Mandarin Oranges and Pineapples

It’s the second week of the February Challenge, where I am making new recipes and sharing my results with you!

If you have been cooking/baking too, this week, please share how it went!

I made two things this week.

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The first thing I made was a Mandarin Orange Chicken recipe. It kind of came from the Biggest Loser Cookbook.

I don’t know if I can/should really review this one because I made it nothing like the recipe! The idea was there, but the way I made it was nothing like the book.  Oh well, here it is anyway:

It was simple to make and the kids liked it a lot. I wasn’t that much of a fan, but I don’t much care for the flavor of mandarin oranges anyway. Taking that into consideration, I am rating this one 4 stars.

Here’s what I did differently:

I slow cooked the chicken instead of baking.

I used a pre-made sauce by Panda Express instead of making their sauce.

I served over white rice and sprinkled with rice noodles to give it a little crunch.

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Next, I made something I was super excited and super scared to make: Pineapple Upside Down Cake!! I was scared because there would be actual flipping involved and I could just see how that might be a bad thing to be trying…especially with a teething toddler at my feet!

I found this recipe on the All Recipes website.

First of all, it was a breeze to make! I was scared for NOTHING! There are some recipes for this cake that are more advanced, but this one was really easy. We all really enjoyed how moist it was, and the flavor. Samuel was loving it (just the cake, not the topping)! The only thing I am going to do differently next time is add some pineapple juice to the cake batter, as I think it would have helped the topping blend with the cake better.

A few changes I made:

I used ¼ cup of butter for the topping instead of ½ cup.

I used margarine for the cake itself instead of butter.

I reduced the flour from 1 ½ cups to 1 ¼ cups because other reviewers said it was on the dry side.

When I flipped it, I put it into a larger baking dish so that I could cover it (we weren’t going to be eating it all at one sitting).

Have you been trying new recipes lately?

Please share links if you’ve posted the recipes on your blog!

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