Barbecued Chinese Chicken Lettuce Wraps

"The next day was Sunday again. The caterpillar ate through one nice green leaf, and after that he felt much better."

We did it!!! This is the LAST of the very healthy caterpillar recipes and we saved a good one for last! This is a recipe we had while staying with one of the best cooks ever in California! We begged her for the recipe and had to make it ourselves. There are some slight alterations I would make. First of all I would use butter lettuce since I'm not a huge fan of iceberg. I think next time I will either leave out the orange zest or at the very least cut back A LOT! I also used just plain old mushrooms rather than shitake, added a lot of water chestnuts since they are fantastic and ate it with the home made peanut sauce from this recipe. You really can't screw this up though. It's good and it's healthy. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Source: www.foodnetwork.com (discovered by Nancy Costa of Santa Rosa, CA)

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 2 cups shitake mushrooms fresh shiitake mushrooms
• 1 ¹⁄₃ to 1 ¹⁄₂ pounds thin cut chicken breast or chicken tenders
• 2 tablespoons light colored oil such as vegetable oil or peanut oil
• Coarse salt and coarse black pepper
• 3 cloves garlic chopped
• 1 inch ginger root finely chopped or grated, optional
• 1 orange zested
• ¹⁄₂ red bell pepper diced small
• 1 small sliced water chestnuts 6 to 8 ounces, sliced water chestnuts, drained and chopped
• 3 scallions chopped
• 3 tablespoons hoisin Chinese barbecue sauce, available on Asian foods aisle of market
• ¹⁄₂ large head iceberg lettuce core removed, head quartered
• Wedges of navel orange -- platter garnish

Directions

1. Remove tough stems from mushrooms and brush with damp towel to clean, Slice mushrooms. Chop chicken into small pieces.
2. Preheat a large skillet or wok to high.
3. Add oil to hot pan. Add chicken to the pan and sear meat by stir frying a minute or 2. Add mushrooms and cook another minute or two. Add salt and pepper to season, then garlic and ginger. Cook a minute more. Grate zest into pan, add bell pepper bits, chopped water chestnuts and scallions. Cook another minute, continuing to stir fry mixture. Add hoisin Chinese barbecue sauce and toss to coat the mixture evenly. Transfer the hot chopped barbecued chicken to serving platter and pile the quartered wedges of crisp iceberg lettuce along side. Add wedged oranges to platter to garnish. To eat, pile spoonfuls into lettuce leaves, wrapping lettuce around fillings and squeeze an orange wedge over.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 182

Fat: 8

Carbohydrate: 10

Protein: 13

Oatmeal Muffins

"On Saturday he ate through one peice of chocolate cake, one ice cream cone, one pickle, one slice of swiss cheese, one slice of salami, one lollipop, one piece of cherry pie, one sausage, one cupcake..."

Muffins, cupcakes... potato, potato. Ok, I feel awful. Both times we've made something from my sister in law's AWESOME food blog we've had execution issues and ended up with crap. I promise you the muffins she made looked 10 times better than the ones that husband made this weekend. I think his main issue was that the batter seemed too thick and he didn't add more water. I was on a walk when this happened so he says I get to blame him. He ate it. I spit it out. We will go with his rating although I think these would be awesome if they were made correctly. Check out my sis-in-law's blog for a better picture and some other good recipes. Also, make sure you always spray your muffin liners so you actually get to eat your whole muffin. Husband gave these 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Source: eatmindfully.weebly.com

Ingredients

Crumble topping:

• scant 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• ¹⁄₂ cup rolled oats
• ¹⁄₃ cup organic brown sugar
• scant 1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• ¹⁄₄ cup unsalted butter melted

Muffin batter:

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 ¹⁄₂ cup whole wheat pastry flour
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon baking soda
• scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• ⁷⁄₈ cup unsalted butter
• ¹⁄₂ cup organic brown sugar
• 12 oz plain yogurt
• 2 large eggs whisked

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin pan with paper liners and spray them with cooking spray.

1. Get your crumble topping for your muffins started first. Use a fork to combine the flour, oats, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter. Divide the mixture into three portions, and use your hands to form into three flat-ish patties. Place the patties in a bowl in the freezer for about ten minutes.
2. Now, onto the muffin batter. In a medium bowl combine the oats, flour, baking soda, and sea salt. Set aside.
3. Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar. Whisk in the yogurt, and then the eggs. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and stir just until combined. Do your best to avoid over mixing.
4. Pour the batter into the muffin tins, filling each 3/4 full. Pull the crumble from the freezer and break it up into small and medium pieces. Sprinkle the top of each muffin with crumble, place the muffins in the oven and bake 30 - 35 minutes or until tops are golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool just a minute or so, then turn out onto a cooling rack - important!

