Copycat Orange Julius

I’ll admit I actually have no idea whether or not this really tastes anything like an Orange Julius.  I haven’t had an orange julius from an official Orange Julius in many years due to the fact that the only Orange Julius places I know of are located inside of shopping malls, and I avoid shopping malls any cost. 

Whether or not it tastes anything like the real thing, though, it is certainly delicious.  My kids have been requesting them at least once a week since I discovered the recipe.   
photo courtesy jmac & kmac; recipe courtesy Raining Hot Coupons

Tiny Spicy Chicken

When Sweet Mama shared her recipe (and The Sweet Mister’s love) for sweet & sour chicken last week, I couldn’t believe how similar it was to my own!  Great minds cook alike!  It also reminded me of a couple other similar recipes that my Saucy Family absolutely LOVES!  I’ll share them both today, but I’m going to give them each their own separate post.  They’re similar enough that you probably only need one of them in your Chinese food repertoire, but they’re both good enough to warrant at least one try apiece to decide which one your family prefers.  

This particular recipe is a knock-off of chicken dish they serve at a local Chinese restaurant.  Everybody I know who lives or has lived in Cache Valley knows about the Tiny Spicy Chicken at Mandarin Gardens!  I was so excited when I found a knock-off recipe; I couldn’t wait to try it!  I would say it’s not spot-on, but it is pretty darned close.  Close enough for me, since I can feed my entire family dinner and have leftovers for lunch tomorrow for the same cost of a single dinner plate at Mandarin Gardens!  Just my saucy style!recipe adapted from The Provident Homemaker; image courtesy Mandy’s Recipe Box

Red Lobster Shrimp Scampi

I’ve never eaten Red Lobster’s shrimp scampi.  You should know that before you let me tell you this tastes like theirs.  Thing is, though, it’s so good, I don’t care if it tastes like theirs.  Maybe theirs ought to taste like this.
http://www.foodnfocus.com/easy-meals-with-campbells-skillet-sauces/

I made this recipe because I had found a long-lost bag of frozen shrimp in the nether regions of my freezer.  I figured “if I cook it in enough garlic, maybe it won’t be so bad.”  On the contrary, it was out of this world.  I can only imagine how good it would be with fresh shrimp!