[stefkat]

Hi all,
I've been craving General Tso's Chicken for about 2 weeks now... anyone have a healthier (Core!) alternative? (before I order the big meal from take-out, complete with fried rice and an egg roll!)

I have tried the chicken-soaked-in-diet-orange-soda....it was good, but didn't fill the craving.
Suggestions?

Thanks!

[happydaisy]

Could you maybe split it with someone on a day you could do an extra long workout? I'm not following weight watchers so I don't know if this is allowed or not, but I have one meal a week where I eat what I want. I always eat that out with friends/family so that it is something to look forward to and I don't binge anymore with that "I can never have this again" feeling.

[Vickie]

Have you tired Barbo's Diet Kitchen? I doubt that there is a Core version but you might be able to make a WW friendly one.

[kaplods]

I love General's chicken, and once asked a chinese restaurant to do a stir fry for me, with the general tso's sauce (I've also seen the general tso's sauce in a jar at an oriental grocery store, but didn't try it).

Another restaurant had an orange beef that was made with beef slices that tasted very much like General Tso's chicken, but some restaurants deep fry the beef too.

Ooh, darn now you've got be hungry for it too!

[tanya123]

These are supposedly the ingredients for the sauce (I haven't tried it)

3/4 cup canned chicken broth, reduced sodium
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 medium scallions, chopped
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, or 1 dried chili pepper, minced

If you eliminated the cornstarch and substituted splenda for the sugar, you'd be good to go. Breading the chicken wouldn't be core (you could count points), but I'm guessing it's the sauce flavor you're craving.

I make "fried" rice all the time. Just use brown rice and watch your oil.

[Vickie]

Stef, I LOVE Chinese food, especially Panda Orange Chicken and Kung Pao Chicken. To satisfy my craving for Chinese food while on Core I created my own Chicken Fried Rice. It really works. You could add whatever kind of Chinese veggies you like. I hope you like it.

Chicken Fried Rice

12-16 oz Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts or Thighs
2 Tablespoons and 2 teaspoons canola or olive oil (for 4 servings this would be the day's portion of good oil. You could probably get by with just the 2T if you want or even reduce it and just use the soy sauce to saute)
4 cloves fresh garlic (I use 1 Tablespoon minced garlic in water in the jar)
3 cups cooked brown rice (I make mine with chicken broth)
2 bunch green onions, sliced white part only
2 T low sodium soy sauce
4 large eggs, beaten with a fork
2/3 cup snow peas/pea pods, cleaned (I use a whole package of fancy snow peas from produce department. I also cut them into thirds)
1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained and quartered.

Cook brown rice to yield 3 cups. Replace water with chicken broth and do not use any oil. Set aside. I broil the chicken in the broiler of my oven for 6 minutes on each side until it is nearly cooked through. I do it this way because I like the flavor the chicken gets in the broiler and because whenever I brown chicken in a skillet I always make it tough. If you are a better "stir fryer" than me you can probably cook the chicken in the pan with the garlic, onions and soy sauce. If you want to cook it in the pan, cut up the chicken before you cook it. If you are going to broil it first, cut up chicken into bite sized pieces after it is cooked and set aside. Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic, green onions, soy sauce and cook for about 2 minutes. Add pea pods and water chestnuts and warm for about a minute. Add broiled chicken and brown rice to pan and warm through, stirring occasionally. While the mixture is warming, scramble eggs in a separate skillet. When firm, stir into fried rice mixture and stir until thoroughly mixed.

[ameliaamy]

Close to core, but not quite. You'll have to tweak a wee bit, or count the points for the non core items.

from the weight watchers message board

The points given are for the flex plan, and do not count the rice.

General Tso’s Chicken

4 Servings
4 Points

3/4 cup canned chicken broth, reduced sodium
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp peanut oil
2 medium scallions, chopped
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, or 1 dried chili pepper, minced
1 pound uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2-inch pieces

In a medium bowl, whisk together broth, cornstarch, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, and ginger; set aside.

Heat oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add scallions, garlic, and pepper and cook 2 minutes. Add chicken and cook until browned all over, about 5 min.

Add sauce and simmer, stirring frequently, (almost constantly) until sauce thickens and chicken is cooked through, about 3 min.

Serve chicken and sauce over rice.
Yields about 1 cup of chicken and sauce.
Add points for rice

General Tso's Chicken

Servings : 4
Points per serving: 5

1 pound chicken breast, no skin, no bone -- 1" chunks
5 tablespoons dry sherry
1 2/3 tablespoons cornstarch -- divided
1 tablespoon oyster sauce -- 2
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 cloves garlic -- minced
3 chopped green onions
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 stalks chopped celery
1 red bell pepper -- chopped

Combine chicken, 2 tablespooons sherry, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, and oyster sauce in ziplock bag; set aside to marinate 5 minutes.

Combine remaining sherry, water, soy sauce, honey, vinegar, sesame oil and remaining 2 teaspoons cornstarch in small bowl.

Heat nonstick large skillet over medium heat until drop of water sizzles. Swirl in vegetable oil and add chicken mixture. Stir fry until lightly browned, 2-3 minutes. Add ginger, garlic, green onions, and crushed red pepper; stir fry until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add celery and bell pepper; stir fry until crisp tender. Stir in sherry mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture boils and thickens and the chicken is just cooked through, 1-2 minutes.

Source: "Weight Watchers Take-out Tonight cookbook"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 245 Calories; 7g Fat (26.3% calories from fat); 27g Protein; 14g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 69mg Cholesterol; 445mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 3 1/2 Lean Meat; 1 1/2 Vegetable; 1/2 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

[stefkat]

Thank you thank you thank you!! I know I'm going to be cooking up a storm this weekend!!! And just in the nick of time.....
Lots of good suggestions on how to handle this one! I was thinking of making the sauce and pan-frying some tofu (hubby and kids are vegetarian, I'm not for weight loss) - I'm going to make the sauces and see how they fit with the Monster Craving.....
And cool, even fried rice to go with! I can start making take-out

[septembersgoal]

I LOVE to make my own chicken fried rice. It's SO good!!

[sciarlante]

LeChef cooking store has a general tsos sauce. Don't have it in front of me so don't know what the calories are but I remember it not being alot at all!

[stefkat]

I ended up getting Iron Chef... 62 cal/2 tbsp. It's pretty close on chicken!~