Mmmmm Stir Fry!

Back in not so reformed fattie days, I LOVED to cook. And I was very willy nilly about what I would cook. If I found a recipe for it and it sounded good, I cooked it. I think I developed this love of cooking right around the time hubs and I moved into our house, about 5 years ago. Until very recently, I wasn't giving much thought to what I was cooking. I know that pretty much anything you cook at home is going to be healthier than eating out, but there were still many improvements I found I could make. We used to eat a lot of red meat, processed white flour, refined sugar and starchy sides. Vegetables were there as accompaniments, not as a main part of the meal. Now that the GI Diet has taught me that half of my meal should be fruits and veggies, the focus on meat and starch has diminished tremendously. I no longer cook potatoes with each meal.

Tonight I knew I wanted to make something with those chicken boobs from last night, and got inspiration from www.cleaneatingonline.com. This is a FANTASTIC resource. I have found that clean eating, which is a new phenomenon to me, is very similar to the food plan I am working hard to follow. I decided a stir fry was in order, as I had stocked up on veggies last night at Hy Vee and had some little bitty bell peppers to use up as well. So, here's my chicken stir fry recipe. It rivals anything I have had at a Chinese food restaurant , with nothing fried and no msg. Enjoy!

Chicken Stir Fry with Brown Rice

1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts cubed

2 T soy sauce

2 T olive oil

5 shakes hot sauce

2 tsp. garlic powder (you could also use fresh garlic minced, I just ran out of time to mince it all up)

1 tsp ground ginger (ditto on the fresh ginger, again I ran out of time)

1 head fresh broccoli florets

3 whole carrots cut into small pieces

8-10 mini bell peppers or 2 large bell peppers, any color, cut into thin strips

4 green onions finely diced

3 cloves garlic, finely minced (or garlic powder)

1 small can water chestnuts, drained

1 T soy sauce

5 dashes hot sauce

2 or 3 shakes sesame oil

1 cup brown rice (not instant)

2 1/2 cups water

Place chicken breast cubed and next 5 ingredients in a large ziploc bag and marinate for at least an hour.

Place water and rice in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, covered, for about 30-40 minutes.

While rice is cooking, chop up broccoli, carrots, peppers, green onions and garlic. Heat a large sautee pan or a wok on medium heat. Add in all the chopped vegetables and the garlic, along with about 1/4 cup of water. Place lid on pan and allow the veggies to steam to desired consistency. Don't let the get too mushy or you will lose some of the nutrients in them. When the veggies are almost done to your liking, add in the chicken pieces and the marinade from the bag, and the water chestnuts. Allow the chicken to cook with the vegetables, and the marinade to come to a boil and boil for at least 5-10 minutes. When almost done, add in the additional soy sauce, hot sauce and sesame oil to create more sauce. Serve hot over brown rice.

I pretty made up this recipe on my own, but I did take some hints (mostly for the marinade) from www.cleaneatingonline.com and more specifically the chicken and rice recipe. Enjoy!