Feelin' hot hot hot

Hi friends! Today was another hot tamale, so I’m thinking about a cool noodle salad for dinner. True, I will have to turn on the stove to boil pasta water, but it’s better than the oven. Plus, you’d best believe I’ll keep my head in the crisper for the duration of the boiling sesh.

Here’s what I’m thinking for tonight’s menu:

Green Gremlin (a sweet appetizer-sized Green Monster)

• 1/2 a frozen banana (freezing the nana eliminates the need for ice and seems to make a creamier smoothie

• 1/2 Tbsp. almond buttah

• 2 handfuls spinach (eyeballed)

• 1 tsp. flax

• 1 tsp. chia seeds

• Splash of nonfat milk (enough for the ingredients to blend)

...to be poured into a half-pint glass and sipped while I prepare...


Cold Asian Noodle Salad

For the salad:

• 1 bundle buckwheat noodles
• 1 carrot, chopped finely or grated (I am loath to use the box grater after zesting my knuckle last time)
• 1 stalks celery, sliced thinly
• 1/3 block tofu, sliced or crumbled
• a few leaves of kale
• 1/2 zucchini or summer squash (sauteed if you can stand to turn on another burner)

For the dressing:

• Juice of 1/3 a lime or lemon
• 2 Tbsp. milk or water
• 1 Tbsp. peanut butter
• 1 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tsp. fresh grated or juiced ginger
• 1/2 tsp chili flakes
• Drizzle of agave
• Sprinkle of sesame seeds
• Salt, pepper

1. Prepare the noodles according to package directions before draining and rinsing in ice cold water
2. Add to a bowl with the remainder of the veggies, (except for the squash; optional saute)
3. Prepare the dressing by whisking ingredients together or pureeing in a blender; pour over salad.

I’ll let you know if I make any changes to the noodles when I update tomorrow. I may bulk it up with protein by topping with a fried or scrambled eggster.
A foodie's lamentation: i'm out of bean sprouts!  I wish I had some. I love their crispy crunch and they would be perfect in this.
Let me also mention how fantastic the juicer is for extracting lemon and ginger juices for sauce. I only recently started doing this and it works a treat.

I did a quick, slightly sweaty, mostly upper body strength workout at the gym this afternoon...

• Dumbbell bench press (8 x 3 x 30) 
• Bent over row (8 x 3 x 20) 
• Tricep pulldown (10 x 2 x 25) 
• Bicep curl (10 x 2 x 30) 
• Calf raise (130 x 3 x 15) 
• Bicycle crunch (20 x 3) 
• Supermans (15 x 3)

...before heading home to sunbathe and read my books on the lawn. 
During the summer, I put in extra hours Monday – Thursday at work so I can get out around noon on Friday. It’s a special treat that makes dragging my sleepy bum out of bed an hour early worth it.

Excitement: I will have pictures from now on, starting tomorrow! Thanks for letting me borrow the camera, Dad!
That should spice things up a little bit.

Enjoy your Friday nights! I’m off to cook, write and read. Speaking of excitement...