Recipes

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

dinner al fresco

Back when Mike owned an Audi, we dealt with car trouble monthly. Since we traded in and got a Chevy truck, we haven't had too many issues, besides cosmetic and audio. Yesterday, Mike's truck wouldn't start... so he ended up working from home and we will be carpooling the rest of the week. I don't understand why Mike has the worst luck with cars in the world. It is truly a mystery.

Since Mike worked from home yesterday, he was able to get an even earlier start on the yard work than normal. By the time I came home, he was wrapping up watering and straightening the garden. I immediately started on dinner, which turned out to be a big hit.

I didn't want to go to the store, so I decided to use up everything I could from our fridge. Thanks to GoLocal, we had a bunch of veggies to use and dinner turned out fantastic. I browsed the web and found this recipe, which looked like a good starting point. I actually changed it entirely, but it was definitely my inspiration.


Coco-Chicken Noodles with Fresh Veggies
Serves 4
0.5 box of whole wheat pasta (we used spaghetti)
2 tablespoons extra virgin coconut oil
1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
1 large poblano pepper, chopped
1 medium zucchini, sliced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
4 baby portabella mushrooms chopped
3/4 cup water
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 cooked chicken breast, cut into bite size slices
1 lb baby bok choy leaves
1 tablespoon flour (optional)
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (add more to taste)


Cook pasta per usual and set aside. In a large skillet or wok, heat the coconut oil over medium heat.


Add in the onion, pepper, zucchini, garlic, and mushrooms until all are tender, probably 10 minutes. Next, add in the water, ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, chicken breast (already cooked) and half of the red pepper flakes. When everything seems to be heated throughout, add in the baby bok choy leaves and allow to wilt a bit.


If the sauce seems a little too watery, sprinkle in a tablespoon of flour to help thicken it up. Add more red pepper flakes to create the desired heat and then add in your cooked noodles. Toss together and serve.


We dined outside, which was such a nice change to the usual couch or dining room table scene. We talked about what we wanted to do about our back yard and how we want to make some big improvements this year. We are really hoping to create a really fun backyard, perfect for entertaining and enjoying.

While we were out there, we took a closer look at the garden and we saw cauliflower!!!


It is so tiny right now, but I am so excited that it is actually growing! Mike was also able to harvest an entire head of romaine lettuce last night.


I cleaned it up and put it in a container, so we have salads ready to go anytime we want them. Having a garden is so much fun... as long as you have a Mike to handle the planting, watering, monitoring, and harvesting. I just enjoy the eating part. :)


The dogs were cracking us up last night with their chasing game. Franklin will grab a toy and seriously just run in circles while Deluca chases him. Why isn't Deluca smart enough to cut him off and go the other way? It is pretty entertaining to watch.


Of course, if you just say Franklin's name, he will stop in his tracks and come running over to be pet.


They love the backyard too, and I hope with the changes we plan on making, we can be out there enjoying it with them more often.

--

Yesterday's lunch was provided by my bosses in honor of Nurse's Day. It was really nice of them to buy me lunch and give me a card from all of my co-workers. It is nice to work for such nice people who appreciate you and your work.


When I got into work, there was an e-mail to myself and my cube mate asking what we wanted for lunch. Since she had already responded requesting Chinese, and I didn't want to be a pain, so I agreed and decided to request my sauce on the side. I took this picture and sent it to Mike with the caption, "the most boring Chinese ever."





Even if it was boring, I am still really thankful and appreciative that my bosses were so nice to buy me lunch. I ate about half of my food, except for the egg roll, and brought the rest home for Mike to have for lunch today. Someone should enjoy all that sauce on the side!

--

This morning, since I am working the later shift, I dropped Mike off at work and then headed to the gym. It has been probably 3 weeks since I was last there, but I am really glad I went. I did a 5 minute warm up on the treadmill, and then did arms and abs. I did an ab workout using an iPhone app and realized it would be really easy to do at home. I am going to try to make it a goal to do that workout at least 3 or 4 times a week to tone up the tummy. Since I am almost to my goal weight, I would really like to get everything toned and in shape, which means I HAVE to get to the gym more often. It just has to happen.

I came into work and made some awesome oatmeal. Strawberry and banana, chocolate protein oats.


I added a few sliced strawberries, sliced bananas and a half scoop of chocolate protein powder to my oatmeal with hot water. So good!

Well, that is all I have for today, catch you all tomorrow!

Yesterday's Stats:
Calories (-) 19
Sodium (-) 214
Protein (+) 14




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