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 210

Carbs: 19

Fat: 13

Protein: 5

Strawberry Italian Ice

"On Thursday he ate through four strawberries, but he was still hungry."

Chalk this up as an execution problem. Doesn't really look like Italian ice does it? It was more of a jam smoothie. Oops. Husband made this and he thinks he used too much apple juice. Could be why it didn't set like it should. I think we'll try it again sometime. Good flavor though. As is it was a 3.5 out of 5 stars but we will rerate it when we try again.

Source: Nikee Huntington, Santa Rosa, CA

Ingredients

• ¾ cups unsweetened apple juice unsweetened apple juice concentrate
• 1 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 2 pints of fresh strawberries hulled and halved
• Fresh mint (optional)

Directions

1. In a blender or food processor, combine the apple juice concentrate, lemon juice and strawberries; cover and process until blended. Pour into an ungreased 8 inch square dish. Cover and freeze for 1 - 1 1/2 hours or until partially set.
2. Spoon into a large bowl; beat on medium speed for 1 1/2 minutes. Return to dish; freeze for 2 - 3 hours, until firm.
3. Remove from the freezer 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with fresh mint leaves if desired.
4. Makes 5 servings
5. 1 serving = 3/4 cup

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 109

Fat: 1g

Cholesterol: 0

Sodium: 12mg

Carbohydrate: 27g

Fiber: 3g

Protein: 1g

Thai Grilled Beef With String Beans

Tonight's dinner was another contest recipe that I've been hearing about from my coworker for a little while and dying to try. It was awesome! Husband loved the beef and I loved it all. I was expecting a very different flavor but was very pleasantly surprised. We were generous with the lime which I think made all the difference. We also used the serrano chile rather than the chili paste and green onions instead of scallions. We used a grill pan to cook the steak and it turned out perfectly done. We will be making this again and hopefully soon. 5 out of 5 stars.

Source: Cindy Heiner, West Jordan, UT

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1½ lbs. flank steak
• 1 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ c fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoons Asian fish sauce
• ¼ teaspoons (or more) chili paste or 1 teaspoon seeded, minced serrano chile
• ¼ teaspoons sugar substitute
• 1 c coarsely chopped cilantro
• ½ c thinly sliced scallions
• 1 pounds green beans trimmed
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Heat grill or grill pan to high. Rub steak on both sides with 1 teaspoon oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill until desired doneness. Four minutes on each side for med. rare. Remove from heat and set on cutting board for 5 minutes.
2. Whisk together lime juice, fish sauce, chili paste, sugar substitute, cilantro, and scallions into a large mixing bowl.
3. Heat a saucepan of salted water until boiling. Add beans until cooked- crisp and tender, about 3 minutes. Drain.
4. Thinly slice meat across the grain. Toss with lime juice mixture, adding any meat juices that have accumulated on the cutting board. Add beans, toss, and serve.
5. Makes 4 servings.
6. Number of Servings: 4

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 319.6

Fat: 13.9g

Sodium: 530mg

Carbohydrate: 10g

Fiber: 3g

Protein: 38g

Chicken Taco Soup

Tonight was another yummy contest recipe. My favorite thing about this one was that it was made in the crock pot which is always nice. We had a chicken taco soup recipe that was ok but we like this one better. I ate mine with a teeny bit of non-fat sour cream and a few hint of lime chips (not the dorito kind but a really yummy kind I found at sunflower market) and I thought those were the perfect toppings. After I finished I thought I should have used some avocado but it was still great. This is one you can make over and over. Yummy. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Source: Emily Mann, Sacramento, CA

Course: Soup

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 2 15 oz cans tomato sauce
• 3 cups water
• ¼ cups taco seasoning (I use the kind from Costco)
• 1 15 oz can stew-cut tomatoes
• 1 15 oz can kidney or black beans
• 1 cups frozen corn
• 1 4 oz can diced green chilies
• 2 chicken breasts cut into large chunks

Directions

1. 1. Add tomato sauce, water, and taco seasoning to a large Crockpot and stir until seasoning is blended well.
2. 2. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook on high fro 4-5 hours, or low 7-8 hours.
3. 3. Take out the chicken chunks with tongs and shred with forks, returning chicken to the Crockpot.
4. 4. Serve with your desired toppings.

