Chicken Challenge Phase Three-Time to Cook! ( Chicken Egg Rolls)

Ok, we're here.  Phase three--cooking actual meals.  I guess, the chicken broth from phase two could be a meal, but I don't consider broth to be a mouth watering, appetite satisfying, type of food.  Up first in this phase, are Egg Rolls, a perfect place to use some of the chicken I made for the Chicken Challenge.  Egg rolls are something I love to eat, but hate to pay for.  I mean, come on, they are just veggies and some meat, wrapped in a wonton wrapper and fried.  Why do they have to cost an arm and a leg?

I found this recipe at A Thrifty Mom, the author Sarah is amazing at making her budget stretch and I knew I wanted to make this recipe as soon as I saw it.  Sarah told me, "I came up with it as a twist on my Mother in laws recipe for Fried Wantons....I love egg rolls but hate to pay over $1.50 each for them at our local take out restaurant. I realized they would be rather simple to make...and you can feed a whole family at a fraction of the price." 

Egg Rolls
Recipe Source: A Thrifty Mom

**Cooks Note-I am posting this recipe exactly as I got it from A Thrifty Mom.  The only change I made was to use 2 cups of chicken in place of the sausage for the Chicken Challenge**

You will need :

One package of egg roll wrappers ( found in produce section at most stores)
Bag of Shredded cabbage or one small head, cut into fine shreds
4 green onions chopped
3/4 cups celery chopped
1/2 cup shredded carrots ( super fine I use a veggie peeler, to shred them)
1 -2 cup cooked sausage ( I only use one cup but if you like more meat add 2)
2 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 large egg (raw)

Mix above ingredients together in bowl

Add filling to the middle of the egg roll wrapper. Fold bottom corner up and pull towards bottom, till snug.

Fold corners in to make it look like a little envelope. If you rub a little water on the corners it till make them stick closed.

Roll up, try to keep as tight as you can. Add a little water to the end to keep the flap shut.  Do this with the whole package of wrappers.

At this point you can deep fry, pan fry or bake them in the oven. I pan fried them ( about a minute on each side). We like our filling to still have a little crunch so we do not cook the veggies ( it cooks enough when pan frying) …but if you want to you can stir fry the veggie filling for about 3 minutes before you add it to the wrappers. We like to eat ours with Sweet and Sour sauce, wasabi paste, and honey. Hope you enjoy!
 
 Sweet and Sour Sauce
Recipe Source: A Cook's Quest
 
1 small can of crushed pineapple
2-3 T Ketchup
1/4 c vinegar (white or apple cider)
1/3 c brown sugar
2 T cornstarch
1/4 c water
 
Combine all ingredients, bring to a boil and a cook until desired thickness is reached. 
 
Total Cost about $5.70 or .30 each
We added rice as a side dish to these and got one dinner and three lunches (two for me on for my husband) from the left overs.  Four meals for under $6.00 can't be beat!!