Something From Nothing Meal of the Week:
My dad always said my mom’s best meals were the ones she made when, supposedly, there was “nothing to eat in the house.” My mother is the Queen of Something From Nothing. I try to emulate her tactics using wholesome ingredients.
I hope these meal ideas keep you from resorting to that can o’ condensed soup casserole or, even worse, fast food!
Remember: Grain+Veggie(s)+Protein=Meal!
The photos are really the meals I cooked; I just may edit them for bad lighting 😉
This week’s meal:
Stovetop BBQ Chicken with Brown Rice, Edamame, and Pineapple-Banana Smoothies
I served this as a weekend lunch, but it would work well as a kid-friendly dinner, too!
For the chicken:
Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 cup of bbq sauce, preferably homemade or organic
1 T. olive oil
grill pan
Directions:
1. Heat the olive oil in a grill pan on med-high heat.
2. Lightly coat the chicken with a few tablespoons of the bbq sauce–do not use all of it yet!
3. Once the pan is heated, place chicken on the hot pan and cook for about 5 minutes. While one side cooks, baste the other side with a few more tablespoons of the bbq sauce.
4. Flip the chicken and baste the top side with more sauce. Allow to cook for another 5 minutes.
5. Continue flipping and basting until chicken is desired color and cooked through, or 170°.
While the chicken cooks, prepare the sides:
Brown Rice: reheat previously-cooked rice in the microwave
Edamame pods: if fresh, place in a bowl. If frozen, run under cold water to thaw slightly, then defrost totally in the microwave.
Pineapple-Banana Smoothie: Place 1 1/2-2 c. frozen pineapple, 1 banana, and 3/4 cup of soymilk (or milk of your choice) in a blender. Blend until smooth.
Notes:
The stovetop method of barbequing chicken creates a mess out of your pan, as the sugar in the sauce caramelizes and burns. You have been warned. I have a gracious husband who volunteered to clean; I guess he was impressed by this lunch! 🙂
My son spent most of lunchtime slurping his smoothie, but gladly gobbled up the chicken and rice, too. He likes edamame, but was unsure of popping the beans out of the pods. I think it could be a fun, hands-on, way of eating for older kiddos!
Feel free to substitute the chicken thighs with legs or breasts; I just happened to have boneless thighs on-hand.
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