"Healthy" Pizza Rolls

Hey everyone!

Sorry it's been so long, life's a little crazy right now, but things are actually calming down, so I'm going to try and blog a lot more for you guys. 

Today's blog features a food makeover from one of my favorite healthy foodies, Alyssia Sheikh from Mind Over Munch! A while ago now, she made over a healthier version of Pizza Rolls, everyone's favorite guilty pleasure. With her genius recipe, I was able to curb my craving, so now I'm passing it on to you guys. Let me know if you make this recipe yourself, make sure to send me lots of pictures via my social media and check out my Instagram and Tumblr (it's new!) for my exercise routines and my monthly challenges (I'm doing two right now!) I changed some of the ingredients, I'll tell you all about them, what pasta sauce I used, and all the deets of cost too!

Here is Alyssia's original (amazing) recipe:

Image from Mind Over Munch website

Ingredients

1. ½ cup diced mushrooms
2. ½ cup diced zucchini
3. ½ cup finely diced onion
4. ½ cup chopped spinach
5. 1–2 tsp garlic
6. 2/3 cup sauce (I use Classico Tomato & Basil for lower sugar!)
7. 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
8. ½ tsp garlic powder
9. Salt & pepper to taste
10. about 40 wonton wrappers

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Sautee vegetables, garlic, garlic powder and salt and pepper in a skillet until cooked.
3. Add sauce to vegetable mixture.
4. Fill each wonton wrapper with about 1 tsp sauce mixture and 1 tsp mozzarella cheese.
5. Fold into pizza roll shape and crimp edges to seal.
6. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until browned, flipping halfway through.

Nutrition

1. per serving (4 rolls): 120 calories | 16g carbs | <2g fat | 8g protein

Hers turned out much prettier and put together than mine did! But, they still tasted amazing, and for me, that's what really counts. These are so easy to make. I made two different kinds of "pouches" for mine (I have a very hungry husband) and I figured about two of the small rolls are worth one big roll that I made. 

I followed Alyssia's recipe, only changing minor things to suit my family's budget. For one, I didn't buy any egg whites. I only used water to close the pockets and I sprayed them with cooking spray, then topped them with chia seeds. As you can see, the cooking oil doesn't crisp the pockets up, only prevents them from burning, and some of them burst instead of staying together, but I was fine with that. If you want crispier pockets, then definitely use the egg whites. 

For our filling, I used 1 cup of diced zucchini, 1 diced green bell pepper, one diced small onion, one shredded carrot, 2 oz diced turkey pepperoni, and 1 cup of cheese. I pretty much doubled the recipe because I made two whole batches and froze the second batch. This means that whenever we want pizza rolls, I just have to pull them out of our freezer and toss them into an oven to heat up (we don't have a toaster oven). For the sauce, I used the whole jar (375 ml). This is the Selection brand (we live in Canada, so we shop at Food Basics) Tomato and Basil with Olive Oil and Garlic. It was the least expensive and only had about 5g of sugar per 1/2 cup. yes, I definitely could have made my own, I normally do, but this time, I figured that I was putting for the effort to make my own pizza rolls, so I could cheat a little. The mozzarella is not low-fat because it's the only bulk mozzarella in Costco. I will have to take the hit on the fat content in order to save money. The wanton wrapper were 2 for $5.00 at Food Basics, which was a great offer because I was able to make a double batch with just this pack, which means I can freeze or refrigerate the other pack and use them for wanton hamburger bites, taco bites, Thai bites, General Tso's bites, veggie bites, or even falafel bites! you can even put your favorite fruit into them with your favorite "dip" and bake those for a quick and easy dessert. There are so many amazing things you can do with wanton wrappers, it's crazy. And they bake up super super fast. 

A bag of Pizza Rolls in Food Basics costs about $6.00-$7.00. With my home made pizza rolls, I only spent about $7 to make twice the amount in the bag! 

I thought they turned out very well, and when I asked my husband if they were a good replacement for pizza rolls he said, "Yeah, I like these a lot better." Score!

I hope you enjoyed this recipe makeover. I'll try and post more recipes throughout the week. 

Give me suggestions of more recipes to make!

Chicken, White Bean, and Squash Chili

This recipe is everything I love about fall. Warm, comforting, and full of spices that nourish the body and warm the soul. Cheesy, right? I know. I think that my grandmother got this recipe from a WeightWatchers cookbook, but I honestly don't know. The only reason I think it's a WeightWatchers recipe is because she had the Points Value on the bottom of the note card. Either way, this recipe is full of amazing whole foods that are easy to put together and to find in the store. 

Let's get on with the delicious recipe!

Chicken, White bean, and Butternut Squash Chili

Serves 4

Ingredients:


2 pablano peppers
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp ancho chili powder*
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 (15 oz) can white beans
1 (14 oz) box chicken broth**
1/2 cup water
1/2 butternut squash, cubed in 1/2 inch cubes
1/4 cup bulgar
1/4 tsp salt***
2 cups diced, cooked chicken breast****
4 tbsp fat free sour cream
2 tbsp fresh cilantro
1 tbsp jalapeno*****

Process:

1. Sautee pablanos and onion in nonstick spray until softened on medium heat.

2. Stir in garlic, and all spices. 

3. Once combined, add in chicken, beans (make sure you rinse them thoroughly!), broth, water, squash, and bulgar. 

4. Stir everything together until well combined and then cover with a lid and cook for 15-20 minutes. If you want this "chili" more like a stew, then add more water. if you like it thicker, like a chili, take the cover off and let some of the liquid evaporate as it's simmering. 

5. Once the chili has thickened, serve in 1 1/2 cup servings. Top with 1 tbsp of sour cream, cilantro, and jalapeno. Don't be afraid to go heavy on your jalapeno and cilantro, or even add your own toppings like salt-free salsa, cherry tomatoes, peppers, chopped onions, or even reduced fat shredded cheese. 

* I enjoy ancho chili powder because of the smokiness, but regular chili powder will do just fine. i buy my ancho chili powder in BulkBarn, and it barely costs a thing because you only need a little bit. Don't over-buy your bulk spices! 

** I buy my chicken broth from Costco, so I have only one or two options for chicken broth. one of which is organic. If you are just buying your chicken broth right off the shelf, try and get no salt added or reduced sodium and try and steer clear of bullion. 

*** You DO NOT have to add this! The beans have salt on them already, not matter how well you rinse them. Make sure you make healthy choices over delicious choices. You can add so much on top of the chili to make it more flavorful, and leave the salt adding to your guests and family members. 

****I pre-roasted my chicken breasts. We buy bone in, skin on chicken breasts because they are less expensive. I thin take the bone and skin off and roast the chicken in the oven at 400 degrees F for about 15-20 mins, with cooking spray, salt, and pepper on them. While you're roasting your chicken, you can roast other veggies for later in the week. 

*****This can be pickled jalapeno, fresh, hot peppers, whatever you like! Make it spicy! or skip this step, up to you. 


BONUS!!!!

I made this recipe for lunch, and by dinner that day, I was exhausted. SO, instead of making a totally new meal, I simply took out my trusty veggie tortilla wraps and scooped about 1/4 cup of the chili into the wrap and topped it with lettuce, tomato, shredded carrot, home made chipotle salsa, 2 tsp fat free sour cream, and cilantro. I ate it with broccoli and green beans and about 2-8 oz glasses of water. 

I hope you enjoyed this recipe! make sure to check out my social media links and I hope you have agreat day!