My church has a tutoring program that they hold every Thursday nights. Teenage kids from the area come in, eat dinner and receive help with their school work from volunteers. I've been out of school a bit too long now to be much good with tutoring (especially when it comes to math, yikes!), but I have no problem cooking meals. So when I was recently asked to help out with the dinners, I thought about it for half and second, and happily agreed.
One of the fun parts about making dinners for tutoring is that it presents some fun challenges. How to make a healthy, delicious meal for a crowd, on a budget. Filet Mignon and Lobster night are definitely out, but I think it's going to be a lot of fun coming up with good dinners at low cost.
Last week I lucked out seeing as I had just made this meal the Sunday before, and had a ton of leftover ingredients. My mom used to make this for us, and it was one of my favorite dishes. The chicken is lightly breaded and bakes in a sweet and tangy sweet and sour sauce that is insanely easy to make, with ingredients you probably already have. It's also very versatile, you can forget the breading if you want a lighter version. You can also use whatever cut of chicken you like, and rather then baking it, you can throw it in your crockpot for a hands-off dinner. I love eating the chicken, but my very favorite part is pouring the sauce over the rice and scooping it into my mouth, so yummy! Nothing like a meal that takes you home!
Sweet and Sour Chicken
Courtesy of my Awesome Mom!
Ingredients
1 lb of chicken (cut of your choice, but I do recommend boneless)
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon seasoned salt
olive oil for cooking
SAUCE:
3 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup vinegar (just white distilled vinegar)
1/4 cup pineapple juice
Directions
1. Beat eggs and place in pie pan or bowl. Combine flour and seasoned salt and also place in bowl or pie pan. Dip chicken in beaten egg, roll in flour mixture. Brown in olive oil, about three minutes on each side, chicken does not have to be cooked through. Place in casserole dish, or crockpot.
2. Whisk together sauce ingredients. Pour over chicken and either bake at 350 for 45 minutes, or cook on low for 7 hours, until chicken is cooked through. Serve with rice.
What is your favorite meal to feed a crowd? Any tips for cooking on a budget?
