Scrumptious Saturday: Baked Teryiaki Chicken with Veggies

This recipe is super easy - you only need 4 ingredients to put together a fabulously flavorful meal!  

When you go to the grocery store, you  may notice there are many different flavors of teriyaki sauce to choose from - any one of them will work perfectly, so just pick one that sounds good to you.  If you happen to already have some plain teriyaki sauce on hand, you can always use that and punch it up a notch by adding some garlic, ginger, and pepper.

Now you may be wondering about which stir fry mix to pick - once again, this is totally up to you!  Some mixes have broccoli, some have snap peas, others have peppers and baby corn.  Whatever sounds good to you will work in this recipe!

Baked Teriyaki Chicken with Veggies

1 bottle of teriyaki sauce - any flavor
1 lb. boneless chicken breast
16 oz. bag of frozen stir-fry veggies 
enough cooked white rice for serving

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.  Spray the bottom of an oven-safe 8x8 pan with non-stick cooking spray.  Place the boneless chicken breast in the pan and cover with teriyaki sauce.  Cover the pan and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes.  

While the chicken is baking, cook your white rice - I made about 2 cups of cooked rice and was able to get about 5 servings from it.  Use your own discretion to determine how much rice you'll need.  

Cook the stir fry veggies in a saucepan with a couple tablespoons of oil until they are heated through.  Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.

 

Remove the foil from the chicken and continue to cook for another 15 to 20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.

To serve:  cut up the chicken breast into bite-size pieces.  Layer the rice, stir fry veggies and chicken in a bowl.  You can top with some of the extra teriyaki sauce and ENJOY!

Saving money while doing laundry...by hand??

So here's a crazy idea for you apartment-dwellers looking to save a few dollars: wash your laundry...by hand!  Now, I'm not expecting everyone to be on board with this idea, in fact I've only done it myself a handful of times, but it's worth thinking about.  Living in an apartment and trying to save money can be quite the adventure, and when you don't have laundry in your own apartment and you are forced to use either a laundromat or the apartment laundry facilities, it can become rather expensive.  In our apartment building, it costs $2.00 for each wash cycle and $1.50 for each dry cycle.  If you are doing two small loads of wash, you can sometimes dry them both in the same dry cycle, which is one way to save money.  That won't always work, however, so you'll have to experiment with your dryer and see if it's possible or if things are still left damp. 

On the other hand, items that are not heavily soiled can easily be washed by hand in a large bucket or even your bathtub.  You can then either air dry everything or just pay for the one dryer load, saving yourself a couple bucks!  The only supplies you need are a large mop bucket, a durable plunger (new, not used!), and your regular laundry detergent. 

Items that are pretty easy to wash by hand:
Towels
Washcloths
Underwear
Socks
T-shirts

First, throw everything into the bucket or bathtub - you can color sort if you need to - then add enough water (whatever temperature you'd like - read your tags!) to cover the items.  You'll then have to use some good ol' elbow grease to "plunge" everything in the bucket.  Just use a normal plunging motion to mix everything around, this motion will essentially pull the water through the fabric.  The basic idea is to get everything soaked and loosen stains - you may notice that the water will begin to get dirty as you are plunging away.  At this point you've completed your "rinse" cycle, so go ahead and empty the water, then add a normal amount of laundry detergent and refill the bucket with fresh water.  Once you've added fresh water in the bucket, plunge away for as long as you can - anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes is ideal, it will be a matter of whether you can go that long!  The next step is to let everything sit for another 10 minutes or so, then begin rinsing.  You'll want to empty the old water, then refill with fresh water, plunge for a couple minutes and repeat.  Do this as many times as you have to until the water runs clear.  Once finished, you can either air dry everything or just throw it in the dryer.   

Below is a video from Sandra, The Thrifty Mommy, showing how she does her laundry by hand in a bathtub.  Take tips from her video and this blog and save some $$ while doing laundry!!

Scrumptious Saturday: the graze box

You know how ads pop up in your Facebook feed?  Well, most of the time I just ignore them, but there was one that popped up recently that really caught my eye.  It's a company called graze - a small start-up company based out of Jersey City.  They have created over 90 delicious snacks items, which are perfectly portioned and are delivered to your door every 1, 2, 3 or 4 weeks - depending on your preference.  You get four different snacks in each box, which you can "rate" online after you've tried them.  This tells the company how often to send each snack (you can also tell them to never send any particular snack if for some reason you really didn't like it).  I am on my second box and am loving how original (and delicious) these snacks are!  

