Lemon Chicken, Chicken Fried Rice & a Green Smoothie

Our special dinner tonight was lemon chicken with chicken fried rice. A take-out meal cooked at home that was simple and yummy! And to not be neglectful of our fruit and veggie needs I made us all smoothies for dessert with my brand new Valentine's day gift, an awesome blender! Awesome because it seems to be able to blend anything including Justin Bieber paraphernalia (which I will not be trying at home), and awesome because I blended spinach into our banana and berry mixture and the kids loved it!

Lemon Chicken
adapted from CDKitchen

For the chicken

• 6 chicken breast halves, deboned and cut into bite size pieces 
• 1/2 cup cornstarch 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper 
• 1/4 cup water 
• 4 egg yolks, beaten 
• 2 cups cooking oil 
• green onions, sliced

1. Combine cornstarch, salt and pepper. Blend in water and egg yolks. 
2. Dip chicken pieces into cornstarch-egg mixture. 
3. Fry chicken in oil for about 5 minutes until golden. Drain. (I cook it in a few batches)
4. Sprinkle with green onions. 
5. Pour sauce over (most of the) chicken. If you have family members who don't like lemon sauce, the chicken recipe is also good served on its own as popcorn chicken or chicken nuggets.

And for the lemon Sauce

• 1 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 3 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger, or more if desired

1. Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan. 
2. Cook over medium heat, stirring, about 5 minutes until sauce boils. 
3. Pour over chicken.

Chicken Fried Rice
adapted from Iowa Girl Eats

• 2 cups prepared rice (if it's freshly cooked, I like to spread it out on a baking sheet to cool off & dry out a bit while I'm prepping the ingredients so that it doesn't get mucky.)
• 1 chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces and seasoned with salt & pepper 
• 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables (I like peas and corn and fresh broccoli)
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 egg
• sesame or vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce

1. Whisk egg with 1 teaspoon of oil in a small dish then set aside.
2. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large wok or skillet over medium-high heat. Add seasoned chicken then stir fry until cooked through and remove to a plate. (If using pre-cooked chicken, skip this step.)
3. Heat another teaspoon oil in the wok then add frozen mixed vegetables and green onions. Stir fry until tender, about 2 minutes, then add garlic and cook for 30 more seconds. Push vegetables to the side of the wok then add egg and sesame oil mixture into the center and scramble.
4. Add cooked chicken, rice, and soy sauce to wok then toss well to combine.

Banana Berry Green Smoothie
Add ingredients to the blender in this order & blend until smooth.

• 1 peeled banana
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 large handfuls of fresh baby spinach
• 1 cup frozen berries