So today I was goofing around in the kitchen with Jaq. It’s been a very busy week with Christmas. I didn’t even have a chance to post a Christmas greeting this year. We had just over 30 people at my BioDad’s house and Jaq’s parents house next door. They arrived on Christmas Eve around noon and left last night (26th) around 8:00 PM.❤
I was a LOT of fun. Both our families, all 6 of our parents, some grandparents, siblings, brother’s girlfriend, and 3 of my parent’s employees and their kids. Jaq and I were the kid wranglers for the kids and it was awesome! We made sure when they woke up on Christmas Day, there were stockings and actual gifts “from Santa” for all of them.
They had all been with us for Thanksgiving and one of the boys then fell in love with the Turkey and ham. He and his mom got about half the leftovers from that day he liked everything so much. Well when he arrived, from the innocent mouths of babes so to speak, he asked if we were going to have the awesome turkey and ham again. (We did.) He was more excited about that than the presents. 😄
It was a great couple of days, so much love and fun. I’m going to watch him so his mom can have some time off after the new year if I am still in the States. My parents have been upping the bribes to get me to go to Australia with Jaq in January for school so I can avoid the next four years of the new President. They convinced my brother to go to London and live with our Step-Aunt there since he has dual citizenship through my StepDad and Step-Grandparents. (StepDad is my brother’s BioDad. Half-Brother or not, he’s still just my brother.❤) He is going through with it and leaving just after the first of the year. He’ll lose his scholarship here and has to apply to school there, but they figure it’s worth the effort to have him away from what’s coming. His Professors are writing letters for him so that will help.
I haven’t decided. Though as involved as I have been in the last 3 elections, I have a much better understanding of the chaos that’s about to erupt, so who knows?
Anyway, I was goofing around in the kitchen today with Jaq and found a huge bag of Seitan I’d left at my Parent’s house, and since we had this big bag of lemons, I’d try to make something I’ve always wanted to try. The Seitan version of Lemon Chicken.
Ingredients:
8-12 ounces of Chicken flavored Seitan. (You can find my recipe for it here if you want to try making your own. It’s MUCH better then store bought!)
Salt
Pepper
Garlic powder
Powdered Thyme or Tarragon
1 Tbsp. olive oil
3 Tbsp. vegan butter
Zest of half to a whole lemon (Depending on how lemony you want it.)
2-3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup salt free vegan veggie stock. (Store bought is fine, or you can make a Mirepoix stock using carrots, celery and onions. Equal amounts of each, 1 cup of each to 6 cups water, simmered until reduced by half, then strain.)
Instructions:
Use 1 Tbsp. of the butter and the olive oil in a sauté pan and start heating on medium heat.
Salt, pepper, and garlic powder the Seitan to taste.
Add to the pan and cook, turning until browned evenly. (If you want, you can use real chicken breast for this recipe, just DO NOT coat it in flour before adding it to the pan. The flour loses all its crispiness in the lemon butter sauce later on and gets slimy and that’s gross. 😂)
Once it is browned, remove it and set it aside.
Add the remaining butter, lemon juice, lemon zest, and stock to the pan and bring to a very light boil.
Add the Seitan back in. Let it cook, turning it regularly until the liquid reduces down to a slightly thick sauce.
Serve it on top of plain rice or rice made with the same veggie stock you used in the recipe. Add a light dusting of the Thyme or Tarragon on top. I like the Thyme, Jaq liked the Tarragon.
This stands alone without any additional elements to the dish. (Though if you use real chicken add a damn vegetable!😂)
I hope you like it as much as we did!!! It’s VERY lemony!
