A Twist On Chicken Noodle Soup

This was good....It was inspired by the Asian Noodle Bowl recipe from Eat Clean Diet Recharged by Tosa Reno.

Asian Chicken Veggie Soup (serves 4)

1 large chicken breast, sliced

1 t olive oil

2 T soy sauce, low sodium

2 T sesame oil

1 t chili oil

1 t rice wine vinegar

1 t ginger paste

2 t garlic paste (equals 2 cloves)

4 cups chicken stock (if not homemade, use low sodium)

2 cups water

1 large carrot, cut into matchsticks

4 cups bok choy, chopped (this is about 1 head)

1 cup frozen green peas

1 cup asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 oz. uncooked buckwheat soba noodles

Mix the sliced chicken, sesame oil, chili oil, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ginger and garlic together. In a hot pan, pour in 1 t of olive oil and saute the chicken until mostly done, about 5 minutes. Add in the chicken stock and water and cook at a high simmer/low boil until stock is hot. Add in the veggies and cook for 5 more minutes. Lastly, add in the soba noodles and cook 5 more minutes, until the veggies and noodles are tender.

I haven't done the calorie count yet, but each serving is 5 WW points.

Wordless (missed a spot w/sunscreen) Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Guest Chef In The Kitchen

It isn't often that someone cooks for me (no Sweetie, making me coffee doesn't count) so I just had to take pictures and blog about it! My friend, Korean Cowgirl, showed up on Saturday afternoon with fixings for Bulgogi, a marinated beef stir-fry kind of dish. We'd never had it before, so I got a kick out of being a spectator in my own kitchen.


She bought the thinly sliced marinated beef at Super H Mart, a huge Asian grocery store. It's often made with ribeye or sirloin. I don't know what this particular cut was. Here's the meat, mixed with soy sauce, garlic, ginger, a little sesame oil. The carrots are mixed in with this bowl since they'll take longer to cook than the other veggies.

Which brings us to other veggies. She had scallions and some gorgeous leeks, which she chopped.

Here are more scallions, mixed with the giant bean sprouts. They were sauteed separately.

She cooked the meat and carrots over high heat, stirring frequently.

The bean sprouts were also cooked over high heat. We all agreed after dinner that the bean sprouts could have been cooked longer. They were still very crunch. Good, but crunchy.

And the finished dish, which was served over rice. It was so good that even the fussy eater in my house cleaned his plate. Three times.

Man, that was good. I'm thinking a trip to Super H Mart is in short order...

A C25K Update and Insanity

My C25K programs has been going well. I started week 1 with my own music in 30 and 120 second intervals (got bored with running to 30 seconds of Miami Vice Theme really quickly). Did that for a week, then I started week 1 over, doing the Podrunner First Day to 5K podcast. Much quicker pace. Tonight I start on week 2 of Podrunner.

Since it's been going well, I decided to make it official and join the ranks of the insane. I just registered for the Run For Retrievers 5K in May. I wanted to do a 5K around the time of my birthday, and this race is towards the end of the C25K training, the weather shouldn't be outrageously hot, and it's for a really good cause; the DFW Labrador Retriever Rescue Club. Anyone who knows me knows I am a sucker for dogs, so this is a win-win situation. I'll be off the couch and running with the big dogs.

I wish I could run the race with my dogs, but running a 5K, even training for one, and my doggies doesn't mix. Stop, snif and pee, stop, sniff and pee, oh look, it's a bunny! (race off and mom ends up with a sprained ankle). Besides, my secret superhero exercise name isn't Runs With Dog Poop.

Say Goodbye To The Couch, Baby!

It's April 1st, and, no joke, I'm starting the C25K program today. My friends Julia @JewliaGoulia and Stephanie @mommas_crew were talking the other day on Twitter about wanting to do the C25K but were a bit nervous about starting it. I piped in that I'd be interested in doing it with them. We picked April 1 as the day to get going, and at last count, there are 17 of us starting today. If you want to join us, head over to Julia's blog and sign up. The more the merrier!

When, not if, I finish this, I'll be signing up to run a 5K somewhere nearby, and I'd love it if some Dallas area buddies want to sign up with me! Wish us luck and keep your fingers crossed that I don't sprain my ankle again.

Oh, and I'm looking to expand my playlist, so if you have good ideas for songs that are 60 and 90 seconds, please let me know. Most of what I have in that time range is from Les Miserables. It's great music, but not really good running music, if you know what I mean.