Chinese Dinner Date

We had a Chinese dinner date for the girls! Now, don't worry, I'm not delusional - I know this is a completely Americanized version of already Americanized Chinese restaurant food. But the girls loved it, so who cares! My attempt to make peanut butter fortune cookies was pretty much an epic fail, so we're going to pretend those didn't happen.

Crab Rangoon

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 can crab meat, drained (I used white crab meat, no need to get fancy!)
1 tsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp ginger
Won ton wrappers
oil for frying

In a bowl, mix together the cream cheese, crab meat, soy sauce, and ginger. Spoon about half a tablespoon of filling into the center of the won ton wrappers. Moisten the edges of the wrappers and fold into triangles or rectangles (rectangles were much easier with my NaSoya wrappers, which were slightly oddly shaped!), sealing the edges well.

Heat a few inches of oil in a pot (I used canola oil). Drop in the rangoons, a few at a time, and fry for about a minute. Flip them over and fry for about 30 seconds more, until they are golden on both sides. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels before serving.

This made a big batch, so I froze some of them after they cooled. They only needed a few minutes in a 375F oven to be crispy and yummy again!

Sweet and Sour Chicken Casserole

3 cups cooked rice
2 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped (or equivalent amount of leftover cooked chicken)
20 oz can pineapple, drained and juice reserved
2 Tbsp corn starch, dissolved in 1/4 cup water
3 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp ketchup
1 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped onion

In a 2-qt casserole dish, layer the cooked rice, chopped chicken, and pineapple.

In a saucepan, combine 3/4 cup of the reserved pineapple juice, the cornstarch/water mixture, brown sugar, vinegar, honey, soy sauce, and ketchup. Cook over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Add the carrots and onion and cook for about 5 minutes, until the vegetables are crisp-tender.

Pour the sauce over the casserole. The casserole can now be baked or refrigerated until you are ready to bake. When you are ready to eat, bake in a 350F oven until heated through (about 20 minutes for a casserole that was in the fridge).