After the last few weeks of being sick (and missing the weigh in day at work) I figured stepping on the scale would be painful, after all, I had eaten take out a few times, eaten whatever was easy and not really looked at points because I was just too sick to really care. So i was braced for a disaster. Luckily..Nope. I didn’t gain a thing....didn't lose a thing either, but I think holding steady through all of that is a win. However being sick and eating things I normally wouldn’t has left me with some odd cravings. Cravings for things I don’t eat often. Like cheese fries (fried foods and I don’t get along) and Steamed pork buns. I figured if I was going to give in to one of the cravings it should be the buns. Those I had a chance of making healthier.

I don’t generally eat a lot of bread, it stems from a brief and ill fated run in with the Atkins diet years back, I also don’t generally eat a lot of pork or beef (I’m a fish, fowl or soy girl), but steamed pork buns are my down fall. All that soft and pillow filled sweet spicy goodness, mmmmmmm. Truthfully I like steam buns no matter what they are filled with, be it bean paste or pork. It’s like eating a cloud with a lovely surprise in the middle. However, they are incredibly high points when made in the traditional Chinese bbq sauce. It’s all the brown sugar and flour and fatty pork. So the challenge yesterday, was to make those buns point friendly and hopefully see an improvement in my buns in the long run.

I started out with the crock pot, god’s gift to the working woman, and put in a 2 lb of pork tenderloin that I had trimmed completely and added a 1 cups each of onion, carrots, and mushrooms. Instead of brown sugar, I made a bbq sauce with ginger, agave nectar, rice wine vinegar, garlic and some oyster sauce. I had never used the agave sweetener before. It wasn’t bad. I think next time I make this I might do a whole vegetarian version. While I was eating it I realized the craving was for the sauce and the bun. The sauce makes it that delectable treat and when you were eating it you really don't discern a difference between the vegetables and the meat. Cutting out the brown sugar helped a lot with the points, and increasing the vegetable while decreasing the meat also made a huge difference.

I cheated horribly on the bread dough but not in a way that would cut the points of it. I used store bought bread dough that I defrosted, let rise, then cut into smaller pieces, rolled out and stuffed. All in all when I was finished I got each bun down to 6 points apiece. Not bad. Two buns and a salad is a really filling meal. But I really can’t wait to try it with just vegetables as a stuffing next time. Cut out the pork completely.

Steamed Pork Buns

2 lb of pork tenderloin,  trimmed completely 
1 cups each of onion, carrots, and mushrooms.
3 loaves frozen bread dough. 


BBQ sauce
1 tbs ginger, 
3 tbs agave nectar, 
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1 tbs garlic 
4 tbs oyster sauce.

St the bread dough out to thaw and rise according to the package.  In the crock pot add all the other ingredients and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Cut each bread loaf into 8-10 pieces.  Roll each small piece into a flat 1/8" thick circle. Spoon about 3 tbs of filling onto each and pinch closed.

place in steamer and steam for about 10. Serve.