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For those of you who didn’t already know, Mr. Fox and I have been trying out some various meal planning services, to aid us with our busy schedule. Previously, we were using The Fresh 20, which is actually a really great service. It focuses on 5 meals a week, using only 20 ingredients, hence the name. However, the problem with it was that I found myself spending so much time on prepping everything, that by the time it was all ready to go, I just didn’t feel like cooking it anymore. I guess you could say it was a novel concept, but one that I just wasn’t interested in anymore. My love of cooking has become somewhat of an afterthought since Mr. Fox is working a weird schedule, so lately I’ve been wanting simplicity in the kitchen.
That’s when I stumbled upon another meal planning service called The Six O’Clock Scramble. The thing I like about this is that it’s around the same price as The Fresh 20, and you can search the archives and change up your meal plans without paying for a higher subscription. And, the main plus is that a lot of the meals are low prep, or just easy all around. So I jumped at the deal that 100 Days of Real Food was doing and got a discounted subscription right before it ended. Aside from the fact that Mr. Fox and I came into some extra money and went out to eat for the majority of last week and the week before, I’ve been enjoying The Scramble so far! I like the fact that users can rate the recipes, because it really helps to see what other people thought of the dishes.
I will be doing a more in-depth review of The Scramble, but in the mean time, I wanted to share the recipe that I made for dinner last night. I am always a fan of Asian-inspired dishes, but I generally hate making them at home. However, Mr. Fox recently bought me a fabulous wok from IKEA, and so I took it out to use for the first time last night. I love it!
So last night’s dinner was Sweet and Sour Chicken Stir-Fry, served over white rice. I was supposed to make an Asian cucumber salad to go with it, but the cucumbers that I bought didn’t last, so it was just the chicken dish over rice. Very delicious, if I do say so myself!
From The Scramble website: This Asian stir-fry is a little sweet, a little sour and just a tad spicy, though you can definitely crank up the heat with extra chilies.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup Asian sweet chili sauce (also called Mae Ploy)
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper or Asian chili garlic sauce (optional)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1-1.5lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced into 1" pieces
- 1 carrot, sliced
- 1/2 yellow or white onion, diced
- 2 red bell peppers, seeded and diced
- 1.5-2 cups prepared white or brown rice
Directions
- In a measuring cup or medium bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, cornstarch, rice vinegar and crushed red pepper. Set aside.
- In a large nonstick skillet or wok, heat the oil over medium to medium high heat. Add the chicken and carrots and stir-fry them for about 3 minutes until the outside of the chicken turns white.
- Add the onions and peppers and continue to stir-fry the mixture for about 3 more minutes until the peppers are tender crisp and the onions start to turn translucent.
- Add the reserved sauce and cook for 1-2 minutes until it is heated through and the chicken and vegetables are coated.
- Serve over prepared rice.
Notes
If you're short on time and want to do something even simpler, you could use a frozen pepper and onion blend in place of the 1/2 onion and 2 bell peppers.
This recipe is posted with permission from Aviva at The Six O'Clock Scramble.
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