Peanut Butter, New Opportunities and Unorthodox Goals

I mentioned a recipe for a Spicy Thai Peanut Sauce/Dressing in my last post and promised to post the recipe later.  Well, here it is!

3/4 cup creamy natural peanut butter
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
3 1/3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
1/2 tablespoon finely minced fresh ginger
2 1/2 tablespoons Asian chili paste
1/2 tablespoon hoisin sauce
6 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons chopped green onions

The recipe calls for all ingredients to be whisked together in a bowl, but I actually just put everything in the food processor.  You can leave this thick to use as a sauce** for noodles or fish or as a dip for veggies or you can thin it out with another 2 tablespoons of water to use as a salad dressing.  Either way, the flavors are delicious!!

**My sister-in-law made a Thai Chicken Salad for dinner one night during their visit with us last week.  It was AWESOME and it's what inspired me to try to make my own homemade sauce.  The salad was mixed field greens with chopped bell pepper, chopped tomato, sliced cucumber, and shredded carrots.  Then she baked some boneless/skinless chicken breasts, chopped them and tossed them with a similar sauce in a sautee pan to warm the mixture.  Than you spoon some of the warm chicken and peanut sauce mixture over each individual salad.  Hmmm, yeah, pretty good.

So, peanut butter.  I'm not such a fan of it that I like to dip my fingers into the peanut butter jar like Janae.  But, I do love the flavor of it and love it in stuff.  Another one of my favorite peanut butter recipes is a smoothie.  My kids LOVE this one...

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

4 oz. milk
1/3 cup yogurt (plain or vanilla)
1/3 cup creamy natural peanut butter
one peeled banana (as if I need to say peeled...but, you never know)
1 tablespoon honey
5-6 ice cubes

Blend and enjoy!  I like this as a post-run drink.  And, if I want to make it extra "treat-y" for the kids, I use chocolate soy milk instead of regular milk and leave out the honey.

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I've been starting to feel a bit anxious about the next school year.  My little guy will be going to kindergarten, which will rock my world in more than one way.  But, one thing is for sure: I'll need to work more once my kiddos are both in school full-time next year.  It's been amazing to be able to be home with my kids for the last (almost) eight years, but I've been looking for a way to transition myself back into the world of making money.  I've been working as a teacher's assistant a few days a week at my son's preschool this year.  I love it and have been hoping I could stay on in a more expanded capacity next year (read: more hours and more money).

This week, the director asked if I'd like to attend a

'Teaching Kids Yoga' training workshop

 and become our preschool's yoga teacher!! 

I don't think I could say 'yes' fast enough!! 

I'm not sure I could've thought up a more perfect scenario for next year.  (Well, I guess something with a $75k salary would be tempting...)  Some of you are probably wondering if I even do yoga.  Currently, no.  But, I used to do Ashtanga yoga before I had kids and I loved  it.  Getting back to yoga has always been in the back of my mind, and I'm taking this as a sign that now is the time for that to happen.  That's right--it's time for a yoga revival!  I'll keep you posted...

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I'm starting to realize that my running goals may never be like that of a lot of other runners.  I think I touched on this when I wrote about being a "casual" runner vs. a "serious" runner.  If you haven't noticed yet, I'm not training for anything!  And, I'm not exactly clamoring to sign up for any races either.  I've never been a very competitive person.  I like to do things that make me feel proud and feel good about myself, and running is definitely one of those things.  But I don't feel particularly compelled to compete against others in running.  I do have running goals though.  This week, I'm planning on running more than 20 total miles for the first time.  I'm already at 18 for the week and my friend Karen called this evening to see if I wanted to run in the morning.  That should do it!  I'm also toying with the idea of running a total of 26.2 miles each week this summer (a marathon every week!).  Maybe racing and setting PR's will be goals of mine in the future but, for now, I'm happy with my "unorthodox" running goals.

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What's your favorite way to eat peanut butter?

Do you do yoga?

What are your current running goals? (unorthodox or otherwise)