What I Ate Wednesday #13

Happy Wednesday!  Here is a rundown of all that I had to eat today.

I wanted something kind of fun for breakfast since it was so dark, wet and dreary this morning so I made a chia pudding and fruit parfait.

I made some strawberry chia pudding yesterday by blending 1 cup of almond milk with 6 strawberries until it was pureed smooth.  Then I mixed it with 1/3 cup of chia seeds in a bowl and left it covered in the refrigerator to thicken.  I ate half of the chia pudding yesterday and used half of it today to make this parfait.

It was layered with sliced bananas, blueberries, sliced strawberries, and some unsweetened coconut.  I was surprised at how filling this was!!  Must be all of the fiber from the chia seeds and berries!!!

Later in the morning, I decided that I wanted to try out some new muffins to pack in the kids lunches.  Of course I had to sample a little bit of each flavor – lemon blueberry and strawberry basil.  They were pretty good but need a little tweaking before I post the recipe.  I am testing how low I can go with the sweetener (honey) and I think this might be a little too low

For lunch, I made a chopped salad with romaine, roasted asparagus, kalamata olives, chopped cucumber, grilled chicken, cherry tomatoes, hardboiled egg, avocado, and red onion, with a simple balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing.

I have gotten into a bad habit of snacking while making dinner – so tonight I tried to combat that by eating some clementines while cooking.

Dinner was my version of Thai Peanut Noodles with chicken, red pepper, carrots, and peapods.

I debated whether or not to do a full post on this recipe.  Its really good and pretty kid-friendly, especially when served with fun chopsticks!

Thai Peanut Noodles with Chicken and Veggies

Stir Fry Ingredients

1-2 chicken breasts, cut into thin strips

1-2 whole carrots, peeled and chopped into small strips

red pepper, sliced into thin strips

1-2 handfuls of peapods (I cut these thin too so that everything cooks quickly)

coconut oil

soy sauce

Peanut Sauce Ingredients

1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth

3 T. natural (unsweetened peanut butter)

3 T. soy sauce (or organic shoyu)

2 T. honey

1 tsp. Sriracha hot sauce

1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger

2 small cloves of garlic, finely minced

juice of 1/2 lime

Other Ingredients

8 oz. Noodles (brown rice noodles, udon noodles,  Buckwheat Soba noodles, or whole wheat spaghetti)

Chopped cilantro, green onion, chopped peanuts, lime wedges for serving – all optional

Directions

Bring a large pot of water to boil.

In a saucepan over low heat, whisk together 1/2 cup vegetable broth, 3 T. natural peanut butter, 3 T. soy sauce, 2 T. honey, 1 tsp. Sriracha hot sauce, 1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger, 2 small cloves minced garlic, and juice from 1/2 of a lime.  When the mixture is smooth and starting to thicken and bubble, remove from heat and set aside.

In the boiling water, cook 8 oz. of noodles according to package directions.  I generally use fettuccine style brown rice or Buckwheat Soba noodles, which are readily available at the most grocery stores and are gluten free.  They have a great taste and texture.

While noodles are cooking, saute thin strips of chicken in coconut oil with a little soy sauce (I have started using organic shoyu sauce to avoid GMO soy – it has the exact same flavor and our regular grocery store carries it right by the soy sauce).  Set chicken aside and saute thin strips of carrots, red pepper and peapods in some coconut oil for a couple of minutes until tender crisp (about 5 minutes or less).

When pasta is finished cooking and drained, place it back into the pot and combine noodles, sauce, chicken, and veggies.  Serve with desired toppings – chopped cilantro, chopped peanuts, sliced green onion, lime wedges, etc.