At Home Take-Out....

So since we had a lazy "pancake/Regis/walk in the park with Penny" morning yesterday, I thought I'd take advantage of my leisurely afternoon and make us a "fancy" lunch since we had the time.  Sooo very lovely for a Monday:)  And the idea started with these little Garlic Noodle bowls that I got from Trader Joe's (for 99 Cents!!)....

I combined my desire to bulk up these bowls along with my massive craving for Thai food:)  Annnd since the Thai place I was hoping to try out yesterday was CLOSED on Mondays (what are the odds???), I decided to try making some Pad Thai at home!

We diced up some chicken and cooked it in a pan with a drizzle of olive & sesame oil, 3 minced garlic cloves and a sprinkle of grated ginger (No pic....but you can use your imagination for that one, right?:)  Next we chopped up a bevy of veggies:

• Zucchini
• Snow Peas
• Shredded Carrots
• Onion
• Bean Sprouts

We tossed all of those in a pan to saute with some garlic, olive & sesame oil until slightly soft.

Meanwhile, I got to work on my little "helper" item.  I opened the container to find THREE separate seasoning & an oil packet;)  Fancy;) 

I combined all of the seasoning packets into one of the bowls of noodles and filled both of them with boiling water, cover and let them sit for a few minutes  (you remember your college days, right?? :) 

Next, I whisked together a quick sauce made of:

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons peanut butter
• The garlic oil packets from the bowl (not necessary, but I figured I didn't want them to go to waste:)

Finally....into the veggie pot I added the peanut butter sauce, the "flavored" noodle bowl AND the drained "plain" noodles....

I let that all simmer together for a few minutes to thicken up and adjust any of the spices.

And then it was time to CHOW!  I added a layer of noodles & veggies to the bowl, topped with the ginger chicken and finished with a sprinkle of diced green onions & chopped peanuts:

This was ANOTHER meal that seemed "complicated," but all of the elements came together so quickly that this hit the table before we knew it!  And oh....was. it. good! :)  I loved all of the textures from the veggies, the noodles and the crunchy peanuts.  Sooooooooo yummy!

You don't NEED the TJ's Garlic bowls.  You can just add any rice noodles for this dish, but I liked the convenience...and the price:)

For dinner, we kept it on the smooooth side:  A green monster for him....

...and a Mango Chobani/Frozen Pineapple/Protein Powder/Chia Seed smoothie for her! :)  We wanted something light since we were both planning on working out after dinner.  He hit the rowing machine and I hit the gym for:

Monday Night:  1 hr. Pilates class + 1 1/2 hr. Power Yoga

FELT. LIKE. HEAVEN!  I don't often get to do the Monday night power yoga class because I won't skip my favorite pilates class (and I'm not getting home at 8pm on a Monday...too daunting for me:P ) but it is sooo great.  The teacher sets up the room with windchimes and just a single lamp, so you have no self consciousness while your bending and twisting in every which way since it's pretty dark in there...always nice, right??  Plu it's soooo relaxing! 

Whichhhhhh...brings us to today, which is nice since I have to keep reminding myself that it's TUESDAY;)  Although, you "warmer climate" folks will laugh to find out that it SNOWED again this morning;)  Nothing major, but still a bit of a shock after our nice warm up last week;) hahahhahahahhaa....

Alright, I'm headin out of here...have a good one:)