Leftover Meal - Chicken Fried Rice with bok choy

This was just a really simple meal that used my leftovers from the Chicken and Rice Dish, I actually cooked a little extra chicken and rice and set it aside to make this meal even simpler. I adapted both these meals from Everday FOOD magazine (which I love).

What goes in it:
- vegetable oil (to fry eggs in)
- 3 eggs
- 1 pound bok choy
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic (I cheat and estimate from the jar)
- reserved brown rice
- reserved chicken thighs, shredded
- ground ginger (to your taste)
- rice vinegar (to your taste)
- soy sauce (to your taste)

You were supposed to be fancy withe eggs and cook and slice them, but since I was lazy and my daughter was helping, we just did scrambled and added them in.

Simply sauteed the onions and boy choy a few minutes, then added ginger, rice vinegar and soy sauce, in goes the chicken and rice and finally the eggs
sorry, this wasn't quite in focus

My hubby really liked this one, but his was minus the eggs cause he doesn't dig them:)

Easy Chicken and Rice with an Easy Leftover Meal

This meal was so easy and healthy, and the good part is I saved half for Chicken Fried rice with Bok Choy. I adapted the recipes from Everyday Food magazine and love that I have an easy meal for this weekend, half cooked already, cause I know I won't feel like making any big meals:)

Ingredients:
- I used 2 bags of Trader Joe's boneless Chicken Thighs with no hormones etc.
- 3 cups brown rice (cooked in 7 1/2 cups water)
- 2 cups white wine (one for each pan)
- dried thyme
- 1 pint grape tomatoes
- 1 bag/box of frozen peas
- pepper (no salt, trying to lower sodium intake)
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice (but I just used the bottle and squirted however much I wanted:)
- flax seeds (I keep waiting for my kids to remark about the seeds in everything but they just keep eating it)

Simply brown the chicken while you're cooking the rice.

Take away half the rice and some chicken for the Fried Rice Meal.

After the chicken has browned, add the wine and thyme, allow chicken to cook through and then throw in the tomatoes peas and flax seeds and cook about five more minutes. Season with some lemon juice to your taste and you're done.

Serve the chicken and veggies over rice and all I can say is yum. Hubby and two out of three kids said yum as well.

Smoky Black Bean and Rice Stoup

As you may tell from the word "stoup" this is a Rachel Recipe from her Express Lane Meal cookbook (link below). I changed it a bit so I'll give you my adapted ingredient list (not tons different)
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- one pack of Turkey Bacon (baked it in the oven)
- Bay leaf
- 2 celery ribs
- 1 onion
- 4 garlic gloves (but I use a jar so I estimate this one)
- 1 cup frozen corn kernel (I didn't feel like putting it back so I used the whole bag:)
- 2 15-ounce cans of black beans
- ground coriander (I'm not putting spice measurements cause I just use what I want)
- chili powder
- ground cumin (my favorite spice)
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons hot sauce
- 1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
- 1 quart low sodium chicken stock
- 1 cup brown rice (I recommend sticking to the cup because I added more which soaked up the broth so I added more stock and it just kept soaking it up, however since it was so thick I used the leftover to make rice and beans with sausage!)

Veggies went in first, then the corn and black beans (half a can of black beans were smashed to thicken it). then spices, stock sauce and rice. Pretty easy.

I chopped up some avocados (topped with lime juice), onions and fresh tomatoes for a topping along with some shredded cheese.

I served it with biscuits, but for some reason they didn't make the picture:)

More Savings with Rachel Ray - Four Meals on a Budget

On Yesterday's show Rachel Ray did a segment on "Meals on a Budget" (click link to view and get recipes).

She demonstrated four recipes, the most expensive being $21.14 (for 6-8 servings) the others only around $9-10! Good job Rachel.

She made Spanish Chicken and Rice, Chicken Wing Broth and Noodle Soup, London Broil with Smothered Onions and Crispy Smashed Potatoes (which also had a side of broccoli) and Potato Kielbasa Bake.

They all looked good, but the one I'm definately trying is the potato kielbasa bake. Hopefully soon, and I'll post the results:)

Tip - Take a stroll down the International Isle

For someone looking to cut grocery costs the international isle is like striking gold! Most stores have one, yet we all just pass by until you have something on your list you've never heard of and the store clerk points you in the right direction, revealing to you a shopping secret, everything is cheaper here!

All the local chain stores by me have them (Acme, Shoprite, Wegmans) and yet I'd never noticed them till last year. As long as you're not stuck on your name brands (there are different name brands here, just not your everyday ones you see on the commercials) you'll do well.

What can you get cheaper in the international isle? How about Olive oil (and other oils but that's what I use) beans, rice, salsas, snacks, cooking wine, rice noodles and spices (much cheaper on spices) for starters. Plus you can expand your horizons a little and try some new foods. Have fun.

So next time you're in your local grocery store, take a stroll down the international isle, explore and save.