Blythe Ponytail Parades

Chicken Veggie Soba Noodles Recipe

I just want all the Asian food I can get. Seriously, my husband's tastes are rubbing off on me and now I could eat rice every single day. I want all my veggies with soy sauce. I crave bean sprouts frequently. So this in turn has our rice cooker working hard and bottles of teriyaki sauce disappearing quickly. So this week I decided to try something new with some soba noodles I snagged. Here's my very thrown together recipe that turned out pretty darn tasty. And it's pretty simple too!

• 1 package of Soba noodles (you could use Ramen as well)
• green cabbage
• 2 broccoli crowns
• 2 chicken thighs
• Bean sprouts
• sesame oil
• vegetable oil
• soy sauce
• sugar
• garlic cloves
• green onions
• teriyaki sauce
• pepper

Instructions

1. Boil your noodles until cooked thoroughly.
2. Meanwhile, in a frying pan, cook thinly sliced chicken thighs in a a mixture of sesame oil and vegetable oil until fully cooked. Set on a paper towel to dry.
3. In a frying pan, add about a half a head of thinly sliced cabbage, a 15 ounce can (or fresh bag) of bean sprouts, chopped broccoli crowns and cook/fry for about 6-8 minutes.
4. In a small bowl, mix together 1/2 cup soy sauce, 3 tablespoons of sugar, 2 tablespoons sesame oil, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, 4 minced garlic cloves, 1/4 cup of teriyaki sauce and a dash of pepper.
5. Remove veggies from frying pan and add cooked, drained noodles, chicken and mixed sauce. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes stirring to evenly distribute your sauce over all the noodles and chicken. Once finished, sprinkle with fresh chopped green onions!
6. Serve with your veggies on the side or mix them in! So much yum. Omit chicken and you have a fantastic vegan dish!

 

 

 

Almond milk lattes and honest thoughts

So I've known that I am lactose intolerant since college and since then, I take "lactaid enzymes" when I plan on eating something with dairy. Generally hard cheeses or baked items with milk didn't bother me much, but ice cream or lattes were a little hard on my tummy even with the lactaid. I've also battled with pretty extreme acid reflux since I was a teenager which in turn keeps me away from acidic foods like chocolate, tomatoes and mint. Yes, it's tough and no I don't indulge in those things just to suffer later. The suffering far outweighs the pleasure of eating it. Plus I have a host of medical issues and allergies so truth be told, I have always seen myself as somewhat of a nuisance to others. Violet can't eat this, Violet can't go to their house because they have cats, Violet needs to sleep with 17,000 pillows at night (because of reflux), Violet needs her lactaid, blah blah blah. I've truly wondered what it's like to be a person that can just go with the flow, only bring a tooth brush and clothes when they travel somewhere or eat any meal prepared for them. It sounds dumb, I know. But thankfully I have amazing friends and family that put up with my annoying issues and "cater" to my dumb needs. And I love them for it. 

Recently my acid reflux had taken a major turn for the worse and was CONSTANTLY bothering me no matter what I had to eat or drink. I am also on a high dose of Nexium so technically, I shouldn't have been feeling so bad. But I was and it took quite the emotional toll on me. Constant nausea and the burping. My gosh the burping. It would NEVER stop. I mean never. Like I could burp endlessly and I would only feel mild relief for about 2 seconds after each burp. So I began the process of elimination to find out if there was any part of my diet that could be causing these hellish symptoms. I cut out gluten and dairy right away and avoided sugar as much as possible. I tried to stick with purely meat, rice, veggies and fruits. Within a few days, my symptoms improved and I felt like a human being again.

Let me just tell you, thinking it might be a gluten intolerance was devastating. I love gluten. Gluten is one of my best friends. Heaven is a pile of fresh baked rolls. Take away everything else but leave me with bread. So in order to put my body to the test, after going on this diet for a few weeks, I spent a day eating all the gluten I could handle. Thankfully, I still felt totally awesome. It wasn't until I reintroduced dairy in to my diet that the acid reflux-like symptoms reared their lovely head. And that's the thing, I get the typical lactose intolerant symptoms too, but those aren't nearly as bothersome as the extreme reflux. So is it the lactose intolerance or reflux causing it? I have no idea. All I know is that I am living day to day with very little to no dairy and I have not felt so good in over a year. 

And now I am learning to perfect the at home almond milk latte. Because coffee.

P.S. The winner of our Flower Crown Giveaway has been chosen!

Congrats Brianna! You will be emailed shortly <3 Thank you so much to everyone that entered! Stay tuned for another amazing giveaway next week.