over the weekend....

Happy Monday!  This post is a bit scattered - sorry.  I am literally writing it on my iPhone on the way to work because I didn't write it yesterday.  I was exhausted after running the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler and fell asleep watching TV on the sofa.  I woke up at 9pm, at which point I hobbled over into bed and promptly passed out.

Friday night Patti and Brittany came over for dinner of shrimp, quinoa, and a zucchini ribbon salad.  Recipes to come tomorrow.
 

Saturday I spent most of the day chugging water and reading.  (I read Catching Fire in a day in a half - so good!  I can't wait to get my hands on the third Hunger Games book.)  For dinner, I needed a gluten-free carboload, so, I made rice noodles stirfried in the wok with chicken breast, vegetables, and peanut sauce.

Ladies and gentlemen, my wild and crazy Saturday night:

The sauce for two servings was adapted from this stirfry recipe, with some modifications.    I made this sauce is a little bit looser than my previous peanut sauce because I wanted it to be thin enough when combined with the starchiness of the rice noodles, which has a thickening effect.  I used rice vinegar as well because I couldn't add sugar, and I actually prefered the subtle sweetness this provided.

Peanut Sauce for rice noodles
Makes enough for 2 servings of rice noodles

1/4 cup boiling hot water
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 tablespoon (gluten-free) soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 tablespoon rice vinegar
minced garlic and minced ginger, to taste

1.  Boil water.  Since this amount is so small, I do it in a tea kettle, but you could probably do it in the microwave.
2.  Mince garlic and ginger over a bowl.
3.  Add soy sauce, sesame oil, and rice vinegar.  Stir to combine.
4.  Add peanut butter, and whisk in hot water.

I stirfried my vegetables and chicken as usual, and then added the sauce and the noodles at the end and tossed for a minute or two. I guess you could say it was like a lazy man's, completely inauthentic pad thai. 

Sunday I ran.  The race was a lot of fun, and I especially loved this guy at mile 8.  In case you're wondering, I kept running.  No beer, and no Oreos.

Afterward, I celebrated with a long brunch at Lincoln with Brittany and Catie.  The food was nothing special, but it was a fun party brunch.  A DJ spun tunes while brunchers ate omelets and waffles and had the option of bottomless drinks.  I got the "city breakfast" - a spin on bagels and lox - which included two eggs any style, lox, pickled onions and capers, cream cheese, and a bagel.  I asked the waiter if he could bring me a starchy, gluten-free substitute for the bagel, and he happily accomodated my request.  I ended up with a greasy, flavorless hash brown, almost patty-like, but I devoured it anyway seeing as I was thisclose to chewing off my arm at that point.

Looking ahead this week, we'll have Friday night's recipes tomorrow, a steak recipe for Bollie, and a couple surprises.  Let me know if you have any requests.  (Ryan's request was that I not stop the blog....we'll see what I can do about that!)