Recipes: Sweet and Sour Chicken

Served on Rice

• 1/2 cup Smucker's® Apricot Low Sugar Preserves
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon powdered ginger
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce, or to taste
• 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 medium zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch slices
• 1/2 cup small mushrooms
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in 1-inch pieces
• 1 (6 oz.) package frozen pea pods, thawed
• Hot cooked rice (optional)

PREPARATION DIRECTIONS:

Sauce

1. STIR preserves, vinegar, garlic salt, ginger, soy sauce, and crushed red pepper in small bowl until well blended. Set aside.
2. HEAT oil in wok or large skillet until hot. Stir-fry zucchini and mushrooms over medium-high heat until zucchini is crisp-tender. Transfer mixture to a platter.
3. ADD butter to wok; cook chicken until tender, stirring often. Add pea pods and cooked zucchini and mushrooms; stir gently until heated, 3 to 5 minutes

Ingredients Combined

4. POUR apricot sauce over chicken and vegetables; toss gently to mix well and heat through. Serve with rice, if desired.

Army: Heading to the National Training Center

Alright everybody, so I am about to head out for the next month to Fort Irwin, California.  for those of you who own a map (or can successfully navigate google maps) will note this is a little too close to death valley for my total comfort, but oh well.

So, some fun things for you to know about my trip:
1. I have no clue why I am going.  We are supposedly doing some training, but we won't be training for our Afghanistan mission.  so... yeah.
2. I have no clue what I will be doing every day.  They say my job is to help track the battle field.  I have a limited idea as to what that will entail.
3. I may be sleeping in a tent.  And I say may because they are not sure we have tents, so it may be on the ground uncovered for all I know.
4. I found out when I leave approximately a few hours ago. And it's tomorrow...
5. I still haven't packed half of my stuff and am quite honestly avoiding it. Packing is the worst part, aside from leaving my husband for a month.

Here are a random list of things I like to pack aside from the Army issued items:

• A pillow case (i use it to keep my poncho liner in place, without wasting more space with a pillow).
• Dry shampoo (I might get 2-3 showers in the next 30 days... YIKES!)
• Homemade protein bars (I'll post the recipe sometime!)
• Jolly Ranchers (I eat them when I need to stay awake/ quick burst of energy)
• Electrolyte tablets (Flavored and caffeinated!)
• Leave on face wash (my attempt to feel like a girl)

I have some recipes I blogged awhile ago that I have scheduled while I am gone, just in case I don't get a chance to keep accessing my blog.  If I don't get a chance while I am out there, I probably won't be back on my blog for the next month or so.