Lettuce Wraps

It's time for another recipe! These lettuce wraps are SO crazy good that my husband and I fought over the last wrap.  There are only 1,000 calories in the entire dish and most of those calories are from the lean protein, so eat up!

Ingredients:

1 head of lettuce, Boston Bibb or butter lettuce if you can find it 

1 lb ground turkey

1 large white onion, chopped

4 cloves fresh garlic, minced

3 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 cup hoisin sauce

2 tsp ginger powder (or minced pickled ginger if you have it)

2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

Asian chile pepper (if you want it spicy, I did not)

1 8 oz can water chestnuts, drained & chopped

1 bunch of green onions, chopped

1 large carrot, shredded

4 tsp Asian sesame oil

Directions:

1. Rinse lettuce, be careful to keep leaves whole

2. Brown the ground turkey, set aside on a separate plate with a paper towel and pat dry

3. Cook the onion in the same pan, then add the garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, vinegar and chile pepper.

4. After onion softens slightly, add the water chestnuts, green onions, carrots, sesame oil.

5. Stir in the turkey meat.

You're done! Wrap the lettuce around the meat like a burrito and enjoy!

Turkey Chili Recipe

Turkey Chili

1 cup = 200 calories

Ingredients:

1 lb 97% lean ground turkey (you can use 97% lean ground beef instead)

1 can diced tomatos

1 can Ranch Style beans

1 can tomato sauce

1/2 cup water

1 package of chili seasoning

Rice

Next time I'm going to leave out the Northern Beans. Not my favorite bean and the chili was a little too bean heavy.

 Make SURE you use 97/3 turkey or ground beef. If you use anything less you might as well eat a cheeseburger (I'm being a bit dramatic, but don't short yourself on lean protein).

Brown the turkey. It will turn white as you cook it, that's normal. Add a chopped onion at this point if you like onion.

 Add all the other ingredients to a big pot and cook on medium until it boils. Turn down the heat and simmer until dinner time. Cook the rice separately.

Layer a little rice, one cup of chili (use a measuring cup), a little cheese and crackers if you can afford the extra calories.

This is super yummy! Add your favorite hot sauce if you like a little heat!

Mediterranean Chicken Kabobs

I made this yummy dish last night - the husband liked it, so it passed the taste test! It very filling for only 300 calories.

Put the following on skewers (I didn't use any eggplant) and place in a oven safe dish:

2 large chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes

1 small eggplant, peeled & sliced

1 small zucchini, sliced

1 purple onion, quartered

8 medium mushrooms, whole

8 cherry tomatoes, whole

12 large green olives

Combine the following and pour over the skewers:

1 cup chicken broth

2/3 cup balsamic vinegar

3 TBSP olive oil

2 TBSP dried mint leaves

2TBSP dried basil leaves

1TBSP dried oregano leaves

Let the skewers marinate for at least 2 hours, rotate them at the one hour mark. 

Turn the oven on broil (I used the high setting)

Broil kabobs 6 inches from heat source for 10 to 15 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center. Turn the kabobs at the 8 minute mark. 

Serve with couscous  (available at Kroger and Wal-Mart next to the rice).

 Couscous is a Greek side dish similar to rice, but much healthier. Sprinkle couscous with fresh lemon juice and fresh parsley if you have it. 

Nutritional Info Per Serving:

1 serving = 2 kabobs + 1/2 cup couscous

Calories: 300 (yay!)

Total Fat: 5g

Carbs: 32g

Fiber: 4g

Protein: 31g (yay!)

Sodium: 79mg

Since this entire meal only has 300 calories you could add another vegetable, green salad (no cheese or mayo based dressing allowed!) or eat one more kabob for an extra 100 calories (approx.).