Rainbow Peanut Noodles

Rainbow Peanut Noodles

If I had forgotten what a hunger signal was, I got a rude awakening on Saturday. I went with my family up to Cleveland for the day to see my sister and her fiance's new house. We left around 11:30 so I had a big bowl of cereal with fruit and nuts around 9:30. I even packed a Larabar. I thought about packing lunch, but figured we'd stop along the way. Nope.

We got there and did my family think to get lunch? Nope. By 3:30.. even after I had my snack, I was dying of hunger. A snack bar and a bowl of cereal doesn't last long. When I mentioned I was hungry that meant my mom and sister had to pipe up about how little they ate and they weren't complaining. That's great my mom can got 6 hours on a piece of toast and my sister can go 8 hours on coffee and a handful of triscuits, apparently I was made to be a "wuss" because my body couldn't subsist on 550 calories for 8 hours.

I did get a handful of peanuts and South Beach cereal bar my mom had in her purse, but I didn't make the best choices at dinner because I couldn't get rid of the headache I developed from being over hungry.

On the bright side, my sister's house was super cute and makes me want to save even more so I can own my own place and have the opportunity to paint and decorate things.

Today was MUCH better all around. I started my day off with another bowl of Kashi Go Lean with blueberries, pecans and vanilla soy milk and coffee with a little half and half. Then, I went shoe shopping! My right arch has been hurting on and off when I run and my left knee was starting to bother me again, so I decided it was time to plunk some money down on good shoes. So glad I did!

No pain at all.. I even went a little farther than I normally do. I should really keep track of mileage so I can replace them before the pain sets in.

I stopped in for lunch.. leftover pulled chicken from Friday night on a Trader Joe's whole wheat bun. It was much better cold, but still very vinegary.. I think I like a more sweet bbq sauce kind of pulled chicken.


Pulled Chicken Sandwich

Then off to do my grocery shopping so I could make some dinner. As I got out of the car a young guy was a couple spaces over loading up his car with his groceries -- an entire cart of gallon-sized tubs of ice cream and gallon jugs of 2% milk. Looks like he picked up the basics! I'm guessing he lives with a bunch of other guys?

I picked up stuff to make this Rainbow Peanut Noodles recipe I saw on the Splendid Table site. I usually listen to it in the car every Saturday while I'm running errands, but I've never actually made any of the recipes from the website. I wasn't disappointed.. these were fantastic! I skipped the bean sprouts since they looked awful at the store and skipped the chicken because I didn't want to fuss with making some. I think seared tofu would be excellent in this salad if you didn't want to use chicken.

Now I'm exhausted. I think I'll crawl into bed and catch up on some reading. Night!

Baked Tofu with Fried Rice

I'm exhausted tonight. I still have stuff to finish up, but I'll be in bed early, that's for sure. My sleep schedule is out of whack and it's catching up to me.

Tonight's dinner was Asian-Style Baked Tofu and Fried Rice. Both were fantastic. I could easily eat an entire package of tofu like this in one sitting. Seriously. Mine got a little extra crunchy, but other than that it was beyond delicious. Think you don't like tofu? Try it baked. The recipe takes a bit of time, but it's totally worth it.

While the tofu was baking away in the oven I made some brown rice so I could stir fry it. The past few times I've made it I've liked it but didn't love it, not sure why. No matter what recipe I try, they're all very similar, but this one really stands out for some reason. I think I'll make it this way every time from now on. Instead of baby carrots and peas, I used a frozen carrots and peas mix. I didn't bother boiling them, just thawed and warmed them in the oil before adding the egg. Worked just fine.

And for being "fried" it's only 6 points per serving and if you can keep the tofu to one serving, it's only 3 points. Possibly less if you can find reduced-fat firm. And both are worth every single point.

From the Archives: Teriyaki Chicken Thighs with Asian Noodle Salad

I came home Tuesday evening to find my chicken thighs were still frozen solid. I could thaw them the rest of the way in the microwave, sure, but why would I do that when my parents were offering to buy me Panera?

I never turn down black bean soup and 1/2 a mediterranian vegetable sandwich (which is my absolute favorite).

So, I let the chicken finish thawing for another day and made my entire family these Teriyaki Chicken Thighs with an asian noodle salad. It wasn't exactly a cold-weather meal, but I really like these chicken thighs. And the noodle salad complements it well. Just a tip on timing so it doesn't take an hour to make this meal. Put the water to boil first, then marinade the chicken, then put the noodles in and chop the veggies for the salad while the noodles cook. Then cool the noodles and cook the chicken.

I ended up not marinating the chicken, but broiled and basted instead. I didn't create a plan of attack first and didn't realize the chicken had to marinade. Oops.

