March Recipe: WW Veggie Stir-fry with Peanuts

So, I tossed and turned over what kind of peanut recipe was I going to make for our March calendar. I think Heidi had said she didn't want to do a dessert and I agreed. I had a Rocky Road Fudge recipe that takes 15 minutes though in case any one does want a peanut dessert! =)

Also, I keep on the WW warpath, I stumbled across a recipe for a stir-fry with peanuts. Perfect! I added cup up bonesless chicken breasts and added that into the recipe as well.

WW Veggie Stir-fry with Peanuts

Ingredients:
1 tsp peanut oil
1 cup onion(s), chopped (about 1 medium onion or 1 cup of frozen chopped onion)
1 cup asparagus, chopped in 1” pieces
1 cup carrots, chopped (½ lb. / ½ bag of baby carrots)
1 medium green pepper, sliced (or 1 cup of frozen chopped green pepper)
4 oz mushrooms, thinly sliced
¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp cornstarch
¼ cup canned chicken broth, reduced-sodium
4 Tbsp peanuts, dry roasted
2 cups cooked brown rice

Directions:
- Heat oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add onion, asparagus, carrots, peppers, and mushrooms; cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently. (The frozen veggies make the recipe that much faster, especially for a week night meal.)
- Add soy sauce and cook until vegetables are crisp-tender, about 2 minutes more.
Whisk cornstarch into broth in a small cup and add to pan; simmer until sauce thickens, about 1 minute.
- Spoon stir-fry onto rice on individual plates and top each serving with peanuts.

Yield: 4 servings: about 1½ cups of vegetables, 1 tablespoon of peanuts and ½ cup of rice per serving

WW points: 5 per serving.

If you add the chicken (4 oz. - uncooked - per serving), cook this in the pan before the veggies. Remove from pan once cooked and add in once veggies are done cooking. 3 oz. cooked chicken = additional 3 points per serving.

Review: I really enjoyed this recipe! It was quick and easy with the frozen veggies - less to cut up and prepare - and tasted good! While it may not be a lot of food for most people, it was the perfect portion size for me and left me with 2 days of leftovers for my hubby (while I was taking care of my parents - dad just had his carotid artery unclogged!). I will definitely make it again.

Chicken Pockets (aka Chicken Baseballs)

Thanks to Michelle for passing along this recipe!! I went home last night and looked in the fridge and was so happy to see that I had all of the ingredients! Until I pulled out the already sliced mushrooms and realized they had seen better days! 8 oz. of mushrooms went straight into the garbage. My fridge is pretty darn good at extending the life out of my food - previous owners must have set it on REALLY cold, but it's great, I get an extra week of life out of my veggies (which means these mushrooms are at least 2 or 3 weeks old! haha).

I made a few tweaks and therefore have amended the name to Chicken Taschen or Chicken Pockets and posted my version of the recipe below, as well as my review. (Note: Taschen is German for pockets and they remind me of these delicious cheese filled "Topfentaschen" or pot pockets - aka danishes - that I had while in Europe - YUM!!)

I also have recently started the Weight Watchers diet, so was able to amend things slightly to fit within the plan and will be adding the Flex Points at each WW entree that I put out there. I'm on week 4 and have lost 12 pounds to date!

Chicken Pockets

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:
1 tube reduced fat Pillsbury crescent dough
1 lb. fresh spinach or 1 package frozen spinach

4 oz. reduced fat cream cheese
2 Tbsp skim milk
1½ tsp garlic powder

1 tsp parsley flakes

½ tsp paprika
1 Tbsp melted butter
4 – 4 oz. chicken breasts
Italian seasoned bread crumbs

Directions:
- In a skillet sprayed with cooking spray, sauté chicken seasoned with seasoned salt until done. Remove chicken and let cool. Dice chicken and set aside.

- In same skillet, add fresh spinach and cook until wilted (a splash of chicken broth or water should be used so spinach does not burn in pan) or put frozen spinach in a pot with small amount of water (as recommended) – drain all water once heated. Add to chicken.

- In mixing bowl, mix cream cheese, milk, spices, and melted butter until well blended (will be a creamy consistency). Add chicken and spinach to cream cheese mixture.

- Open can of crescent dough. There are 8 triangles and 2 triangles make a rectangle. With pastry roller or fingers, take two triangles and roll out/press into a rectangle.

- Place ¼ of chicken mix in center of pastry and fold up dough to completely coat filling.

- Sprinkle Italian seasoned bread crumbs on top of the baseball.
- Bake your Chicken Pocket in a 350 over for 20-25 minutes, or until it is golden brown...like this:

Voilà!

WW Flex Points: 10

Review: These are out of the world delicious!!! I am so excited, because we're having them again tonight! I had to change the name, because mine didn't end up looking like baseballs - haha! I can't say enough about them. I was full enough with just this, but you could also add a salad on the side.