Benefits of Stir Fry

The “fry” in stir fry may sound evil and fattening and really really bad for you but in reality if fried food is done correctly the cooking method actually helps “seal” the food from absorbing a lot of fat (and thereby you avoid absorbing it onto your belly). I recently have discovered–or rediscovered–the advantages of stir frying food. Ahem, my list of pros:

1) Cheap!

I’ve started to attempt to save money at the grocery store by letting the ads from the market dictate what I should be feeding my family this week instead of my appetite. Previously, the old Jo would have watched The Food Network and gotten a great idea from some gourmet concoction that was prepared in an incredibly appetizing way. While that isn’t a bad thing in and of itself it did lead me to hunt down strange and exotic ingredients or at the very least buy expensive-not-on-sale food stuffs. I still enjoy the hunt to find exotic food (especially as here in my small little town it really can be called a Hunt) but I do enjoy having more money in my pocket and the satisfaction to announce to my family that I served them all on only $3.

2) Easy!

I don’t always do the little preparation steps that can save you time later in the week when I get home from the grocery store but I’ve started to realize that taking the time to do something before hand really does save time and stress. New Year’s Resolution #3658.

The little steps that save time in regards to stir fry is buying up the cheap meat on sale that week at the market (see Benefit #1 above). This last week I bought 2 packages of the pork chops (or cutlets since they were thin) and after putting them in the freezer for about 20 minutes or so to make it easier to slice, I sliced them up into thin strips (easier to cook, my dear) and bagged them into 3 family-sized portions for later use that week. I froze 2 and cooked the 3rd that night. The other cheap feature was that the Japanese stir fry veggie medley was also on sale at the market to I stocked up on that as well. Ready made veggies to add to my stir fry bonanza.

3) Good for you!

I’ve already talked about the pork and the veggies that I used in the stir fry. Since the veggies were frozen I felt like I needed to add some freshness to the mix and that’s where the gourmet Jo came into play. Since sometimes I forget that I bought produce and then it goes bad in my fridge I try to stay away from going crazy at the produce department at the store. I really try to only buy what I realistically know that we will eat before it goes bad. Since stir fry only needs a couple ingredients to make it feel really fresh it works out for me and my household fridge balancing act. I just stock up on fresh ginger root and fresh scallions (green onions for you other people out there). I also always have fresh garlic so that helps with gourmet whirl I can get into as well.

To spice things up I took my ginger, garlic, and scallions and added to that some soy sauce, honey (better for you than white sugar to sweeten things), and a couple teaspoons of sesame oil to make a quick teriyaki sauce. To boost the Omega-3 fat goodness I added toasted flax seeds instead of toasted sesame seeds. Did you know that you can grind up flax seeds and sub in for the fats in your baking? Amazing!

I used just a Tbsp of canola oil (really not much at all since I cook in a wok and you don’t need to cover much surface area) and also california brown rice instead of the normal starchy white stuff. I think it adds more flavor to the party but the only down side is that it does take longer to cook and if you’re anything like me you’ll forget that you really should start the rice before you even open up the pantry.

So that’s it. Good flavor, good for you (no heavy pasta or fats) and whole grain goodness in flax and brown rice. Yummy veggies without chopping forever and cheap meat that is very low on fat. Protein, fiber, grains. The best in every meal.

Oh, did I mention that it only took me (aside from the rice) 10 minutes to cook? I love stir fry!