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It’s 5PM and you are about to drive past your local take out spot. Kids are hungry. Oooo the temptation to pop through that drive through is strong. Must resist the temptation. You watch it pass by and you keep driving because tonight …. you have Clean eating Honey Soy Chicken Stir fry on the menu. Oh yes you do! An amazing, super fast dinner you can get on the table in 20 minutes! That’s quicker than the time it takes to get through that fast food drive through line. So keep driving baby.
THE SECRET OF GO TO MEALS
I have a few meals that I know I can get on the table fast. Like lightning kinda fast. They are healthy, tasty and guaranteed to go down without a fuss – and generally take 15 – 20 minutes from start to finish. I call these my “5PM PANIC Meals”. These are the meals that make me a better Mom especially round those crazy evening hours when everything converges into chaos.
Your goal as the CEO in charge of cooking is to get an arsenal of these kinds of “Go to” recipes. The more you have, the better. The better for you, your budget and your sanity. And let’s face it – if Mommy’s happy, the whole house is happy! Well, I like to think it works like that anyway…
My Top 5 Go TO Meals:
1. Spaghetti Bolognese (The Cheats Version)
2. Chinese Fried Rice
3. Pizza (with my world famous in our home two Ingredient Pizza Dough)
4. Tuna Salad Pockets
5. Sweet and Sticky Thai Noodles
Your Go To Recipe Book
It doesn’t matter how you do this, but just do it. Start a Binder, scribble in a notebook, tattoo it on your arm or staple it to the fridge (not really, but you get the idea). Start building a list of “Go TO Meals” that work for your family. When you find a recipe that’s fast, healthy and the family loves – Write it down. Trust me. If you don’t you will forget! This little “Whats for dinner playbook” = no more stressful dinner times.
5PM PANIC RECIPE Binder (FREE Printable)
To make sure that you actually do this, you can get my Free Printable:
5PM PANIC Recipe Binder to help get you started. I have pre-filled it with my top 6 Go To Meals that I can get on the table in under 30 minutes.
GET YOUR FREE COPY NOW
Make it a Stirfry Day
You can’t go wrong with a stir fry. It’s fast. It’s healthy. And easy to clean up. Aim to cook at least one stir fry a week. Pick a night and make it a regular thing.
Cook it like a Ninja
A Couple weeks ago my son was invited to a birthday party at a Mongolian Restaurant. BTW this is the fussy kid I sometimes often talk about. He loved it! He came back raving about the food.
Obviously I thought that it must have been hot fries and chicken nuggets – but it wasn’t! The restaurant only served stir fry – but with a catch! Customers placed their choice of meats and vegetables on a plate and the chef then cooked it for them – right there in front of them.
OK, so they were equipped with ninja / samurai cooking skills and a really big knife (apparently there was a lot of cutting and swishing going on that doesn’t happen at home). Pffft.
So we tried this at home. Well a toned down version of this.
I placed uncooked sliced vegetables and meat near the stove and each kid got a turn to fry up their own meal. No ninja knife, just the biggest egg lifter I could find. It worked perfectly. They added more vegetables than I thought they would, spooned over the honey soy sauce and stacked it on top of brown rice. Oh my goodness! It warmed my soul. This could’ve been from the sight of my family cooking in the kitchen. That was a good sight.
Honey Soy Chicken Recipe
Clean Eating Honey, Soy & Sesame Chicken Stir Fry (Ready in 20 minutes)
Ingredients
- 4 Chicken Breast Fillets Free Range Finely Sliced
- Brown Rice
Choice Mixed Vegetables - All Finely Sliced:
- Red Peppers
- Cabbage
- Muchrooms
- Carrots
- Zucchini
- Sesame Seeds
For Sauce:
- 2 Tablespoons Honey
- 1/4 Cup Soy Sauce Naturally fermented
- 2 Cloves of Garlic
- 1 inch Ginger finely diced
- 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- Salt and Pepper
Instructions
- Cook Brown Rice as per instructions on bag.
- Heat up skillet on stove and add chicken and a little oil. Fry until lightly browned.
- Add Vegetables and fry for 3-4 minutes.
- Mix all sauce ingredients together. Spoon over cooked chicken and veg. Fry for 1 more minute.
- Sprinkle with a few sesame seeds.
- Serve on bed of cooked rice with a side of Soy Sauce.
Don’t Forget to get your FREE 5PM PANIC RECIPE BINDER PRINTABLE.
I’m only making it available for FREE for a limited time.
