Chap Chae (Korean glass noodle dish) made with Kelp Noodles

Good Evening! Monday is almost over. It was a really great day today. I'm a little tired but it went well. I ate well, had good workouts and I'm almost completely done with my day. Even got a few minutes of relaxation in tonight! Yes!

As mentioned in my previous post I was up early for my cardio on the treadmill. This evening back at the gym for shoulders, upper chest, and rear delts. Great workout.

Workout:
Shoulder Press - 4x12 - 20lbs - 4 different grips
Side leaning lat raise - 3x15 - 20 lbs
Front delt raise (chest to bench at angle) - 3x15 with 5 second hold at end! - 10lbs
Pushups off 15lb dumbbell (3x12) superset with incline chest press - 3x10 - 15lbs
Rear delt fly (chest to bench at angle) - 3x15
Rear delt squeeze on machine, standing - unilateral - 3x15 - 85 lbs
DONE!!

Meals:
1)  2/3 cup nasty crockpot oatmeal w/ apples and walnuts
2) Chai spice protein muffins, 15 almonds
3) Egg white salad (not recipe worthy) and 2 small Ezekiel tortillas
4) Protein shake & 1 T almond butter
5) 4 oz Asian pork tenderloin, cucumber slices
6) Salad w/ broiled shrimp and balsamic vinaigrette dressing
7) Will be protein tea, probably something tropical like my Zinzibar Ginger Coconut with 1 t flaxseed oil

New recipe that I just made and am patiently waiting to tomorrow to eat up with whatever protein I end up having, probably chicken for dinner. I hope you try it. You can always use regular glass noodles if you're not trying to watch your carbs but this is really delicious with the Kelp Noodles too! Tastes like the real thing. The kelp noodles soften up once they hit the heat and soy sauce. Yummy!

Chap Chae 

Chap Chae

1/2 package Kelp Noodles (although could have easily used the whole package)

2 teaspoons sesame oil

1 T canola oil

1 small onion, thinly sliced

1 zucchini, cut into matchsticks

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

3 stalks green onion, cut into 1" lengths diagonally

4 med/large mushrooms (shitake or wood ear but I just used regular since that's what I had)

1 pkg spinach (6 oz)

2 T soy sauce

5 drops stevia

1 T sesame seeds, optional

Rinse noodles well. Mix with 1 teaspoon sesame oil. Cut to desired length with scissors.

Mix soy sauce and stevia together. Set aside.

Heat canola oil in LARGE saute pan or wok on med high heat, swirling to coat. When oil is hot but not smoking, fry onions and zucchini until just softened, about 1 minute. Add garlic, green onions and mushrooms and fry 30 seconds. Add spinach soy sauce & stevia and noodles. Fry 2-3 minutes till all is heated through. Take off heat and add remaining teaspoon sesame oil and sesame seeds if using.

That's it. So easy and yummy! It's quite traditional too except Koreans usually use carrot instead of zucchini. Of course you could put ANY veggie that appeals to you in. You can add shredded chicken or whatever protein you want and you're set. Hope you like it!

That's about it. Hope you all have a wonderful and relaxing evening and I'll be back on here tomorrow. Going to try my brown rice couscous tomorrow. I'll give you my review. Hope it's as delicious as regular couscous because I love couscous. It's so versatile!

Workout, Dinner, Bed!

Let me just say thank you to Iris for inspiring me to make some peanut noodles. This dish is really fantastic! Not to pat myself on the back or anything but I'm surprised how tasty this is since I kind of made it up and hopefully some of you will try it.

I made this with the kelp noodles I mentioned the other day but you can use whatever kind of noodle you want, as well as whatever kind of protein you want. Delish!!!!!

Carb Free Peanut Noodles with Shrimp - OMG!!!

For the noodles:

1 package kelp noodles

3 T peanut butter

1 1/2 T rice wine vinegar

1 t garlic chile sauce

1 T sesame oil

4 drops stevia or 1-2 t sugar

1-3 T hot water

2-3 scallions, chopped

cilantro, chopped

Drain and rinse the noodles. Soak and drain in hot water several times to soften them up a little. They will still be a little crunchy but a better texture. In the meantime, mix next 5 ingredients together. Add the water a tablespoon at a time till it's a good consistency. I used all 3 tablespoons. Pour over noodles. Top with shrimp (recipe below) or protein of your choice. Add scallions and cilantro to taste. 

 For the shrimp:

1 lb uncooked shelled shrimp

1-2 t garlic chile sauce

1 t garlic

2 drops stevia or 1 t sugar

1 T soy sauce or tamari, low sodium

Mix all ingredients together and then add shrimp. Broil shrimp about 2 minutes per side.

Workout - Drop Sets
Shoulder press:  15 reps - 15, 12, 10
Side leaning lat raise: 12 reps - 15, 12, 10
Front raise: 12 reps, 12,10,8
Overhead triceps extension: 12 reps - 25, 20, 15
Triceps kickback: 12 reps - 10,8,5
Triceps pressdown on cable: 15 reps - 30, 25 then 12 reps - 35, 30, 25
Abs on decline bench w/ plate: 3x15
Ab crunch on ball: 3x20

That pretty much sums it up for me! Today was a good day. I feel like I got a lot done and I really enjoyed my dinner. I can't wait for my 7th meal. I think you all know what that will be...yep! The chocolate mint protein tea. Tasty!

I'm signing off for now. More to come tomorrow. Yeah! It's going to be sunny so I can actually do my track workout outside! Can't wait!


Always strive to excel, but only on weekends.  ~Richard Rorty

Rain, rain, go away!

I'm VERY tired of the rain. This is not the reason I live in "SUNNY" Southern California! Actually I don't even mind if it rains during the week but I want to do my track workout on the weekend on an outdoor track! Is that too much to ask for?

I was up bright and early this morning, hitting the elliptical for some fasted cardio. It was a good workout with good stretching. I came home and ate, then ate again a little while later and then it was back to the gym (hence why I'm so tired of the rain!!) for my track workout. It was great! I love that workout but definitely prefer it outdoors.

Tomorrow I have a long stepmill workout plan in the am and then I'm done until Monday! Hopefully it will stop raining by then because then I can do the Santa Monica Stairs instead of being in the gym again! That would be fantastic! Keep your fingers crossed for me. As for the rest of Sunday, of course I'm sure I'll make some protein muffins and such and probably cook up some fish, maybe pork and chicken or turkey! I'll let you know what I end up making. I also have to do a lot of laundry tomorrow! That's my fault for not doing any today. I have GOT to get motivated! Ugh!

Tonight I made some kelp noodles! They were pretty tasty. I can't wait to figure out a recipe for them to make a cold noodle salad in the summer because they are very crunchy and would be refreshing in the summer to eat. Again I'll post my recipe when I figure out what to do with them. This is their website: www.kelpnoodles.com

Have a nice evening and I'll get back with you tomorrow post workout and hopefully post cleaning and mid-laundry. Oh, yeah, I know how to partay!!!!

I can see my dream more and more clearly each and every day and I can't wait to get on that stage. I can feel it. I'm getting the vibe and it's still 6 months away! It'll be here before I know it though! What a great feeling to have a goal and really go for it! First time in my life I've really done that, at the ripe old age of 43!!!

“You see things; and you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say, 'Why not?'” ~George Bernard Shaw, (Irish literary Critic, Playwright and Essayist. 1925 Nobel Prize for Literature, 1856-1950)