Sunday night: Orange Chicken

On a lighter note, I put out there the other day "what should I blog about?" and got a response about sharing meal ideas. I thought that was a great idea! I cook our dinners 6 out of 7 nights a week and our grocery budget is between $50 and $75 a week. Most people tell me that that's not possible, but I'll show you it is! And you don't have to eat frozen pizza or tv dinners either! I make real dinners for this amount. So, for this week, I'm going to post every dinner I make, complete with recipes, pictures and our grocery prices. Last night's dinner was Orange Chicken. I had several of the ingredients needed for this meal, already, but I'll include the bigger items in the grocery list. For example, last week, we went to Sam's club and bought a big package of boneless skinless chicken breasts for $14. There were 14 small chicken breasts in them. I separated them out into 2 per freezer bag and freeze them. So, although we didn't actual buy chicken this week, I'll still include it in the weekly budget.

My first meal is Orange Chicken. I got this recipe from Weight Watchers. So, it's healthy AND cheap! You can't go wrong with this one!

Orange Chicken

Shopping list:

dark sesame oil (already have some in the pantry)

orange zest, strips ($.35)

uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts ($2)

salt(already have)

black pepper (already have)

can Mandarin oranges in light syrup ($.82)

reduced sodium chicken broth ($.86)

low sodium soy sauce (already have)

orange zest, finely grated (part of the orange from above)

cornstarch (already have)

boil in a bag brown rice (already had, but costs about $1 per bag)

For a grand total of $5.03!

Ingredients

2 tsp dark sesame oil

2 tsp orange zest, strips

1 pound uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/8 tsp salt, or to taste

1/8 tsp black pepper, or to taste

15 oz can Mandarin oranges in light syrup

½ cup reduced sodium chicken broth

1tbsp low sodium soy sauce

1 tbsp orange zest, finely grated

2 tsp cornstarch

Instructions:

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Add zest strips and cook, stirring, until fragrant and slightly cooked, about 1 to 2 minutes. Meanwhile, season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper. Also, start cooking the brown rice according to the directions on the package. When zest is finished, increase heat to medium-high; add chicken to skillet and cook until golden, flipping once, about 2 minutes per side.

Drain mandarin oranges and reserve ¼ cup liquid. Add oranges with reserved liquid to skillet and simmer 2 minutes. Whisk together broth, soy sauce, finely grated zest and cornstarch in a small bowl; add mixture to pan and simmer until sauce thickens and chicken is cooked through, about 3 minutes more. Serve over brown rice.

Jackson loves it too!