Mediterranean Wraps

Hello! 
So I was filling in at a different work location and one of my co-workers was complaining about how tired she always is.  As she went on, she mentioned how low her iron count is.  We got to talking, and it got me thinking.  I also have really low iron count, and I have been exhausted lately too.  Having a busy work schedule has made it hard for me to get in good meals that are high in iron, and are just healthy in general.   Having low iron can make you cranky and tired.  Even if your tired, it can make you have a hard time falling asleep at night.  I decided to google Iron Rich meals, and came upon this recipe on www.eatingwell.com (An amazing website!).  This recipe is simple, and good for leftovers to eat the next day for lunch! My review for this recipe is at the bottom (:

Here is the recipe:
                                                   INGREDIENTS

Yum! It smelled so good!

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup couscous, preferably whole-wheat
• 1 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 pound chicken tenders
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• 1 cup chopped cucumber
• 4 10-inch spinach or sun-dried tomato wraps or tortillas

PREPARATION

1. Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan. Stir in couscous and remove from the heat. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Set aside.
2. Meanwhile, combine parsley, mint, lemon juice, oil, garlic, 1/8 teaspoon salt and pepper in a small bowl.
3. Toss chicken tenders in a medium bowl with 1 tablespoon of the parsley mixture and the remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt. Place the tenders in a large nonstick skillet and cook over medium heat until cooked though, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a clean cutting board. Cut into bite-size pieces when cool enough to handle.
4. Stir the remaining parsley mixture into the couscous along with tomato and cucumber.
5. To assemble wraps, spread about 3/4 cup of the couscous mixture onto each wrap. Divide the chicken among the wraps. Roll the wraps up like a burrito, tucking in the sides to hold the ingredients in. Serve cut in half.

NUTRITION

I used fresh lemon juice! 1/4 cup
was a medium sized lemon

Per serving: 479 calories; 17 g fat ( 3 g sat , 11 g mono ); 67 mg cholesterol; 49 g carbohydrates; 0 gadded sugars; 34 g protein; 5 g fiber; 653 mg sodium; 382 mg potassium.

Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin C (57% daily value), Folate & Vitamin A (40% dv), Iron (32% dv).

Carbohydrate Servings: 3

Exchanges: 3 starch, 4 lean meat, 2 fat

(Taken directly from, http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/mediterranean_wrap.html)

• My Review:

I thought this was a really delicious recipe.  I'd give it a B+, only because I personally used too much garlic.  I also added a little bit of mayo (okay, maybe defeats the purpose of how healthy this is supposed to be, but it cut down the garlic taste a bit).  Next time I probably won't be using any garlic, maybe only a pinch.  The cucumber with the lemon and parsley was a great combination.  Also: I did not add mint, I personally am not a fan of adding mint to things.  I will be making this again! Overall, it was a very simple recipe to make and to follow.  I highly recommend this, and also to visit eatingwell.com for other iron rich recipes too! 

Mini Whoopie Pies!

"....no one is born a great cook, one learns by doing."-Julia Child, My Life in France
Hello!
Hope your week is going good! I'm in the middle of a 62 hour stretch! But, on top of everything work wise going on, I've had the time to create some delicious whoopie pies with my awesome cousin late last week (:

Here's what they came out to look like:

I made all sorts of sizes, depending on how much cake mix you place into the pans, is completely up to you.  I would suggest filling them a little less than halfway.  Play around with it a little bit.

Here's what you need to create these bad boys:
Cake Mix (home made, or boxed)
Frosting (Home made or store bought)
Optional:
Filling---You can use just frosting to keep them together or filling with frosting on top
I used strawberries and made a sauce out of them with sugar and corn starch.
Mini Whoopie Pie Pan
Whoopie Pie Shooters (Optional)

A whole cake mix box creates about 4 pans--so it creates a lot of pies.  Of course, if you make huge pies you will only get about 3 pans.  Another option would be make two pans and the rest cupcakes, or whatever you desire!

This is a mini whoopie pie pan! The directions are on the pan itself, but you bake it at 350 for about 9 minutes!

You can get your own pan here: http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=40498188  (or anywhere cake supplies and such are offered).

How to make them: 

Create the cake mix, and fill the pan as you wish.  Bake them according to pan directions (350 degrees, for 9 minutes), or until the cake pushes back up when you press on them.  Make sure they are cooled down before frosting and decorating them.  Decorating: Place frosting/filling on the flat side and place two of them together.  If your stacking them like the shooters below: create the whoopie pies by placing two together and then stacking them into the shooters.

How to make the filling:  Half of a container of strawberries, or 1 1/2 of frozen strawberries.  You wanna thaw out the strawberries a little bit if you are using frozen ones.  Chop up the strawberries into at least 1/2 inch chunks.  Place 1/2 cup of sugar into a saucepan along with the strawberries.  Use 2 tablespoons of cornstarch to thicken the sauce.  The strawberries cook in their own sauce, while on low-medium.  Mix the whole time you are creating the sauce so you don't scorch the strawberries.  The sugar and the cornstarch will thicken and sweeten the strawberries into a wonderful sauce. Once it is at a thick consistency, take the saucepan off the heat.  Make sure that is cooled completely before using as a filling for your pies.

FINALLY: GET CREATIVE (:  I used lemon frosting, white cake mix, and strawberry sauce as my filling.  It was delish! Another idea would be to use chocolate cake, strawberry filling, and a buttercream frosting! (: NUM! 

After creating the pies, I placed the smaller appropriately sized ones into these shooters; I stuffed about three, sometimes four into them. These things are pretty cool because you eat them like a push pop! These are available here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/114586054/25-push-up-container-with-lids-cake

YUM! so delicious!

About Kate

"You don't have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces--just good food from fresh ingredients."--Julia Child

Hello Everyone!
My name is Kate, and I love cooking and baking in my spare time! I'm creating this blog for various reasons. One, to create an outlet for my thoughts on baking and cooking.  I find various recipes from websites, pinterest, friends, family, co workers, etc.  I love trying them out and getting creative with them.  This is where I will be posting about them. Second, to update and bore you guys on my oh-so-exciting life.  I have another blog, that I co-write with my friend Jennifer.
Here's the link here:
http://glitzglamourandcupcakes.blogspot.com
In this blog, I have various recipes and updates on myself as well.  Kate's Kitchen is going to be more recipes, more often, and more updates.

You can view my pinterest here:
http://pinterest.com/kateeg43

Please feel free to leave comments, suggestions, questions, at any time!