Ok, everyone remembers that I’m not a food blogger for several very good reasons, right?  Be that as it may, I like to share my favorite recipes with y’all from time to time.  Lately we’ve been on a meal planning jaunt, and it has been good to us.  We are seriously only going to the grocery store once a week, and staying under our $380 a month food budget.  Yay!  This is one of our favorite recipes, and I recently made the switch to using Minute Rice Whole Grain Brown Rice in place of white rice.  We try to buy chicken when it is on sale, and freeze it in serving sized baggies for later use.  We also try to keep veggies and whole grains on hand all the time for easy meal planning.  Fresh veggies – check.  Whole grains – check.  Lean protein – check.

Quick and Easy Chicken and Peppers with Minute Rice
Ingredients: 
3 Bell Peppers (I prefer to use one red, one yellow, and one orange.)
1 Onion ( I like Vidalias best.)
2 Chicken Breasts (about 13 oz)
2 servings Minute Rice Whole Grain Brown Rice
Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning
Cavender’s All Purpose Greek Seasoning
Olive Oil (about 2 tbsp)
2 cloves minced garlic

Directions:
Boil your chicken til it hits 165 degrees and then shred it.  If you have a Kitchen Aid Mixer, throw your chicken in there and shred it with the paddle in about 30 seconds.  Pure magic.  I’ll spare you the raw and shredded chicken pics.  No one wants to see that.
While the chicken is boiling, chop your onion and peppers.  Saute the onion and garlic in 1 tbsp of the olive oil until your onions are well cooked.  Then toss the peppers in with the their friends.  Liberally sprinkle the Cavender’s and Tony C’s all over the onion/pepper mixture, and stir in the other tbsp of olive oil.  Sprinkle on more seasoning for good measure.

Now would be a good time to start the rice.  It only takes 10 minutes, so no worries.  Follow the directions on the box and you’ll be good to go.
Once the chicken is shredded and the peppers are cooked, toss the shredded chicken in with the peppers and onions.  Feel free to sprinkle on more seasoning.  Once the Minute Rice is ready, toss it in, too.  And you’re done.  Woohoo!

I learned a version of this homemade instant oatmeal recipe at MOPS last year, and then shared it again with our group of mamas and it was a big hit.  I make it almost every week and it provides about 9 breakfasts. It takes about ten minutes to prepare the whole batch to store.  I reuse the same gallon ziplock bag over and over to store the mix in my pantry.  Each morning you just scoop out a half cup of mix, add 1 cup of water or milk, and microwave for 90 seconds.  I let mine set for a few minutes and then stir and eat.  Easy and yummy and quick.

Homemade Instant Oatmeal:
4 cups oats
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1/2 cup dried fruit bits
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/3 cup sliced almonds
1 large ziplock bag or other storage container

Measure your ingredients and toss them into a storage container like a gallon ziplock bag or pyrex dish.  Stir or toss to combine well.  To serve – add 1/2 cup mix to 1 cup milk or water and microwave for 90 seconds (ish).  Let set for 2 minutes, stir, and enjoy.
Feel free to add fresh fruit after cooking for more deliciousness.  Other fun add ons: pecans, pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, cocoa powder, etc.