Topping Suggestions:
 Tortilla Chips, crushed
 Shredded cheese
 Sour Cream (Fat Free of course)
 Avocado or guacamole
 Chopped tomatoes or Pico de Gallo
 Anything else you like on your tacos (except I don’t recommend lettuce)

Amount Per Serving (without toppings)

Calories: 250

Fat: 2g

Carbohydrate: 30.7g

Protein: 27.4g

Beef and Spinach Lasagna

We had another contest recipe tonight and someone has figured out my weakness. Lasagna. Call me Garfield because I LOVE LASAGNA!!! That being said I had to take a back seat on the rating of this recipe as ANY lasagna is bound to get a 5 from me. This was a good lasagna too. I loved the spinach but I thought the beef needed more seasoning. Altogether yummy. I would've given it a 5 but husband said 4 so we compromised with a 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Source: Karen Huntington, Portland, OR

Serves: 12

Ingredients

• 1 -lb lean ground beef
• 1 medium onion,chopped
• 2 jars (26 oz. each) meatless spaghetti sauce- I used Prego
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 package (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach thawed and squeezed dry
• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• 2 cups (8ozs) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese divided
• 9 no cook lasagna noodles

Directions

1. In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the spaghetti sauce,garlic,basil and oregano. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes. In a bowl, combine the spinach,ricotta
2. and 1 cup of the mozzarella until combined.
3. Spread 1 1/2 cups meat sauce into a greased 13-in x 9-in x 2-in baking dish. Top with three noodles. Spread 1-1/2 cups sauce to edge of noodles. Top with half of the spinach mixture. Repeat layers. Top with remaining noodles, sauce and mozzarella.
4. Cover and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 10-15 minutes longer or until bubbly. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 281

Fat: 11g

Cholesterol: 50mg

Sodium: 702mg

Carbohydrate: 26g

Fiber: 3g

Protein: 20g

Sushi a la Chang

Another contest recipe is one that we always beg our friends to make for us. We almost didn't want to calculate the calories because we like it too much but we were happy to discover the calories weren't too bad! So not only did they teach us to make the sushi but they actually made it for us! Most people wouldn't call this kid friendly but both Thing 1 and Chang 1 ate it so I call it kid friendly. Rather than type out the instructions for rolling the sushi we took a video of Kamai doing a demonstration.  A huge 5 out of 5 stars.

Source: Kim and Kamai Chang, Saratoga Springs, UT




Ingredients:

1/2 cup light cream cheese
1 cup imitation crab meat
1/2 an avocado
1/2 cup cucumber sliced
6 sheets of yaki sushi nori (seaweed)
1 cup long grain white rice (cooked)

It's hard to explain how to roll sushi so we will be uploading the video once we solve our technical difficulties.

Makes approximately 6 rolls. Serving size is 2 rolls.


Calories: 312
Fat: 10.5g
Sodium: 498.5mg
Carbs: 29g

Stuffed Red Bell Peppers

Tonight we tried another contest recipe. I was really excited to try this because husband has traditionally poo-pooed any recipe with bell peppers as a main ingredient and I love them. Funny that he was more into this recipe than me. This is mainly a case of a good recipe but just not my cup of tea. The flavors are once again those "warm" flavors that I'm not super in love with but it tasted good otherwise. I was all set to give it a 3.5 until Thing 1 ate it. That automatically bumps it up to a 4. Of course for his we added ranch to add the calories for Mr. skinny. So 4 out 5 stars and a big kid-friendly badge!

Source: Maria Rollins, Salt Lake City, UT

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 1 serving good seasonings Italian salad dressing mix
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp Soy Sauce (low sodium)
• 1 Tbsp Splenda (or Stevia or your fav no cal sweetener...)
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 4 cups brown rice medium grain-cooked
• 1 1/2 lb lean ground turkey (this amount raw)
• 6 sweet red bell peppers
• 2 eggs
• 8 oz V8 juice low sodium

Directions

1. Brown turkey with soy sauce and garlic. Cook Rice. Preheat oven to 350. Cut tops and clean out insides of bell peppers. Dice pepper tops (sans stems) to add to inside mixture. Mix meat, rice, and all else and stuff into hallowed bell peppers. Bake 1 hour. (I had a bit of the meat mixture left over so depending on the size of your peppers you could probably even stuff 7 of them with this ratio or cut back on the meat and rice amounts..etc.)

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 347

Fat: 9.6g

Carbohydrate: 38g

Protein: 25.7g

Oven Roasted Veggies

Tonight was the 3rd contest recipe so far. We had a BBQ so these roasted veggies went well. They are simple but simple in a good way. I used sea salt and I added the optional mushrooms which in my opinion should not be optional since they were our favorite part. It was my first time using yellow squash so that was a plus. I love using new veggies! Another one we will make again and again. 4 out of 5 stars!

Source: Jackie Harris, Santa Rosa, CA


(You can use just about any vegetables.)


1 med Red Onion, sliced
1 med Green Bell Pepper, sliced
1 med Zucchini, sliced into disks
1 med Yellow Squash, sliced into disks


Sometimes I add Mushrooms.


