Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Spicy Peanut Sauce

I made a menu for this week, which included lettuce wraps. I was a little tired of using my romaine for salads only. And it's hot hot. So lettuce wraps sounded great. I was going to use ground meat of some sort. But, I went to the store and forgot all about the meat until I was at the car. How I forgot meat, is beyond me, because I even brought a list. In any case, I wasn't about to leave my food in the car and go back for meat, because, as mentioned in a previous post, it's roughly 137,000 degrees in the great state of Texas these days. So, I decided to use chicken instead. I simply used one zuchinni, diced. Plus one package of chicken breast tenders, also diced. For the sauce, I used:

2 tablespoons spicy peanut butter

if you don't have spicy peanut butter (you really should) you could use regular peanut butter and add some ceyenne or hot sauce. Or if you don't like spicy, just use regular peanut butter.

about 2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
ginger, grated, till I got bored (2 teaspoons)
1 clove garlic
rice wine vinegar
a bit of water if it's too thick.

I added some corn starch and I don't think it's needed, because the peanut butter seems to thicken it. Also, it wasn't very salty, so if you like salt, add more soy sauce and less water.

After the chicken was cooked, with the zuchinni, I tossed it together with the sauce and let it cook for a moment.

I also used some basmati rice in them, but for a low glycemic meal, leave the rice and sugar out. And if you really like peanuts, throw some in there for crunch.

Don't forget to like my facebook page, I'll be doing my giveaway soon.

Fajita Tacos

I was craving avocados tonight. And beef. Maybe I need iron. I don't know. At work when I was deciding what to eat I was thinking taco salad. It's great because I can make a giant taco salad for myself and it was easily transformed to regular old tacos for those in the family that weren't terribly interested in having a salad for dinner. Which is all of us. But then I figured if I made fajitas, I was still getting the benefits of some extra veggies in there. Plus if I made enough there were be leftovers for lunch tom morrow. I can just throw the fajita mix on a salad and I'm good to go.

From my basket I used mushroom, onions and tomatoes.

First I sliced one onion, one green pepper and about 6 mushrooms and threw them in a hot skillet with a tad bit of oil and let them brown. Then I removed them from the pan and cranked up the heat so I could brown the meat and get it all carmely. I mixed it all together and topped with diced avocado, tomatoes and cheese.

I was thinking it was kind of like a fajita/Philly cheese steak/taco. It was pretty awesome though.

Bountiful Baskets

A few months ago, I was introduced to a new way to shop for my fruits and veggies. A close friend of mine showed me the wonders of Bountiful Baskets. She explained that each week on Monday at 12:00pm, you log onto the website and place the order. Then, each Saturday morning at 7:15 you go and pick up your basket. I'm sorry, what? On Saturday? In the morning? I'm not what you would call a morning person. And my daughter is old enough to let me sleep in on Saturday. There isn't much that I find worth waking up for at 6:30 on a Saturday. Possibly catching a flight to Cancun would be on that list. Broccoli and apples....Never thought they would have been on that list. But, I was 99.99% percent sure that waking up bright and early on a Saturday was not going to in fact kill me. I say 99.99% sure, because I've never been up that early on a Saturday to witness whether others were dying from being up too early. I've never read about it on the internet though, and if it isn't on the internet, then it's not real. Right?

So, I placed my order for a basket of lovely fruits and vegetables and headed off bright and oh so early the following Saturday. I was so excited when I got home, I completely forgot that I was exhausted. I ran into the house and immediately started telling my daughter about the amazing haul. I was never so excited with romaine before. Then, I ran and woke my husband up. And began telling him about all the delicious antioxidant rich goodness that I got from a parking lot of an elementary school. Then, I went on facebook and started telling more people.

There was a lot of food. For $15.00 I got broccoli, lettuce, radishes, strawberries, apples, mangoes, pickling cucumbers, carrots and a watermelon. I went to Walmart that afternoon to get some non veggies items and I couldn't help myself. I priced everything that I got in my haul and it would have added up to $33.00. I was sold.

Each week has it's issues. Sometimes I get caught up in life and don't get around to using everything. Or forget that random head of cauliflower that is sitting in the back of the fridge. Or make food that doesn't utilize all the veggies (ok, sometimes I get a little sick of romaine salads). But I see the baskets as an opportunity to save money while feeding my family healthy meals that are based around fruits and veggies. So, in an effort to make sure I use every last onion and and apple and bit of celery in that basket, I've decided to share my journey with you. Each week I will showcase the lovely fruits and vegetables that are bestowed upon me and all the creations I attempt to make with them.

Bon appetit.