Anyone else in a recipe rut?

Lately, I have been in what you would call a recipe rut! Has anyone else experienced this? I get so tired of making the same things over and over during the month and ache for some new recipe to try. Well, I found a yummy new recipe for Orange Chicken. One of my friends featured the recipe on her blog and since our little family (especially Kaleb) loves to go to Panda Express, I thought I would give it a try!! It was a huge hit with the the men in my life! Mark came home to a house smelling of oranges and ginger and was so excited to see what was on the menu for the evening. Kaleb told me that my orange chicken was good like Panda! Wow, what a compliment! Since our family enjoyed it so much, I thought I would share the recipe with all of you that are aching to have something new to fix and are in the same recipe rut. Why go out and pay extra on Chinese when you can stay home and make it as good or even better than the chain restuarants?

Orange Chicken
Ingredients:2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1-1/2” cubes)

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

1 eggs (beaten)

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

Oil (for frying)

Orange Sauce

1 ½ cups water

2 tablespoons orange juice

¼ cup lemon juice

1/3 cup rice vinegar

2 ½ tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon orange zest (grated)

1 cup packed brown sugar

½ teaspoon ginger root (minced)

½ teaspoon garlic (minced)

2 tablespoons green onion (chopped)

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

3 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons water

Step 1: Combine flour, salt, and pepper. Dip chicken in egg mixture and shake in flour mixture to coat. Deep fry chicken in batches at 375 degrees in a deep fryer (or use a wok) until completely cooked.

Step 2: Meanwhile, in a large saucepan combine water, lemon juice, orange juice, rice vinegar, and soy sauce. Blend well over medium heat for a few minutes. Stir in brown sugar, orange zest, ginger garlic, and onion. Bring to a boil.

Step 3: Combine 3 tablespoons of cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water and mix thoroughly. Slowly stir cornstarch mixture into sauce until it thickens. Pour sauce over breaded chicken, and if desired add red pepper flakes and garnish with green onions. Enjoy.

**This recipe was a little time consuming to make but was well worth the effort. I didn't deep fat fry the chicken, I just poured a little oil into the bottom of a huge pan and stir fried the chicken that way.