The first is the gooseberry. According to NutritionData.com gooseberries are only 66 calories a cup with 1g of fat and a whopping 6g of fiber.

The second are raw, shelled peas. The toddler, oops! I mean "the child" totally fell in love with these. He ate so many while we were at the market that I had to buy another bushel! There’s nothing better then watching a young child get so excited about eating peas. PEAS! Just because he gets to pluck them out of a pod. That cracks me up.

Anyway the video is super short this week. Not sure what we’ll do next. The temp kitchen is not very conducive to cooking shows. :)

This was a super late, super quick meal I brought together after a super long day. I realize the idea is not that different then yesterdays One Pot Chicken with Mango and Couscous but I thought I’d share anyway and show you how versatile this type of dish is.

The formula is simple… especially for 1 serving… 3-4 ounces of your favorite protein. Brown it. Add some flavorful liquid (juice or broth about 1/4 cup) and any spices you like. Bring to a boil. Add the couscous (1/4 cup). Cover, remove from heat. wait 5 minutes and eat! Of course if you have fresh veggies add them too! I’m just all out. :(

Seriously… how simple is that? Here’s the flavor combo I put together tonight.

• 4 oz raw boneless chicken breast
• 1 medium orange juiced (or about 1/4 cup orange juice)
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 cup Whole Wheat Couscous (55g)

Brown the chicken in a small pot with a bit of non-stick cooking spray. Juice the orange and add it to the pot along with the soy sauce and ginger. Bring to a boil, add the couscous, cover and remove from the heat.

Wait 5 minutes then enjoy!

The husband wasn’t home for dinner tonight so I got a chance to experiment freely. I loved it. In a weird way I needed it. Cooking is such an outlet for me and I take such satisfaction in coming up with an idea, executing it and creating a meal from scratch.

That’s what I did tonight and I’m ecstatic with the results! Seriously tasty and extraordinarily easy. That’s a win-win in my book!

The kid, on the other hand, saw it as a win-lose. He loved the chicken but couscous isn’t his thing. He’s tried it now a few times and when the texture hits tongue I can see it on his face, he doesn’t like it. I got to give it to him though, he always gives it a try. I’m proud of him for that. So I made a deal and told him to just eat the chicken. Then he enjoyed the other half of the mango. :)

Here’s how I made this quick dish.

• about 1/3 of a sweet onion chopped
• 1/2 pound (8oz) boneless chicken breast (about 1 large breast)
• 10 or so grape tomatoes halved
• 1/2 of a ripe mango cubed (with juices)
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup Whole Wheat Couscous (110 g)
• Kosher Salt, Pepper, Non-stick cooking spray, dried parsley

Heat a medium pot over medium heat. Spray with non-stick cooking spray. Add the onion and cook until just softened. Add the chicken. Season with kosher salt and pepper. Stir a few times. Once it starts to "brown" add the tomato.

Cut that mango in cubes. It it’s particularly juicy catch that juice and add it to the pot. Stir and let the flavor merge for a bit.

Raise the heat to high, add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Once boiling add the couscous, cover and remove from the heat. Let it sit for 10 minutes. Then fluff with a fork and serve!

This week we tried an Ugli Fruit AND a Santa Claus Melon. Both were super yummy although the kid didn’t agree. It’s a short one and worth a watch for pure 4 year old goofiness alone. :)

Thanks terwilliger911 for the Ugli Fruit photo!

You’d think, considering I started and run a site called GreenLiteBites I’d seek solace in healthy wholesome food but no. This week I’ve eaten out at least 3 times, ate almost an entire bag of Dorritos and my "handful" of M&M’s were more like cups. So yesterday in the middle of my disaster zone…

…I decided to find comfort NOT in the quick, mindless, junk food munch but in the satisfaction of preparing a healthy meal from scratch. Amazingly the processes of scouring my empty fridge and pantries for what I had on hand and finding a creative way to put it all together was much more of a stress release for me.

