Wic Wednesday #6: Thai Peanut Noodles (Freezer Friendly!)

Eating on a budget doesn't have to mean PB sandwiches or ramen noodles. I used my WIC check to get the majority of the ingredients for this vegetarian meal. Having a meal without meat in it is one way to save money. Since meat can get pretty pricy, cutting back at least once a week can make a difference. I found this One Pot Pasta Thai Peanut Butter Noodles recipe from Top Ate on Your Plate. To make this freezer friendly, I prepped all the veggies and added all the ingredients except the pasta and noodles. You can easily skip the whole freezer part and just throw everything into the pot.

 

Ingredients:

8oz spaghetti, uncooked, rinsed in cold water until the starch is gone

2 cups chicken broth

1/4 cup rice vinegar

3 TBSP soy sauce

1 TSBP fish sauce

1/4 cup peanut butter*

1 TBSP ginger, grated*

1 clove garlic, minced*

1 1/2 cup broccoli floret*

1 cup sliced mushrooms*

1 cup carrots, sliced*

1/2 onion, sliced*

 

Garnish

Cilantro

1 TBSP sesame seeds

*WIC

Directions:
1. Label the bag as Thai Peanut Butter Noodles. Underneath, write the cooking instructions:

 

Defrost overnight

Add 2 cups chicken broth

Add spaghetti, rinsed in cold water (uncooked)

Bring to boil, boil for 10 mins

(if pasta is still too al dente, add 1/4 cup water or broth and boil for extra 3-5 mins)

Garnish

 

2. In the zip lock bag, combine everthing except the spaghetti, broth and garnish

3. Close the bag, trying to squeeze out as much air as possible.

4. Freeze flat.

To cook:
1. Defrost overnight
2. Add the contents of the bag, chicken broth and spaghetti to a pot
3. Boil until pasta is al dente
4. Garnish

WIC Wednesday #4: Chicken Broccoli Alfredo (Freezer Friendly!)

Pasta is always an easy fall back plan when we don't feel like cooking. However, cooking pasta sauce in the crock pot brings easy cooking to a whole new level! Thank you to marking our marx for finding this easy chicken broccoli alfredo recipe!

Ingredients:
1 bag 16oz frozen broccoli
1 large green bell pepper, cut into large chunks
2 16 oz jars Alfredo sauce

Directions:
1. Label the bag as chicken broccoli alfredo. Underneath, write the cooking instructions: low 4-6hrs.
2.  Mix all ingredients together in freezer gallon zip-lock bag
3. Close the bag, trying to squeeze out as much air as possible.
4. Freeze flat.

 

To cook:
1. Defrost in fridge the night before. (this is so there isn't a giant clump, this step can easily be skipped if you forgot)
2. Put in crock pot and heat on low for 4hrs, or until the chicken is cooked.
3. Cook pasta of your choice 30 mins before serving and enjoy!

 

Wic Wednesdays #3: Teriyaki Chicken (Freezer Friendly!)

This teriyaki chicken recipe is super easy to prep and even easier to cook! I got this recipe from Kojo Designs but I altered the recipe a little. Her teriyaki chicken only calls for broccoli and I added green peppers to the mix. I also reduced it down to 3 chicken breast because our grocery stores sell them in groups of 3 not 4. Be careful when you place in the freezer that you don't place anything too heavy on top or it will puncture the foil. That's why I used two pieces of foil.

 

Ingredients:

3 Chicken Breast
1 green pepper, chopped*
1 head broccoli, chopped*
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup water
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp garlic, minced
1 foil pan
foil

Directions:
1. Lay chicken breast, bell peppers and broccoli on the pan
2. Mix the honey, soy sauce, water, ground ginger and garlic together.
3. Pour mixture over ingredients in pan.
4. Cut 2 pieces of foil out to fit over the pan. On one of them, in the center, write: Bake at 350* F for 20-30 minutes covered. Uncover and bake for 20-30 more minutes.**

To cook:
1. Defrost in the fridge the night before.
2. Bake as directed. Cut into the chicken before serving to make sure it's thoroughly cooked. Pink is bad!

Some things I would do differently:
**This recipe was a half success. The chicken was cooked amazingly. But I had to bake it for an extra 30 mins uncovered. SO, I would change the instructions to uncover & bake for 1 hr.
Another thing I would do is not use the same veggies. The green bell pepper turned out to be really bitter/sour and the broccoli kinda just soaked in all that taste. So the chicken was amazing, but the veggies...not so much. I would steam them on the side or put them in fresh the day of. I think freezing them like that did a number to the poor things.

WIC Wednesdays #2: Pineapple Chicken (Freezer Friendly!)

So this recipe has a funny story to it. I was testing out and prepping some freezer friendly recipes for the crock pot and used the wrong meat. It was supposed to be pineapple PORK and I threw the CHICKEN instead. Luckily, this is one of those mix ups that ended up being amazingly delicious. Like using nutella on toast instead of peanut butter. (not that I eat peanut butter, but I feel like it would be way better to eat nutella lol) This recipe is inspired by Kojo Design's Pineapple Pork

Ingredients:
3 Chicken Breast, cubed
3/4 cup apple juice*
2 red bell peppers, chopped*
1/2 onion, chopped*
3 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 freezer gallon zip-lock bag
*WIC

Directions:
1. Label the bag as pineapple chicken. Underneath, write the cooking instructions: High 4-6hrs or Low 7-9hrs.
2.  Mix all ingredients together in freezer gallon zip-lock bag
3. Close the bag, trying to squeeze out as much air as possible.
4. Freeze flat.

To cook:
1. Defrost in fridge the night before. (this is so there isn't a giant clump, this step can easily be skipped if you forgot)
2. Put in crock pot and heat for either high for 4hrs or low for 7hrs, or until the chicken is cooked. (My bag says otherwise, but that dried out the chicken and made it stringy. I forgot these times were for pork. I plea the mommy scatterbrain!)