*Lives are officially changed after receiving fancy new knives from our parents for Christmas - can't.stop.chopping!

Dinner dates with my sister are always the highlight of my week. We're pretty good at catching up about once a week, but in the whirlwind of the holidays, it had been too long since we caught up over some vino and cooked dinner together.

We remedied that last night but wanted to keep it relatively healthy -- new years resolutions, you know the drill. We made Asian-inspired lettuce wraps and they definitely fit the "healthy" requirement, and happily were also really, REALLY good.

Sadly, we don't have a picture of the actual wrap because I literally ripped every single piece of lettuce in half trying to make the "cups" (does someone have a trick for this?! Pinterest? Mom?) so they were morbidly less than attractive. It was somewhat like eating a salad with your hands. We wish you better luck on the wrapping front but can promise you that the filling, at least, will be out of this world.

Asian Lettuce Wraps

This makes enough for two starving people with some leftovers or four reasonable adults.

• 1  medium onion, diced


• 1 yellow or pepper, diced


• 1 Tb olive oil


• 1 lb package ground turkey or chicken


• 1 Tb five spice seasoning


• 1 Tb brown sugar


• 1/4 C reduced sodium soy sauce


• 1 Tb chili garlic paste or to taste


• Peanuts, chopped


• Cilantro, chopped


• Iceberg lettuce leaves for wrapping

1. Sautee diced onion and pepper in olive oil until soft. Drain any liquid and set aside.


2. Mix soy sauce, brown sugar, chili paste, and five spice in a bowl and stir well until combined.


3. In a separate pan, brown turkey meat until cooked through.


4. Add the sauce mixture and vegetables, mixing to coat.


5. Spoon meat into lettuce cups, adding chopped peanuts and cilantro. Wrap, and feast!

Four Ingredient Fat Free Stir Fry Sauce

I make some variation of stir fry roughly once a week. Its healthy, so good, and can be accomplished in about 5 minutes flat (especially if you're willing to invest in some Trader Joe's frozen stir-fry veggie mixes for the occasional emergency).

I am, by the way, totally aware that stir fry typically involves flash-frying the vegetables in a hot pan with oil, so the title of this is slightly misleading. And I'll admit, a heavier sauce with sesame oil or peanuts really can't be beat.

BUT! If I'm looking for an uber-healthy dinner option that doesn't taste like Fiber One after a long weekend of eating and drinking (ahem), I'll make this pseudo-stir fry and happily dig into a spicy, sweet and salty bowl of vegetables over brown rice. I steam my vegetables of choice until they're perfectly crispy and juicy, then top with this sauce.

Four Ingredient Fat-Free Stir Fry Sauce

• Honey or agave nectar


• Reduced sodium soy sauce


• Chili garlic sauce


• Sesame seeds*

Combine 1 part honey to two parts soy sauce. Add chili garlic sauce to taste, then mix and add sesame seeds.

*Sesame seeds add a nominal amount of fat: 1.5 grams in 1 tsp. Omit if you'd like!