Weekend Company {Guest Blogger Alison}

Welcome to the weekend! Was the week good to you? Ours was yet another busy one, but good. In fact, we even fit in a day trip on Friday. We went with Adam's aunt and uncle to Chicago and took a tour of Wrigley Field, ate at the Hard Rock Cafe and shopped on Michigan Avenue til we dropped! It was an early birthday celebration for someone very special! We have some celebrating to do because today is an extra fun day in our house. A BIG Happy Birthday from my heart to my favorite guy in the world...Mr. Everyday!! That's right Adam turns 38 today and we're going to try to make it a GREAT day for him! You know, growing up I always knew there would be dates in my life that would hold significance, but little did I know that one of the most important dates, actually came 7 years before I was even on this earth. Because I give thanks that on 07-21-74 God created my soul mate, the love of my life, and his birthday is one of my favorite days because the day I met him, 23 years later, is the day my life began. So, Happy Birthday to my husband and best friend! I love you more now than the first time you said those 3 words to me, and there is nobody else I can imagine sharing my life with!

Today's guest is a fellow blogger whom I met through Facebook. I'm excited to have her with us today, so grab a cup of coffee and join us. Please welcome Alison from Under the Big Oak Tree...

Hello, Everyday Mom's Meals readers!  I'm so happy to be posting here today!  Thanks so much, Krista for allowing me to be your guest here today!

My name is Alison.  I'm a former city-girl now enjoying life in the country as a stay at home mom.  Our small family consists of me (of course), my husband, our 3 year old daughter Grace, and our spoiled dog Remmy. After becoming a single-income family, we've had to alter our spending habits.  While I'm not an extreme coupon-er, we do shop sales, enjoy low-cost (or even free) family activities, and prepare frugal and healthy meals through out the week.  I also enjoy sharing recipes, tips, family stories, and even my weight loss struggles on my blog, Under the Big Oak Tree!

Since the birth of our daughter, we rarely go out to eat.  It's just easier, cheaper, and most times, healthier to eat at home.  But, that can start to get a bit boring if I'm not careful.  So, I like to try new recipes here and there to help switch things up a bit.  I don't get too fancy though, since I don't want the meal to get too pricey.

I like to use a lot of fresh vegetables when I cook and try to use ingredients that are currently in-season, this helps keep our grocery bill low.

Today, I want to share with you one of my favorite vegetable dishes.  It's relatively new to our family, but was a hit right away (with the adults anyway)!  In fact, I'm planning on preparing it again this weekend!  The recipe below is for a large single portion or 2 smaller portions and can be served over rice or noodles or even on it's own!

Vegetable Stir Fry


Ingredients:

• 1Tbs. Olive Oil
• 1/4 head cabbage, sliced
• 1/2 cup carrots, sliced
• 1/2 large onion
• few shakes of crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 Tbs. La Choy Original Stir Fry Sauce
• 85grams frozen broccoli*
• 2-4 Tbs. water

Directions: 

• In a hot pan or wok, heat oil.  
• Add cabbage, carrots and onion.  
• Cook until vegetables are tender, stirring often. 
• Stir in a few shakes of crushed red pepper flakes.  (more or less depending on if you like some heat added to your stir fry)
• When vegetables are just about tender, add stir fry sauce. Stir to combine. 
• Add broccoli and water, stirring to scrape browned bits from bottom/sides of wok.  
• Cook until broccoli is heated through.  
• Serve over cooked rice or noodles for a heartier meal, or serve alone as a low-calorie meal.  

Notes:  

• Since I'm counting calories, I weighed the broccoli before adding it to my stir fry.  The bag stated that one serving of broccoli was 4 florets (85 grams) but the size of the florets in the bag varied, so I weighed it to be more accurate.  If you're not counting calories, just add as much as you want.  
• The first time I made this, I ate the entire pan full as a single serving!  I was really hungry!!!  This works well as 2 smaller portions, especially if serving over rice or noodles.    
• I liked keeping the cabbage in longer slices rather than chopping.  Since I wasn't planning on serving over rice or noodles, the slices of cabbage made me feel like I was eating noodles.  
• When I made this a second time, I added some peas that were leftover from a previous meal.  About a 1/4 cup (34 additional calories).  Yum!  
• Be sure to add calories if serving over rice or noodles or adding additional vegetables.  
• If you don't think an all-vegetable dinner would go over well with you or your family, check out my recipe for Cabbage Chicken Stir Fry.  

Total calories:  326* 

Calories if divided into 2 servings:  163*


There you go!  A healthy, low-calorie and low-cost meal that is quick and easy, too!  I hope you'll try it and enjoy it as much as we do!  I also hope you'll stop by and visit me over at Under the Big Oak Tree!

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