Sesame Peanut Noodles {again}

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I have made a million different versions of this dish and it’s good each and every time. Okay maybe not a million but a lot. This one is a Nigella Lawson recipe and what caught my eye was the sweet chili sauce, how can it not be good? Her version calls for ready-cooked egg noodles but I am cool with boiling my own noodles. I didn’t change a thing to this recipe however I did omit the bean sprouts and I added crushed red pepper because I like the heat. It was good, just as I suspected. Kaili gave it a thumbs up too!

Sesame Peanut Noodles

*recipe by Nigella Lawson

Ingredients

For the Sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon garlic infused olive oil

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce

5 tablespoons smooth peanut butter

2 tablespoons Lime juice

For the salad

1/4 cup snap peas

1 Red peppers deseeded and cut into small strips

2 spring onion finely sliced

1 package of spaghetti or linguini

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

4 tablespoon cilantro chopped

Directions

  1. Whisk together all the dressing ingredients in a bowl or jug.
  2. Put the snap peas, red pepper strips, sliced spring onions and the noodles into a bowl.
  3. Pour the dressing over them and mix thoroughly to coat everything well.
  4. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds and chopped cilantro and serve. Good warm and cold!
Just can’t get enough…
Yum!

Ribbit {that is all I could come with}

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I am absolutely horrible at naming my blog posts. Trying to come up with a clever title seems easy enough but defeats me every time, dammit!

Today was a perfect 84 degrees, a mere 25 degrees cooler than Saturday.  With the nice weather change I thought it would be the perfect time to blow up Kaili’s frog pool she got from her birthday.  She seemed to get more enjoyment out of this pool than the other baby pool I got her a year ago. Maybe it was because the water out of the hose was warm and she wasn’t shivering. Or it was because big froggy eyes were peering down on her, yeah that was probably it.

After lounging in the water we ate lunch outside. Then I soaked up some sun while she “cooked” us up snacks and chased the cat around.

Did I tell you I saw my Neonatologist Dr. Stanco a month ago? I was advised by my fertility Dr. to sit down and talk to her about the risks of having another child.  After talking through everything that happened during my pregnancy she said “go for it!” She thinks that most of what happened to me were freak things. The subchorionic tear, the velementous cord insertion and the succenturiate lobe in my placenta are rare conditions and she doesn’t see them happening again. However the pre-term contractions could happen again so I would have to be monitored really closely and bed rest is a good possibly. Even though I was diagnosed with Pre-Eclampsia at the end of my pregnancy she wasn’t too concerned about that. She did advise that if I was going to do it, to do it soon.

I still haven’t quite recovered mentally from everything that happened. Even though I have now been told everything should be fine, the Drs. were wrong once. This time I have Kaili to think about and in the back of my mind I worry about something happening to me. I know, I know..Hopefully I can come to a final decision on what I want to do. Until then…

Cilantro Jalapeño Hummus

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Welp, vacation is over so I guess that means it’s time to get back to good dieting and healthy eating. I have a bunch of good recipes for fall but since it’s still hot as hell outside I am going to stick with the ones that don’t require the oven, or cooking at all in this case.

Cilantro Jalapeno Hummus

Ingredients

 1/3-1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves

1-2 jalapeno peppers, ribbed and seeded (depending on desired flavor)

1 clove garlic, peeled

3 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/4 cup water

6 tbsp. tahini

2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 (14 oz.) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1/2 tsp. salt1/4 tsp. cumin

Pinch of cayenne pepper ( large pinch if you like it extra spicy )

Directions

 Combine the cilantro, jalapenos, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the ingredients have been finely minced.

In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice and water.

In another bowl, whisk together the tahini and olive oil, set aside.

.Scrape down the sides of the food processor bowl and add the chickpeas, salt, cumin and cayenne.

Process until almost fully ground, about 15 seconds. Scrape down the bowl.

Add the oil-tahini mixture and then continue to process until smooth and creamy, about 15 seconds, scraping down the bowl as needed.

Scrape down the bowl again and with the machine running add the lemon juice-water mixture in a steady stream through the feed tube. Blend for 1 minute, scraping down the bowl as needed.

Transfer the hummus to a serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let stand until the flavors meld, at least 30 minutes. Enjoy with whole wheat pita bread or veggies!

Back to Reality

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What an amazing trip we just had. 4 countries, 20 days, 2 medals and Coldplay! I think I am home sick from it all. I miss waking up in a new place, sightseeing, eating and drinking our way through cities and just being out of the day-to-day routine.  And although leaving Kaili for those first 10 days was the hardest thing I have ever done and tears were shed on the way to the airport, I was prepared and so was everyone watching her.  I shook it off and enjoyed myself and I don’t regret it one bit. I think every couple needs to get away if they have the opportunity, marriage comes first. My biggest concern with leaving her was how it would affect her, would she have separation anxiety? Would she resent me? I worried for nothing because she did just fine and when we got to London it the same as it had always been, that was the best feeling ever. This vacation was greatly needed and it was better than I expected! But all good things must come to an end and reality slowly creeps back around. Today is that day.

Rome
Paris

Brussels
Les Deux Magots

Shane’s folks left back to Washington early this morning and Shane went back to Ventura for work. It’s just me and Kaili for the day. She seems to be back on the US time schedule as she slept through the night last night. I on the other hand woke up a few times disoriented. I didn’t know where I was or what room Kaili was in. It was really strange, I stood in our bedroom trying to figure out what door would get me to the bathroom and what door would lead me to her.

I guess it’s time to start thinking about a few things. In the near future I need to get rid of Kaili’s nighttime pacifier, I am dreading that. Also, I want to introduce her to the potty. She will turn 17 months at the end of September.

Kaili with Big Bird

I am also concerned with her speech, or lack there of. She has her own language, she does say “yes” and she understands anything we say. But other than that she isn’t talking. I am not overly concerned since no one else seems to be but I wont lie that in the back of my head I wonder if it has something to do with her  birth. If she isn’t talking by 18 months than it’s time for another opinion. Other than that she is right on cue with her age.  Her hand seems just fine, she has an awesome grip so I don’t think we will have any complications with it. I think she will be right handed anyway, even though Shane really wants her to follow in his footsteps and be a lefty.

Kaili Sloan 16 months
get cooking!

Attempting to sort her silverware by color
But scattering them is more fun.
Giving Senna some milk