Chicken Stir-fry

Again, this meal is not the most authentic. But it is super easy while staying yummy, healthy, and cheap. I used to cut up my own vegetables to add to a stir fry, putting in what I had that sounded good,  but now I stick to the easy route of just buying a bag of frozen stir-fry vegetables and calling it good. They are not organic, which I would of course prefer, but the majority of the vegetables in there - broccoli, green beans, mushrooms, onions - are either on the Clean 15 or not on the Dirty Dozen list by the Environmental Working Group, so I feel okay about eating them right now.

Chicken Stir-fry over Rice

1 1/2 cups leftover brown rice - $0.00*
3 cups frozen stir-fry veggies - $0.91
.45 pound all-natural chicken** - $2.02
1 tsp toasted sesame seed oil - $0.05
1 tbsp organic tamari sauce - $0.05
 few dashes of ground ginger, Asian 5 spice, and garlic - $0.01
1 tbsp coconut oil - $0.10 (you could use another oil)

1. Heat coconut oil in a pan. Sprinkle chicken with spices and cook in pan. Remove.
2. Add vegetables to pan and let steam until heated through. Add
3. Meanwhile, heat rice and cut chicken into bite size pieces.
4. Add chicken to vegetables along with sesame oil, tamari sauce, and spices.
5. Serve stir-fry over rice.

Total cost:  $3.14 for two huge servings that could easily feed three

*I always cook more rice than I need at a time and either freeze it for a later meal or use it later in the week. I only count the cost in the initial meal. Rice isn't hard to cook, especially in a rice cooker, but having leftovers makes for a fast meal since brown rice takes longer to cook.

** I know that "all-natural" can mean a lot, but this brand truly is. I like to buy the local/organic chicken at my favorite Farmer's Market, but I just don't have the money right now. So I stocked up on a sale on the next best thing, Springer Mountain Farms chicken. This is actually the chicken my favorite health food store, Earth Fare, sells.