Eating Healthy and Saving Money

A friend pointed out to me the other day how surprised he was when he switched to healthy food and his grocery bills went down. It all started when his wife had some stomach troubles and they decided to make a move to home prepared foods. They stopped buying prepared foods and sweets. They also cut down on their meat intake. They bought a rice steamer and started to make a lot of stir-fried food with smaller amounts of chicken and pork. The result he says is "we feel much better, have lost some weight and have a grocery bill that is a fraction of what it used to be". On top of all this he also likes the way the steamed rice and stir-fried vegetables can be reheated in a microwave in just a few minutes. He says it is perfect to carry to work for lunch because it comes out just like it was freshly made. Saves money! Healthy and tastes good! Sounds good to me! Here are a couple recipes to get you started:

Stir-Fried Broccoli
½ cup chicken stock
½ teaspoon salt
Ground black pepper
1 ½ tablespoon peanut oil
1 ½ pounds Broccoli steamed for 2 ½ minutes
1 tablespoon minced garlic
Heat a wok or 12 inch fry pan over high heat until quite hot but not smoking. Add the oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. Add Broccoli and stir every 30 seconds for about 2 ½ minutes. In the center of the pan add the garlic and another teaspoon of oil. Cook 10 seconds and then mix with Broccoli. Add chicken stock, salt and pepper and cook until syrupy or about 30 seconds. If you like the liquid even thicker add a teaspoon of cornstarch to the liquid before adding to the pan. Serve immediately with steamed rice. Serves four people.

Beef and Vegetable Stir-Fry
If you have a bigger group to feed or want to prepare several lunches in advance try this recipe.
Trim all fat from a 1 lb lean tender beef steak. Cut it across the grain into ½" x 2" strips. Marinate for 20 minutes in the following:
¼ cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons dry wine
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon corn starch
2 teaspoons sesame oil
Put this to one side to marinate.
Then chop up 1 medium onion, 2 red or green peppers. Slice one-cup mushrooms, 4 scallions, and one-cup snow peas. You can also add or substitute other vegetables as desired.
In a small bowl mince 2 tablespoons fresh ginger and 1-tablespoon garlic.
Remove the beef from the marinade and add 1/3 cup chicken stock to it.
Heat a wok or fry pan on high until hot. Add 2 tablespoons of peanut oil (peanut oil produces less smoke at high heat than other oils).
Cook ginger and garlic for 30 seconds. Add beef and cook 2 minutes stirring and flipping. Remove this mixture from the pan.
Heat the wok again add 1 tablespoon of peanut oil.
Add vegetables and cook 2 minutes.
Return the meat to the pan along with the marinade mixture and cook briefly.
Serve immediately with steamed rice or Chinese noodles.
Serves 4 to 6 people.

Scrooge