Lunch for One?

Caring for yourself the way you do for others might just make you happier and healthier!
Spicy Chicken and Angel-Hair Pasta Stir Fry with a home made Lemon-Ginger Tea drink.

Whether you live alone or just eating alone for the moment, your meals should be special. I hear so many people talk about cornflakes in bed, chips, a pint of ice cream, etc., whenever it's just them. Yet when feeding others, they go all out.

After getting back on my workout regimen this morning I was ready for lunch. Now I could have grabbed something from the back of the fridge or pantry, but I decided to treat myself better than that. After all, I do it for everyone else so why shouldn't I have the pleasure of my own inspired creation? The added bonus is that with no one else to consider I can make it just the way I like it.

My motivation was one of my favorite things--some leftover angel hair pasta, ready to go.  This got my mind to working so I came up with a hot and spicy stir fry with a side of avocado.

Ingredients:

• 1 Individually Frozen Chicken Breast-Defrosted and sliced length-wise
• (I love having these on hand for just such a moment)
• Sweet Peppers
• Red Onion
• Fresh Tomato
• Fresh Ginger
• Fresh Garlic
• Olive Oil
• Favorite Seasonings:
• Organic No-Salt Seasoning
• Black Pepper
• Hot Pepper Flakes
• Angel Hair Pasta (cooked)
• Mr. Yoshido's Sauce (sweet and thick) or any soy of your choosing.

Have you noticed that I leave out salt when something else I am using already contains salt (like the soy sauce)? I try to always be conscious of this. I took the salt out, but looked over at the Mr. Yoshido's Sauce and left it alone. Why add salt unnecessarily? This is one of the problems with prepared foods, especially soups or eating out in general. The sodium content of your food will almost always contain an astronomical amount of sodium. Check some of the nutritional values on your labels or restaurant websites  and you will see what I mean. 

"A diet high in sodium increases the risk of increased blood pressure, a major cause for heart disease and stroke, which are the first- and third-leading causes of death in the United States."  From About.com: Heavy on the Salt? You May Be Eating Too Much Sodium

Chop all veggies. Slice Chicken into strips.

Add some olive oil and heat pan (not too high--olive oil smokes easily).

 Add chicken, season and stir away until fully cooked (no pink).

 Add all veggies and continue to stir quickly.

I love buying bags of these little colorful peppers. They are easy to add into any dish.

Add the cooked pasta and stir into mix.

Then add the Mr.Yoshido's Sauce or other soy sauce. 

Just enough to give flavor and color. Continue to stir quickly. 

Now it's ready to serve!

But wait! You want a nice drink with it right?

LEMON GINGER TEA DRINK RECIPE

Before I started this meal, I made half a cup of Lemon Ginger Tea 

(1 tea bag filling a mug 1/2 way with boiling water) 

Both Bigelow and Stash make this tea.

I then added a few teaspoons of Organic Raw Sugar--okay let's be honest, I added 4!!!

Now that may sound bad, but at 15 calories per teaspoon 

we are talking about a 60 calorie drink. 

McDonald's 16 ounce Sweet Tea, according to their website, 

will cost you 150 calories. 

The large 32 ounce will cost you 280 calories!

Making it before I began cooking allowed the tea to steep 

all of that delicious flavor and then cool down nicely

In a glass of crushed ice, I added the juice of a whole lemon and 

then poured in the Lemon Ginger tea and added a straw. Delicious!

What a treat for me. A delicious meal, a tasty drink and some quiet time.

Aren't you worth your own time and effort? I say yes!