Date Night, Wednesday February 4, 2014

There are a number of reasons I've been quiet the last two months.  It's not that we haven't had our dates...we have. I've just not been sharing them.   That's really all I'm going to say about that.  I'm here now, and hope to be regular again.

So tonight.  I'm going kind of Asian.  That is until dessert, but I'll get there when I get there.

Happy Hour

Martinis.  A nice crisp cocktail, garnished with a twist of lemon.  You really can't beat that.  And with our martinis we'll be having Vegetable Egg Rolls.  This recipe is a straight up WW recipe

Ingredients

	1 head(s) uncooked Chinese cabbage, outer leaves removed, shredded
	2 medium uncooked carrot(s), peeled and shredded
	2 clove(s) (medium) garlic clove(s), minced
	2 medium uncooked scallion(s), white and green parts, chopped
	1 Tbsp ginger root, fresh, minced or 1/2 tsp dried
	1 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
	2 tsp cornstarch
	1 tsp sesame oil
	8 item(s) egg roll wrapper(s), about 1/2 oz each
	4 spray(s) olive oil cooking spray, or enough to coat egg rolls

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.
• Place cabbage in a microwavable dish and cover. Microwave on high until wilted, about 4 minutes; drain and transfer to a large bowl. Add carrots, garlic, scallions, ginger, soy sauce, cornstarch and oil; mix well.
• Arrange egg roll wrappers on a clean, dry surface. Spoon cabbage mixture diagonally onto each wrapper. Fold over one corner to cover filling. Fold up both corners. Moisten edges of remaining flap with water and roll up wrapper jellyroll style until sealed. Transfer egg rolls to prepared baking sheet and coat with cooking spray. 
• 
  
• Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes.  Serve hot.

The only change that I make to this is that I buy prepackage slaw mix.  It has the cabbage, carrot, and a little bit of broccoli to boot.  I'll add the ginger, garlic, and scallions.

Dinner

This is actually the impetus for this meal. I saw this on my weekly recipe hunt and husband love Love LOVES orange chicken.  We'll see if this meets his requirements.  This recipe comes from LaaLoosh.com.

Ingredients

• 1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1/4 cup fat free chicken broth
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
• 3 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp orange zest
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Spray a large, nonstick skillet with an olive oil mister or non-fat cooking spray, and set over medium high heat.
2. Generously season chicken with salt and pepper, and place in skillet. Brown chicken evenly on both sides, adding the broth, tbsp by tbsp to keep the chicken from sticking to the pan. Cook until chicken is browned and cooked through, about 5 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients, and pour over the chicken. Bring sauce to a boil, and then let simmer for another minute or two until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat and serve.

I have a Birds Eye Steamfresh Brown and Wild Rice with broccoli and carrots that I will add some soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, green onion, garlic and ginger to.  (Not an idea completely out of my head.  It was on the back of the bag.



Additionally, we'll have broccoli.  If Josh actually reads this post, he may have noticed that broccoli shows up quite a bit.    We like broccoli and I like the way it plays with orange.

Dessert

I offered Josh the choice of 2 WW treats that I've been making lately.  Turns out his choice meant nothing because I made them both.  

This one was Josh's choice:  Skinny Dark Chocolate Brownie Bites (skinnykitchen.com_)

Ingredients

¼ cup regular brewed coffee or decaf, cooled, see prep tip

¼ cup canola oil

¼ cup unsweetened applesauce

1 large egg, I love using Egg-land’s Best eggs

1 (20 oz) box Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate Brownie Mix

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Coat 3 mini muffin trays with cooking spray, with flour in it, see shopping tip.

2. *Do not use the recipe on the back of the box. Follow my recipe. In a large bowl or electric mixer, mix together the cooled coffee, canola oil, applesauce and egg.  Stir in the brownie mix and mix until smooth.

3. Fill muffin cups about 1 tablespoon each, with batter. Bake for about 16 to 18 minutes or until toothpick inserted in edge of brownie bites comes out clean.  Do not over-bake. They should still be fudgy inside. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan.

4. Serve for a party or freeze them. When in the mood for just a small treat, zap in the microwave for about 20 seconds to defrost.

Makes 36 brownie bites

One of these bites is 2 WW points.

My choice comes from LaaLoosh again. Weight Watchers Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

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weight watchers chocolate chip cookies recipe

Ingredients:
– 2 tbsp light butter, softened (I like Brummel and Brown Spread)
- 2 tsp canola oil
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, dark-variety
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp table salt
- 1 large egg white
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 3 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips, about 1/2 cup

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375ºF.
In a medium bowl, cream together butter, oil and sugar. Add vanilla, salt and egg white; mix thoroughly to combine.
In a small bowl, mix together flour and baking soda; stir into batter. Add chocolate chips to batter; stir to distribute evenly throughout.
Drop rounded half-teaspoons of dough onto one or two large nonstick baking sheets, leaving a small amount of space between each cookie. Bake cookies until golden around edges, about 4 to 6 minutes; cool on a wire rack. Makes 24 servings.

Serving size is 2 cookies
Each serving = 1 Weight Watchers Point

I've made this recipe twice and my cookies don't look anything like her picture. Maybe because I use mini chips.  But they taste really good. And for 2 points I can have 4 of these babies!


So this is the meal plan for this evening.  Weather made hubby late to work, so he'll be late getting home.  That may be okay...traffic will have eased up and I'll have plenty of time make myself pretty for my baby and still get a jump on dinner.

happy cooking