Spicy Wonton Soup

I posted my wonton soup on the WW connect app, and several people asked for the recipe.  I love having Trader Joe’s cilantro wontons in the freezer – you can get 10 wontons for only 3 smart points!  This is for one big bowl, but after dinner I made a second batch, so next time I’ll double it.  If you make some to have for leftovers, don’t store the wontons in the soup – they’ll end up soggy, just add in the cooked wontons when you reheat the soup the next day.

• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tablespoon PB2 (powdered peanut butter)
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
• 1 teaspoon Thai chili paste
• 1 large carrot sliced thin
• 1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 1 medium zucchini, sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon ghee
• 10 cilantro wontons

In a stock pot, add the chicken broth, water, PB2, garlic, ginger, chili paste and the carrot.  Bring to a simmer over medium high heat.  In a separate small skillet, add the ghee and saute the mushrooms and zucchini for about 5-6 minutes, just until the mushroom start to brown.  Add them to the stock pot.  In the same skillet, add the frozen wontons with 3 tablespoons of water, put a lid on the pan, and steam the wontons for 3-4 minutes.  

Spoon the broth into a bowl, add the wontons, and toss in the fresh chopped spinach at the end.   This giant bowl of soup is only 5 smart points – 3 for the wontons, 1 for the ghee and 1 for the PB2.

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I wish I could come up with a low carb recipe for granola that doesn’t taste like ass, but after several attempts, it hasn’t worked out yet.  Most granola recipes are about 1 smart part PER TABLESPOON.  Yes, I am shouting because I call BS.  This is River Valley Kitchens Cranberry Pecan with Cocoa & Sea Salt Granola: 
Wisconsin rolled oats, brown sugar, pepitas, dried cranberries, pecans, organic coconut, coconut powder, cinnamon, rice oil, sunflower oil and sea salt.

Here is the perfect bite of my breakfast:  there is Trader Joe’s steel cut frozen oats on the bottom (5), banana, blueberry and two tablespoons of granola (2).

My sister had a work meeting, so I was on my own, but still got my walking shoes on, even though I had a super busy day.  It’s my inclination to just work through lunch and power out the work, but I realized the work will always be there, it its such a nice break to get outside.  Even though I’ve lived in the Chicago area my whole life, I still love looking up at all the buildings.

And there is a suprising amount of park areas in and around Chicago.  When we were little and visited our grandparents tiny town in Virginia, the kids used to ask us if we had trees in Chicago. 😀

But there is always construction going on – whether its highrises being built, or the expressways – it’s never ending.

When I got back from my walk, I heated up my leftover wonton soup – the broth got extra “mushroomy.”  Not sure if that’s a word, but I am sticking with it.  I also added 2 points of spicy tofu to the mix, making this a 7 point soup.

The afternoon flew by – check out the temp when I left the office!  It was hotter in Chicago than it was in Austin, Texas!  So strange that just early last week I was still wearing a winter coat to work because it was 37 degrees when I left my house.

I stopped by Starbucks in the train station to get some water.  Did you know you can get free water at Starbuck’s at any time – stop buying bottled water – they are on like every other block in Chicago – just ask for a Venti ice water to go – bam!  And you don’t have to buy anything either.  FYI, I was at a stop light when I took this pic.

I saw on Instagram coming home last night that it was National BBQ Day!  Whoop!  I had bone in chicken breasts that I bought over the weekend.  I just did salt, pepper, and a bit of McCormick Montreal steak seasoning.  I grilled them on indirect heat until they reached an internal temperature of 160, because the residual heat will bring them over 165 by the time they rest for 10-15 minutes.

When I worked the grill event at The Chopping Block a couple weekends ago, we grilled up sweet potatoes and they were delicious.  I used this veggie rub that I bought that day, and absolutely love it.  Just drizzled with about a teaspoon of grapeseed oil, then finished them on the grill when the chicken was hanging out.

I didn’t eat the skin (um, even though that’s the best part!) but always leave it on when grilling.  You’ll end up with perfectly cooked chicken.

My sister and I are headed to Macy’s on State street today.  

It’s Macy’s Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.   If you watched Top Chef on Bravo, you’ll remember Chef Kristin Kish – she’s one of the Chef’s that will be at the lunch event.  Hoping to get a quick picture with her   It runs from 12-2, they have this giant test kitchen at Macy’s and have these events for free every so often.

Happy Wednesday – make it a great day!