Week Recap

This past week was another crazy week! Tyler finished his last week of classes and was busy with projects and end of the year parties and happy hours. I've been pretty busy at work and spent the week trying to figure out the quickest way to get an Indian visa and booking my travel. I'm about to embark on a whirl wind of travel between Boston, South Carolina, Ireland, India, and California. I literally will be on the road for almost 6 weeks, which is nuts to think about....How do you even pack for that long? Not to mention the climates are so different!

Besides working/going to school, we had a few great dinners at home....see below for the recipes. Thursday, we grabbed a quick dinner at Chelsea Market and then went to see the play "Sleep No More." It's a wordless production and one of the most bizarre plays I've ever witnessed. Upon arriving, you are handed a mask and escorted up stairs virtually in the dark to a bar area. From there, you wait until your ticket is called and are taken into a dark elevator and pushed out onto different floors. Thankfully, Tyler and I didn't get separated and began wandering throughout the rooms and floors. It's an interactive play and you are encouraged to explore and follow the actors that interest you. Needless to say, it's an experience and one that is so insane!

Friday, we got the pleasure of going out to dinner with my uncles :) We were both so excited for them to see our apartment and spend the evening with them. The uncles came over to our apartment and then we headed to a fabulous, whole in the wall, Italian restaurant called Celeste on 84th Street and Amsterdam. We highly recommend this place if you're looking for tasty and casual Italian food :)

Needless to say, our week was really great. Hope y'all had nice weeks :)

Cashew Chicken 
*If you're looking for an easy and healthy recipe, definitely give this a try! I adapted it slightly.

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 4 Tablespoons soy sauce, divided
• black pepper
• 2/3 cup fat-free, reduced sodium chicken broth
• 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons Thai chili garlic sauce
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tablespoons canola oil, divided
• Vegetables
• Handful of snow peas
• Handful of baby carrots
• 1/4 cup slice onions
• 1 bunch of broccoli
• 1/4 red pepper sliced
• 1/4 yellow pepper
• 1 can drained water chesnuts
• 3/4 cups of cashews
• 1 cup of uncooked brown rice

Directions

1. Cook the rice according to the packaged directions. 
2. Cut the chicken up into small pieces. Toss together chicken, 1 Tablespoon soy sauce, plus a couple grinds of black pepper in a bowl then set aside. 
3. In a separate bowl, combine remaining soy sauce, broth, brown sugar, Thai chili garlic sauce, and garlic. Microwave for 20 seconds in the microwave, then stir and set aside.
4. Heat 1 Tablespoon oil in a lark wok or skillet over high heat. Add chicken and cook until no longer pink on the outside, about 2-3 minutes. 
5. Add veggies and remaining oil if needed, then stir fry for 5-6 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Add water chestnuts and then stir to combine.
6. Add the sauce and cashews to the the wok, then let sauce bubble for 2 minutes. Serve over cooked brown rice.  

Pasta with Garlic and Broccoli Rabe
This recipe was super easy for a week night dinner. I decided to use whole wheat pasta and regular broccoli instead of broccoli rabe as I had it left over from the Cashew Chicken dish. It was quite delicious and honestly soooo easy! Serve with a salad and you will have a great meal :)