{Easy} Better Than Take Out, Chicken Fried Rice

A few days ago I was craving chicken fried rice as if it were going to be my last meal. I have yet to find a Chinese restaurant around us that I genuinely love, and I didn't want to foot the cost of greasy take out.

After minimal searching for homemade chicken fried rice I quickly learned what an easy dish it was to whip up. Not to mention, I had everything needed to make both the chicken and rice, but I was even able to make my own teriyaki sauce (I had no idea it was SO easy to make).

Major points for this hitting the pregnancy craving square on the head. I considered diving head first into the skillet, but reconsidering, I thought better of the idea. However, I did have a heaping serving and it was magnificent.

Double bonus points for taking all of 25 minutes from prep to plate!

Easy, Better Than Take Out, Chicken Fried Rice

Homemade Teriyaki Sauce - this is perfect to use if you're planning to use slow cooker chicken!
1 1/2 cups COLD water
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder (or granulated garlic)
3 Tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp sesame oil (ok, so I didn't have this on hand, but olive oil worked just fine)

Mix all ingredients together in a saucepan, then put over medium heat on the stove.
Whisk continually.
The color will change and darken as sauce thickens.
Once thickened, remove from heat.

Cooking tip: Use half the batch for marinading the chicken in the crock pot. Freeze the other half of the sauce for future use. 

Chicken Fried Rice 
4 cups rice, prepared
1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and chopped up I threw my chicken in a crock pot, smothered it in the Teriyaki sauce, set it on low for a handful of hours and called it good. However, any cooked chicken will do.
2 Tbsp sesame oil (again, I used olive oil)
1 cup mixed veggies frozen
1 small white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 eggs
1/4 cup soy sauce

Prep rice according to package instructions to yield 4 cups of cooked rice.
Heat oil in a large skillet on medium heat.
Add onion, garlic, mixed veggies to skillet. Stir fry until tender.
Crack eggs into pan and scramble, mixing throughout veggies.
Add rice and chicken to pan.
Stir in soy sauce and remove from heat.
Enjoy!

Seriously, it was divine. Even our resident 3-year old had no problem wolfing his meal down, and that is basically a Christmas miracle.

Teriyaki Sauce Source

Chicken Fried Rice Source

Spicy Sausage Pasta Skillet

 It's no secret that I don't eat red meat or pork. I haven't since I was 9. My mom often tried to sneak fast ones on me growing up (and succeeded a few times). There's a long story behind it. But not too long to share with my newer followers:

Growing up my best friend, Amy, lived on a farm. I hung out with her all the time, and spent summers with her, prepping her animals for the fair. I was a "city" girl, who lived all of maybe 12 blocks away, but a city girl nonetheless. When I went to my BFFs to play I would BEG Amy's sisters to let me do their chores. I never understood why they always gladly let me go to the barn instead of them... Feeding the animals, frolicking in the yard, it was glorious.

One day Amy and I were eating hot dogs, or hamburgers, or something along those lines. It was then I learned we were eating the animals we had been caring for. That was enough for me.

You'll see plenty of chicken and turkey dishes on here. Why eat those meats but not the swine or bovine? Well, the chickens on the farm were down right MEAN. The only chore I hated helping with was collecting eggs. Chickens pecking away at your arms and legs is not my idea of fun. So, poultry? Yes, please.

On to my point... When I happened across a one-skillet dish that actually called for smoked turkey sausage I knew it was already a winner in my world.

Did I already mention one-skillet? That also equals keeper. Annnnd, per severing this is less than 300 calories! Winner, winner spicy sausage pasta skillet dinner!


Spicy Sausage Pasta Skillet

Serves 6

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
12 oz smoked turkey sausage, sliced
2 large shallots, or 1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups chicken broth
10 oz Rotel
1/2 cup half & half
pepper
12 oz (1 box) cut pasta
4 cups baby spinach
Parmesan cheese, for topping

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large skillet (I used a 12″ skillet) over medium-high heat. Add sausage and shallots then saute until sausage is slightly curled, about 5 minutes (do not over cook or sausage will become rubbery.) Add garlic then cook for 30 more seconds, stirring constantly.
2. Turn heat up to high then add chicken broth, tomatoes, half & half, and pepper. Mixture may look curdled, but it’s fine. Bring to a boil then add pasta and stir to combine. Place a lid on top then simmer for 10 minutes, or until pasta is al dente, stirring once or twice. Add spinach then stir to combine and cook until wilted, about 1 minute. Serve topped with Parmesan cheese.

SO GOOD! Scott liked it, except for the spinach. I knew he'd pick it all out, and he did. Next time I'll probably add a little less spinach, but I like the stuff, so I'm not nixing it totally.

Nutrition info per serving (this does not include shredded Parmesan cheese):

Calories - 290

Fat - 9 g

Carbs - 38.5 g

Fiber - 5 g

Protein - 14 g

Source: Iowa Girl Eats

Chicken Posole Verde

Lately the little man goes down for an evening nap around 5:00ish. I get about 30 minutes to myself to scramble and prep and make dinner. Thirty minutes people, that's not much time. Good thing I did a little leg work before stressing scrambling making dinner.

If you've never used a rotisserie chicken to help cut your prep time down let me suggest you do so. This was my first time using the nifty short cut. I'll be more than happy the shell out the $7.00 again to save myself some time.

