Chicken & Vegetable Stir Fry with Steamed Rice and Smoothies

Stir-fried chicken and bell peppers and/or broccoli with steamed rice has been a favorite easy meal for Trent and I for a long time. More recently, I've been making it with a sauce from Food Network's Paula Deen that vastly improved the taste. Trent says he could eat this every day.

My plan was to make it with some frozen bell peppers I bought a while back, but I found some giant fresh red bell peppers at Albertson's for 50 cents apiece. Love a good deal on fresh produce.

After I'd laid everything out ready to be cooked when I got home with Nugget, Trent called to see if I minded if he stayed at work for a dinner meeting. So after Nugget and I ate, I made some more rice and mixed it up with the leftovers to refrigerate overnight. Tomorrow I'll stir fry it in some oil and add a couple scrambled eggs, for chicken fried rice.

Ingredient	Nutrition	Cost
Boneless skinless chicken breasts	Protein (27 g), Iron (5%). Good source of Vitamin B6, Phosphorus. Very good source of Protein, Niacin, Selenium	$3
Fresh red bell peppers	Fiber (2 g/7%), Protein (1 g), Vitamin A (55%), Vitamin C (271%), Calcium (1%), Iron (3%)	$1
Fresh organic baby carrots	Vitamin A (266%), Fiber (2 g/9%), Protein (1 g), Vitamin C (5%), Iron (1%), Calcium (2%). Very good source of Vitamin K, Vitamin B6, and Manganese; good source of good source of Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Thiamin, and Potassium.	$0.50
Fresh white onion	Vitamin C (3%)	$0.27
Canned water chestnuts	Fiber (1 g/3%), Vitamin C (2%). Good source of Riboflavin, Vitamin B6, Potassium, Copper and Manganese.	$1
Chow mein noodles	Fiber (1 g/4%), Protein (3 g), Iron (4%). Good source of Manganese and Selenium.	$0.10
Jasmine rice	Good source of Manganese and Selenium.	$1.26
Toasted sesame seeds	Fiber (1%), Calcium (2%), Iron (2%). Very good source of Copper and Manganese	$0.40
Almond milk	Fiber (1 g/4%), Protein (1 g), Vitamin A (10%), Calcium (45%), Iron (4%), Vitamin D (25%), Vitamin E (50%), Riboflavin (2%), Phosphorous (2%), Magnesium (4%), Zinc (2%), Copper (4%), Manganese (6%)	$0.95
Canned pineapple juice, fortified	Fiber (1 g/2%), Vitamin A (10%), Vitamin C (120%), Vitamin E (10%), Iron (4%), Calcium (4%)	$1.10
Frozen strawberries	Fiber (3 g/13%), Protein (1 g), Vitamin A (1%), Vitamin C (102%), Calcium (2%), Iron (6%). Good source of Folate, Potassium. Very good source of Manganese.	$1
Total	Fiber (11 g/43%), Protein (34 g), Iron (21%), Calcium (56%), Vitamin A (342%), Vitamin C (383%).	$10.58

Cost per person: $2.27
Nutritional Goals: Excellent Calcium, Vitamin A, and Vitamin C; Good Fiber; Fair Iron. No whole grains.


I’m really amazed that there was more protein in the vegetarian meal I made on Tuesday than in this chicken dish. And while I knew white rice was pretty empty nutritionally, I was still floored by just how little it added to the meal. I guess we are going to have to give brown rice a try, though I’ve never liked it much in the past. At least Nugget doesn’t even eat white rice at the moment, so it’s not like I’ll be giving up a source of calories for him. For the moment, though, I’ve got most of a 10 lb bag of Jasmine rice to plow through. 



Recipes

Chicken & Vegetable Stir Fry. Toasted sesame seeds are a tasty and nutritious addition. I recommend doubling the soy sauce (if you're not worried about sodium).
Smoothies:  2 c. almond milk, 1.5 c. pineapple juice, 2 c. frozen strawberries blended, yields 3 servings. Adding some bananas would make this even better, but I didn't have any. 

Excited about the smoothie, chow mein noodles, and carrots, which is all he ate