Latest posts by Kumiko Ehrmantraut (see all)
- 7 Ways to Support Local This Holiday Season Without Breaking the Bank - October 14, 2021
One of my family's favorite lunches is teriyaki chicken, white rice, and vegetables. It's a meal that I prep every Sunday that takes about 30 minutes, and is less than $20. Not only is it a huge blessing on our food budget, but it saves me a lot of time during the week as well. Once everything is cooked, I divide everything into these meal prep containers for easy storage and portion control.
As a busy, full-time working mom who runs her own business, I have little time to make things from scratch. With these meal prep lunches, you only need five ingredients from the store – white rice, boneless skinless chicken breasts, frozen vegetables, and teriyaki sauce. Yep, that's it!
I make anywhere between 6-10 lunches for less than $3 a piece when I meal prep this way. You are probably wondering why I only make six at a time. When it comes to chicken, a past incident with salmonella makes me really uneasy when it comes to chicken.
I tend not to eat leftover chicken if it's more than a couple days old. Making six lunches allows my boyfriend and I to have three meals a piece before having to make another batch.
I love how simple these meal prep lunches are, and I wanted to share it with you today. Nothing fancy or complicated, just cook things to package instructions and enjoy. The great thing about these lunches is that you can always change the marinade sauce to get different varieties. Next week, I am going to try the Orange Chicken Marinade from Panda Express.
Cost breakdown:
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts: $7.97
- Teriyaki Sauce: $2.99
- Calrose Rise: $4.97
- Frozen mixed vegetables: $3.99
If you are looking for something easy, fast and affordable for your work week, these make delicious lunches for the whole family.
- Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
- Teriyaki Marinade or Sauce
- White Rice
- Frozen Vegetables
- If using frozen chicken, thaw and cut into 1-inch strips.
- Place strips into 1-gallon bag and pour Teriyaki sauce over the chicken strips.
- Place the bag in the fridge to marinate for 1 hour.
- While the chicken is marinating, cook the vegetables and white rice according to package directions.
- After marinating the chicken for one hour, turn oven to 400 degrees. Dump chicken and extra sauce from the 1-gallon bag into a 1-quart baking pan, use additional pans as needed. Spread the chicken evenly in the pans.
- Cook chicken for 20 minutes. Make sure chicken is thoroughly cooked. Use a meat thermometer to make sure the internal temperature of the chicken has reached 165 degrees Fahrenheit or 75 degrees Celsius.
- When checking the chicken, always place the meat thermometer in the thickest part of the breast.
- Use about 1 cup rice, 4 ounces or chicken, and a half cup of vegetables for each container.
- Store in the fridge until ready to eat!
That’s what I need to start doing. Meal prepping and cooking food in advance so i can get back on track with eating right and losing weight.