Sometimes the best way to save money is to do it yourself. The problem is many of us are crunch on time and believe that it would take an enormous amount of effort to do something well. That’s not true many times and cooking can fall in that category.

Photo Credit: Billingham

Stir-fry is something easy, quick, and usually healthy. If you’re pressed for time, this allows you to have an easy meal usually within 20 minutes and the minimum of effort. Here’s how I do it:

• Put the meat you picked into a heated wok. My husband doesn’t care for chicken, so we usually have beef with this. Cook it until it’s almost done. Put it on a plate for later. (This minimizing how many dishes have to be clean later.)
• Boil some water and add the rice in a bag. Keep an eye on it while you move on to the wok.
• Grab a bag of frozen mixed vegetables from the freezer. Wal-Mart usually has them for 99cents and it’s pre-mixed. My personal favorite is the asparagus stir-fry.
• Put some olive oil in the wok and and add the vegetables in. Wait until the vegetables are starting to get tender to add the meat. I usually put some soy sauce with the meat and veggies and mix. You want the veggies soft to eat, but not overcooked.
• Take the rice out of the bag and serve the meat and vegetables over the rice. There you have it; a quick and easy meal!

It comes out to less than $5 for a meal that can feed six people. (I tried it for a small party with friends this weekend.)

Some suggestions on this basic recipe are:

• Change the seasoning and sauce.
• Replace the meat with shrimp.
• Fry some fish and have the veggies as a side.
• Put some pasta with the vegetables

What quick and easy dinner to you know how to make?

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