Pulled Another Rabbit Out of My Hat

...or rather, a decent meal out of my nearly bare fridge & pantry. I call it Cheater's Chinese Fried Rice:

- a few strips of bacon
- leftover onion
- brown rice
- frozen veggies
- low sodium soy sauce (sounds like an oxymoron, doesn't it?)
- a few eggs or egg substitute

Get the rice cooking first (may substitute your fave kind of rice, whatever's on hand).

Meanwhile, cut the bacon into 1/2" or so pieces & cook it in another pan. Add the onions a few minutes before the bacon is done. When the onions get nice & soft, take it off the heat until the rice is done. Feel free to drain the bacon grease. I didn't because the bacon was somewhat lean, so it didn't produce a whole lot if grease. I thought it added to the flavor.

When the rice is cooked, turn the heat back on the bacon & onions. Dump the rice in & stir it all together. Add the frozen veg (about 1 1/2 cups or so).

I didn't prepare the frozen veggies. i just let the heat of the rice defrost & heat them up.

Clear a space in the center of the rice to cook & scramble the eggs. When the eggs start to cook, incorporate them with the rest of the ingredients.

Add soy sauce to you liking & serve! Presto! A cheap, healthy dinner and only two dirty pans!

Sara's SortaLike Chicken Florentine

Last week I came up with this yummy concoction, using ingredients we had on hand. This was a rare occasion because we (hubby) usually plan our meals for the week, and buy just what we need. My bff, Jen, over at Mom Rocks Mealtime is a pro at menu planning!
Anyway, this is what I had to work with:

• 1 very large chicken breast
• Yellow onion
• Garlic
• Olive oil
• Canned spinach
• Canned, diced tomatoes
• Chopped olives
• Arborio rice

Saute garlic & onion in a pan with olive oil. Meanwhile, in a separate pan, start cooking the Arborio rice according to package instructions. It takes a while.

Season the chicken breast as desired. I think I used seasoned salt, powdered garlic & onion powder. Place the chicken in the pan with garlic & onions. Cook for a few minutes on each side over medium heat. Time will depend on how thick the chicken is.
When chicken is nearly done, add the spinach & tomatoes (drained, or it will get too soupy).  Add chopped olives. Let it all co-mingle for a while.

Once it all looks done to you, spoon some of the arborio on each plate. Put a piece of chicken on the rice and spoon the yummy spinach and tomato goodness over the top. If you happen to have some feta cheese on hand, sprinkle some on top. I tried this with a later rendition and it was DIVINE! Sorry, I forgot to take a pic both times I made this dish. I am probably  making it for my folks next weekend, so I'll snap a pic for you then.

Instead of arborio, you could also serve up some brown rice, pasta, or whatever Roni box you have in your pantry.

Enjoy!

Trick Or Treating!

Thanks for Mom Rocks Mealtime (our kiddos are bestest buds!), Free Digital Scrapbooking, Jah-JustJennifer (she turned me on to MyMemories...I won it on her blog), and MyMemories Suite, I was able to whip up this layout in the thirty minutes from when I gave up on my work project (it had already long since given up on ME!) and picking up my munchkin from pre-school.