Wrap It Up

When all else fails throw something in a tortilla, wrap it up, and call it good! That has been my philosophy this week I suppose. In between working, the house projects,  blogging, church, getting ready for scrapbook weekend, running and oh yeah being a wife and mom there really hasn't been much time for cooking or experimenting in the kitchen! So what's a girl to do? Scrounge the fridge for some leftovers and wrap them up in a tortilla that's what!

I had some leftover quinoa salad for this one. It consisted of quinoa, grape tomatoes, basil, green onion, and fresh mozzarella mixed with some Greek dressing. I spread the dressing on the tortilla first, then topped it with some lettuce, added the salad and some more fresh mozzarella. Very delicious!

I rolled it up and sliced up some cucumber quick and threw some leftover pineapple on the plate. Lunch it was in about 5 minutes flat too!

I really prefer to make my own Greek dressing but for the sake of convenience I also love this one. This is the one I used for both mixing in the salad and spreading on the tortilla. I find these locally at CashWise in the health food section.

Yesterday I made this wrap. It has a Mediterranean spread, some deli turkey slices, lettuce, and my favorite feta of course!

Yummo! I am going to slice these up into pinwheels and bring them with me to Sunday Night Feasting at small group tonight. I just might have to bring my camera along so you can understand how much goodness happens there!

I had a failure in the kitchen yesterday with some pumpkin cookies. They turned out more like a pumpkin biscuit. A little too dry and not sweet enough. I don't do well with failure in the kitchen. Of course it is deflating to one's ego but it is also a WASTE of money! So we will still eat those pumpkin "things" even if they aren't great. But I did redeem myself with the Mediterranean spread!

It is very simple to make and VERY delicious! Grab these three ingredients and the food processor. You can use fresh basil if you prefer. If you are not an artichoke fan no worries. It gets chopped up so fine you won't even know they are in there.

My food processor is as old as my marriage so I have to give it a head start by chopping the peppers up a little. Toss the ingredients in and give a whirl! You want it to be very finely chopped.

Then you will add a little seasoning. You know my love affair with spices don't you?? I know it is hard to read but that is oregano and of course a little garlic powder. 

I didn't take a picture of it but you will then add one package of reduced or no fat cream cheese that has been softened. Give it a taste. I needed to add a little more garlic powder to mine but I love garlic an awful lot. (Cream cheese is an occasional treat for us just in case you thought I was out of my mind! I usually use Laughing Cow spreadable cheese wedges on my wraps.)

We don't use a lot of lunch meat around here, mainly because we don't eat a lot of sandwiches, but when I do buy it this is the brand I choose. And this is why....

The nitrates, processing, and MSG that usually goes into lunch meat is what makes it bad for you. Nitrates are a known migraine trigger. Trust me. I know. But occasionally we enjoy this lunch meat. I even like to put it in a lettuce wrap and skip the tortilla.

Before I give you the recipe for the Mediterranean spread here are some other suggestions for what to put in a wrap. Keep in mind that it needs to be a whole wheat tortilla or made from spinach would be great also! My favorite come from Trader Joe's but we also like this Santa Fe brand that we buy at Sams.

Check the refridgerated section at CashWise next to the rest of the tortillas locally.

My kids love them  spread with all natural dark chocolate peanut butter and a sliced banana. So does Faith's best friend whose mom had to rush out and buy the peanut butter after she had some at my house. Sorry!

You can even find this at Walmart!

I also love to use my sun-dried tomato and roasted red pepper sauce spread on with some veggies filling it up!

You can click HERE for the recipe from a previous post.

I will also throw just about any salad into a tortilla with a little dressing spread on first.

Like this chick pea salad! This would be amazing as a wrap. Click HERE if you would like that recipe. Any salad would be fine though.

One final thought. All of these things are great without a wrap as well! Less calories for sure. But sometimes you just want the carbs, you know what I mean! Also, in the case of the quinoa salad, there wasn't enough left for us to just have that for lunch between the two of us but it was enough for filling a tortilla for each of us and I was being economical by not throwing it out!

Now try this Mediterranean spread! You will not be disappointed!

Mediterranean Vegetable Spread

6 oz jarred roasted red peppers (water-packed), drained
6 oz marinated artichokes, drained
1/4 cup basil, fresh, packed or 1 tsp dried (I used about a tablespoon of the chopped)1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
8 oz fat-free cream cheese, softened

Directions
In a food processor, combine peppers, artichokes, basil, oregano and garlic powder; process until blended but still slightly chunky.

Cut cream cheese into small chunks and combine with vegetable mixture until blended. Cover and chill at least 30 minutes. Serve with crudités or as a spread for Turkey Roll-Ups.