If you're interested in trying a graze box of your own, go to www. graze.com and use the code GRACEC8DP when you sign up to get your first and fifth boxes for FREE!!

This was my first graze box:

 Cute welcome letter, personalized with my name!

4 yummy snacks for me to enjoy, these are all low calorie - typically between 100 and 150 calories per package. 

Banana Caramel Dippers

Raspberry and Coconut Muffin

Fruity Mango Chutney

Tropical Daiquiri

I like it so much, I'm inviting YOU to graze too!  (click the photo to get started!)

Frugal Friday: choosing healthy skin care products - try coconut oil!

Having used the same brand of skin care products for about 5 years, I wasn't particularly interested in making new product choices until recently.  The only real reason for not finding alternative skin care products up to this point was that I didn't really want to put the time into finding something different.  However, as I've become more conscious of what I put in my body as well as what I put ON my body, I've begun examining the skin, hair, and makeup products that I've been using to see what ingredients are in them and how they may effect my health and wellbeing.  

Many people are concerned over the use of parabens (methyl, propyl, butyl and ethyl), particularly in skin care products.  Some research says parabens can be linked to certain types of cancer and other health problems, although there is other research that says they are harmless and don't have any negative effects on the body's endocrine system.  Other ingredients that are concerning and are commonly found in skin and hair care products are diazolidinyl urea (a chemical compound that releases formaldehyde) and sodium benzoate (an additive which can be absorbed into your liver and which some studies have linked to diseases like Parkinsons).  These and other similar chemicals have raised some red flags for me and made me question what long-term, negative health effects certain products and their ingredients could have.  As far as my personal opinion goes, I am much more comfortable eliminating the use of these chemicals and additives in my daily life.  I'd rather find healthy alternatives than continue to use something that may be detrimental to my health in the long-run.

With all that being said, I have started changing what personal care products I use on a daily basis.  This is a slow process, mostly because I am a frugal girl who can't just throw out a bunch of product I have lying around the house even though I know they're mostly full of chemicals and additives.. It's also a slow process to find products that are truly healthy and made from natural ingredients - no icky chemicals allowed!

Healthy Makeup Remover:

Say hello to one of my new favorite all natural products: coconut oil.  You can cook with it, take it as a supplement, and use it in your daily skin care regimen.  Today, I'm focusing on using it as makeup remover - it works great, easily removing mascara and leaving your skin super soft and moisturized.

{If you are only using coconut oil as makeup remover, it doesn't really matter whether you purchase refined or unrefined coconut oil.  If you think you'll use some for cooking, keep in mind that unrefined oil has more health benefits than refined.  See the link below for choosing coconut oil.}

Here's The Low-Down:

When you buy a jar of coconut oil, you will open it to find a solid mass and you may wonder how it will soften so you can use it.  There are a couple different ways to do this - for removing makeup, you can either take a cotton ball or round, wet it with hot water, and rub the surface of the coconut oil to warm it up.  It should soften pretty quickly and you will be able to scoop some onto the cotton ball or round.  You might also try simply running hot water over your hands and use your fingers to scoop out the oil.

Then, starting with eye makeup, gently rub the coconut oil over your entire face in circular motions until the makeup loosens and begins to melt away.  Wash the oil and old makeup off your face with warm water and a washcloth and pat dry with a clean towel.  The oil will also moisturize your skin, so don't be surprised if you don't need anything else after you wash off your makeup!

I hope reading this post will inspire you to give coconut oil a try as makeup remover.  A 16oz jar of coconut oil might run between $8.00 and $15.00, depending on the store and brand.  It may seem like a pricey product, but trust me, one jar could last you 6 months to over a year, depending on how often you use it.  A little goes a long way!  This is one frugal product that is healthy, eco-friendly, and good for you - inside and out!

Check out Vitacost for some great deals on coconut oil, plus FREE shipping on orders over $49 - click HERE!

Please use the information in this post at your own discretion - I am not a medical professional or scientist, I am simply conveying information I have researched and found interesting.  
Here's Some Good Reading:
Great article on choosing coconut oil
A short article on parabens
Information about formaldahyde releasing preservatives 
10 ways to use coconut oil in your daily beauty regimen