Quick and Healthy Stir Fry Meals on a Budget

Stir fry can be a valuable weapon in the battle against the bulge, but it can also save you both time and money. When you're short on cash and have less than a half hour to devote to dinner, don't turn to the fast food drive-through. Sure, it can be cheap and easy, but why risk heartburn at best or a heart attack at worst when with a little planning ahead, you can make a healthy, home cooked meal in five or ten minutes?

Plan Ahead So You Always Have The Ingredients On Hand

Making sure that you always have the basic ingredients in your pantry is a lifesaver on those days when you're short on time and fresh out of ideas. Stir fry ingredients are relatively inexpensive, but planning ahead can also help you get them super cheap. Put the following items on your standing grocery list, but accumulate them one by one as they go on sale, or buy them in bulk from a warehouse store for greater savings:

Boil-in-a-bag 10 minute whole grain brown rice

Precooked packaged Udon or cellophane noodles

Mixed frozen vegetables (fresh vegetables are healthier and tastier but you should still keep several boxes of these on hand for those emergency meals-stir fry is one of the better ways to mask the cardboard taste of frozen vegetables)

Low fat extra firm tofu (open the package when you get home and put the tofu in a bowl with paper towels to absorb the water, then freeze)

Chicken breasts (buy family packs on sale and freeze them)

Frozen shrimp

Canned enoki mushrooms, water chestnuts, baby corn and bamboo shoots (all found in the International food aisle at the supermarket)

Low Sodium soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, hoisin sauce or Thai sauce

Olive oil (not extra-virgin), canola oil, or nonfat cooking spray

One word of warning: don't buy beef packaged as "stir fry" meat from the butcher's counter at the supermarket. This beef is usually fatty, tough and overpriced. Buy an eye round roast (the leanest cut of beef), marinate it overnight in lemon juice to tenderize it and then cut it up yourself.

Buy a Good Wok or Stir Fry Pan

Look for pans made of heavy material such as hard anodized or cast iron woks, which will distribute heat evenly to avoid scorching the food. Teflon is not a good choice as it disintegrates under extremely high heat. Make sure the pan has a lid so you can steam green vegetables in it. If you have a gas stove, you can use a traditional wok style, but on electric stoves, flat-bottomed stir fry pans work better.

The size of the wok or pan can range from 9 ½ inches to 14 inches, so buy one that makes sense given the number of people you're cooking for. The best places to buy nice pans at budget prices are Marshalls, TJ Maxx or Home Goods; estate sales in houses with decent kitchens, or restaurant supply stores that are open to the public. Look around and you should be able to find a good wok for around $20.00, an investment that will last for years with careful use.

How To Cook a Stir Fry

The basic recipe is to first warm the pan by putting the heat on low for a few minutes, then add one tablespoon of oil or the equivalent in cooking spray if you really want it to be low fat. When the oil is heated but not splattering, add the protein, raise the heat, and saute until lightly browned. Next, remove the protein from the pan and steam the vegetables if they're fresh or defrost and stir fry them if they're frozen. Add the protein back in the pan, add the sauce and canned vegetable garnishes, and mix together. Finally, pour on top of the rice and you have a quick, healthy and cheap meal. This takes about 15 minutes from beginning to end, including cooking the rice, but if you're really in a hurry you can just sauté the meat and vegetables together and drop them on top of precooked noodles.

A Few Great Combinations

You can mix any protein plus any vegetable and put it on top of rice or noodles and you'll be fine, but here are a few combinations that work well together:

Beef and Broccoli

Chicken and Broccoli

Shrimp and Broccoli

Tofu with Snow Peas

Chicken with Bell Peppers

Chicken with Bok Choy

Shrimp with Tomatoes and Basil

Be creative! Some of the best stir fry dishes were created out of desperation with leftovers. Though they're traditionally Asian, just by changing the flavorings and vegetables you can make Mexican, Italian, or any type of cuisine you can imagine. Both your health and your finances will benefit in the long run.