Thursday

This week flew by. I’m glad that it’s almost the weekend, even if it is going to be a busy one.

Yesterday was not necessarily a bad day, just a day where it seemed like nothing went according to plan. I thrive on routine and I can handle a few deviations, but when things go too far off plan I can get a little cranky. Today was better though. :)

This morning I was not hungry at all, so I just had a glass of Bolthouse Vanilla Chai.

And coffee once I got to work of course!

Around 11 I got hungry and had a LaraBar.

Yesterday when I went to heat up my lunch I discovered the microwave was not working and I ended up buying lunch. I was hoping it was just a blown fuse (it’s happened before) but it still was not working today. Since it’s Thursday I decided to hit Sister’s in the City Market for Mac & Cheese.

I ate it all, which was actually too much I think – I was pretty full.

After work I took Frankie for a walk. Bye Zappa!

Frank went exploring.

After our walk I did my Superset workout and a quick treadmill session.

For supper last night we made a new recipe that Husband wanted to try out – Ground Beef & Cilantro Soup; it was a very mild flavoured broth with ground beef. Husband is a big soup lover, particularly anything Asian (this was from a Chinese cookbook) so he loved it. For me, it was ok but it didn’t knock my socks off.

We had also made a stir-fry to go with it because the soup was lacking in vegetables. There was soup leftover, and I figured if I was going to cook something to go with it, I’d rather just make something that would be a meal for me and Husband could have both (no arguments from him).

I whipped up an old favourite, Soba Noodles with Peanut Sauce. This is one of those things that comes out a little differently each time, depending on what I have on hand.

Today I added some fresh ginger. My tummy has been feeling a little touchy, and I saw the ginger sitting there so I decided to throw it in.

I also added fresh Chilis from the Chili plant I have growing in my kitchen.

The Soba noodles are wrapped in bundles in the package. Usually when I’m making this for just myself, I will use two bundles and end up with enough to feed me for two meals.

When making it for both of us I will use 3 bundles, which is what I did tonight. However, with the soup it was really more than we needed so I ended up with leftovers (too bad the microwave at work is broken – would make a nice lunch for tomorrow).

I stir fried broccoli, cauliflower and red bell pepper, then added the cooked noodles.

And tossed it all together with the sauce. Once everything is chopped, it comes together pretty quickly. Which is nice, because this is one of those comfort food meals for me.

After supper I had a cup of peppermint tea and some Girl Guide cookies (that I actually did manage to forget about for a week and a half). I forgot to take a picture, but it looks pretty much the same as the tea and cookies I had last night:

And now I think I’m ready for bed. One more day til the weekend!

Soba Noodles With Peanut Sauce

This is a recipe that I’ve mentioned – and posted photos of – before. I found it in Fitness Magazine years ago – in fact, I was living on PEI at the time, so that’s more than 10 years ago now.

The last time I searched for it on the Fitness Magazine website I couldn’t find it, so I decided to post it here.

Here is the recipe as it was printed in Fitness Magazine.

Soba Noodles With Peanut Sauce

Prep time: 15 minutes

Servings: 4

One 8.8 oz pkg Soba noodles

Spicy Peanut Sauce:

- 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice

- 2 1/2 tbsp brown sugar

- 2 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

- 1 clove garlic, minced

- 1/8 tsp salt

- 2 tbsp creamy peanut butter

One 8-oz pkg frozen sugar snap peas

1 small red bell pepper, thinly sliced

1/2 cup chopped scallions

1/2 cup fresh basil or mint

Cook Soba noodles in boiling water as directed (about 6-8 minutes). Meanwhile, make Spicy Peanut Sauce:

In a small saucepan, combine lemon juice, brown sugar, soy sauce, red pepper flakes, garlic and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; whisk in peanut butter stirring until smooth, and set aside.

Two minutes before noodles are done, add snap peas. Continue to boil until noodles are just cooked. Drain noodles and peas and transfer to a large serving bowl. Add bell peppers, scallions and basil. Pour sauce over noodles and toss to coat.

* * * * *

Of course, being incapable of sticking to a recipe as it is written, I like to do things a bit differently. I usually cook less noodles and stir-fry a bunch of veggies. I’ll use whatever veggies I have on hand – in fact, I have made it with red bell pepper and red onion if that’s all I have and it still came out great.

If making the recipe this way, you’ll want to rinse your soba noodles with cold water after cooking to keep them from sticking together. Then add them to the pan with your stir fried veggies and toss it all together – the easiest way is to us a big spoon and one of those spaghetti servers. Then add the sauce and toss to coat.

I have used fresh cilantro in place of the basil/mint, or if I have no fresh herbs, I have added some dried basil to the sauce.

I have also used fresh chilis in place of dried, and added fresh ginger (as shown in the photo above).

Wordless Wednesday

Apologies. I just don’t have an actual post in me tonight. Here are the day’s eats (missing – Triscuits & hummus that I didn’t get a photo of).

 

Tuesday

Cupcake Monster

When I went to bed last night, there were two cupcakes left. When I woke up this morning, there was this:

Apparently there is a cupcake monster on the loose. I suspect he is Husband-shaped.

What’s for Breakfast?

This morning went a bit more smoothly, so I got to have the breakfast I had intended to have yesterday. I started off with the rest of my Bolthouse Mocha Cappuccino from Sunday and made some Oat Bran to take to work with me.

I’ve never tried Oat Bran before, but I was perusing the cereals in the Natural Food section of the grocery store, looking for something new, and this is what I came home with. I topped it with Almond Butter and packed it up to take to work.

When I got to work I added a touch of Almond Breeze and a smidge of Maple Syrup.