I can’t promise many new ideas in the coming weeks but I will try to use my current situation to challenge myself. If I don’t, I see a lot fast food in my future and although the husband would be ecstatic I want to treat my and the kid’s (the toddler recently celebrated is 4th birthday) bodies a just little better then that.

So on to this idea! For some reason I have a gross of zucchini in the fridge. It’s actually the only fresh veggie in there. I also had ripening grape tomatoes, a small chink of onion and some REALLY old garlic. This is what I came up with…

• 1 medium zucchini
• 1 tsp olive oil (4g)
• 1-2 slices of a sweet onion chopped
• 1-2 cloves of garlic minced
• 1 carrot diced
• about 10 grape tomatoes halved
• 1/4 cup uncooked quinoa (42g)
• 1/2 cup of our fav broth (water would work but you many want to add bouillon for flavor)
• Dried parsley your fav dried spices (optional)

Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise and scoop out the flesh with a spoon or melon baller. Chop the flesh and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a medium sized pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion starts to get transparent and garlic just starts to brown. Add the diced zucchini guts, carrots and tomatoes. Cook for a few minutes allowing the flavors to merge and the veggies to soften a bit.

Stir in the dry Quinoa. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 10-15 minutes until the quinoa absorbs most of the liquid.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a small casserole dish with aluminum foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Sprinkle the zucchini with some kosher salt and your favorite spices (totally optional.) I used garlic powder, onion powder and a bit of chili powder.

By this time the quinoa should be about done. Scoop the mixture into the zucchini boats. You will have more then enough, just pile it in there. Top with a bit of dried parsley and bake uncovered for about 15 minutes allowing the zucchini to soften and the stuffing to dry out just a bit.

Enjoy!

I made them just for myself with some leftover ground turkey meat I had after making Grilled Honey Mustard Turkey Oat Burgers this weekend. You can of course double or triple the recipe for more servings. You know I’m all about the ‘idea’, so take it and run with your favorite taco toppings. I’m thinking pinto beans or even using my Spicy Black Beans and Zucchini instead of the turkey next time.

Here’s what I did tonight…

• 6 oz lean ground turkey raw (around 4 oz cooked)
• about 1 tsp of my taco seasoning
• 4 large inner leaves of romaine lettuce
• 4-5 strips of green bell pepper chopped
• 1/4 of a tomato chopped
• 1 oz Fancy Mexican shredded cheese
• about 2 tbsp salsa

Brown the turkey with the seasoning until gray. While "browning" clean the leaves and chop the veggies.

Evenly distribute the cooked turkey to the leaves, top with diced peppers, tomatoes, cheese and salsa.

Wrap and eat! All the flavor of tacos with a fresh twist!

BORING

I said, "Trust me, let me make something new." :) And I whipped us an Asian inspired glaze/marinade using what I had on hand. I marinated the chicken overnight and grilled it today.

Verdict?

My mom was the first to try it and said, "It’s Delicious!" That became the phrase of the day. People would say "Have you tried ‘The Delicious Chicken’?" "Have a piece of ‘Delicious Chicken’, it’s delicious!" :) Nothing could have made me happier.

The husband? Well he conceded. Apparently my new marinade was better then boring old BBQ sauce. :~D

• 1/2 cup sugar free Apricot preserves (68g)
• 2 tbsp rice wine or apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tbsp honey (21g)
• 1 tsp olive oil (4g)
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp dried chives

Whisk are all the ingredients together. I doubled for 5lbs of chicken (10 pieces.)

Put a little on the side to glaze with while cooking and pour the remaining in a large plastic bag. Add the chicken. Seal, removing as much air as possible.

Marinade for a few hours or overnight. Grill the chicken until done (vague I know but this post is about the marinate, not how to grill chicken- cooking times will vary greatly depending on what cuts of chicken you decide to use)

No nutritional information. Again it will vary depending on how you use the marinade.

