Chinese Done Right

Many people choose to start working out or eating better for their New Year's resolutions, so in keeping with this theme I decided I'm going to try and find healthier meal options for dinner! My first choice, Chinese. Stir-fries can be loaded with sodium and saturated fat, but they don't have to be! I found this recipe on TheNest.com and served it with a 1/2 cup rice per serving. I also added green and red peppers, water chestnuts and red pepper flakes. This proves you don't have to sacrifice flavor to save calories!!

Sweet Orange Chicken - Serves: 4
Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon water
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon cooking oil
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, quartered
• 3/4 cup thinly sliced carrot

• 3/4 cup orange juice
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar, packed
• 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 teaspoons Hoisin sauce
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

1. Stir water into cornstarch in small cup. Set aside.
2. Heat large frying pan or wok on medium-high until very hot. Add cooking oil. Add chicken. Stir-fry for about 5 minutes until browned. Add carrot.
3. Combine remaining 6 ingredients in small bowl. Add to chicken mixture. Stir. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer, covered, for about 6 minutes until chicken is no longer pink inside and carrot is tender-crisp. Stir cornstarch mixture. Add to chicken mixture. Heat and stir for about 1 minute until boiling and thickened.
   

1 serving: 229 Calories; 9.1 g Total Fat (3.6 g Mono, 2.3 g Poly, 2.2 g Sat); 76 mg Cholesterol; 14 g Carbohydrate; 1 g Fibre; 22 g Protein; 191 mg Sodium

LOWFAT Cupcakes

I've never made sponge cake nor have I ever had it and I've been wanting to try something new that is healthier so here we are! Plus we just started a weight-loss challenge at work. This is a perfect low-fat low calorie dessert and is really light. I decided rather than making a cake that I would try them as single serving cupcakes. I found a website that you can even enter in all the ingredients to find out the nutrient information. Turns out there only 100 calories and 1.7 grams of fat per cupcake!!! Definitely recommend these babies! :)

Orange Sponge Cake Cupcake

Ingredients
• 6 eggs

• 1 Tbsp finely shredded orange peel

• 1/2 cup orange juice

• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/2 cup sugar Directions

Separate eggs. Allow egg yolks and whites to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 325F. In a medium mixing bowl beat egg yolks with an electric mixer on high speed about 5 minutes or until thick and lemon colored. Add orange peel, orange juice and vanilla; beat on low speed until combined. Gradually beat in the 1 cup sugar at low speed. Increase to medium speed; beat until mixture thickens slightly and doubles in volume (about 5 minutes total). Sprinkle 1/4 cup of the flour over egg yolk mixture; fold in until combined. Repeat with remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time. Set egg yolk mixture aside.

Thoroughly wash beaters. In a large mixing bowl beat egg whites and cream of tartar on medium speed until soft peaks firm (tips curl). Gradually add the 1/2 cup sugar, beating on high speed until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight). Fold 1 cup of the beaten egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture; fold egg yolk mixture into remaining egg white mixture. Pour batter into an cupcake liners. Bake in a preheated oven approximately 20 - 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool sponge cake cupcakes completely in the cupcake pans. I mixed Cool Whip with 1 Tbsp orange peel for a low calorie frosting. Makes 24 cupcakes

Nutrition Facts
24 Servings Amount Per Serving -Calories 100.8 -Total Fat 1.7 g -Saturated Fat 0.8 g -Polyunsaturated Fat 0.2 g -Monounsaturated Fat 0.5 g -Cholesterol 53.2 mg -Sodium 18.2 mg -Potassium 46.5 mg -Total Carbohydrate 19.0 g -Dietary Fiber 0.2 g -Sugars 13.7 g -Protein 2.4 g