Does anyone know a good low calorie crab rangoon and/or the chinese broccoli and beef recipe? I am so addicted to these two!!

Thanks!!

low cal crab rangoon is very easy.

low fat green onion cream cheese (like Philadelphia in a tub - Walmart has a store brand).

Phyllo dough, or spring roll wrappers.

cooking spray (like Pam)

If using phyllo dough cut into 3" squares. Put about a tsp of cream cheese into the center of the dough and fold or scrunch

(you can fold into triangles, or just "bunch" it into a little bag, or fold it into a triangle and then bring the edges along the fold together to make a ravioli shape).

If the dough doesn't seal by itself, you can dampen your finger with water and wipe along one side before pinching together.

Lightly spray a cookie sheet, and/or use foil, paper or silicon pan liners.

Place the little pockets on the cookie sheet (they don't really "rise" so they can be pretty close together).

Lightly spray again

and bake until golden (check the instructions on the package of the dough for a guideline. If there are none 350 for about 10 - 12 minutes shoud do it, but start checking at 6 or 75 minutes.

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Broccoli and Beef - there are tons of great recipes online, just don't dredge the beef in corn starch or flour before stir frying and use a nonstick wok or skillet so you can cut down on the oil.

At its simplest Slice beef thin and broccoli on the diagonal into bitesize pieces. Slice white or yellow onion and/or green onion thinly and stir fry with soy sauce and garlic (fresh, jarred, granulated or dried minced) to taste.

A wonderful tip for making the best low calorie chinese - shop in an asian market if at all possible. The soy sauces and condiment sauces are much cheaper than you'll find in a standard grocery store, come in larger bottles and in a large number of varieties. Mushroom soy is especially good, and you just can't compare it to Kikoman's or La Choy. It's like comparing champagne to kool ade.

Sesame oil is another great ingredient. It is an oil, but it's not used to fry in, but to add in at the end as a seasoning (the smoking point is low, so you don't want to add during the stir frying or it could burn). It is very strongly flavored, so you only add a few drops, no more than 1/8 to 1/4 tsp (no more than 10 calories) per serving.

Colleen - your crab ragoon sounds really good... does the real thing have crab in it (probably a duh kind of question!)??

No the "authentic" or original crab rangoon doesn't have crab in it. It was called crab rangoon, because the way it was folded was supposed to resemble a crab.

Although crab rangoon can't really be called "authentic" chinese food, because as my husband's former boss (second generation Chinese american, owner of a four star chinese restaurant) was fond of YELLING when anyone asked for crab rangoon "No Chinese Cheese!"

However, if you like crab in yours, just soften the cheese and stir in some crab or krab. Or just put a small piece of the crab on the dot of cream cheese before folding.

I have never made them, but I have had them. I always thought they had crab just because of the name... HILARIOUS!

I will try these sometime after my wedding hoopla weekend is over!

A lot of restaurants do put crab in them (because customers were complaining that they didn't have crab in them).

There are a lot of variations to the filling. Some sweet, some savory, some a bit of both. Crushed pineapple and cream cheese is a popular variation. I had a really good one once that was cream cheese, pineapple, crab meat, and lots of black pepper.

Wow! Thank you! I will def. have to try these!