Thai Shrimp Stir Fry

As part of our "Hurricane Sandy Preparation" we decided to make some kind of food that we could eat even if the power went out... and then we failed miserably at that and decided to make a pasta dish instead, which I guess could be eaten cold, but it was not exactly what we had in mind originally. 

Thai Shrimp Stir Fry

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 box angel hair (I used Barilla Plus) 
• 1 pound frozen or fresh shrimp 
•  2 Tablespoons peanut oil 
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced 
• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds 
•  2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 
• 6 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
• 1/3 cup peanut butter 
• 1 teaspoon grated ginger (I only had dried, fresh would likely be better.) 
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon basil 
• 1 bag frozen vegetables (I used a 2 pound bag of mixed green beans, corn, peas and some spinach), defrosted
• 1 can mushrooms 
• 2 jalapenos, diced  
• 1/4 cup crushed peanuts

 

1. Cook pasta according to directions and drain. Steam shrimp in a separate pot.

2. While pasta and shrimp are cooking, in a wok or skillet heat peanut oil. 
3. Add in onion, garlic, and sesame seeds and cook for about 2 minutes. 
4. Add in soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, and peanut butter. Stir well over heat until peanut butter starts to blend/ melt. 
5. Add in vegetables (whatever ones you choose to use), mushrooms, jalapenos and spices (ginger, basil, red pepper). Stir well. 
6. Add cooked and drained pasta and shrimp. Mix well.
7. Serve topped with crushed peanuts.

 

I usually do not like shrimp, but I found this quite tasty. 

As usual, the children need a cameo.

 

Wrong Side of the Bed

Today I woke up in an unnecessarily bitter mood.

Jordan had slept over and had trouble sleeping, and then woke up on the wrong side of the bed, and as the saying goes "misery loves company" so he took me along for a grumpy morning.

Once he was gone, I was faced with a mountain of dishes in the sink, and dishes I had previously washed piled up in the drying rack. Some of these were mine of course, but being in a grumpy mood, I washed them all while bantering madly to myself of how I always get stuck doing everything around the house, when I am the one that has the most to do! Geez I just took the trash and recycling out last night too, and cleaned the bathroom which looks like crap again because Sookie likes to throw litter!

I then took the feminist approach and assumed the boys were leaving all of the house work for me to do because I am the only girl and clearly they must think I am only good for domestic purposes.

After settling down from my pity-party, I comforted myself with a nice breakfast of left over
home-made cottage potatoes (aka homefries :P ) and my last egg, over-easy, with some ketchup and a cup or 3 of Pumpkin Spice coffee. I think its the cold, but I have been craving really "breakfasty" breakfasts lately.




After breakfast I headed out to Framingham to get some school work done and go to class. I brought an apple and nutrigrain bar as some brain food.


Despite my snacking I was definitely in need of some more substantial lunch when I got home. I mixed up some more left over Spaghetti + mixture of frozen veggies + Vegan Chili, and some extra spaghetti sauce, and then added some 50% reduced fat Cabot Cheddar Cheese (currently on sale at Shaws.)

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In the mix: Broccoli, Asparagus, Green Peppers, and carrots... I wish I had a few other colors in there, but the chili livened up the mix.
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Vegan Chili
(Its always frozen come photo-op time!)

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Nomnomnom. It was very good.

I may have snacked on a mini bag of popcorn with chocolate chips and raisins while watching "Charlie Bartlett" and cleaning the apartment (SEE!! AGAIN!)

Tonight I am heading to Gloucester so it I wait that long to eat I'll just go get to steal J.'s food, a rare and exciting treat :)


And just to confirm, I am no longer bitter, and am in a much better mood, and now off to take my Sports Nutrition Quiz!

Dinner at the Marlborough Manor

I made the attempt to photograph everything I ate today again.
Fridays are always my super fun 11 hour work day at the hospital... most of which includes sitting in front of a computer, reading what other people eat, which unfortunately often leads to eating an excessive amount. To prevent this, I try to not pack too much food, and try to pack healthier foods.

Today (a bit repetitive from yesterday ) started with 2 cups of fruit, about the same mix as yesterday: cantaloupe, apple, pear, orange, grapefruit, strawberries, pluot, Followed by a Lemon L ight and Fit and Some Trader Joes Fiber Cereal:


At work I also had two cups of tea (I believe it was peach ginger), and a lovely piece of chocolate, which seemed to have made it into my mouth before I thought to take a picture of it (whoops!)

I was suppose to be hosting dinner for a couple friends from Douzo, but plans got changed a little bit. I wound up going over to my friend Jenny's (from Douzo) humble abode (The Marlborough Manor...) and her fabulous boyfriend Buddy made us a delicious feast (now i really can't have them over my house because I will never be able to compete with his cooking ability!

We started off with salads - which I "made"- aka- stuck lettuce on a plate.
They were made of spring greens, goat cheese, tomato, croutons, and topped with some Brianna's Zesty French Dressing:




Here's a picture of Jenny Posing with her new Zesty French Dressing (which is advertised to be great on tomatoes! therefore the salad had the addition of tomatoes at the last minute)

Salad was followed by some Italian Bread, baked with seasoned olive oil and mozzarella (?) cheese. We let buddy do the cooking, I really have no idea what I was putting in my mouth half the time, but it was all fabulous, so whatever it was was a great creation! and of course always better when someone else its cooking. :)

The main course was Fettucini, with a homemade sauce made with red wine, fresh tomatoes, scallions, basil, and some light cream.
On the side was a some freshly cooked chard - it was my first time eating chard- but I basically knew it was green and leafy and so it was love at first sight <3. style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Sx67TVreX_3aYmzOTpJjzvNz0YBitSU1lqol27ed0UJaYpAvB5DuemFqgJQ2u9AROWn-WVKxxlYGX7KSV1q8nXW0_RlSuII1PZEwFdwZGHM5dVgd0iar0x7DN41ETtrDNPkv8qgqzP3w/s320/SDC10058.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318095176637602770" border="0">
Note: Generally this is not how a plate should look, the veggies should take up about half the plate and then try to cut down the amount of carbs. At least the sauce is full of veggies too :)
And here is the master chef enjoying his creations:
Along with cooking us all a lovely meal, Buddy also provided the entertainment with some live guitar playing on a fancy 7 string guitar (show off.. I can't even handle the 6 strings!)
And there may have also been a glass or two of wine along with the meal :)

Nearing the end of the night Jenny got ambitious to bake a cake! So we did (from a box...) So we went to a mixing and a baking.
We then unfortunately realized how long cakes take to bake so I had to leave to catch the train home before it was done cooking, but overall it was delightful time :) I said i needed to rent a buddy for my own personal use, but then I realized that was clearly not true- as I can just go there and steal their foo



I really cannot comment to much on the nutritional content of my day, since I was not terribly involved in the preparation of any of the food today, but I did at least start off the day well, and did not binge eat at work, and dinner did contain a good amount of veggies!

Happy friday :)