Asian Lean Cuisine #FrozenFavorites

Alison:Today I headed out to Sam's to see if I could find some healthy, tasty and quick frozen meals.  Lately I haven't had much time to make sure I'm eating a healthy lunch.  When I get pressed for time I'm most likely to pick up a latte for lunch as opposed to finding time to make a healthy meal.

Susie: It's true.  She substitutes warmth for nutrition.

Alison:I know this isn't the best choice, but at least I'm getting protein and calcium in
my lunch as opposed to a meal of junk food.

Susie: At least you admit it!

Alison:At Sam's I got caught up in some of the holiday displays on my way back to check out the frozen meals.  Aren't these trifle bowls adorable?

Susie: It's hard to resist a penguin you can fill with sugar!

Alison:I also loved these holiday cookie jars!  So cute!

Susie: Except that the penguins have hats.  That's just wrong.  When have you ever seen a penguin with a hat?

Alison: I haven't?

Susie: Exactly!  Santa has a hat.  Snowmen have hats.  Penguins do not have hats!

Alison: But it's cute not a real penguin!

Susie: Think of the children!  We're teaching them that penguins wear hats.  When is that bit of knowledge ever going to be useful!

Alison:My Sam's didn't have a huge healthy selection of frozen meals, but they did have these Asian Lean Cuisines.

Susie: You can't expect them to have everything.

Alison:I love most Asian flavors so these were an easy choice!

Susie: I love easy choices.

Alison:Eleven dollars isn't too bad a price point for six healthy frozen meals.  I mean if I were buying tall lattes, I'd spend about $4 a piece.  Three of those a week would pay for these six meals!  That's a two for one savings right there!

Susie: If you were buying that many lattes, which you don't.  Because the coffee you make is better and cheaper.

Alison:You can check out my shopping trip on Google+.

Susie:It's great that we've got these in the freezer, ready to go whenever we need a quick lunch.

Alison:But I thought what healthy side dish could I make with them?  Baked Egg Rolls!  I love egg rolls, but always feel guilty when I eat the fried ones.  It's a conundrum because that's what makes them taste so yummy too.

Susie: I know, but sitting over a pot of oil isn't exactly my idea of a good time.

Alison: Baked egg rolls is the perfect compromise because you get the yummy egg roll taste without all of the fat.  The trick to a great baked egg roll is pre-cooking your filling and brushing oil on the outside before baking to get that crunch.

Susie: A little oil goes a long way for a crispy crunch.

Baked Egg Rolls

1/2 head of red cabbage, shredded
3 carrots, grated
1/2 onion, grated
1 cup bean sprouts
1/2 lb ground pork
1/2 (8 oz.) package mushrooms, diced
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 (20 ct.) package egg roll wrappers
1 tablespoon flour + 1 tablespoon water (mixed to make a paste)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Clean and shred the cabbage.  Place in a 9x13 inch pan and roast for 10 minutes.  Remove cabbage from oven, toss and top with grated carrots and onions.  Roast for 5 more minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool, 10-15 minutes.  When cool, blot with paper towels to remove moisture.

Meanwhile in a skillet, brown pork.  When mostly cooked through, add mushrooms and cook till lightly browned.  Set aside to cool.

Add pork mixture and roasted veggies to a large bowl.  Add soy sauce, ground ginger and garlic powder and toss well.  Lay egg roll wrappers out one at a time with a corner facing you.  Place 1/3 cup of filling in the center.  Fold corners in this order: right, bottom then place some paste on top, left, then place some paste on remaining corner and roll up to make an egg roll.  Repeat with remaining wrappers.

Place each egg roll on a greased cookie sheet.  Brush each egg roll with canola oil (if you don't use the oil, they won't brown).  Place in the oven and bake for 12 minutes, flipping them half way through.  If not brown enough, you can broil them for 1-2 minutes.

Susie Savors: This recipe of egg rolls is better than our last.  This time we knew to add more flavor.  The red cabbage and bean sprouts enhance the recipe instead of the filling being mushy there is texture with a crunch.  Plus instead of frying you can get that outside to crisp with much less oil.

“I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Nestle Lean Cuisine #CBias #SocialFabric. All opinions are my own."