Chicken Lettuce Cups

So you probably read the title and are thinking they cannot be that good. But you know what, my neighbor ate some and she loved it. So I guess it cannot be all that bad. And its really good for you too. Thats a plus in our house right now with Alex's fit test only a week away. I am looking for tasty food that isnt loaded with carbs and fat. And this has no breading or rice or potato which is highly discouraged right now. So whats in this delicious lettuce cup?

1 packet stir fry seasoning powder*
1/4c water
2T soy sauce
2T fresh lime juice
1t sugar
1T canola oil
1lb ground chicken breast**
1 red bell pepper, diced
2T green onions, sliced
pinch of red pepper flakes
1 head of romaine or 2 heads of butter lettuce
minced mint, cilantro, bean sprouts and/or chopped peanuts

*So I did not have stir fry seasoning in my pantry so I made my own. I did a generic google search and mixed and matched and finally came up with that I used! Now it did make more than I needed. I believe I only used 1/2 of the mixture. And it was slightly too salty so I will cut down on some of the soy sauce or chicken bouillon next time. And I had never even heard of dried red bell pepper. Alex told me I ought to just take some red bell pepper and dry it and grind it and then make the recipe. Theres only one problem with that...it was already 4:00 and it would take hours for me to get it all ready. And now y'all think Im crazy for even contemplating drying my own red bell pepper. Alex's response? "Well we will just eat at 10:00p which is when trendy people like to eat". Sure Alex....2 people who like to be in bed by 10:00 will eat at 10:00 and then be miserable and go to sleep later than we like and be grumpy the entire next day. Lovely idea! So I opted out with the red bell pepper. But you are more than welcome to do it yourself. 
1/4c chicken bouillon
3T cornstarch
2T sugar
2T onion powder or minced dried onions
2T garlic powder
2t dried parsley
1/2t ground ginger
1/4t dried red bell pepper (I did not have this nor did I know where to find this, so I omitted)

**While I did use ground chicken, you could easily use ground turkey. I normally always have ground turkey lying around in my freezer. And until I went to Fresh and Easy and found their ground chicken on sale, I would have used the ground turkey instead. So just use your own improvisational skills to determine what you want to use or not.

Directions

In a small bowl, combine stir-fry seasoning, water, soy sauce, lime juice and sugar. Set aside.

Heat oil in a skiller over medium heat. Add chicken meat and use a wooden spoon to break up the meat. Cook until browned, about 10 minutes. Add red bell pepper, green onions, and red pepper flakes and cook 5 minutes. Stir in stir-fry mix and cook until the mixture evaporates.

I like to make things my own, so I added some stuff from here. I added some toasted sesame seeds once the chicken mixture was ready to eat. I also did not use all of the condiments suggested and added some others. But now you have got this lovely chicken mixture and you may or may not know how to assemble your cup. Well the easy answer...any way you want pretty much. Its your food, your life, your perogative. But perhaps you want me to tell you how to do it. Thats fine. No biggie. Take a piece of lettuce and put a spoonful of chicken mixture on top. I topped with some crushed peanuts, sliced chives (I didnt have scallions and wanted some kind of onion flavor), and bean sprouts. I wish I had some fresh mint to roughly chop and eat with it. But oh well, maybe next time. But we did find that adding a couple squirts of the Asian hot sauce Sriracha made a huge taste difference. But get too much and you can't taste anything but hot sauce. So squirt at your own risk.

Then you want to try and fold it together like you would an overstuffed burrito. Its easier to eat if you can get an end tucked together. Otherwise you will end up with a chicken lettuce lap. In fact at one point during the meal I think I did end up with chicken lettuce lap. I looked almost as clean as Anthony eating his veggie taco. We could not persuade him to try the lettuce cup, even without the chicken mixture. So he had sour cream from ear to ear. And I had lettuce and sriracha all over my face. We made a striking pair!

The verdict? It was a success. Xandrea Scale of 1-10? 7.5-8.0. Xandrea scale?? Yeah thats right, I have my own rating scale. We have found that when I ask Alex to rate my food they always end up on the higher end of the scale. So we revised the scale to my food. I have some good but average, middle of the road dishes and those are my 5-6 range. Dishes that are more tasty and worthy of eating again and again get a higher rating. Crazy? Sure, but it works for us!! There are some adjustments that need to be made to make a better chicken cup. First, less chicken bouillon or soy sauce...way too salty. Second, scallions and herbs added to make a more balanced set of flavors. Will I make it again? Sure, I have got more ground chicken in my freezer, why not!