A Day Late, A Dollar Short

Not really a dollar short, but a day late nonetheless. I'm kind of flip-flopping here. I actually made dinner last night and am not cooking the next couple of nights (basketball: cue heavy sigh), but I also went out for dessert with some gfs and therefore didn't have a chance to report on last night's culinary adventures.

Because I knew it was going to be a rushed evening event, I decided to whip out the crock pot. I'm always a little challenged to find crock pot recipes that somewhat meet my eating requirements (healthy, low-sodium, blah blah blah) but I happened upon the "Diabetic Slow Cooker" book a while back and find it full of appealing recipes. PLUS it also notes portion sizes! Can I have a woot woot?

Asian Pork Sandwiches
Source: Diabetic Living Online Slow Cooker, Winter 2012

Ingredients:

• 1 2.5-3 pound pork shoulder roast
• 1 c. apple juice or cider
• 2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• 2 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 1.5 tsp five-spice powder
• shredded cabbage, green onions and buns

Directions:

• Placed roast in slow cooker. Combine juice, soy sauce, hoisin sauce and five spice powder. Dump over roast. Cook on low 10-12 hours or high 5-6 hours.
• Shred pork. Place meat on bun, top with shredded cabbage. Reserve cooking liquid from crock pot and top with chopped green onions for dipping (didn't do that).

Yield: 8 servings (one sandwich with 3oz meat and 1/4 c. cabbage topping)
Per serving: 282 cals; 7g fat (2g sat); 61mg chol; 478mg sodium; 27g carb; 26g protein

We also had:
Fried Brown Rice with Edamame
Source: The Carb Lovers Diet Cookbook (from Health magazine)

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil (used canola)
• 2 c. cooked brown rice
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 c. coleslaw mix (just used plain cabbage from above recipe)
• 1 c. frozen shelled edamame, thawed
• 2 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Sriracha
• 1/4 c. cilantro (skip)
• 1/4 c. chopped peanuts

Heart healthy ingredients: edamame, brown rice

Directions:

• Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add rice, cook until heated through, approx. 1 min. Stir eggs into rice, cook 30 sec. Stir in coleslaw mix, edamame, soy sauce and Sriracha, cook 2 mins or until eggs are cooked and edamame are heated through. Top with cilantro and peanuts.

Yield: 4 servings (1c/serving)
Per serving: 318 cals; 16.3g fat (2.1g sat, 5g mono, 6.6g poly); 93mg chol; 14g protein; 30g carb; 429mg sodium

Reviews:
There was so much to love about this meal. So I'll break it down for you:

• Crock pot super simplicity
• No chopping of anything
• The longest prep step? Cooking the brown rice. And I could have bought pre-cooked brown rice to make it even easier.
• One pot meals
• And it all tasted delish

Ranking:
Four Forks