Monday Morning Musing

So in just a few days I'll be venturing off to the other side of the world for the rest of the month...that's a pretty wild thought. While I'm away, it will be difficult to exercise and eat like I do while I'm home in New Jersey, but I do plan on staying active and eating healthy while away. I'll be documenting everything while I'm gone and sharing tips of how to manage a healthy lifestyle while enjoying a vacation. I will be bringing my TRX Suspension Trainer with me - it's portability and versatility is perfect for the type of trip I'm going on.

The knee is starting to feel better, which is a relief! This week I'll be training hard ("last chance workout") before having two weeks off and also trying to see all my clients before heading out. The next few days will be long, but all worth it!

This week's experiment in the kitchen - Baslamic Chicken and Peppers. Stay tuned for that post later this week.

Stay strong.

Song of the Week

Only a few more days and off to OZ I go!

This week's Song of the Week: Linkin Park - Burn It Down

Have a suggestion for a SOTW? Leave it in the comments section.

Thai Chicken Satay With Spicy Peanut Sauce

Cooking for the roommates is becoming a weekly occurrence (I don't mind at all) and this week I gave them the choice between Thai Chicken Satay With Spicy Peanut Sauce and Chicken and Balsamic Peppers. The Thai Chicken received the popular vote this week. Here's the recipe below!

Servings: 4
Prep time: 0:30
Total time: 0:50
Calories: 286
Categories: Chicken & Other Poultry, Dinner, Lunch, Thai


Ingredients
Thai Chicken
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 teaspoons reduced sodium soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons fish sauce
• ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 pound chicken tenders

 Spicy Peanut Sauce
• 2 tablespoons smooth natural peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons lite coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 2 teaspoons reduced sodium soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• ½  teaspoon crushed red pepper, or to taste


Directions

1. Whisk lime juice, oil, soy sauce, fish sauce and red pepper in a shallow dish until combined; add chicken and turn to coat. Let marinate in the refrigerator 15 minutes.
2. To prepare peanut sauce: whisk peanut butter, coconut milk, soy sauce, brown sugar and red pepper until smooth.
3. Preheat grill to high. Thread each chicken onto a wooden skewer. Grill until cooked through. Serve warm or chilled with spicy peanut sauce.

Deviations

Instead of using canola oil I used vegetable.
I totally forgot to buy skewers so I grilled the chicken more like fingers/tenders. They came out just as good.

I wanted to dress up the dish a bit so I used iceberg lettuce to wrap the chicken with. This worked out perfectly. Also plated was broccoli and homemade bruschetta.

 

Whisking the chicken marinade

 Fired up!

 Dinner plated.

Minor Set Back

Earlier this week I undertook a new training routine - it didn't work out so well. I've had a history of bad knees since 7th grade and I can guarantee they're not going to get any better as I get older. On my fourth set of vertical jumps, I twisted my knee. Going to jiu jitsu later that day might have been a bad idea too.

Today was my first day working out again and the knee is still not 100 percent, but there's ways to work around it. Injuries and set-backs happen, but it's how you bounce back that builds your strength.

Stay strong.

July Top Instagram Pix

If you're on Instagram, feel free to follow me - @MikeScic

Here's some of my favorite pix I took this past month.

 Naturally...

 Fight night! 

 Warped Tour 2012 - PNC Bank Arts Center - Holmdel, NJ

 The Haptons Sunset

 Stuffed Peppers

 The New Ink

 Cloudy Day - What do you see?

 5:30 AM - Rise and Grind

Skulls can be sophisticated too

Now Playing - Foster the People - Houdini

Lemon Chicken Stir-Fry

Last week I cooked dinner for the roommates and the menu called for Lemon Chicken Stir-Fry (thanks, Karen for the recipe).

Servings: 4
Prep time: 0:40
Total time: 0:40
Calories: 225
Categories: Chicken & Other Poultry

Ingredients

• 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 10 ounces mushrooms, halved or quartered
• 1 cup diagonally sliced carrots (1/4 inch thick)
• 2 cups snow peas (6 ounces), stems and strings removed
• 1 bunch scallions, cut into 1-inch pieces, white and green parts divided
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic

Directions

Grate 1 teaspoon lemon zest and set aside. Juice the lemon and whisk 3 tablespoons of the juice with broth, soy sauce and cornstarch in a small bowl.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until just cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate with tongs. Add mushrooms and carrots to the pan and cook until the carrots are just tender, about 5 minutes. Add snow peas, scallion whites, garlic and the reserved lemon zest. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds. Whisk the broth mixture and add to the pan; cook, stirring, until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add scallion greens and the chicken and any accumulated juices; cook, stirring, until heated through, 1 to 2 minutes.


Recipe Nutrition


Per Serving: 225 Calories; 6g fat (1g saturated fat, 3g mono unsaturated fat); 63mg cholesterol; 14g carbohydrates; 27g protein; 3g fiber; 448mg sodium; 796g potassium


Here's the broth after the ingredients were mixed together. I think I had too much lemon juice which didn't allow the corn starch to do its job.

Everything is prepped and ready to cook.

Mushrooms and carrots cooking down.

Enter all other ingredients... smells so good at this point. 

The plated masterpiece.

Song of the Week

OZ/NZ in less than two weeks!!

This week's Song of the Week:
Moving Mountains - My Life is Like a Chase Dream (And I'm Sill Having Chase Dreams)