Shortly after the New Year, the hubs announced to me that he would be training for the Denver Triathalon starting, um, NOW and we needed to put our heads together and come up with a plan to get him on the road to uber hotness, er, I mean health. It actually has turned out to be the absolute perfect time to switch up our eating habits because of my pregnancy and feeling like I needed to really up my nutrient intake and also introduce some very nutritious foods to Phaedra.
Now the shopping bill is mainly fresh organic fruits and vegetables with whole grains from the bulk section and very few items from the 'middle of the store' such as canned tomatoes and coconut milk, chicken broth, and a few healthy items for Phae's school lunches. We are already feeling great and Kevin is making huge strides in his training while I'm making huge strides with maintaining my energy level throughout the day and only packing on a few pounds when needed to support this little baby in my belly instead of gaining weight from that mid-afternoon cupcake craving :) (although, I give in every now and then...)
This is a recipe that I made yesterday and it was super delicious and filling without giving us that heavy feeling. I've been cooking mostly gluten free meals also to see if it helps to relieve my digestive issues that I've lived with for most of my life. I must say that cutting out bread has really kept me from crashing after I eat.
An added bonus? This recipe is super kid-friendly. Phae loved scooping the turkey into the lettuce cups. Just prepare for a bit of a mess (Lou dog is our cleanup crew for meals like this).
Asian Turkey Lettuce Wraps
1/2 red, yellow or orange bell pepper (diced)
1 large garlic clove (minced)
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 carrot (diced)
1 lb ground turkey
a pinch of red chili flake
1/4 cup soy sauce
1-1.5 tablespoons honey
3 scallions (chopped finely)
small bunch of cilantro (chopped)
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
1/2 cup frozen, shelled edamame
lime wedges
1 large heart of romaine or a rinsed head of butter lettuce
a few drizzles of neutral oil (I used sunflower oil)
In a large saucepan, drizzle some oil and heat to medium low. Add garlic, ginger, chili flake, carrot, pepper and cook until tender and very fragrant. Add the turkey to the pan and bump your heat up to medium high and break the turkey into small pieces while cooking. You don't want really large chunks of meat. I sprinkled the meat with just a little salt but don't go overboard with this because the soy sauce will really boost salt content in the dish. Once the meat is looking like it's close to being cooked through, add your sesame oil and frozen edamame. Put your soy sauce and honey in a microwave safe bowl and cook in microwave for about 15 seconds. When it's heated, stir to combine and then pour add it to the meat mixture and mix well. Taste to see if the dish needs to have more of a balance of sweet/salty and if so, you can add more soy sauce or honey accordingly.
Place the finished meat and veggies in a bowl and sprinkle with cilantro. Serve with your lettuce wraps and lime wedges. I also served it with sriracha hot sauce (god's gift to the universe) and a side of regular jasmine rice to add to the wraps if we so desired. Enjoy this fun meal together around your table! Yummy!
