Wednesday, June 12, 2013

WIAW: Thai Inspired Spaghetti Squash with Peanut Sauce

Peas and Crayons

Well, hello there, friend!  Thanks for stopping by ;)
This week has been full of crazy excitement...due to only one thing: my boyfriend's parents' dog, Reggie, is staying with us this week.
If we thought Bizzy was crazy before, Reggie intensifies her craziness tenfold!  He is also super full of energy, himself.  I could not even get a picture of my breakfast without dogs in my face.  I'm cool with it, though!  Love those pups!

Breakfast: Shake
Good Morning, Reggie!!  

I woke up late this morning.  No reason, just couldn't pull my lazy butt out of bed, so breakfast was on the go.  Made a quick shake containing: frozen banana, 1 cup of strawberries, vanilla protein powder & almond milk.  Simple & delicious.
Also, had a giant mug of coffee on the run!

Forgive my dirty windows.

 Not much going on at the office today, so I just read blogs.  I came across this awesome menu printable from Back to Her Roots & did some menu planning for next week.
Nerd Alert! 

A.M. Snack: Bar
Honestly, a protein bar is not my idea of a sensible snack.  It's fine when you are on the go, but not when you are at the office and too lazy to cut your apple (referring to myself, here).  Still, a decent calorie count from this Aldi protein bar.  Not the best in texture & taste, though.

Lunch: Grilled Cheeeeeessseee!!

It was 100 degrees today, so no walk with the dogs :(  Of course that gave me extra time to burn cook a grilled cheese! This charred delight included muenster cheese, avocado & tomato on whole wheat bread.  A side of carrots and berries just rounded out the meal.
Here's a closer shot.  Can you spot the avocado & tomato?


Got back to work and squealed with excitement when I saw my package from Old Navy had arrived!!  They had a killer fitness sale (that is possibly still going on...too lazy to check) & I scored all this loot for around $40!


My boss loves sweets and has a stockpile in the kitchen area.  Usually I ignore them, but the siren call of the Nutty Bar was calling my name.  Like, hardcore.
Buuuut, I went and looked at the calories and a Nutty Bar has 330 calories for both bars.  Can we say, "Not worth it!"?
So I Googled the calories on fun sized Twix and had that and a diet coke instead.
Healthy choice--NOPE!  But, a better choice, at least :)


P.M. Snack: Berries & Cheesy Wasa

Even after knowing the calories in the Nutty Bars, a few hours later I was singing, "Oooh, I want you I don't know if I need you.."  A little Savage Garden for your Wednesday ;)
But I resisted again!!  Go me!
I had the rest of the berries from lunch and a Wasa cracker with muenster cheese.  Perfectly satisfying and sensible.

Before I headed to my evening boot camp workout, I played with the dogs and did some colorful dinner prep.  So pretty!


Ok, so chopping these veggies & microwaving my spaghetti squash made cooking dinner fast & easy.
And so freaking delicious.  I kid you not.
I had a Thai noodle dish a few weeks ago with rice noodles and I could just taste the fat.  It was yummy, no doubt, but not great for you.  So I made a healthy copycat of it!  And it was even better!!
Are the exclamation points adequately expressing my excitement?!
Probably not.


Thai Inspired Spaghetti Squash with Peanut Sauce
serves 4

Spaghetti squash (cooked)
Zucchini, carrots
Chicken breast
Coconut oil
Soy sauce
Salt, pepper, garlic powder
Chopped peanuts
Cilantro (optional)
Peanut sauce (below)

Peanut Sauce:
2-3 tbsp creamy peanut butter
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp rice vinegar
red pepper flakes, salt & pepper to taste

Chop your zucchini and carrots as close to matchsticks as you can get (I didn't get that close) and slice your mushrooms.
Poke your spaghetti squash with a knife and microwave for around 7-8 minutes.  Allow it to cool.
Season 3-4 thin chicken breasts with salt, pepper, garlic powder & soy sauce and sear in a pan coated in coconut oil.  Set aside.
In the same skillet, throw in a little more coconut oil and the sliced carrots.  Season with salt and cook for about 5 minutes.  Toss in the zucchini and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes.
Chop the chicken in bite sized pieces and throw it and the sliced mushrooms in the pan.
Combine sauce ingredients in a small bowl and pour over all the stuff in the pan.
Cut your spaghetti squash in half (lenghtwise) and scrape out the seeds.  Use a spoon to scrape out the innards and add them to the pan.
Mix everything together and season to taste.
Add chopped peanuts and cilantro as garnish.
Yum!!!!

After eating, I, of course, played with these crazy dogs:


Bizzy plays hard & rests hard.



In Case You Missed It:
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Have a great week, all!

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