Receta Trying to get your kids to eat healthy? SOS! Six O'Clock Scramble to the Rescue with moo shu veggie wraps!
Trying to get your kids to eat healthy? SOS! Six O’Clock Scramble to the Rescue with moo shu veggie wraps!
If you’ve been watching Jaime Oliver’s Food Revolution, you’ve seen his frustration with what parents are packing in their children’s lunch like Lunchables, chips and Skittles. (Have you signed Jamie’s petition yet? Please do!)
Making healthy meals that your kids will like really isn’t that hard to do. One terrific resource is Aviva Goldarb’s The Six O’Clock Scramble website, which helps takes the stress out of meal planning and preparation with grocery lists, weekly meal plans and healthy recipes. (A two year’s subscription is $64.50 or about $2.70 a month.)
Now, with her latest book, SOS! THE SIX O’CLOCK SCRAMBLE to the Rescue: Earth-Friendly, Kid-Pleasing Dinners for Busy Families, Aviva continues her efforts to help busy families eat well while paying attention to environmental concerns about packaging and the cost of shipping out-of-season food, as well as parents wanting to avoid convenience foods that are full of additives and preservations.
SOS! THE SIX O’CLOCK SCRAMBLE to the Rescue contains over 300 healthy and delicious meals that help moms and dads:
cook seasonally without their family missing their favorite foods
know when should or shouldn’t spend money on organic foods
save money with efficient planning, bulk buying, freezing and storing tips
introduce their kids to ethnic cuisine
make grocery trips count with menu plans and shopping lists
I received a review copy of SOS! THE SIX O’CLOCK SCRAMBLE to the Rescue and can’t wait to try some Aviva’s ethnic dishes like Irresistible Honey-Curry Chicken, Tandoori Chicken, or Mumbai Meatballs with Yogurt-Chutney Dipping Sauce. My kids love curry and spicy dishes, so these should go over well.
Each recipe comes nutritional information, a “Scramble Flavor Booster” tip, and side dish suggestion. The book is also broken up into spring, summer, fall and winter so you’re cooking seasonally. There’s also a five week menu for each season, plus mini-indexes for each season where dishes are broken up into categories like fish, poultry/pork/beef or lighter fare like salads and wraps.
A healthy Asian dish for the whole family
For this dish, I found Aviva’s side dish suggestion of pre-packaged dumplings or egg rolls very odd since her book is about reducing packaging and avoiding foods with additives and preservatives. If you must have such a side dish, go to your local Asian market or restaurant and purchase a take out order.
One alternative would be to heat up a couple of packages of Healthy Choice Naturals Asian Potstickers. (My son loves these.) As far as additives and sodium levels go, they aren’t perfect but they’re lower in fat and calories than take out. However, since you still want to avoid packaging waste, why not skip a side dish all together and serve the wraps with some cut up fruit for dessert instead?
Moo Shu Vegetable Wraps
I’ve taken out items like flour tortillas and white rice from Aviva’s recipe – you might as well go for it and make it as healthy as possible. Also, check the ingredients label on the hoisin sauce for high fructose corn syrup. You may want to buy it at an Asian grocery store so you have a large variety of hoisin sauce brands to from which to choose.
Prep + Cook = 25 minutes
6 servings
Ingredients:
- 1 – 1 1/2 cups quick-cooking brown rice
- 2 Tbsp. canola or vegetable oil
- 1/2 yellow or white onion, sliced into thin strips
- 1 zucchini, cut lengthwise into quarters and thinly sliced
- 1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 8 – 12 oz. sliced mushrooms
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced
- 4 Tbsp. hoisin sauce (a Chinese marinade and dipping sauce), divided
- 6 whole wheat tortillas
- 1 1/2 cups cooked sliced chicken (optional)
- 1 tsp. – 1 Tbsp. Asian chili sauce, Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce for serving (optional)
Directions:
Cook the rice according to package directions.
Meanwhile, in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat, heat the oil. Add the onions and zucchini and cook, stirring frequently, while you chop and add the other vegetables.
Stir in 2 Tbsp. hoisin sauce. Continue to sauté the vegetables for a few more minutes, stirring often, until they are tender but not mushy, about 8 – 10 minutes total, from when you first added the onions and zucchini. Remove the vegetables from the heat.
Put the tortillas on a microwave-safe plate, cover them with a damp paper towel, and heat them on high power for 1 – 2 minutes until they are very warm and soft.
At the table, lay a tortilla on each plate and brush a little hoisin sauce (about 1 tsp.) in the middle of it with the back of a spoon. Add a scoop each of the rice, vegetables, chicken (optional) and a few drops of hot pepper or chili sauce (optional). Wrap the tortillas burrito-style.
Scramble Flavor Booster: Spice it up by adding a little Asian chili sauce (we love siror Tabasco sauce to the wraps.
Nutritional Information per serving without chicken (% based upon daily values):
Calories 280, Total Fat 8g, 12%, Saturated Fat 1g, 5%, Cholesterol 0mg, 0%, Sodium 480mg, 20%, Total Carbohydrate 47g, 16% Dietary Fiber 5g, 20% Sugar 5g, Protein 7g
Weight Watchers POINTS = 5 (If you’re adding chicken, it’s 1 additional POINT per ounce of meat)