Asian Lettuce Wraps and Toddler Breakfast Cookies

Damn you, Pinterest. My husband is complaining that I'm going to make him fat if I keep trying to make the deliciousness I find on the site. I'm resolving to stop pinning baked goods and carb-loaded breakfasts as of tomorrow. Thanks to exploring, though, I've made some great meals this weekend that should take us through Wednesday or Thursday of this week. And maybe some dessert that I don't need. I don't know how but I've only gained eight pounds at 22 weeks pregnant. I'm expecting to put on 30 or 40 pounds in the next four months, especially if I don't stop baking.

Weekend baking and cooking looked a little like this (click on the captions for links to those recipes).

Cheesy Quinoa with Broccoli

Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies

Easy breakfast cookies for le toddler
Recipe below

And my grand finale recipe were these Asian Lettuce Wraps. So delicious. And I think, probably very healthy.

It was a great weekend. I taught Body Attack on Friday night and besides a little calf pain, I got a nice workout, which was a change from the past two weeks. It still felt harder than normal, but I get such an adrenaline rush from teaching, I can't dial down the energy, and I feel good afterwards. Saturday morning a special guest taught my class at 9 am with my co-teacher; an actual Les Mills Body Attack presenter. They did a sneak preview of the next release, which is the absolute most insane workout I've ever seen. One daunting move (to name a few) is a plyometric-lunge tuck-jump combo. I felt so good on Saturday morning and worked out as hard as I possibly could. I was actually able to do the combination but I can't get as much height in the jump combo as I would if I weren't pregnant. 

Post-workout, I came home and we took Colton to the science center. We've just purchased a year-long membership for our family and I'm so glad we did! We barely made it through one floor of the place in two hours. Colton loved the planetarium, which was presenting Bird Bird's Big Adventure Movie, although he would NOT. STOP. TALKING. THE. WHOLE. TIME. Story of our lives. That's

ok, he says some pretty funny stuff. How cute is he, discussing Elmo and his Chinese friend jumping around on the moon?

If only he would take naps, because after all of that exercise and walking, and cooking....my body was screaming for me to sit down.

Today one of my oldest friends came up to visit us and then she stayed long enough for me to cook dinner. All-in-all, great weekend.

I always joke that my husband is half Asian, for the facts that a good chunk of his friends are Asian, and also, he loves Asian food. So, I was looking forward to surprising him with this healthy, delightful dinner. I made some changes and they turned out fantastic. Also, take a look at the easy breakfast cookies I got from my mommy-friend, Sara, on Pinterest. Thanks Sara!

Asian Lettuce Wraps

Adaped from Crunchy Rock

Ingredients
3/4 cup cooked quinoa
1 or 1.5 cups cooked, shelled edamame
1.5-2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and chopped
3-4 green onions, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped finely
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup grated carrots
1 or 1.5 cups of crushed cashews
1 can water chestnuts, chopped
1 bulb of Bibb or Butter lettuce (I couldn't find it and used iceberg, definitely not as good)

For the sauce:
5-6 Fresh garlic cloves, chopped finely
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup sweet chili sauce
3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons of water

Combine all the mix ingredients in one bowl after cooking chicken and quinoa; combine sauce ingredients in another bowl, then mix them together. If you want, save some sauce to drizzle on top of the wraps, something which I didn't do but they turned out great. Fill lettuce cup with mixture and enjoy! There was so much filling leftover with my changes, so we will be set for a few days with food.

Breakfast Cookies for Toddler

Ingredients
3 Ripe bananas (or Banananananana as my sweet son calls them), mashed
1.5-2 cups rolled oats
1/2 - 3/4 cup raisins
Dash of cinnamon, nutmeg, any other spices you may like

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients, then spoon large tablespoons onto cookie sheet, sprayed with cooking spray. Cook for 30-35 minutes. It took me longer to wash the dishes for this recipe than it did to actually make it. So easy!