Other than that, it was as great as always and the entire meal comes out to 8 points.

Orginial post: Asian-Style Chicken Thighs.

Chicken and Basil Stir Fry

This is not only Core, but it's simple and cheap to make. I always have a variety of bell peppers in my fridge. They're great to munch on raw and are perfect dipped in hummus or guacamole.

Here, they mingle with onion, basil and chicken in the Chicken and Basil Stir Fry from Everyday Food. The cornstarch in the recipe come out to 0 pts. per serving, and unless you're lacking in oils for the day, I would consider cutting back on the oil. I cut 2 tsp. from the recipe and it came through great. And the boyfriend loved it.

On the side, I made steamed potstickers from Trader Joe's. I have made my own potstickers in the past, but honestly, they're not worth the effort.. especially for a weeknight. These were very low in points and just as good as the ones I've made in the past.

I wouldn't say this is the best stir fry I've ever made, but it's simple, easy to make and a great weeknight staple.

Spicy Sichuan-Style Shrimp

I have a weakness for cheap Chinese takeout. I love it. If there's a night I don't feel like cooking the first thing out of my mouth will almost always be, "Can we go get Chinese food?" I had an friend whose family were Chinese immigrants. His dad would cook traditional Chinese food every night. It wasn't until college when he was really introduced to American's idea of Chinese food.

And it's bad, he says. Really, really awful. And I don't pretend my local takeout joint is anywhere near authentic. And you know what, I don't really care. All I know is, the fried dumplings and Sichuan chicken with vegetables makes my stomach happy.

Unfortunately, my waistline suffers. So, I try to make a lot of Chinese-style food at home so I'll have the craving for the fattening stuff less often. The Spicy Schiuan-Style Shrimp isn't close to my beloved Sichuan chicken, but it still hit the spot. I made it with brown rice and steamed broccoli to make it as Core-friendly as possible. I used canola also made sure the oil wasn't overdone by using only 4 teaspoons and because I couldn't find chile bean sauce, so I used Huy Fong's chile paste (sambal olek), which appears to be Core and black bean sauce. I also left out the sugar. The only thing you'd have to count points for is the seasame oil.

Overall a good, satisfying Chinese-style meal.

Nutrition Info (excluding rice and broccoli): 192 calories, 9 grams of fat, 0 grams of fiber

Thai-Style Shrimp

No matter how often I try to plan ahead, I occaisonally have to improvise. Earlier this week I planned to make the Thai-Style Sea Scallops from the WW site. It's not Core, but you really only need to count the the sesame oil in my opinion. The cornstarch points and sugar points come out to zero when spread over the entire recipe. But again, that's just my opinion on the matter.

When I pulled out the scallops to thaw them, they smelled fishy and had some serious freezer burn — so I had to chuck them. It's a shame. I had shrimp, though, so I thawed those out instead. And you know, It tasted great anyhow. In fact, you could probably even make this with chicken if you didn't like seafood. The sauce was actually pretty good and is versatile enough I don't think it really matters what protein you use, as long as you adjust the cooking time.

I paired it with the asian noodle salad I posted about here and here. I love that salad. It's one of the few dishes I tend to make over and over again.

Chicken and Broccoli Stir-Fry

Occaisonally, I'll see a recipe and like the idea, but don't necessarily want to make it exactly as written. Most of the time it's because I don't have a particular ingredient and I don't want to spend the money to buy it.

Because let's face it, eating healthfully can be costly. Even more so that grocery prices are beginning to rise right along side gas prices. There was an article recently about how calorie for calorie, junk food is more affordable than produce and the prices of processed foods are rising slower than produce. Meat and seafood is also expensive. I'd love to buy organic, free range, grass-fed and all of that, but my budget doesn't really allow for that if I want to vary my protein choices like I do now.

This recipe started out as a shrimp stir fry. But I didn't have shrimp, and give that a pound of shrimp is pushing $8 and I had some cheap and easy frozen chicken in the freezer, I opted to make it with chicken instead. And it was pretty good.

An important lesson to learn when cooking on a budget is that in many recipes, although not all, an onion is an onion whether its red, white, or yellow; shrimp can be swapped for chicken, beef, or pork; and you may even get away with using vegetable or beef broth instead of chicken broth. And it probably won't taste a whole lot different. In fact, it might even taste better.

Nutritional Info (made with chicken, rice not included): 213 calories/6 grams of fat/3 grams of fiber

Tofu Fried Rice

A few months ago some friends and I went to a mongolian BBQ place -- those make-your-own stir fry places. I generally don't trust them. Raw meat sitting out buffet style. Um, don't think so. Plus, I've known people who have had plenty of bad experiences with these places. So, when everyone wants to go there, I go with the safest choices. Vegetables. And if I'm feeling adventurous, tofu.

