July 18, 2010

Cashew Chicken

by Kari

Divas’ Cook

We make cooking look GOOD!

Let’s get cooking ladies! I am ridiculously excited for this new section! Aren’t you? lol. So WHY have we included a new section all about cooking? Think back to the first valid advice that your mother gave you regarding men… It might have sounded something like this, “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” Ringing true for anyone?? Well, this advice came in really handy when I met my husband and is only becoming more true as the years go by. In fact, when my husband addressed his # 1 WANT in our relationship, it was for me to cook more. I used to cook like mad before we had children and then it got more difficult due to time constraints.

SOOO in this new cooking section you will find ideas for those romantic date nights at home, tips on how to save time in the kitchen, and recipes to knock his socks off! (Obviously

) We will give you step-by-step instructions on HOW to cook these delicious meals and how to set your table to add a romantic setting. If you are not a cook, we are here to help make it easy! We don’t want you to be intimidated in the kitchen because the kitchen is where the intimacy can begin. There’s no better zing to your night than a scrumptious meal!

Without further ado, I am going to show you how to make one of my hubby’s favorite meals. If you don’t want to see the step-by-step instructions on how to make it, click on the recipe name below to print it out.

CASHEW CHICKEN

*Suggestion: I would cook the ingredients in the order listed below. Unless you feel confident enough to have everything going at once…which I’ll admit took me a few times to get to that point.

1. Asian egg rolls – I do have a fabulous recipe for these, but they are VERY time consuming. So in an effort to save time and sanity I use the store-bought version. The brand featured in the picture below is pretty tasty. I put these in the oven first because they only take about 20 min. to cook, which is how long the Cashew Chicken will take start to finish. (I wouldn’t recommend microwaving these because the crust will turn out soggy rather than crispy.)

2. Rice – If you plan to use traditional rice, go ahead and get it started. Again, regular rice takes about 20 minutes to cook. If you plan to use the 5 minute rice, you would obviously want to cook it last. (I use the traditional rice.)

3. Sauce – In a saucepan combine soy sauce, sugar, and vinegar. Mix cornstarch with cold water and blend into a sauce. Cook until thick. Can be refrigerated for later use at this point.

4. Chicken – Cut chicken into 1/2-inch cubes. Stir-fry chicken pieces for 3-5 minutes in sesame oil in a Wok pan [if you have one - any pan works fine for this].