homemade asian goodness

I tweeted about this scrumptious dinner the other night and had lots of requests for the recipe from some of my Facebook friends, so I thought I'd go ahead and post it on my blog! 

The recipe actually is modified from the one in the Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook. I add a lot of veggies to it and cook it completely differently than they do. So it's a modification of their recipe which I think seems to be more like something you'd get at a Thai restaurant! Add to it's deliciousness is the fact that it's totally gluten, dairy and egg free. 

The dressing is Creamy Ginger from the same cook book, but I added just a wee bit more agave nectar. It tastes almost exactly like the dressing you get at a Japanese steakhouse. In fact right now I am eating some chopped up collard greens drowned in it. I think a good motivator for me to eat more raw greens is a darn good dressing... I can't lie. 

So here you go - those two recipes... Let me know if you try them and like them, cause I adore them both! I've made the thai curry many times but this is my first time for the dressing. 

Thai Chicken Curry w/ Vegetables

(adapted from The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook by Alissa Segersten and Tom Malterre, MS, CN)

1lb chicken breast
handful of mushrooms, sliced
1 small red pepper
basil leaves (handful or so)
sweet potato, peeled, diced, and boiled
carrots, sliced thin

Sauce:
1 can coconut milk
4 small shallots, peeled
1 stalk lemongrass, ends trimmed then chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled
2 TBSP chopped fresh ginger
2 TBSP Thai fish sauce (smells like feet, but critical)
1 TBSP wheat-free tamari
3 TBSP organic unsalted cashew butter
2 TBSP cane sugar or agave nectar
1 TBSP curry powder
1 tsp crushed red chili flakes
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp white pepper

Dice and saute chicken until cooked through in oil, salt and pepper, or braise in a little chicken broth until reduced. Add vegetables (EXCEPT for the BASIL) and saute a little but do not overcook.

Add all sauce ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth, about one minute.

Pour sauce over chicken and vegetables and add basil. Simmer for about 10 - 15 minutes.

Serve with cooked quinoa or brown rice.

Creamy Ginger Salad Dressing
(adapted from The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook by Alissa Segersten and Tom Malterre, MS, CN)

1/2 cup chopped celery
3 TBSP chopped ginger
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil or sesame oil
3 TBSP brown rice vinegar
3 TBSP tamari
2 TBSP water
1 TBSP maple syrup or agave nectar (I added more than this - maybe an add'l TBSP)
1 tsp organic ketchup
1/8 tsp celery seed

Blend all ingredients in blender until smooth. Serve with a nice salad! :)

So there ya go friends. Asian heaven from your kitchen. Gluten free, dairy free, and egg free!

date night

An impromptu kid-less shopping trip date that fell through last weekend yielded a wonderful date night with my man that was long overdue. With three kids, Jason working late a lot lately (which means I handle the witching hour by myself, that is, dinner and bedtime), and life being relatively chaotic in so many areas right now, we've realized the importance of staying connected with one another... that means, media takes a back seat in the evenings to face time and conversation and that we prioritize time alone. Now that Noah is older, we can leave him for longer as he is not nursing as frequently, and goes to bed much more easily than Shiloh ever did... love me some 7:30 bedtimes!! 


So this past Friday, we dropped the kids off at Papaw's with plans on a low cost, low key date at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park ... for those of you that don't live in the metro Atlanta area , Kennesaw Mountain and the surrounding areas are preserved as a National Battlefield Park... a site of some of the more historic battles in the Atlanta area during the Civil War. General Sherman, just prior to the commencement of the Savannah Campaign, also known as the March to the Sea, famously stated that "Kennesaw ... is the key to the whole country." ... Of course, he took the mountain, and then Atlanta, and then everything else South of here, and brought the South to her knees. 


All throughout the park are huge meadows roughly mowed but stretching out forever where men fought and died during the war. Strung throughout the woods that surround and up both Little and Big Kennesaw are a wonderful network of hiking trails.  There are miles and miles of them. I have spent many an hour on these trails.. often seeing deer and other wildlife. The terrain is very diverse. We love it there. So, date night was to take a little hike then have a picnic in one of the "middle meadows" as my Mom used to call it. I grew up flying kites and having picnics in these meadows with her. :)


We got started a bit late, and when we got there and told my Dad of our plans, he quickly shoved $25 in my hand... :) We ran out of time to put our picnic together, so plans changed, having been given money now that might buy dinner, we decided to take our hike and then fill up on Thai food at Thaicoon Thai Food and Sushi bar... man that place is awesome... it's right on the train tracks on the Marietta Square which is just about one of the neatest cities in the metro area. I pretty much lived in Marietta all my life, except for when we lived in England and Colorado... this is "home", really. :) Lots of great places to eat, shop and hang out.  


We started on the trail that runs off of Burnt Hickory Road and walked for a bit. When we came to the middle meadow, we stopped and put down a blanket and threw the baseball for a little while.  Then we walked a little further on, taking all the little winding trails off the main trail, crossing an incredibly and sadly dry creekbed that only a season ago was bubbling with life. As dusk fell we headed over to Thaicoon. Dinner was only $15 out of pocket with tip (thanks, Dad)... we got the Wasabi Salmon tempura roll, the White Tuna roll (YUMMMO), and split Panang Curry. It was delish and filling. My favorite stuff to grub out on! 


Afterwards we went to Cool Beans Coffee ... ran into an old friend (who we always run into there)... sat in the back courtyard with a bunch of teeny boppers and this crunchy type doing sedentary yoga to her man friend's awful guitar playing. But, to each his own... I think I am getting old?


Anyway, date night was great... we got to do our favorite things and do them together, and we laughed and had great conversation. Our 5 year wedding anniversary is September 24th... I could not be more in love with this man than I am today.


Here are some pics of our date night. Enjoy!

 my sweet man <3

 what are we looking at exactly? um...

 he's so weird.

 and goofy.