Sticky Jelly Jar Chicken with Garlicky Sugar Snap Peas

There’s nothing like coming across a hidden treasure, especially when it’s more than 20 years later. And this hidden treasure came in the form of a recipe card.

Last year, we had some flooding in our garage, and were forced to finally go through some old storage bins.  High School Year Books, old Captain’s Training Manuals, books on planting that perfect garden… that never got planted. And an old recipe album. You know, those now archaic storage devices from the ’80s that were popular after recipe card boxes and before computers.

And as I flipped through the now yellowed pages and plastic overlay that was peeling off at the corners, I came across a pocket in the back. I dug deep and out came a recipe card, and on it, it said “Chinese Plum Chicken, from Nana."

My heart sank, yet I smiled at the same time. Sadly, remembering how much I missed my Grandmother who passed away many years ago. But at the same time feeling like I’d been given another gift. To this day, I vividly remember that moment in time when we thumbed through her recipe box together and I asked her if I could have that recipe to try out.

And what was once Chinese Plum Chicken has now turned into Sticky Jelly Jar Chicken, mainly because it’s really hard to find plum jelly these days. But also, because it gives you a bit more freedom with the recipe… as you can pretty much use whatever combination of jelly that you have on hand. My favorites include strawberry, peach and apricot.

So, this week I was excited to see so many of these ingredients on sale, including the chicken breasts, onions and the jelly. And I also decided to add a side dish, thanks to the great sale of frozen vegetables, which added a nice healthy crunch to the mix.

Healthy, quick, and at just $1.93 per serving, this recipe will surely become treasured in your home too.

Sticky Jelly Jar Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 c. jelly (I used 1/3 c. peach and 2/3 c. apricot jam- get fruit only if you can)
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 lemon, juiced
Zest of 1/2 lemon (use a microplane if you can)
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. hot sauce (I use a few shakes of Tabasco... add more if you want more heat!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken in greased 9x9 baking dish. In a bowl combine rest of the ingredients. Pour over chicken and bake for around 45 min. or until just cooked through. Set chicken aside on a plate. Then, if you'd like a thicker sauce, put it in a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Turn heat down to low and let reduce for about 10 minutes. Then pour over chicken and serve.

Sugar Snap Peas:

1 package frozen sugar snap peas, defrosted
1/3 cup bean sprouts (optional)
2 Tblsp. olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt and pepper

Place a sauté pan over med-high heat and add oil. When hot cook the garlic for about a minute. Then add the peas (and sprouts if using) and cook until tender for about 4 minutes. Squeeze lemon juice over and salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 4
$1.93 per serving

*Note: all costs are approximate due to regional sale prices, amounts needed just for this specific recipe, and ingredients on hand. This recipe was created to utilize sale ingredients listed for the current week in Raleigh, NC stores.