Sesame Chicken and green Beans at home under 15$

Sesame chicken and green beans

1. Hello sweets! Bre here again to give you one of my budget friendly dinner idea’s: sesame chicken with green beans over fried rice. Delicious!  

   
   

2. Since I am a single mommy of six growing minions, I am on a baddie budget, so every meal I create aligns to fit my lifestyle. My meals are quick, inexpensive, and delicious. With this dish I got inspo because my kids came to me all week saying, “can we have Chinese food?”. So, I had to consider that feeding 6 kids plus myself at our local Chinese takeout spot would cost upward of 50+ dollars. Verdict: No going to happen little ones. I can see if that was a one-off treat, but I must save because in December I am taking my family on a trip to skiing in the mountains, so my budget has been extra tight. To be fair, my trip is a whole budget vibe because I do have 5 sure side hustles, that get me an extra 1500 a month. But considering, I still must save where I can and this meal fits perfectly with what both my children and I want so I can cut food costs, and they can fill their bellies with the food they love. Even though trying to please 6 different personalities and taste buds can be challenging sometimes, this meal is a sure hit among the kiddies. I am going to breakdown what I paid for my ingredients and how I created this “Chinese food” dish. Let’s go! 

3. Okay, so the items I used were from different stores, because I'm just that gurl. Whatever store has the least expensive pricing, that’s where I get my items. Now when it comes to the pricing, there's a few aspects to consider. Location, I am in an area where the cost for items may be different, so the pricing is based on location, supplier and brand. Quantity, I feed six kids so I generally buy my meats in bulk, which sometimes can result in much lower pricing per pound. With that I bought 3 ingredients for this meal, and I had the other ingredients on hand. Here’s what I used and what it cost me: 

1. 1-pound Skinless chicken breast tenderloins: 2.45$ 

2. P.F. Chang sesame sauce: 3.75$ 

3. 2 Canned green beans (fresh is better): 0.65$ 

4. 1 cup white rice: 1.38$ 

5. Cornstarch or flour: 1.50$ 

6. Seasonings: I used what I had on hand (salt, pepper, onion powder garlic powder) 

Prepping: 10 minuets 

4. For starters I prepare my rice. I start with a medium small pot I throw in a cup of white rice and 2 cups of water. Stir and then place on the stove-top in high heat. As I wait for the rice to come to a boil, so that I can lid it and reduce the heat to low, I begin to prep my chicken.  

5.  I take the chicken breast tenderloins and rinse them with cold water, after that I pat them dry and chop them roughly into smaller pieces. On the side in a small bowl, I mix some salt, ground pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and a pinch of paprika. Then I sprinkle the mixture over the chicken breast making sure to distribute evenly.  

6. In a separate bowl I stir about a ¾ cup of cornstarch and ½ cup of flour together for the breading that I later toss my tenderloins into. For this step you can use either cornstarch or flour, but I love to combine both, because the crispness the cornstarch gives the chicken and the thicker breading of the flour, so it’s a perfect breading for this dish. Overall, the chicken breading must hold the sauce and allow the sesame sauce to be absorbed while still having a little crunch. 

7. Next, over medium high heat I added about a cup of oil into a skillet making it about half an inch deep. Once the oil is hot, I toss some chicken into the cornstarch and flour mixture then into the oil. I fry each batch the same for about 3-4 minutes on each side then turning and repeat, making sure to move the pieces around so they will not stick.  

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8. As each batch is done, I place the chicken aside so that all the excess oil can drain from the pieces. After the last batch finishes, I drain the oil from my skillet, return the pan to the stove and lower the heat. I add the fried chicken back into the pan and add the sesame sauce.

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10. I add about half a cup of sauce and allow the chicken to become coated. I toss in a can of drained green beans and mix them all together and serve over the white rice. 

Ingredients  

1. 1-pound Skinless chicken breast tenderloins:  

2. P.F. Chang sesame sauce:  

3. 2 Canned green beans (fresh is better): 

4. 1 cup white rice:  

5. Cornstarch or flour:  

6. Seasonings: I used what I had on hand (salt, pepper, onion powder garlic powder) 

Steps 

Rice 

1. Add 1 part rice 2 parts water to a pot (1 cup rice 2 cups water) 

2. Bring to boil on medium to high heat  

3. Once the rice begins to boil reduce the heat to low and lid the pot 

4. Cook on low for about 15-20 mins 

5. Remove from heat and fork to make fluffy 

Chicken  

1. Rinse chicken with cold water  

Pat dry a little  

3. Cut into pieces  

4. season chicken  

5. Bread in flour or cornstarch or both 

6. Drop into hot oil  

7. Fry on each side for 3-4 minutes 

8. Remove from oil. Drain the oil  

9. And once all pieces have fried add them back into the pan with sesame sauce  

10. Add a can or two of greens beans and allow sauce to coat  

11. Serve over the white rice  

Enjoy! 

I do plan out my meals for the week so all the remaining ingredients I have will surely be a part of next week's dinners. When I plan out my meals sometimes, I use Amazon Fresh. Amazon fresh is perfect because they have same day deliveries and all the same types of items you can find in your local grocery store. Amazon has an incentive, if you add your EBT card to use on Amazon you will have 50% off of the Prime membership. Good deal huh well clink the link to order your Amazon fresh order now! Bye for now join me for more quick fun and delicious meals and other nonsense. 

- Deliciously sweet my friends