I ate about half of this and was stuffed beyond belief. It would seem that Oat Bran is more filling than oatmeal? Guess we’ll find out when I try it again tomorrow.

I Break for Curry

I was just starting to feel the teeniest bit hungry around 1 PM, but decided to eat lunch anyway because I wanted a break.

From the freezer, Thai Green Curry Soup.

Still in love with this soup. Not all that surprising I guess, since I love Thai Green Curry.

Around 2 PM I headed out for some fresh air, as usual. It was actually a couple of degrees cooler today than it was yesterday (according to the weather page) but there was no wind so it felt warmer. A much more pleasant walk.

Around 3 PM, I ate a Honeycrisp apple (see picture of lunch).

I was working away and the next thing I knew it was 5:00, so I expected to hear from Husband any time that he was ready to leave…Not so. It was 6:20 by the time he picked me up.

We were both hungry when we got home – I probably would have still exercised first anyway, but Husband wanted to eat. I’m still on my “eat what we have in the house” kick, and tonight we were looking for quick and easy so out came the box of frozen Taquitos (seriously – no sooner had I breathed a sigh of relief that the last box was gone when Husband came home from the store with a brand new box). Husband also had a microwave-and-serve package of Brussels sprouts from the freezer (I can’t stand ‘em) and I steamed some broccoli.

And here we have it:

Steamed broccoli with PC Blue Menu Szechwan Sauce and Taquitos with salsa. Szechwan Sauce and Taquitos may sound like odd things to combine in the same meal, but Szechwan Sauce is really good on broccoli. Even weirder, Husband decided to have Thai Chili Sauce with his Taquitos rather than salsa. We are not afraid of mixing and matching around here.

I sat down to watch Castle while eating my meal. It was awesome! Loved seeing Nathan Fillion in his Firefly wardrobe. And the Buffy reference. The whole episode was lots of fun.

After watching Castle, I got some things done around the house and now here I am blogging. Today was meant to a cardio day (intervals) but I decided I really don’t feel like doing it this late at night – I used to be able to work out and then pretty much go right to bed and fall asleep but lately I’m finding that doesn’t work so well. Thinking I might do a Yoga Download instead – I haven’t had time to do any yoga lately and I’ve been missing it.

It’s funny – I’ve read a few blogs lately where the poster was talking about skipping a workout for one reason or another. We tend to make excuses and be apologetic as if we are doing something wrong. But really, missing one workout when you are not feeling well, or you need some sleep, or whatever other reason you have, is not a big deal.

I think I’ve reached the point where I don’t feel the need to be apologetic about it. I know that if I miss one workout (or three or a week) I will pick right up and get back to it as soon as I can. It’s become such a habit now and I miss it when I’m not getting my workouts. So I’m not worried about it.

Off to do my yoga and then head to bed. Hope you all have a great Wednesday!

The sun is still shining

I was hungry last night after I finished that massive weekend recap post, so I had a few more Triscuits with hummus. I crawled into bed around 10 pm and read until 11 pm. Then I passed right out and had an awesome sleep – thanks to all that fresh air and sunshine yesterday, I’m sure.

I woke up to another sunny day, though much cooler. I was in a pretty good mood though – just happy that I had a good sleep and it wasn’t raining. The news on the radio was all about flooding in different areas of Saint John after all the rain on Saturday. We are fortunate that our house is on a hill.

Then Husband was cranky because he did laundry late last night, and put it in the dryer before he came to bed and it wasn’t dry, so he didn’t have any jeans to wear. I reminded him that he has a pair of Khakis and helped him find them in the closet.

Then Zappa threw up on the carpet in the bedroom.

Yep, it’s Monday. But at least the sun is shining.

So, I know this is exactly what you are not supposed to do, but I decided to console myself by having my favorite Carrot Muffin from Java Moose for breakfast.

I worked away all morning – looking at Portuguese websites even though I don’t speak Portuguese. Yes, this is my job. Or part of it anyway. Then around noon I took a break for lunch and heated up the last of the Black Beans & Red Rice that I had put in the freezer last week. With some cheese on top.

Around 2 PM I went out for a walk. It was sunny but the wind was definitely cold. Brr!

Around 3 PM I had a snack – the last of my Greek yogurt with raspberries and honey. Kind of a pretty color isn’t it?

I think it was around 20 after 5 when Husband messaged me saying he was ready to leave – not really sure what time actually. But came home and fed the kitties and changed into my workout gear…And then I gave in and took Frank out for a walk. It was cold!

Our neighbor was out with her two little boys and they came over to see Frank. He barely tolerates it and only if I hold on to him (otherwise he tries to run away – he’s a wee bit skittish). So I sat on the step holding him for a while so they could pet his head. They’re cute kids, and perfectly gentle, Frank is just a nervous cat.

Once that was over Frank took off for up the hill; he was not wasting any time!

He was smelling something really interesting in the grass here and took quite a while to check things out.

And that’s pretty much all I got in the way of pictures tonight because once he finished sniffing around there he took off again and didn’t stop for much.

It was starting to get dark and my hands were cold anyway, so the camera went back in my pocket.

I brought Frank in and did a quickie workout – 20 minutes of Circuits – then went up to make supper.

We had some corn cakes leftover from last night, so we wanted to use those. I also wanted to do something quick and easy. So I can’t claim this was the healthiest meal, but it was tasty!

I scrambled some eggs with red bell pepper, onion and scallions.

That would have been enough for me with the Corn Cakes, but since we have to keep Husband happy as well we cooked some Johnsonville Brown Sugar & Honey breakfast sausages.

It was all very tasty, I have to say.

It’s supposed to go down to –3 Celsius tonight. Yuck! And it’s only supposed to go up to 4 Celsius tomorrow. But it is still supposed to be sunny, so at least that’s something.