Chicken Posole Verde (pronounced po-SO-lay)

1 Tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 can white hominy, drained
2 cups chicken broth
1 can medium green enchilada sauce
1 cup water
1 tsp dried Mexican oregano (I have no idea what Mexican oregano is, and I have plenty of good ol' regular oregano that worked swell)
2 cup diced cooked chicken (I just used the whole rotisserie)
1 cup thinly sliced green cabbage (not big cabbage eaters in this house, so I omitted it)
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 lime

Add oil and pressed garlic to a large skillet; heat over medium-high heat 1-3 minutes or until garlic is golden brown and fragrant.
Meanwhile, drain hominy.
Immediately add broth, enchilada sauce, water, oregano and hominy to skillet; bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to medium; simmer for 8 minutes.
As hominy mixture comes to a boil, dice chicken.
Add chicken to skillet; simmer until heated through.
As posole simmers, thinly slice cabbage (which I didn't do) and chop cilantro. Slice lime into wedges.
To serve, divide posole among serving bowls; top with cabbage.
Garnish with cilantro and lime wedges.

This one-skillet wonder was action packed with flavor. Scott thought it was reminiscent of a white chicken chili, which is always a hit in our house.

Total prep and cook time, and I went ahead and washed a few baby bottles while I had the chance, was 30 minutes.

And, let's not forget the nutrition content:
Yields 4 servings
Calories - 290
Fat - 11g
Carbs - 22g
Fiber - 5g
Protein - 23g

Dig in and enjoy!

Source: The Pampered Chef; 29 Minutes to Dinner, From Everyday to Gourmet

Tex-Mex Chicken and Rice Skillet

One skillet. Check.
Twenty-eight minutes to make a meal. Check.
New fast dinner favorite. Check!

There's no time for any elaborate meals around here. And, quite frankly, who needs elaborate? It's summer. This dish is easy, it's fast, it doesn't heat your whole house to a million degrees, and it's good.
Add those all up, and that equals WINNER in my world!

Tex-Mex Chicken and Rice Skillet

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 tsp plus 1 Tbsp veggie oil, divided
1 can Mexican-style corn
1 tbsp Pampered Chef Southwestern Seasoning (if you don't have the Pampered Chef seasoning Mrs. Dash makes a Southwest Seasoning that would work well, or taco seasoning could do the trick, too)
2 cups uncooked instant white rice
2 cups chicken broth
16 oz salsa verde
2 Tbsp snipped, fresh cilantro
1 cup shredded Mexican cheese

Add 1 tsp of oil to a 12 inch skillet; heat over medium-high heat 1-3 minutes, or until shimmering.
Drain corn; pat dry with paper towels.
Add corn to skillet in a single layer. Cook without stirring for 5 minutes, or until caramelized on one side.
Remove corn from skillet and set aside.
While corn cooks, cut chicken into 1-inch cubes.
Combine chicken and Southwest seasoning. Add chicken to skillet and cook over medium heat 5-7 minutes, or until center of chicken is no longer pink, stir occasionally.
Remove chicken from skillet and set aside.
Add remaining 1 Tbsp oil to skillet.
Add rice; stir until well coated with oil.
Add broth and salsa; bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cover skillet; reduce heat to low.
Simmer 5 minutes, or until most of the liquid is absorbed.

To serve, spoon chicken over rice mixture in skillet.
Sprinkle with cheese and corn.
Cover; let stand 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with cilantro.

I just love how the cheese melded together with the rice, and the chicken seasoning was awesome; not too spicy, but added a nice boost to liven up the flavor.

Enjoy!!

Source: Slight Adaptations from Pampered Chef: 29 Minute to Dinner: From Everyday to Gourmet

Chicken Orzo Skillet

Skillet dishes are a close second to the crock pot. I've come to the conclusion I need to whip my skillet out more often, especially after discovering this flavor-packed dish.

While prepping this dish the aroma of onions, garlic and seasonings were so tantalizing. I couldn't wait for the finished product.

Possibly the greatest thing about this dish is how healthy it is! We're talking less than 350 calories (yes, you read correctly, LESS THAN), is pretty decent on the fat content, and PACKED with protein.

Chicken Orzo Skillet

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast cut into approximately 1 inch cube
2 tsp garlic seasoning blend (your choice)
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 can diced tomatoes (14.5 oz), undrained (to reduce the sodium use the "no salt added" tomatoes)
1 package (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (Scott isn't a huge fan of spinach, so I reduced the amount to about 5 oz)
3/4 cup uncooked orzo pasta
1 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, optional (next time I make this I'll up the crushed peppers to 1/4 tsp)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, optional

Sprinkle chicken with garlic seasoning blend (I put my cubed chicken in a gallon size zip lock bag, dumped in the seasoning and just shook the bag until the chicken was evenly covered).
In a large skillet, saute chicken and onion in oil for 5-6 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink.
Add garlic to skilled; cook one minute longer.
Stir in tomatoes, spinach, broth, orzo, Italian seasoning and pepper flakes (if desired).
Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until orzo is tender and liquid is absorbed.
Garnish with Parmesan cheese (if desired).
Yields four servings.

Nutrition Facts: 1.25 cups (w/o cheese) = 339 calories, 7 grams fat (1 gram saturated), 384 mg sodium, 38 grams carbohydrates, 5 grams fiber, 32 grams of protein

Dig in and enjoy!

Source