RECIPE: Tri-tip wrap

Today's recipe is more of a suggestion.  This was spawned by the tri-tip leftovers from Monday's Labor Day BBQ.  The tri-tip was actually a little more on the well done side so I was trying to figure out the best way to use the leftovers without additional cooking time.

Serves 1
Prep time 5 minutes

Ingredients:
- One medium (8") tortilla
- 2oz of tri-tip (thinly sliced)
- Lettuce blend
- 1 tbsp shredded cheese
- 1 tbsp Salad dressing (we used a spicy southwestern dressing that came with the salad blend).

Layer the ingredients on the tortilla, roll up and enjoy! (Yes, it really is that simple).



This was both tasty and quite filling, despite a low caloric value (approx 270/wrap).  It allowed me to enjoy dessert somewhat guilt free.  The beauty of this meal is that it was quick to prepare and you could really make a ton of different variations on the theme.  Use spinach instead of lettuce, chicken instead of tri-tip, whatever dressing you'd like (as it's a small quantity).  It would also be easy to wrap up for a portable meal on the go. 

RECIPE: Chicken and butternut squash stew with quinoa

I never really cooked a lot of squash until the little one came along as it wasn't really a food that I ate growing up.  It's an easy and nutritious first food, so we've bought both spaghetti and butternut squash to make for him.  It's full of vitamins, calcium, and fiber, so a great food to have in rotation.  Having made a squash/potato/lentil stew over the weekend for the baby, I still had a ton of squash to use and went looking for a healthy recipe for us big kids.  Pinterest as usual came to the rescue and I quickly found this recipe for Chicken and squash stew with quinoa.  Quinoa is also something relatively new to our pantry, but a fantastic alternative to the regular items (i.e. pasta or rice) that we may use to fill out foods.

The only substitution we made on this one was to use chicken breast instead of chicken thigh.  We also added a little feta cheese on top (which was an indulgence seeing as I was under both my caloric and Points+ targets for the day).  Without the cheese, this recipe came in at 248 calories per serving, and 281 calories with the feta added.

Those numbers are interesting for somebody like me, who thinks that putting cheese on top makes everything better.  In fact, my husband is always telling me that we need more cheese, and I'm always telling him to go lighter on it.  Apparently, yelling "diet" at him while he's pouring it on is helpful....although my sample size is small!

Anyway, this was delicious and one pot made enough for 2 meals, so we'll be having the rest tonight.  I suspect this would also freeze well and even the kids would like it.  I would make it again for the baby using a low or no sodium broth. 

RECIPE: Stuffed Peppers

The other day, I got a great deal on some amazing looking orange peppers at (of all places) the dollar store.  In So Cal at least, the 99 cents only stores carry a decent selection of local produce.  These peppers, which are usually $0.70+ each at the regular grocery store were being sold in packs of 3 or 4 for a buck.  They looked perfect for stuffing.  Using this stuffed bell pepper recipe as inspiration, we set about making our own last night.

Our substitutions - green peppers were switched for orange, the turkey was switched for lean ground beef, we added corn and some shredded carrot.  We also threw in a jalapeno and some extra seasoning (cumin and chili powder).  We ended up with extra filling because the peppers weren't huge.  I "created" the recipe in My Fitness Pal to see how much difference it made.

Original CALORIES: 296.2  |  FAT: 8.6g  |  PROTEIN: 24.4g  |  CARBS: 30.9g  |  FIBER: 4.2g
Amended CALORIES: 432  |  FAT: 19.0g  |  PROTEIN: 37.0g  |  CARBS: 32.0g  |  FIBER: ?

Calculating the recipe using Weight Watchers Points+ system, the original recipe was 7pts, but ended up at 8pts with our amendments.  Still not bad, and it was definitely filling enough for both me and my husband, which meant neither of us got up for a second helping.  Those leftovers will be coming with me for lunch.