The toddler has been replaced by "Dog" who was very helpful making these "muffins". As I say in the video, these are more like portable oatmeal cups then muffins. Either way this is a great recipe to make with kids. It’s fun, fast (to put together) and not that easy to screw up! :)

The two oatmeal cup recipes I have posted are the Banana Oatmeal Cups with Chocolate Chips and Berry Oatmeal Cups. Please feel free to add your other ideas or recipe edits in the comments! This one super versatile!

I realize these are quite out of season but the toddler and I were just in a mood yesterday. You can surely take the same idea and use a different flavor cake mix and pudding box. Think chocolate cupcakes with raspberry frosting or butterscotch even! Carrot cake with vanilla. Vanilla cake with chocolate! I could go on and on. The combinations are endless!

These are both toddler and husband approved. The toddler wasn’t a fan of the frosting until it hardened a bit. The husband thought they could be slightly moister. But for all their critiques the whole batch is almost gone. I’ll let their actions speak louder then their words. ;~)

The Cupcakes

• 1 (15oz) can pumpkin
• 3 egg whites
• 1/4 cup of water
• 1 box Spiced Cake Mix (I used Duncan Hines Spice Cake Mix)

The Frosting

• 1 (8oz) package of reduced fat cream cheese
• 1 box (1oz) fat free/sugar free pudding mix Cheesecake flavor
• 1/2 cup skim milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk the pumpkin, egg whites and water together until well combined.

Add the cake mix and combine with the whisk until just blended. A few lumps are ok.

Evenly distribute the batter into 24 cup cake tins with liners.

Bake for about 20 minutes. Remove and let cool.

Now for the frosting… Beat the cream cheese, dry pudding mix and milk until smooth.

Smear on cooled cupcakes. Sprinkle if desired! :)

Here’s what I’m getting on the nutritional information. I’d love a double check as it’s much lower then I thought WITH the frosting. Let me know if you get something similar.

You”ll notice sprinkles in some of the pictures. Sad the say the only way I can get the toddler excited about baking with me is to promise a sprinkle session. He still has fun and participates through the whole process…

…but he’s just doing it for the sprinkle pay off. Apparently hanging out with mom in the kitchen just isn’t as cool as it once was. :(

• 1 and ¼ cups (150g) of whole wheat white flour (regular whole wheat works too)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 heaping tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp of salt
• 2 egg whites
• 1 large overripe banana
• ½ cup plain non-fat yogurt
• 2 tbsp honey (42g)
• ¼ cup applesauce
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1 cup blueberries (148g)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees

Mix the whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside

In a medium bowl mash the banana with a fork. Add the egg whites, yogurt, honey, applesauce and extract. Whisk until well blended and a bit “frothy”.

Mix the sifted flour with the banana egg mixture and the blueberries until just moistened. Don’t over mix!

Spray a 6 muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Evenly distribute the batter in the muffin tin cups. Sprinkle with ground cinnamon (or sprinkles!) Bake for about 25 minutes.

I made another batch yesterday, this time using more meat and making more then one portion. I cooked the whole batch on the grill and froze the leftovers for my lunches like I do with the Southwestern Turkey Burgers.

The husband and the toddler both refused to even try a bite. Again.. cool with me! I want the lunches! :)

• 12oz lean ground turkey
• 1 egg white
• 1 cup (80g) old Fashioned Oats
• 3 tbsp (63g) honey
• 3 tbsp country style mustard (the kind with the whole seeds)
• 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce

Combine all ingredients and form into 5 patties about 4 ounces each. The mixture will be moist.

Cook on a preheated grill on medium-high for about 5 minutes a side. Serve on your fav whole wheat bun with all the fixin’s. :) I used a sandwich thin, baby spinach, tomatoes, ketchup, black pepper and sweet pickles.

So I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised when my smoothie mixes arrived. I looked immediately at the ingredient list and saw no sugar, no high fructose corn syrup, no artificial sweeteners. Nothing but fruit purees, water, fruit juices, guar gum and ascorbic acid. FINALLY! I’m happy some brands are catching on!

The blender I used in the video is the Oster Fusion Blender. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. As you’ll see, it makes the smoothies perfectly.