Recipe: Orange Chicken Stir Fry

Sometimes the best meals come to me when we are limited on ingredients and I have to make due with what we have.  The other day, we were running low on everything and I needed to make dinner quickly when I got home from work.

I read a few orange chicken recipes and then just made up my own. It turned out spectacular! I made it again a few days later.  Since I just made everything up, I didn't measure anything.  I think you can just throw everything together and add more here and there as you go depending on your tastes!

First, I cut up about 3 chicken breasts and marinated them for about 30 minutes (or less if you are in a hurry!)

For the marinade, I threw together about 1/2 cup of orange juice, 3 Tbs of soy sauce, 1 tsp of ground ginger, 3 Tbs of vegetable oil.  Again, you could add or leave out anything depending on what you like!

Next, I chopped up some broccoli.  The firs time I made this, I used green peppers and it was great.  You could use any veggie that you like!

Steam up the broccoli (or saute if that's more appropriate for the particular veggies you are using).  I like mine to be slightly crisp.

Now, it's time to get the chicken ready.   
Get a bowl of 2 egg whites and about 1 cup of flour. I used whole wheat just to feel a little more "healthy" since we'll be frying up the chicken later. 

Roll a few pieces around in the egg whites

Then roll them in the flour

And put them on a wire rack until all your pieces are coated (this helps to prevent them from getting all gummy on the bottom)

Now heat up about an inch of vegetable oil in a skillet on medium high.  Drop in the chicken in batches

Once they are brown, put them on a paper towel or clean kitchen cloth until all the pieces are cooked. (make sure they are cooked through in the center!)

Meanwhile, cook up a sauce to pour over everything.  I don't have any pictures of this, sorry!  These are the ingredients I used:
1 cup of orange juicezest of 1 orange1/4 cup soy sauce3 Tbs apple cider vinegar3 Tbs vegetable oil1 cup chicken stock1 tsp ginger3 tbs flour2tbs brown sugar

Heat everything in a saucepan until it thickens-maybe a little thinner than the consistency of syrup. (takes about 10 min...you can do this while frying the chicken)
Now, open a can of pineapple chunks...

Combine chicken, veggies, pineapple and sauce in a bowl and then add a few Tbs of sesame seeds.  Serve with rice and enjoy!

Like I said before, I just kinda threw it all together. So you could add anything you like or skip out on something you aren't a fan of!

Fairy Wings and Crazy Face

Autumn is in full swing and we've been enjoying every moment of the glorious weather before winter moves in.  I had to get some pictures of my sweet girls while I could.  

Lula received some fairy wings for her birthday and she wears them around the house all the time.  She usually puts on a frilly skirt and some random shoes.  Today she is wearing some new black boots, which really sets off the ensemble well if I do say so. 

There is so much twirling and dancing at our house these days.

The little fairy also had fun collecting acorns for some fall decor.  It was the perfect afternoon for a long walk and some acorn hunting!

Meanwhile, Jane is almost a walker!! She can take many steps on her own, but still crawls most of the time.  I'm sure in a week or two, she'll be a full fledged toddler!

Reid and I like to call this her "crazy face"

She does this anytime she's excited about anything. Pretty adorable.

While it was still nice out, I had to put on this little blue vintage dress on Janie and take some pictures.  We did the same little photo shoot with Lula when she was the same age. I didn't get many good ones because she's sick right now and wasn't too cooperative.  I will have to get some more and compare them with Lula's pictures!

Hope everyone had a happy Wednesday!

Quick Headbands

I made a few little headbands a few weeks ago for a sweet new baby named Cora.  I took some quick pictures before I wrapped them up and wasn't going to post them here, but decided to share!  There is no tutorial, but they are so easy to do!

I have just modified the headband pattern by Heather Bailey.

I don't even measure out the with anymore, I usually just eyeball it.

I added some little flowers with felt. 

The one above is too small, though. But, thankfully it's easy to take off the elastic and put in a longer piece! Oops!

