it's my girls' world

We've been on more of a clean eating kick now that summer is over--- however, boring food is not my thing so I try to incorporate lots of flavours, textures and veggies into what I'm doing. Enter Asian inspired zoodles! 

5-6 zucchini

1 large onion 

1 clove of garlic

1/4 cup of cilantro 

1/2 bell pepper, cut into strips

1 carrot, cut into thin strips

1 cup of mushrooms, sliced

1.5 pounds  of chicken, cut into small cubes(or more or less depending on your preference)

1 tbsp of oil 

1/2 cup of natural peanut butter

1 clove of garlic 

1/4 cup of cilantro

1 tbsp of sesame oil

2 tbsp of rice vinegar (or other vinegar if you don't have rice vinegar)

1 tbsp of hoisin (optional)

1 tbsp of sweet chili sauce (optional)

1 tbsp of light soy sauce

Honey to taste

Hot sauce if you wish

(blend all of these together well and the peanut sauce is done)

Toasted sesame seeds

Cilantro

Green onions

1- Cut zucchini into strips or spirals. I have a veggetti but you can use a spiraliser or even a mandolin or cut into tiny strips yourself.  Set aside.

2- Use a mini chopper (if possible) and chop onion, garlic and cilantro. (I'm all about saving time)

3- Place 1 tbsp of oil in pan and when hot, throw the onion mixture. 

4- When translucent and fragrant, add the chicken and brown it. Reduce heat to medium high

5- Add the veggies except for the zoodles. 

6- Add peanut sauce, tablespoon by tablespoon as necessary until saucy--- yeah, that's right. Saucy.

7- Either remove from pan or in a separate pan, heat oil and throw in zoodles. Cover pan to simmer for two to three minutes until steamed . Add chicken mixture until well combined. Add more sauce if you wish. The zoodles do give off some liquid!



8- Top with cilantro, green onions and sesame seeds… if you wish.

Also, there's a bit extra peanut sauce but it can be used as a dipping sauce or I just mixed it in with some regular pasta for my kids. 

This recipe was seriously so, so flavourful and yummy! I used a spoon to scoop up the extra sauce from my plate. It would go well with shrimp or tofu also. 

I can't wait for when it's on the rotation again!

Monday Morning Life Hacks

Twenty Questions

Falling into Fall- my faves

Linking up with Andrea, Erika and Narci for Favourites on Friday

And hello fall!!! If you can't beat them, join them, no? And though I will miss the wonderful summer we've had and the beautiful memories made, fall is also fun for these very reasons:

I've always loved fall jackets and cloth scarves before the chill of winter gets to me. I prepped in July at the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale and yeah, one might observe that I'm into blazers, blanket cardigans and tunics this year. And let's not forget the darker nail-polishes and booties!!

Pumpkin EVERYTHING. I'm actually not the biggest pumpkin fan but my family certainly is. From these amazing pumpkin poppers, to pumpkin pancakes to a PSL or two to pumpkin pie…. they just can't get enough. And slowly, I'm coming around! And forget about BBW's pumpkin soaps and candles. i.can't.even. 

I love soup. Even in the summer. We make them at least once a week. but I step my soup game in the fall with all the seasonal produce.  My butternut squash recipe is a fave among my group as is this Trinidadian corn soup. (perfect while you can still get fresh corn)

My fall candles deserve a special post all on their own. I wait for a sale and then do some damage on the BBW three wick ones.  But then we use them ALL up. My absolute favourite is the pumpkin pecan waffle. It smells so, so good! 

There's pumpkin patching and apple picking for sure. Halloween, our Canadian Thanksgiving and Divali…. lots and lots going on!!

Maybe fall's not so bad after all :-)

Linking up with P!nkPers!stance for Falling into Fall

Annie and Nat for Thoughts on Thursday.

and Extremely V and Penny for Thank Goodness It's Thursday

Cheers!!

 

Weekends--- the time of smiles, sweetness and so.much.fun… Monday mornings though, not that much. Dragging my kids and myself out of bed, ick. Packing bleary eyed lunches and brushing little teeth and getting everybody out of the door every morning is always a rush but on Mondays, so much more so no? Here's what been working around this time around for back to school. It takes a bit more time on the weekend but makes the mornings so much easier. 

Honestly, this has been saving so much time. My six going on sixteen year old sometimes wears the most electic, weather inappropriate clothes year round. Adding to that the favourites she insists on wearing every week and the lack of rotation of her outfits, this was quite the stressful part of our morning last year. This year though, these hanger labels for each day of the week has been really helping us out. We check the weather coming up and decide together on a weekend what is to be worn and it's so much more painless. So much so, I really need to get on it for my three-nager's closet as well. SO.MUCH.EASIER.

On Sunday night or before, I make sure I know where the bags are,  that the planner (a new thing for C) is there, any homework is done and packed and where the lunch kit is. And I put it in the same place every day/week as well. Ain't nobody need to be racing around searching for stuff bright and early on a Monday.

Yeah, I label everything. My label maker is one of my favourite.things.ever.

I try my best to head to the farmer's market or supermarket on a weekend for the week. If not, I try to at least have the basics for Monday and do the rest of my shopping on Monday….. balanced meals, kids!

When even that fails, I always have stuff in the freezer and the pantry to throw together a somewhat healthy lunch. There's always frozen edamame, cheese, crackers, apple purees and raisins to throw something together. 

Even though weekends are hectic, on Sunday night, we try to have everything tidied up so it's not stressful staring at toys, dishes or stuff first thing on Monday…

Simple enough, no?
 What are your favourite tips for making Monday mornings easier?