Food That is Handy to Have

This is a list of foods that are handy to have and easy to make.

1) Frozen Chicken Breasts ($10.00)*
- You can get them from any grocery store for a reasonable price. Keep them in the freezer and pull them out when needed. The large ones easily feed 2 people and are simple to prepare

Easy Chicken recipe #1

**Place the chicken breast on a microwavable plate and defrost it in the microwave. Make sure you hit the "defrost" button or else you will COOK your chicken instead of DEFROSTing it. Flip the breast about halfway through and check on it about every 3 minutes to make sure it doesn't start cooking. 

**Once its defrosted, spice it up! I prefer to use Italian Spices. You can get a grinder of LOTS of different spices from the 99 cent store. Put some olive oil in a pan and heat up the pan. Sprinkle your spices on one side of the chicken and place that side DOWN on the pan. (smaller pieces of chicken cook faster and more evenly). Spice the other side of the chicken and turn the heat down to medium. Its an art cooking your chicken at the right temperature, but cutting your chicken into smaller pieces makes it easier. Flip your chicken every now and again to ensure it doesn't burn. The chicken SHOULD cook and brown up, but not turn black. 

**WATCH FOR SMOKE! this could mean the oil is burning or your chicken is burning. turn down the heat IMMEDIATELY and remove the pan until the smoking stops. There IS a difference between steam and smoke. your chicken WILL steam. 

**Cut open the larger pieces to check that it is cooked all the way through. 

**Remove from heat and enjoy!

2) Rice ($3.00/ 2 lbs)*

- Rice is cheap. its tasty. there are HUNDREDS of different kinds. 

- White is the most common, but brown rice is healthier (and i think, more tasty)

- I prefer rice pilaf. The brand Rice-A-Roni makes cheap, delicious rice pilaf as well as all kinds of different kinds of rice! In my cabinets I currently have rice pilaf and "Mexican Style". The Rice-A-Roni instructions are also easy to follow. 

3) Frozen Vegetables ($3.00)*

- Yes, fresh vegetables are more tasty. But we are on a budget here, people! and there is NOTHING wrong with frozen veggies. In my freezer i currently have 2 bags of frozen veggies, a peas and carrots blend, and a something else blend with lima beans and string beans and peas and corn and something else. 

I am going somewhere with this seemingly random list of food. You all have just read an entire meal. 

**Start cooking the rice first. If it gets cold by the time you have finished cooking everything else, you can always heat it up

**Cook the chicken. Keep an eye on the rice

**Once the chicken is done or almost done, put your vegetables in the microwave. Pour the amount needed into a microwavable container. Place a cover on top. Make sure it has some sort of ventilation! Your container will explode if it doesn't! The way I solve this problem is by putting my vegetables in a coffee mug and simply placing a plate on top. The lid keeps the steam in and lets the steam aid in cooking the vegetables. The amount of vegetables determines the amount of time to leave them in the microwave. Start with no more than a minute and stir your vegetables after that amount of time. from there you can gauge the rest of the time they need to cook. 

**Put everything onto a plate, and ENJOY!

Until next time,

~~Lucy

* indicates estimated cost of food from grocery store.