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).