BBQ Tofu & Fried Smashed Tatos

Giada has this delicious potato recipe:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/fried-smashed-potatoes-with-lemons-recipe/index.html

Yes, I'm too lazy to write it out! I didn't do the dressing but it tasted like the delicious baby of a baked potato and French fry! We will def be making this again! Thanks Giada :)

Baked BBQ Tofu: 
Firm tofu

1 tablespoon soy sauce
(2ish?) tablespoons BBQ sauce

Preheat oven to 350 and grease pan. Press tofu and cut into about 8 big slices. Toss with soy sauce and bake for 15 minutes on each side. Take out of oven and slather with BBQ sauce. Bake another 15 minutes. 

Have I mentioned that I'm a fan of easy recipes? Who isn't?! Half the time I rush to cook during a nap or pre-slice veggies during one so I can cook while holding Lexi. Can't wait until the day comes where I can buy matching aprons and have a little kitchen helper (tacky, I know!)

Pineapple Curry Fried Rice

This one turned out super good! Kyong kept stealing my raisins but they actually added an extra sweetness that HE even enjoyed!

Tofu:
press tofu, cut into small cubes. Toss in soy sauce and bake for 45 mins on a greased pan-325 degrees. Go ahead and flip it occasionally so it browns on all sides.

1 onion, thinly sliced
1 carrot, thinly sliced
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup raisins (I used less than 1/4 cup because the hubs kept sneaking it out of the bowl and feeding it to the dogs!)
1 1/2 cups chopped pineapple.
1 teaspoon chile garlic sauce
2 teaspoons curry powder
3 minced garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups per cooked rice
1/4 cup water



heat 2 tablespoons oil in large pan. Sauté onions until soft. Add the rest of the ingredients-spices, pineapple, tofu, Water, veggies so it's well mixed and cook like 1 more minute. Add rice and mix some more :) cook until the rice is browned a little and pineapple looks juicy-stirring occasionally.

Fettuchine Alfredo

Sounds easy, right? Except this is made of almonds instead of cream. I soaked the almonds over night and blanched them. It came out chunkier than I had hoped. Next time I'll just use raw cashews instead! (what I intended to use in the first place but sadly, fort Irwin does not carry any!)

1 chopped onion
3 minced garlic cloves
lemon juice from one lemon
2 cups water
1 cup soaked/blanched almonds
salt & pepper to taste

Soak almonds over night. Sauté onion and garlic in oil until soft. Throw everything into food processor or blender until smooth & creamy. Mix with the cooked fettuchine noodles. (I'm not sure how well it'd work in JUST a blender-I used my too small food processor for the hard stuff and transferred it to the blender to make it creamy with the water.)





Tasted awesome but chunky chunky!

I'll sign off today with a couple silly photos :)

Orange Tofu & Veggie Tempura

Being vegan for so many years means that there are quite a ton of typical foods I have yet to try. Living away from Seattle makes it very hard to even eat out! Here in Fort Irwin, we are close to two hours away from the nearest vegan restaurant. Probably about three hours to the next. "What do you eat?" is probably the question I am asked most when people find out about my diet. It's simple really, I eat anything I can cook! since having Lexi and eating bland food throughout my naseous pregnancy, I have been trying my best to cook four new recipes a week.

After several orange chicken requests, I finally tried a recipe for orange tofu.

The sauce:
1 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons agave nectar
1 teaspoon ginger (don't tell my husband-the ginger hider!)
2 minced garlic cloves
1/4 orange peel, in about 3-4 thin slices

Flour mix:
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Press (Firm) tofu and cut into small cubes, dip in flour mixture, fry. Mix sauce ingredients in small bowl, throw in large saucepan and cook on med/high while stirring until it thickens. Voila!



Tempura Batter:
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 1/4 cup cold water.

Mix. Dip veggies in and fry in oil. Easy peasy and turned out delish!



Next time, I think I'll try throwing in some green onion slices to the orange tofu...or even try tempeh or soy meat! Yumm!

A new start

I'll keep this short and sweet! As things get easier with a napping baby, I've found enough time to start a blog! Mostly, a food journal as I continue my journey of trying a new recipe per night. I may need to back track and re-cook a few goodies to post. Really, the things I love most are my family, cooking, fitness, and my pets. Can't wait to get started!