A friend of mine recently decided to go vegetarian. Because vegetarianism is so new to her, she hadn't yet tried tofu. It's a little scary, I admit. And the texture is off-putting to some. But, if you know how to marinate it and cook it. It's really good.

Some tofu recipes are better than others. I recently tried a fried rice recipe, which ended up being a one of the better tofu recipes I tried. The key to tofu is to dry it out really well and get a good crust on it. Like when you sear meat, if the pan isn't hot enough or the tofu is too wet, you aren't going to get good results. It doesn't look like much of a crust in the photo, but it actually browned up fairly well and was surprisingly tasty.

If you're just too scared of tofu, you could use shrimp or chicken or even pork. Any kind of protein you like in a fried rice.

Hummus Sesame Noodles

It seems like every time I make hummus, I end up with a lot more than I can humanly eat. It just doesn't have the abuse potential that, oh, say a Tollhouse chocolate chip cookie or a potato chip has (salt and pepper chips are my favorite, in case you were wondering). Maybe there's someone who might sit there with a giant bowl of garlicky hummus, shoveling it in with a spoon — I'm not like that, though.

So what I'm left with is a couple cups of hummus that languishes in the back of my fridge until I'm motivated enough to toss it out. Usually two weeks or so after I originally made it. It will go to waste. I am not like my friend who wondered if she could scrape of the top and eat the hummus that was past its prime. It was commercially-made hummus, but STILL. Yuck.

I've tried to think of ways to repurpose it, but I'm not the most creative cook on the block, and winging it rarely works out. Unless my goal was to produce something inedible in the first place.

Lucky for me, Rachael Ray seems to be one step ahead. She included an entire feature on cooking with hummus in her magazine. It's based on the theory that you buy your hummus, but whatever. Those in the know, know better.

The Hummus Sesame Noodles looked pretty good, so I made them on Monday night. Of course, I made some changes. I blanched the snow peas because I don't like the taste of raw peas, added crushed red pepper to the sauce, and used 100% whole wheat spaghetti to make it closer to Core. I've switched WW plans again.

And you know, it wasn't too bad. And it didn't taste much like hummus. Mostly just like peanuts. If I hadn't been the one to make it, I would have probably assumed it was peanut butter. I can't say it'll be like that with premade hummus, but that's how it came out for me. Now next time I've got some leftover hummus, I'll know how to use it.

Egg Fried Rice with Chicken and Broccoli in Garlic Sauce

No matter how hard I try, Chinese food never tastes as good at home as it does in the take out places. I know I've said this before, but it's true. My latest attempt at fried rice was no different. It was good, don't get me wrong. But it was a bit on the bland side. And it certainly wasn't takeout quality fried rice. I might tinker with it though. The recipe started out as Egg Fried Rice from Gourmet magazine, but I ended up cutting the oil, changing the peas to peas and carrots and adding low sodium soy sauce.

The stirfry in the back was a version of a WW recipe, Chicken with Broccoli and Garlic Sauce. It wasn't pretty, so I tried disguise it.

Hoisin Chicken Skewers with Asian Noodle Salad

Bon Appetit has a new-ish feature on its Web site called the Easy Week. For each weeknight, they offer main dish, side dish, and dessert ideas. Brilliant if you have trouble pairing sides with mains, or if you're just looking for new ideas.

I don't often use these because some of the recipes are too fat-laden, some are even a little too labor intensive. One hour paella? Um, when the directions suggest that it takes an hour, I often find it'll take me an hour and half b/c I'm a little scattered and sometimes inefficient when cooking.

The Hoisin Chicken Skewers, though, stood out. For one, I had two half-finished jars of hoisin sauce. I must have forgotten I had one open and opened another. (Dear God, I'm becoming my mother. Next thing you know I'll have three open boxes of elbow macaroni in my pantry.) Another reason being that the chicken would only take 8 minutes to cook. I'm all over that one.

I paired it with the noodle salad from this post, but I only used the dressing and garnished the noodles with green onions from the farmer's market instead. And yes, I used whole wheat noodles instead of soba. Darn you, Meijers! Why'd you have to stop carrying soba?

Ooh, then fresh, delicious green beans from the farmer's market. Perfect. The meal was as simple, flavorful, and as filling as I thought it would be. Plus, roughly 6 pts. per serving according to my old-school points tracker.

