Chicken, Broccoli, and Uncle Ben's

You'd think a meal of chicken breasts, broccoli, and rice would be super healthy, right? Nutrition is a lot harder than you'd think. This meal was fine but definitely not up there with my all stars. Still, I am very excited that Nugget appears ready to eat broccoli again. He didn't eat much this tine, but that was because I accidentally made it waaaay too salty. Like, too salty for Trent even, which is crazy salty. Doh.


p.s. The chicken is cheaper than usual because got it for $1.69 a pound at Albertson's with a coupon. That's insanely cheap. It's 60 cents cheaper than Costco, even. They did make me take some rib meat with my breasts, and there was way more fat to trim than I'm used to. Hello squeamish white meat lover, that's me. Poor dark meat loving Trent was aghast when I said I maybe sort of might of tossed some rib meat with the fatty bits ...

p.p.s. I am trying to get myself off the Uncle Ben's, which I seriously love, because I know it's got crazy sodium and not the best nutrition, but I had a coupon! And did I mention I love that shit?

Ingredient	Nutrition	Cost
Boneless skinless chicken breast (sauteed in olive oil)	Protein (27 g), Iron (5%). Good source of Vitamin B6, Phosphorus. Very good source of Protein, Niacin, Selenium	$2.06
Fresh broccoli florets (roasted with olive oil)	Protein (2 g), Vitamin A (43%), Vitamin C (110%), Calcium (3%), Iron (3%). Good source of Thiamin, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, and Selenium; very good source of Riboflavin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, and Manganese.	$0.88
Uncle Ben’s long grain and wild rice	Fiber (1 g/4%), Protein (6 g), Calcium (4%), Vitamin C (2%), Iron (10%), Thiamin (15%), Niacin (20%), Folate (25%).	$2.75
Total	Fiber (1 g/4%), Protein (35 g), Iron (18%), Calcium (7%), Vitamin A (43%), Vitamin C (112%).	$5.69

Cost per person: $2.28
Nutritional Goals: Excellent Vitamin C; Good Vitamin A; Fair Iron; Poor Calcium and Fiber. Lean protein. Partial serving of whole grains. 

Recipe for chicken breasts here (beware! it might be fried chicken lite! I left out the butter, it was fine.)

Recipe for broccoli: toss broccoli in olive oil and salt, spread on baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray, and roast for about 20 minutes at 425 degrees.

Pasta with Chicken & Vegetables

Wow. I am amazed at how cheap this meal was. I suppose that's what happens when you use frozen vegetables. This is an all-round success. I didn't even mind the whole wheat pasta. It wasn't as bad as I remembered it. I suppose I should add a caveat to the dollar total here that I don't really know how much the pasta cost ... it's from a batch Trent bought at Costco eons ago that we still have a few boxes of because I thought I hated it.

Ingredient	Nutrition	Cost
Whole wheat pasta	Fiber (6 g/24%), Protein (7 g), Iron (8%).	$2
Boneless skinless chicken breast (poached)	Protein (27 g), Iron (5%). Good source of Vitamin B6, Phosphorus. Very good source of Protein, Niacin, Selenium	$3
Frozen red bell pepper	Fiber (1 g/3%), Vitamin A (25%), Vitamin C (49%), Iron (1%). Very good source of Vitamin E, Vitamin K, Thiamin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, and Manganese.	$0.96
Fresh organic baby carrots	Vitamin A (77%), Fiber (1 g/3%). Very good source of Vitamin K and Manganese.	$0.50
Frozen sweet corn	Fiber (2 g/4%), Protein (2 g), Vitamin A (2%), Vitamin C (6%), Iron (2%)	$1
Frozen baby peas	Fiber (3 g/9%), Protein (3 g), Vitamin A (20%), Vitamin C (15%), Calcium (1%), Iron (5%). Very good source of Vitamin K, Thiamin, Manganese. Good source of Niacin, Folate, and Phosphorous.	$0.75
Parmesan	Protein (11 g), Vitamin A (4%), Calcium (35%), Iron (1%)	$0.35
Total	Fiber (13 g/43%), Protein (50 g), Iron (22%), Calcium (36%), Vitamin A (128%), Vitamin C (70%).	$8.56

Cost per person: $1.90
Nutritional Goals: Excellent Vitamin A and Vitamin C; Good Fiber and Calcium; Fair Iron. Lean protein. One serving whole grains. 

Recipe: Saute 2 diced chicken breasts in 2 T olive oil over medium-high heat until opaque. Add vegetables, 1 T water, 1 T white wine vinegar, and salt; cover and simmer until chicken is cooked through. Stir in cooked pasta and serve with plenty of shredded parmesan. Based on a recipe in this book. 

Edamame and Vegetable Fried Rice

 

While visiting my brother for Thanksgiving, we went to a sushi restaurant, where my brother's kids, aged 3 and 18 months respectively, fell upon the edamame and tofu like it was candy. Nugget not so much. But after observing his cousins for a while he did come around to the edamame and ate a ton of it. So when we got home I quickly set about capitalizing on this new source of nutrition. It carried over, even though I bought shelled edamame -- next time he wants it in the pod. The fried rice he wouldn't touch, but while helping me make it he ate a lot of the vegetables (even the broccoli! and it was still frozen!), so it didn't really matter. Brown rice should put this meal up into excellent territory, as soon I get through my five pound bag of jasmine ...

Ingredient	Nutrition	Cost
Frozen Edamame (shelled)	Fiber (5 g/20%), Protein (14 g), Vitamin A (2%), Vitamin C (21%), Calcium (11%), Iron (10%). Good source of Vitamin K, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus and Copper; very good source of Manganese.	$1.96
Frozen broccoli	Fiber (1 g/3%), Protein (1 g), Vitamin A (6%), Vitamin C (19%), Calcium (1%), Iron (1%). Very good source of Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Vitamin K, Vitamin B6, Folate and Manganese.	$0.49
Frozen red bell pepper	Fiber (1 g/3%), Vitamin A (25%), Vitamin C (49%), Iron (1%). Very good source of Vitamin E, Vitamin K, Thiamin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, and Manganese.	$0.96
Fresh organic baby carrots	Vitamin A (77%), Fiber (1 g/3%). Very good source of Vitamin K and Manganese.	$0.50
Jasmine rice	Good source of Manganese and Selenium.	$0.88
Eggs	Protein (17 g), Vitamin A (15%), Calcium (10%), Iron (10%). Good source of Riboflavin, Vitamin B12, and Phosphorus; very good source of Selenium.	$0.63
Total	Fiber (8 g/29%), Protein (32 g), Iron (22%), Calcium (22%), Vitamin A (125%), Vitamin C (89%).	$5.42

Cost per person: $1.55
Nutritional Goals: Excellent Vitamin A and Vitamin C; Fair Fiber, Iron, and Calcium. Vegetarian. No whole grains.

Basic recipe for fried rice here