Satay is a Thai/Indonesian dish consisting of grilled, skewered meat served with a sauce.  It goes great with jasmine or brown rice, steamed cabbage or bok choy, and grilled mushrooms & onions. This version of satay is a curry chicken recipe, but there are so many ways you can do it.  Play around with the seasons until you find the combination your family raves about the most!

Trim any fat from the chicken & slice into 1 inch strips. Place in a ziplock bag. Mix the curry, fish sauce, garlic, lemongrass, soy sauce, and vegetable oil. If you’ve never used lemongrass before, check out this shopping & cooking guide! Pour over the chicken & marinate for at least 2 hours.

Preheat grill to medium & soak your skewers for half an hour to prevent burning.

Thread chicken onto skewers & pace away from direct heat to keep the marinate from burning. Grill for about 4 minutes on each side, until cooked through. Serve with your favorite sauce.

One of my favorite things about this – its freezer friendly!  Once you have the meat & marinade in your bag, just throw it in the freezer.  The day you want it, just put it in the fridge in the morning.  As it thaws, it will marinate & be ready for dinner!

Need more chicken recipe ideas?

These shrimp salad rolls are one of our favorite salad roll combinations.  You can play with different ingredients and sauces.  The tricky part is rolling them up.  As you can tell, mine don’t look nearly as good as you would find in a restaurant but they still taste delicious!

Salad rolls make a great frugal meal.  The ingredients are normally very inexpensive, plus they are served cold so its a great take-along lunch!

 Start by cooking your vermicelli noodles according to the instructions on the package.  Rinse with cold water and strain well.

The shrimp is easy to prepare, when you use precooked shrimp.  Just remove the tails & slice each one in half, lengthwise, so they will lay flat.

Cut your carrot into matchsticks.  I’ve also cheated and used the large holes on my box grater before.

 Cut/tear the lettuce into piece about 1/4 the size of your rice paper.

Soften the rice paper by dipping it in a dish with a few inches of water, for a few seconds. This part is trial & error.  Too long and it will kind of fall apart.  Not long enough and it won’t roll up right.  We dip & count to 4 here, but check your paper for instructions.

 Put your rice paper onto a flat surface. I use my giant cutting board as my usual workspace. Top each rice paper with vermicelli, carrots, lettuce, and shrimp.

Fold two opposite sides in as far as you can with the filling.

Fold the bottom up and roll closed. Serve with peanut sauce.

I love quick & easy foods, but I hate all the processed ingredients that along with them.  By making copies of our favorites at home, I’m able to create versions that are more satisfying and nutritious.  This recipe for homemade hot pockets works great for freezer cooking, which is always a plus.  Make a double or triple batch & throw the rest in the freezer. The night before you want them, just throw them in the fridge to thaw.

Grab 2 chicken breasts (bone & skin removed) and season to taste.  I like to use black pepper, kosher salt, garlic powder and onion powder.  Bake at 350 until cooked through.  The time will vary, depending on the thickness of the breasts. The thinner the breast, the faster they will cook without drying out. Instead of using a baking dish, try laying down a sheet of aluminum foil on a cookie sheet and placing the chicken on a metal cooling rack. It helps them bake faster and more consistently.

For these pockets I use homemade pizza dough, but you can use a premade dough from the fridge or freezer section. If you make your own, make sure you let it go through the first rise & punch it down again. Roll your dough out, about 1/4 inch thick.  Cut into 4 sections.

Spread 2 tsp of cream cheese over the center of the dough.  Add 1 tbsp of alfredo sauce on top of the cream cheese.  Cover with diced chicken, broccoli, and cheddar cheese.

Fold up 2 of the ends to cover the filling.  Then fold the other 2 ends up, completely covering the filling.  Dampen your fingers and gently moisten the edges of the dough to seal. Pinch the seams tightly.  If the outside of the dough is sticky, lightly sprinkle with flour.  Place upside down on a baking sheet.  If you line it with aluminum foil, you do not need to use any cooking spray.

In a small dish, mix together 1/2 cup olive oil, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp parsley, and a pinch of salt.  Lightly brush your olive oil mixture onto the top of each pocket.  Cut a small slit in the top to allow steam to vent and allow to rise in a warm place for about half an hour. If you are using a premade dough, please check the instructions as you may not need to let it rise.  Bake your homemade hot pockets in a preheated oven (400 degrees) for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

What other fillings do you think sound great for homemade hot pockets?