Asian-style chicken thighs

When I get a chance to catch Healthy Appetite on the Food Network, I try to watch. Most of her recipes are fairly good and easy to prepare. Plus, she includes nutritional information for every one of her recipes. While I don't mind tweaking the oil, butter, cheese, etc. in a recipe, it's nice to find recipes (outside of Cooking Light) that are delicious and need no calorie cutting. In fact, her hot chocolate recipe, which I posted about in January, is one of my favorites. I usually do a variation that doesn't involve the ginger that her original recipe calls for. It's good with the ginger, but I rarely have it on hand.

Last night I made a couple of recipes from her homemade takeout episode. Teriyaki Chicken Thighs and Soba Noodle-Vegetable Salad. I will note that I cheated and used a whole wheat blend pasta instead of Soba. The grocery store was out. I noticed them at the health food store and almost picked them up, but thought, "Nah, I'll just get them at Meijer. They'll probably be cheaper." But ever since the store remodeled, certain ethnic food items disappeared, specifically the Goya spice blend I use in my red beans and rice.

Anyhow, both the chicken and the noodle salad were good, and the noodle salad got even better overnight in the fridge. I believe the dinner is 9 pts. per serving. Which isn't bad. I consider that a reasonable dinner. As far as being homemade takeout—not so much. There's just something about cheap Chinese takeout that you can't recreate at home.

A non-traditional Pad Thai

It's hard to tell from that photo what the heck that is, but it's Shrimp Pad Thai. Or at least a non-traditional version of it anyhow. I was really excited to find snow peas and cilantro at the farmer's market this week. It was like I was meant to make this dish. It was this cute old lady selling them. How could I not partake? On the side are Trader Joe's shrimp goyas. I wanted the vegetable kind, but they were out.

I'll take that to go, please

I work two jobs. I have a day job, which I refer to as job #1. In my day job, or what I also call my "real" job, I am a professional writer/editor for a trade publication. I'm a stronger writer than I am an editor, that's for sure. I'm almost positive that my posts are grammatical messes, but I don't really care. I did, however, have one of my interview subjects make grammatical corrections to a story I sent to him for fact checking purposes. Awesome. Nothing like a sales manager correcting your grammar to make you feel good about your job performance.

In job #2, I am a sales associate for a department store. Right now it's really stressful and typically not all that enjoyable, but I'll thank myself later when I can afford my own home and get married credit card debt-free. In the mean time, I have to answer questions like, "Do you think these buttons will go through airport security?" Seriously. I'm not kidding. Someone actually asked me that. I think I told her that I have never worn that particular shirt to the airport, so I had no way of knowing.

All of that adds up to 60-75 hours per week on average. I tell job #2 I can't work more than 20 hours per week, but somehow it always ends up being more than that. Either I take a shift b/c I don't know how to say no to people, or they over schedule me because they are trying to kill me. I then have to remind them that if they kill me — I can't work. I'd be deceased.

That leaves very little time for cooking, or really, eating in general. Most of my meals are eaten out of Tupperware® knockoffs. Today's lunch was a fajita salad, and tonight's dinner is leftover chicken and broccoli stirfry with oyster sauce. The salad was lettuce, pinto beans, cheddar cheese, green pepper, red onion, tomato, and Cilantro-Lime Sauce as the dressing. If you need me to tell you what's in that stir-fry.. then you need more help than I can give you :)

Tomorrow, sadly, will probably be canned soup and a frozen meal. Boo.

Thank God It's Friday

Uncle! I'm crying uncle when it comes to the chili. I've seriously had enough. There better be some not so chili-like chili at lunch. I could just eat my dinner for lunch and hope that the pasta and salad they're serving at job #2 is point-friendly. Maybe if I weren't planning to go out for a beer.. or maybe if I didn't just eat TWO of these muffins (luckily they're only 2 pts a piece!) I would consider it. But, I've been lax this week a bit... so maybe for the sake of hopefully seeing a one pound loss, I should stick with the plan for the day. Also must confess to about five Hershey Kisses from the drawer at job #2. It was slow and someone brought in candy. I'll cut my egg and toast snack I have planned Saturday and be fine.

It kills me, btw, that my only muffin wrappers are birthday ones. It's all I could find. Apparently I only need muffin wrappers when they're out of regular ones. Or maybe I'm just dumb and can't find the normal ones. The last package was Scooby-Doo. I served my coworkers raspberry cream cheese muffins in green Scooby-Doo wrappers. Nothing says gourmet muffins like Scooby.

And no Oatmeal-Spice cookies. I was just too tired after work to care. Thirteen hours takes a toll eventually. Tossing chili in the Crockpot was about all I can handle. And finishing the last 1/4 of the Negro Modelo left from the chili and watching the Grey's episode I DVR'ed.

To come tomorrow: Egg Fried Rice and Egg Drop Soup.