this link for the recipe!

Crock-pot Sweet and Spicy Chicken

I have to be honest; I do not remember who gave me this recipe. I am sorry, I cannot give the credit it is due. I have added to this recipe, to make a satisfying one-pot meal. With all my chicken in the crock-pot recipes, I add the meat in frozen. It is a crock-pot and most of us will throw everything in the pot while running out the door for work.

This is a great for wrangling a Chinese food craving. I served this in a bowl with each person getting a half-cup of steamed white rice and one cup of chicken mixture. The recipe states it serves six, I was able to get five servings with my measurements.

Ingredients:

6 small boneless skinless chicken breast

1 cup chicken broth

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (can reduce, if you do not like spicy food)

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon garlic powder

½ packed brown sugar

1 cup low sodium soy sauce

¼ teaspoon black pepper

¼ cup cornstarch

½ cup water

1 bag frozen stir fry vegetables (style your choice, I used frozen sugar pea pods)

Directions:

Place chicken in crock-pot, sprinkle with pepper.

Mix all ingredients, except the last three. Pour over chicken.

Cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours or 3-4 hours on high.

Remove chicken

Mix cornstarch and water together and add to sauce mixture, add frozen vegetables. Cook on high until sauce is thickened. Shred chicken and return to pot and mix well.

Serve over steamed rice.