Layer the veggies in a baking dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then drizzle with Olive Oil. Toss, then bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

170 calories

15g carbs

11g fat

5g protein 586 mg sodium

Stuffed Acorn Squash

The second of our contest recipes and if we are being completely honest here, this scared the crap out of us. Husband even admitted to trying to talk me out of making it without me knowing. The good news: we made it. The better news: AWESOME!!! I was actually hoping not to like it as much as I did because the calorie count is a little higher than we like but if you think of it as a main dish and a side it could be a good meal. Plus it is SUPER filling! Husband didn't even finish his because it was so much (not because he didn't like it) but I couldn't stop eating it. This was definitely a good one for our anniversary dinner. It does take a really long time to cook so I would say due to the high calorie count and the lengthy process this would have to be a special occasion meal but we will definitely make it again! We cheated a little bit and cooked the quinoa in the rice cooker. We've wanted to make quinoa for a while now but been too afraid to actually do it so this was a great push. We still used the vegetable broth just put in the rice cooker as well. Definitely 5 out of 5 stars from both of us. Go on, try something new!

Source: Sarah Swindell, Santa Rosa, CA

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2 acorn squash
• 1 TBS olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups veggie broth or 2 cups water and a bouillon cube
• 6 oz goat chèvre
• 1/2 cup pine nuts toasted
• 4-6 tomatoes roasted
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1/4 tsp marjoram
• 1/4 cup parsley chopped
• fresh grated parmesan for garnish

Directions

1. Cut the acorn squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Sprinkle each half with salt and pepper and thyme.
2. Put the olive oil on a sheet or roasting pan and smear each half of the squash- cut side down- into the oil making sure it is well coated.
3. Cut the tomatoes in half through the middle and sprinkle the cut sides with salt and pepper. Place them cut side down in the oil on the same pan as the squash. Roast at 400º the squash for 30-50 minutes (You want a knife to pierce through easily) and the tomatoes for 30-40 minutes flipping them over after 15 minutes.
4. While squash and tomatoes cook rinse quinoa.Then pour straight from the strainer into a pot with the heat on medium. Add broth. The ratio is 2:1. If you don't have veggie broth you can use 2 cups water and add a bouillon cube or some veggie broth powder as well. Bring it to a boil, then turn heat to simmer and cover for 15 minutes. At 15 minutes open the pot and fluff with a fork. Cover again and let it sit off the heat for another 5 minutes.
5. Scoop the flesh from the inside of the squash into a bowl and set aside.
6. Take your chèvre and put it into a small bowl. Using a fork work the chèvre into a paste. Add the roasted tomatoes (minus the skin), two cloves of garlic, pressed, the dry spices and the scooped out squash.
7. Toast the pine nuts in a dry pan on medium heat until they are fragrant and golden, then add them to the chèvre mixture. Liberally salt and pepper.
8. Incorporate the chèvre mixture into the quinoa. Mix gently. Add your chopped parsley and mix again
9. Using a tablespoon scoop generously into your acorn squash. You want the filling to mound over the top.
10. Bake at 375º for 30-45 minutes. Sprinkle with fresh parmesan before serving.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 568

Fat: 25.2g

Cholesterol: 24.6mg

Sodium: 856.9mg

Sugar: 12.5g

Carbohydrate: 74.4g

Fiber: 9.7g

Protein: 20g

Guilt Free Double Chocolate Brownies

This is the first of our contest recipes and it will be hard to compete with! We decided to make brownie bites in a mini muffin pan instead of using a regular Pyrex. It cut the calories by about 20 since the servings were smaller. I also cheated and melted the butter in the microwave instead of on the stove. Karyn told me that these "got better with age" which is definitely true. We made them Thursday night and each tried one then and then took them on our anniversary picnic Friday night and they were a way better consistency. I ate mine with raspberries because I think everything tastes better with fresh raspberries. Since I typically only like brownies from a mix I was pleasantly surprised that these were a 5 out of 5 stars!

Source: Karyn Snodgrass, Manchester, NH

Ingredients

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 4 TBSP Butter
• 2/3 C. Granulated Sugar
• 1/2 C Cold Water
• 1 TSP vanilla
• 1 C. All-Purpose Flour
• 1/4 C Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 1 TSP Baking Powder
• 1/4 C. Mini Semisweet Chocolate Pieces
• 2 TSP Powdered Sugar

Directions

1. Makes 16
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Coat bottom of 9x9 baking pan with nonstick spray. In a medium saucepan, melt butter; remove from heat. Stir in sugar, water, and vanilla. Mix in flour cocoa powder, and baking powder until combined. Add chocolate pieces. Pour batter into pan; bake for 15 -18 minutes. Cool in pan on wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 111

Fat: 4g

Carbohydrate: 18g

Fiber: 1g

Protein: 1g