Home Cooking with Jess – Fajitas and Stir Fry

Veggies, protein and spices/sauces is a meal for two for under $5.  

Fajitas and stir fry are also one pan meals, so bonus points for easy clean up! Extra bonus points that you can control the cost if you buy meat when it’s cheap and freeze it.

I eat this at least once a week. I do my weekly stop by Jebbia’s where they often have bell peppers, zucchini and mushrooms (among many other things) in the dollar baskets inside of the door.  I’ll keep reminding you of that and I’ll also keep reminding you to look at ads and inserts of your local grocery stores for deals on meat.  As I write this, Riesbeck’s has frozen chicken breast for $3.99 for the 2.5 lb. bag which is $1.60 per lb. Kroger has pork sirloin for 99 cents per pound. It took two minutes to look that up, folks.  That’s a good ROI of time vs savings.  

If you want to start saving on groceries, that’s how you start. These deals expire, of course, but different deals are always rotating through so make sure you check once a week and stock up on good deals. 

A photo of a fajita with sour cream and salsa.
All of these Fajita ingredients can be found on sale at local grocery stores.

A pound of chicken or pork, a yellow and orange pepper, zucchini and mushrooms in some spices and/or sauce, plus the “fixins” and that’s a quick, easy and healthy meal for two for less than $5.

I have mentioned before that I make my own taco and fajita seasoning. I’ll be honest in telling you that I’m ripping this straight from Pinterest. If you would rather go more Chinese than Mexican, use a stir fry sauce. Teriyaki is popular, but I personally prefer more salty/spicy/garlic than sweet. It’s whatever your preference is, so experiment with what’s on sale. 

If you want to wrap your fajitas, do your thing! I prefer to eat them with salsa, sour cream and a fork.  

If you want to put your stir fry on rice or noodles, do your thing! I recommend boil-in-a-bag rice for less work and easy clean up. They have quinoa in a bag, too, FYI.  (These ALSO go on sale. Most things do. Be patient.) 

A row of onions and peppers.
Jebbia’s Market in Center Wheeling has vegetables on sale near the front entrance.

Fajitas

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb Sliced chicken, pork, beef &/or shrimp.
  • Veggies of choice (broccoli, zucchini, peppers, onions, mushrooms, etc.)

Add flavor:

  • Half cup of water and 3 tbsp of Fajita seasoning

For a batch I use this recipe

  • 3 tsp chili powder
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper 

Or …

a plate of cheesy fajita ingredients.
Like cheese? It adds yet another flavor in homemade sir fry.

Stir Fry with Your Choice of Sauce

Directions:

  1. Defrost, slice and cook protein in pan until done.
    1. (Yes, “until done” is what I’m going with because thickness of your chicken depends on cooking time.  So instead of guessing, I’m recommending to cook it until it’s no longer raw.) 
  2. While that’s cooking, slice up your veggies.  
  3. Add with water and fajita mix or stir fry sauce. 
  4. Add veggies and cook them until tender/crisp. 

Serve on a plate, with wraps, with rice or with noodles, and add your toppings of choice. 

Enjoy!

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