I also sewed a little patchwork bib with some vintage sheet scraps

I usually just take a bib that I have and trace it for the pattern

It closes with a snap, but I sewed a button over it for a more finished look.

Garage Sale Finds

Yesterday, we happened upon a neighborhood garage sale.  It's not an easy task to attempt garage saleing with 2 small children, but Reid was with me, so between the two of us we succeeded in stopping by a few sales.


We found some pretty sweet vintage finds, so I thought I'd share!




When we saw this little lion costume for $4, we knew we had to snag it. It fits Lula perfectly and it just so adorable.  Apparently a little lion wore it in the Wizard of Oz a long time ago.  I'm not sure if Lula will be up for wearing it on Halloween (she's been talking about being a cat for awhile), but at least we have it to play dress up in.

At one particular sale, there were tons of vintage clothes from the 70's and 80's.  They were practically free, so we figured it didn't hurt to grab a few things that caught our eye.

This dress is definitely 80's.  It reminded me of something I might have worn in 1st grade.  I thought I could do something with it to make it a little more current. 

If anything I could cut it apart and use the fabric for something.  I just love the sherbet stripes.

Ok, the next batch are boy things.  NO, we don't have a boy and NO I'm not pregnant! But, we just couldn't pass them up.  

This little outfit is basically a mini version of what Reid wears every day.  A vintage plaid shirt (his closet is full of them). 

And the pants are hand made cords.  How cute are they with the red stitching?

We also grabbed these 3 vintage polos. 

I particularly love the Izod one

And then I saw this retro Carters shirt. It's made out of a mesh type fabric and I thought the print was so old and cute that I had to grab it.

Who knows what I'll do with it, but I couldn't pass it up for a few cents!

And these little pants are made out of the same meshy fabric. 

They may work for pajama pants or something. I just loved the vintage little animal print!

Anyone else score some fun things lately at a garage sale?

Pinterest Inspiration

I thought I'd take some time to share some inspiring ideas I've uncovered at Pinterest.

I have been finding some great and simple little DIY projects and design ideas...there are so many creative minds out there!

How about a little organization project?

hanging notepad using a receipt roll

dry erase calendar using paint chips

how about some easy no sew projects using old t-shirts?

no sew t-shirt tote

no sew scarf using t-shirts

organization ideas

tin can magnetic art supply organizer

hanging garden planters for storage

home design inspiration:

soft teal cabinets with bright accents

plate wall art display

inventive light fixtures

pitcher chandelier

wire pendant lights

And so much more!



has anyone else found inspiring idea on Pinterest lately?

Party Paper Flowers

Over the weekend, I had the privilege of helping out with a dear friend's surprise 30th birthday celebration! Jessica was the birthday girl and we like to call her our "roomie" because she currently lives in our little basement apartment.

Jessica's lovely sister, Karen planned the party and chose some super cute papers and colors for the theme. She appointed my friend Emily and I to be in charge of "decor".

We knew we wanted to make some paper flowers for the centerpieces, but we weren't sure how we'd go about doing it.  Since Jessica has an obsession with office supplies, we thought it would be cute to glue the flowers on pencils and put them in mason jars.  (I think that was all Karen's brilliant idea!)

So, Emily and I got to work and this is what we came up with!

Each jar had three little blooms.

We just layered different papers and stuck a button on the center and glued everything on the pencils with a hot glue gun

Once we figured out what we were doing, it all came together quickly!

The best part is that now Jessica has 2 dozen new pencils that she can sharpen and use at work! Plus, they will look like a cute little bouquet sitting on her desk. 

I also made some tissue paper poms in the party colors (teal, orange & yellow)

We hung them from the lights over the food table.

The party was held in a super cool loft downtown, so not much decor was required.

I also made a few little paper banners and sewed them together on my sewing machine.

Oh and Emily made some cute little frames for Jessica to take home. Good work Emily!

Surprise!

Here we are with the birthday girl!

 (Emily, the other decorating mastermind, is on the far right)

Happy Birthday, Roomie!