Chicken Lettuce Wraps

So the past few months have been a little crazy. And I have been using that as an excuse to eat pretty much anything I want...whenever I want. Although the scale doesn't reflect this (thank goodness) the softness in my arms, legs and belly do show all the cookies, cupcakes, and Lil Debbies I have been enjoying.

Source: getfitorbust.tumblr.com via Megan on Pinterest

I really love working out and eating clean, but when I moved I wasn't able to get a fitness class on the schedule at the gym where I was hired as an instructor, so I went from teaching 3 or 4 classes a week to ZERO. It has taken me until now to realize that I just can't eat what I used to because no matter how hard I work in the classes I take or lifting with Forrest, I don't burn as many calories as when I teach. When I teach I can't take the lower options, and I have to push through to inspire my participants. Research has shown (I don't remember where I read this) that participants on average will do 70% of what the instructor does...so I always try to do 110% that way they actually end up doing closer to 80% of what is expected from the choreography! Also when I am teaching I am hyper aware of how my body appears to my participants so I usually eat cleaner to maintain a leaner physique. Without that motivation, I kind of loosened up about my diet..which doesn't pair well with working out less.

Anyhow, with the arrival of 2012, and three weddings to attend this year (2 of which I will be a bridesmaid) I decided to resolve myself to cooking cleaner meals for Forrest and me. I am not sure exactly what this looks like, but I am thinking mostly lean meats, veggies and fruit with a few complex carbs thrown in here or there.

Yesterday I jump started the year with some BODYSTEP in the morning and Forrest and I grabbed an evening lift when he got home from work (we actually did different work outs, but checked in on each other here or there to see how it was going).

When we got home I wanted to eat something healthy, and for some odd reason I just had this desire to make lettuce wraps (which actually started while I was grocery shopping at,  Target earlier in the day).

I searched "lettuce wraps" on Pinterest and found several recipes, but I was missing most of the ingredients they required, so I decided to just come up with something on my own...and they were amazing!!!

 

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

1 lb ground chicken

2 carrots, chopped

3 to 4 celery sticks (with leaves), chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic chopped

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp cracked red pepper

1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

1 tbsp peanut butter

1/4 cup Trader Joe's Island Soyaki Sauce

1/4 cup pistachios

1 Romain heart

2 tbsp olive oil

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add in the onion, garlic, celery and carrots and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add in the ground chicken and cook until chicken is white (and completely cooked). Add in the ginger, cracked red pepper and black pepper and cook 2 more minutes until veggies are tender. Stir in the peanut butter, Soyaki Sauce and pistachios and cook for another minute. Remove from heat.

Cut off the end of the romaine hearts, rinse and pat them dry. Place the lettuce on the plate first, and then pile on the chicken mixture. 

Forrest was really skeptical because he had never eaten lettuce wraps before, but he told me during dinner that he was impressed that I could just throw something like that together without a recipe and get such great flavor.

 So here is to starting 2012 off with eating healthy! I'm linking up to Tasty Tuesdays over at 33shadesofgreen. Check out lots of other delicious recipes there today!