Like a Wild Sorority Girl... Quick, Easy and Cheap (Meals)

I have been trying to get back to this blog and here I am!  I wanted to post my latest dinner dishes.
The theme of all my meals this week (and most weeks) is quick and easy.

I didn't get to post my stir-fry last Thursday so here it is:
Cheap Chicken Stir-Fry
This is one of my go-to meals. It is so cheap and you can use the veggies in the house that are on their way to going bad, in the freezer, etc.  I buy a box of Perdue frozen chicken breasts (about 8  breasts for $12) and make 2-3 meals out of it. Stir Fry chicken is one of those. I also am a huge cheater when it comes to rice. I make my brown rice in the rice cooker.

Brown Rice in the Rice Cooker

Perdue Chicken Box

Ingredients: 
Brown Rice (I use 2-3 cups)
Chicken Breasts Cubed
Veggies (This time I used baby carrots, celery, onions and frozen broccoli but you can use almost anything)
1/4 cup Stir-Fry Sauce OR a combination of soy and oyster sauce
1/4 cup of water
1 Tbs. of canola oil (or sesame if you have it)
Directions:
Cook your rice. Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Add onions (or garlic) first and cook for 5 minutes. Add chicken and other vegetables. Add your stir fry sauce and water. Stir to coat well. Turn heat down to low and cover. Cook for about 20 minutes stirring about every 5 minutes. Serve over rice.

I also heated up some chicken potstickers from Trader Joe's (the are so yummy) to go on the side.

Stir Fry Cooking

Complete Meal

My kids generally like this meal and the hubby is okay with it. It is so quick and super cheap.

Tacos!

Taco Night! 

Toppings

On Sunday, we had Taco Night. I know this is a super common American meal. It is inexpensive, cheap and can be made in a relatively healthy way. My kids really like taco night. They can make the tacos the way they like and despite the mess, they are fun to eat. My ways of making this dish healthier include using ground turkey, making my own taco seasoning, using spinach instead of lettuce and adding avocado. Sometimes we also use whole wheat tortillas and plain yogurt in place of sour cream.

Taco Seasoning

It almost seems silly to post my recipe, but here it is.
Taco Seasoning Ingredients:
1 Tbs. chili powder       1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. onion powder   1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
1/4 tsp. oregano            1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
1 Tbs. cumin                 1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. salt                   1/2 tsp. black pepper
Directions: Mix together in a small bowl.


Taco Ingredients:
1 lb. ground turkey                 1/2 cup of water
Taco Seasoning (see above)   Taco shells or tortillas
Baby Spinach                         Diced tomatoes
2 Avocados sliced                  Sour Cream (or plain yogurt)
Hot Sauce                              Shredded Cheese
Directions:
Heat skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the ground turkey. Once turkey is browned, add  the taco seasoning and water, stirring well to coat. Remove from heat and serve with other toppings.
You can also serve this with beans.

One Dish Chicken 

Monday night, I got some inspiration from Pintrest and used more of my Perdue frozen chicken box.. The dish turned out great. I used less butter and used some olive oil. Next time I'll try just olive oil. The blog it came from is here:
simple2something chicken dinner

Here is mine

On the plate

While I was defrosting frozen green beans, I heated some up to make some baby food. I put the green beans in the blender with a little water and voila! I freeze my baby food and mix it with rice cereal for my 6 month old.

Homemade Baby Food

Italian Wonderpot

Italian Wonderpot Plated

Yesterday, I also took inspiration from Pinterest, although I already make something almost exactly like this, except not in one pot. I love anything that uses one pot or dish so I couldn't resist it. I liked the fact that there was no draining either. It was super yummy and everyone in my house liked it.
I got the recipe from here: Italian Wonderpot

Tonight, I am making veggie pot pie, another inexpensive and easy meal. I will post that recipe and pictures at a later date as it isn't done yet and I am currently typing with one hand while holding a mildly cranky baby.