FINALLY Tasty Homemade Thai Food

After my 3 mile run today I came home and housed a delicious Graveyard Smoothie. The Graveyard Smoothie contains a unique mixture of fruits and veggies. It had frozen bananas and blueberries, a handful of spinach, almond milk and some fresh strawberries and blueberries. It tasted pretty good and stuffed my belly.

After a quick shower...I challenged myself to make homemade Thai food one more time. I think I have made one edible Thai recipe and it was a Thai Chicken Salad with Peanut Dressing. And I don't really count it as being homemade because I didn't make the chicken and really how can you mess up peanut dressing. :) So my mission was to make a Tasty Thai dish. On tonight's menu was Cilantro Chicken with Peanuts. I got this recipe from an old cookbook called "Easy Dinner and Healthy Recipes."

This recipe was fairly easy to make and prep but I decided I wanted brown rice so I had to wait 45 minutes. Why does brown rice take so long? :) While I was cooking the rice I prepped the chicken, made the sauce, measured the chiles and peanuts. Below is the recipe:

2 teaspoons roasted peanut oil (I used regular EVOO)
1 pound of chicken breasts - cut into 1 inch pieces
1 ounce honey-roasted peanuts
1-2 dried red chiles (use more if you like it super spicy)
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon toasted seasame oil (I used regular seasame oil)
1 1/2 cups of cilantro
Cabbage Slaw (I used broccoli slaw)
Brown Rice
Lime slices and cilantro for garnish

1) Heat peanut oil over high heat. Cook and stir chicken in skillet for 2 minutes and then add peanuts and chiles. Cook and stir for 3 minutes or until the chicken is no longer pink.

2) Add soy sauce, rice vinegar and seasame oil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro leaves.

3) Spoon over cabbage or rice. (In my case both)

I have to tell you that this recipe was full of spice and flavor. I finally did it...a tasty homemade Thai dish. :) I loved the variety of flavors especially the sweetness of the peanuts and the kick of the red chiles. This dish was amazing and I felt so good about myself. I finally completed my mission of homemade Thai food. Take a peak at my masterpiece:

So delish!

I paired my dinner with a refreshing Arnold Palmer because I have been craving ice tea and lemonade in this heat wave Seattle is having. By heat wave I mean 70-75 degrees. :)

I had the perfect dinner! I think I am now going to take a break from trying to cook Thai food because I finally succeeded. Does anyone have any great homemade Thai food recipe to share??

Homemade Thai Food - Mission Failed

I had a variety of missions to accomplish today and sadly have to report that I failed at least one of them. :)Today's mission:

1) Find an interval workout and complete it - Acommplished (actually succeed expectations) :)

I found a interval workout on my favorite site http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/! Here is my workout using the Quick Cardio Blaster:

Elliptical
5 minutes - Warm-Up (Level 4)
5 minutes - Level 6
5 minutes - Level 7
10 minutes - Level 9
5 minutes - Level 7
5 minutes - Cool Down (Level 4)

After my elliptical workout I headed to do some push-ups and sit-ups! I did 3 sets of the following circuit. :)

10 push-ups using the BOSU Ball
20 regular crunches on a stability ball
20 side wall crunch each side
20 knee tucks on a stability ball

I decided to be a complete gym rat and finished with a variation of the Quick Cardio Blaster on the stairmaster...it just felt like the right thing to do. :) I tend to get a bit bored on the stairmaster so I decided to change up my climbing the steps by doing 1 minute normal, 1 minute skipping a step, 1 minute turning to my left (working the side of my leg), 1 minute turning to my right and then 1 minute of normal! This makes the workout go by so fast but it also is a bit challenging because of my coordination issues...be careful!

5 minutes - Warm-Up (Level 4)
5 minutes - Level 7
10 minutes - Level 9
5 minutes - Level 7
5 minutes - Cool Down (Level 4)

Great workout followed with a delicious blueberry protein shake and raw veggies.
2) Find a job - Mission failed
No interviews scheduled...:( But I did submit for a couple positions.

3) Make a homemade Thai food that tastes good - Mission Miserably Failed

I have tried to make homemade Thai food numerous times and it never tastes the same...what am I missing? I found a great looking recipe in Food Network Magazine: Eggplant & Tofu Curry. I decided to try it and see what happens...it looked good but tasted nothing like the curry I enjoy at a Thai food restaurant. :( Again someone please help me figure out what spice I am missing??

Paired with quinoa to be healthy!

4) Read a good portion of Marketing in the Moment & The Girls of Ames - Mission accomplished

I am really enjoying Marketing in the Moment and learning about Web 3.0 Marketing...hopefully this will help me while interviewing. :) I read a couple of chapters of The Girls of Ames but it isn't hooking me like before.

5) Make a delicious dessert for 1 - Mission accomplished (Thanks to Chocolate Covered Katie)

She has a section in recipes called Single Lady Desserts. I love this idea because it satisfies my sweet toothe without overindulging. Tonight I wanted a single chocolate chip cookie! This cookie didn't have any dairy and still tasted AMAZING. I paired my dessert with a DIY Iced Matcha Green Tea Latte (made with almond milk). This hit the spot and made me SMILE BIG.

Perfect Serving Size!

Today had a few failures but ultimately was a successful and fun day! 

Thai Chicken Salad w/ Creamy Peanut Dressing

The one type of food that I LOVE to eat but never can cook myself is Thai food. Whenever I try to make something Thai it is obviously missing something and sometimes you can't even stomach the dish. :(

I love pretty much everything on the menu at Thai restaurants but one of my favorite appetizers are fresh rolls with creamy peanut dressing. Sometimes I want to lick the bowl clean...but somehow I always restrain myself.

When my Cooking Light magazine came this month I found a recipe called Thai Chicken Salad w/ Cream Peanut Dressing. I thought to myself....you can do this. So I decided to make it tonight as a light dinner. As I was looking at the recipe I already had all the dressing ingredients I just needed to get the chicken and salad. I decided to buy a baked chicken at the store to save me time! I couldn't find bean sprouts so I substituted a pre-cut mix of broccoli, carrots and cabbage. The recipe was really simple!!

1) Cut chicken and vegetables and place in a large bowl

2) Prepare the sauce: mix the peanut butter, brown sugar, cayenne pepper, lowfat coconut milk in a saucepan

3) Let the sauce cool and then pour the creamy peanut butter dressing over the salad and top with crushed peanuts.

4) Serve yourself a healthy portion because 3 cups is a serving size for this salad. :)







I finally was able to recreate something Thai...even if it was just the dressing. The salad is all about the dressing so I was so excited it turned out yummy. Don't be surprised if you find yourself licking the bottom of the saucepan. This is a quick and easy recipe that we satisfy any appetite.

I'm feeling a little cocky so next up I think I am going to attempt a curry that doesn't end up in my trash can!