fake out take out

Fake out Take out, Kung Pao Chicken

In the days before I was gluten free if I were to go out to eat my thoughts went to Mexican food or Chinese. Thankfully I still can eat Mexican food, just not everything but my days of stopping at Panda Express for a quick lunch are over. Most Chinese food has some form of gluten in it from a source most people would not expect, soy sauce. Thankfully though they make gluten free soy sauce so I can still have Chinese food, I just have to make it myself. For that reason, I am also thankful for the many recipes out there that let me have my favorites like, Kung Pao Chicken.

Kung Pao Chicken | My Hot Southern Mess

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Sesame Chicken

One of my favorite things to use in my kitchen is my crockpot, yes my crockpot. Crockpots are perfect for almost every situation. You need to keep food warm, use your crockpot. Kids have practice after school and you want to make sure you can have dinner on the table and avoid the fast food rut, use your crockpot. It is hot outside and you don’t want to heat up your kitchen, use your crockpot. I can’t even begin to tell you how many meals my crockpot has cooked. There was a time when my kids were in track and cross country that I used it every single night. Needless to say, I am always looking for new recipes to use in my crockpot.

The newest addition to my collection of recipes for the crockpot is Sesame Chicken. We love Chinese food around here and I make it myself since our last experience with a Chinese buffet ended up with my husband and myself having food poisoning… on Christmas. Not to mention you really aren’t going to find gluten free Chinese dishes. Did you know Soy Sauce is not gluten free? I am thankful for gluten free soy sauce, Tamari is my friend! We eat some sort of Chinese food probably once a week so it is a must have.

Back to the Sesame Chicken though. I have always been a fan of sesame chicken when we use to go out for Chinese. I haven’t had it since I became gluten free so when I found the recipe I was intrigued. I made it for my family one night when I had a dinnertime board meeting for Team RWB and I came home to nothing. They devoured it and didn’t same me anything at all. How rude! On the bright side though that is how I knew the recipe was a winner. That and my kiddos constantly asking me if I can make it again. Needless to say it has been added in to our regular rotation.

Sesame Chicken | Country Girl Gourmet

If you are looking for a fake out take out winner try this sesame chicken! Plus it gets extra points for being made in the crock pot so I can put it together and forget about it and do what I need to do. Talk about Win-Win! When will you be trying it out?

Sesame Chicken
 
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Ingredients
  • 1½ pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
  • ½ cup honey
  • ¼ cup soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons ketchup
  • 2 tablespoons dried minced onion (fresh onion can be substituted)
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • sesame seeds, or to taste
Instructions
  1. Spread chicken into the crock of a slow cooker.
  2. Stir honey, soy sauce, ketchup, minced onion, vegetable oil, and garlic powder together in a bowl; pour over the chicken.
  3. Cook on Low until the chicken is tender, 3 to 4 hours.
  4. Remove chicken from the sauce in the slow cooker to a cutting board. Stir water and cornstarch together to dissolve cornstarch completely; pour into the sauce in the slow cooker until smooth.
  5. Cook on High until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.
  6. Cut chicken into bite-size pieces and stir into the sauce. Sprinkle sesame seeds over the chicken and sauce mixture.

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Sweet Sriracha Chicken

When I went gluten free over a year ago I really did not know where all I would find hidden gluten and all of the extra foods I would be giving up. No more fast food for me unless it is a salad. Sometimes I will do french fries but they are risky because of cross contamination. My kids are always asking for pizza delivery because some chains now offer gluten free pizzas but I won’t risk it due to cross contamination reasons. Hey, I was a teen working at a major pizza chain I know some of the things that are done unintentionally. Then there is Chinese food. The majority of Chinese food is made with soy sauce, and unless you buy a gluten free version of soy sauce such as Tamari, Chinese food is sadly not gluten free.  I miss it but… thankfully I am able to conquer my cravings by making my own fake out take out.

Sweet Sriracha Chicken has quickly become one of my families favorite fake out take out meals. It is incredibly easy to make and you could make it in less time than it would take to go pick up your take out order (or have it delivered). The sauce is simple. It is a semi homemade which is awesome for those busy weeknight meals. It is made with Orange marmalade (it is awesome with apricot jam also), Sriracha sauce and gluten free Soy Sauce (Tamari), fresh garlic and a little onion powder.  Then you can cook it down and the sauce get’s nice and thick or you can take a shortcut and use a cornstarch slurry to thicken it up. Argo cornstarch is gluten free. Seriously this sauce is my favorite part of the dish. I love to pour some of the extra over my rice.

Sweet Sriracha Chicken can be easily made in less than 30 minutes and it tastes better than takeout! Like I said it is faster than takeout, plus it taste better! So what is stopping you? Try making some of your own fake out take out and let me know what you think!

Sweet Sriracha Chicken | Country Girl Gourmet

Sweet Sriracha Chicken
 
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A sweet and spicy orange fake out take out meal!
Ingredients
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 2lbs chicken breast, diced
  • 1 17.25oz jar of orange marmalade
  • 2-3 TB Sriracha sauce (you can add more or less according to your personal taste)
  • ¼ Cup Gluten Free Soy Sauce, such as Tamari
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp. onion powder
  • *optional Cornstarch Slurry*
  • 1 Tablespoons Cornstarch
  • 1 Tablespoon Water
Instructions
  1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté garlic in hot oil (usually a minute is long enough).
  2. Increase heat to medium-high, add chicken tosauteed garlic, and cook and stir until chicken is no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, about 5 to 10 minutes.
  3. Stir marmalade,gluten free soy sauce, and Sriracha sauce into chicken mixture. Reduce heat to medium. Simmer, and cook until sauce has reduced and thickened, about 15-20 minutes.
  4. *If you do not want to wait until the sauce reduces on it's own simmer marmalade mixture about 5minutes so the flavors come together. In a small bowl combine cornstarch and water and mix well creating a cornstarch slurry. Slowly stir in slurry mix to marmalade/chicken mix and allow to thicken.*
  5. Serve with white or brown rice or quinoa.

Adapted from Allrecipes.com