Good morning! Happy Hump Day!

I took advantage of my night off yesterday (they don’t happen often these days!) and got busy in the kitchen.  Perfect timing to make these adorable festive treats, if I do say so myself!

Valentine Rice Crispy Treats!

I can’t say there is anything very healthy about these, but their cuteness makes up for that.  All I did was follow the directions on the back of the Rice Crispy box, except instead of using 6 cups of cereal, I only used 5.  What can I say? I like a gooeyer (is that a word?) Rice Crispy Treat!

After the base of the Rice Crispy Treats was made, I added in some Valentine sprinkles and then spread the mixture on a greased piece of Saran wrap that I laid out on my counter.

I patted down the mixture so it was thick- but not too thick- and then used some Valentine cookie cutters to make the festive shaped Rice Crispy Treats!  Super easy and super cute– how can you go wrong?

Now, I have to say that even though I had many nibbles of these treats while making them (what? they are ooey and gooey and I had no choice but to try bites here and there!), I decided I should make something substantial and a little healthier for dinner.  Enter: Chicken and Veggie Stir Fry in a Peanut Sauce, served atop Chinese Noodles and topped with Toasted Sesame Seeds!  Although I had a lot of pots and pans going, this meal was relatively quick and easy to assemble.  I didn’t really measure anything out, but here is a gist of what went down:

• Chicken- I had 2 thin chicken breasts left over from my Healthy Chicken Parm recipe (https://burpeestobubbly.wordpress.com/2013/02/10/chicken-parmesan-with-a-healthy-twist/ ugh. can’t get my links to work, so it has to look like this for now!)
• 1 Bag of frozen veggies (any will do, just pick one with veggie options you like!)
• Chinese Noodles
• Sesame seeds
• Peanut Sauce recipe from http://www.katheats.com/recipage?recipe_id=6029955 (sorry, I can’t figure out how to make my links work!)

Directions

1. Toast the Sesame seeds according to the back of the jar- in an ungreased pan for a few minutes. NOTE- I read the directions quickly and thought they said “heavily greased pan” when in fact they said “heavy ungreased pan“… bad move, but luckily I caught it before it was too late!

2. Remove the toasted Sesame seeds from the pan and add the chicken to that same pan. I cut mine into 1 inch cubes.  When the chicken is almost cooked all the way through, add the bag of frozen veggies to that same pan and turn the heat on low so that the veggies thaw and cook.

3. While the chicken and veggies are cooking, get your noodle water boiling and start assembling your sauce.  Add the peanut butter, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, water, crushed garlic and red pepper flakes to a small sauce pan and heat over medium heat until the ingredients are mixed together.  At this point, the noodle water should be boiling, so add in the noodles and cook as directed (only about 3 minutes!).

Once the chicken and veggies are cooked, add the peanut sauce and stir well so that everything is coated.  Drain the noodles and place a serving of them into a bowl, top with the chicken/veggies/peanut sauce and sprinkle some toasted Sesame seeds on top.

oh WOW was this yummy! Definitely a nice change-up from my normal weekly meals.

Today is going to be another long day… teaching at 5:30 and 6:30 tonight… swing by the Central Square BSC if you’re around!

Question for you: Do you like to make festive treats for the holidays? Do you cook big meals during the week?