Chicken Fried Rice Recipe

Chicken Fried Rice

2 egg whites
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt, divided
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup frozen mixed veggies
2 cups diced cooked chicken breast
3 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
3 cups cold cooked rice

In a small bowl, combine the egg whites, egg and 1/4 tsp salt. In a large nonstick skillet (or wok coated w/ cooking spray if you have one), cook the egg mixture over medium heat; when cooked thoroughly set aside & keep warm.

In the same pan, stir fry the onion and garlic until tender. Add vegetables; cover and cook over medium high heat for 3-4 minutes or until no longer frozen. Stir in the chicken, soy sauce and remaining salt; cook for 1 min. Add rice; stir fry for 4-5 min. or until heated through. Add eggs; heat through. Yield: 4 servings.

Personal Note: This recipe is great for re-creating a meal out of leftovers, using pre-cooked foods also helps it to be a very quick and easy meal to make if you're on a time crunch.  Anytime we have regular rice as a side dish, I always freeze the leftovers for future use. Leftover cooked rice can be used later in soups, casseroles and stir frys such as this one. Leftover cooked chicken has almost endless possibilities...use in making chicken pot pies, add in soups, use as a pizza topping, add to casseroles or again...in recipes such as this!

Be creative and USE YOUR LEFTOVERS! Your pocketbook will thank you!

Wintertime Beef Soup Recipe

Wintertime Beef Soup

1 lb. lean ground beef
4 celery ribs, diced (we use only 2)
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium green bell pepper, diced (we use only 1/2 cup)
1 garlic clove, minced
2 cups water
2 cups reduced sodium tomato juice
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
2 tsp reduced sodium beef bouillon granules
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cans (15 oz. each) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups chopped cabbage (we use only 1 cup)

In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, cook the beef, celery, onion, green pepper and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the water, tomato juice, tomatoes, tomato sauce, bouillon, chili powder and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30 min.

Stir in kidney beans; return to a boil. Stir in cabbage. Reduce heat; cover and cook 12 min. longer or until cabbage is tender. Yield: 8 servings

Personal Note: The great things about recipes is...they're not carved in stone! You can adjust them to suit your families tastes however you'd like! I'm a soup fanatic...and I really enjoy this one. It's definitely hearty and goes perfect with a cold winter day. It's what's for dinner tonight!

Breakfast Sausage Patties Recipe

Breakfast Sausage Patties

1 lb. ground turkey (typically come in 1.25 lb package, go ahead and use all of it)
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp rubbed sage
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp vegetable oil (or can use canola or olive oil)

In a large bowl, combine the turkey, salt, sage, thyme, nutmeg and cayenne. Shape into eight patties. In a large skillet, cook patties in oil over medium heat for approx. 5 min. each side or until juices run clear. Drain on paper towels. Yield: 4 servings

Personal Note: We typically have breakfast for dinner once a week...main reason is breakfast meals are usually lower in cost, but also helps bring a change of pace from the ol' meat & potatoes dinner routine. Tonight I'm serving this w/ fresh fruit and toast...quick and easy meal before basketball practice!

Budget Planning Process

This time of year I always start thinking about next year's family budget. Life is constantly changing, so to keep the exact same budget from year to year is impossible. Maybe new bills popped up during the year (like medical or auto repair)...maybe some of your current bills increased (credit card payments or utilities)...maybe you've added additional members to your family or the children you already have are getting bigger and have bigger appetites! Life's always changing...

For us, we've had a few changes that have affected our current budget in place and I want to make sure that for 2012, I have a budget that'll accept those changes and see where I can make cutbacks and plan ahead.

I've found that the best way to set a budget is to total the year's worth of each bill we have and divide it by 12 to find the average monthly cost. For bills that sometimes vary, sometimes you may be under budget and sometimes over budget. But if you keep that excess set aside for the months that you might be over...it won't matter because you'll essentially break even.

I break down our monthly budget into categories: fixed expenses and variable expenses. I know I can't do anything to change the fixed expenses, so if I can easily see what the variables are...I can see which categories I might be able to adjust if I need to. Examples of fixed expenses would be your mortgage, insurances, car payments, personal loan payments, etc. Examples of variable expenses would be groceries, medical bills, electricity (if you're not on set budget billing), gas/fuel, eating out, etc. If you don't already know, figure out your monthly NET income after taxes...add up your monthly expenses...subtract...are you in the black or in the red every month? Might be time to adjust how you spend your money...

I'd recommend every family set a monthly budget to follow.....if nothing else, just going through the past year's worth of expenses can sometimes be a real eye opener as to where your paycheck goes. It may surprise you!! Many of us live in denial as to how much we actually spend!

People who don't think they eat out that often, go back through your check register or credit card statements and add up every time you ate out at a restaurant, fast food, or got take-out pizza...it adds up quick!