Tag Archives: tofu

Tastes of Fall

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Another productive day, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the streak continues!  Plus, I’ve full-force started eating “October food,” another trend I hope to continue 🙂  After my breakfast post I attempted to do a  little work, but Adam and I realized we were way too distracting to each other at home,

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so we packed up our stuff and went to a coffee shop to work!

All my diet soda talk in the last post got me craving one, so that’s what I had!

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The husband got a fancy shmancy hot chocolate.

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We were at The Spot, so you know I wanted a Mike’s Sandwich, but when I thought about all the food fun I had planned at home I decided to resist.  We studied for 4hours and I got a huge chunk of Chemistry work done. 

On the way home I had the husband drop me at the gym.  It was not so fabulous.  My foot still hurts and my calves were really really tight.  I really need to talk to a professional about strength-building/stretching exercises for my calves, knees, and hips.  In the end I did 2.83 miles on the treadmill, and tons of stretching, for 36minutes and 361 calories.

After my shower we closet swapped our summer stuff for winter duds.  Folks, we need to go shopping.  I have almost no winter wardrobe.  In NYC I dressed inappropriately and just dealt with being cold and uncomfortable, but that is not going to fly here in Buffalo (I’ll die!).  We scheduled in a big mall trip for next weekend – p.s. we budgeted for this already.

Then, the foodie fun began!  I made my first pumpkin pie through a straw of the season.

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1/2C 2C “>Stoneyfield Farms Lowfat Vanilla Frozen Yogurt, 1C pumpkin puree, 1T maple syrup, 1/2C skim milk, dash cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice.

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So good!

While I was drinking “pie,” I started baking pie!  I made a Maple Spice Pie from one of my favorite cookbooks, Pie, Pie, Pie: Easy Homemade Favorites, by John Phillip Carroll.  I used a Wholly Wholesome Organic Whole Wheat Pie Shell.

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Small blip, apparently you need maple syrup for a maple pie, who knew?!

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After an emergency run to the store things were back on track.  It had to set, so I started dinner before diving into dessert.  This combo came (basically) from the September issue of Health (recipe here).  Tofu and eggplant with cabbage over soba noodles.

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I swapped tamari and worchestire (sp?) for miso and sesame seeds for sesame oil, but other than that I followed the recipe.  It was wonderful, I loved the soba noodles and the texture of the tofu was great.

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I had more pumpkin alongside dinner, Wolaver’s Organic Will Steven’s Pumpkin Ale.

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And then finally it was time for dessert!

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The pie was good, but super messy.  The inside tasted like caramel apples to me!

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I took a huge slice and actually made myself a bit sick  😦  Now it is time for bed, I’ve got to get my sleep if I want another productive day!

What fall foods have you enjoyed this year?

Random and Randomer

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My title makes me think of “curious and curiouser” a line from Alice in Wonderland(one of my top 5 favorite books!).  I am so excited for that movie to come out, I can’t wait to see Tim Burton’s spin on it.  In general I’ve been super annoyed by all of the children’s books turned live-action movies (The Grinch, Cat in the Hat, etc; blech) but I have high hopes for this one.  I am also excited for “Couples’ Retreat,” which comes out this weekend.  I have a trip to the movies planned to celebrate my first Chem exam.

If breakfast/lunch were random, dinner was randomer.  For full disclosure’s sake, I would like to mention that I’ve eaten 3-5 fruit gel candies without photographing today.  Equally junky was the snack I bought for class; I usually don’t eat during class but I was super hungry when I got to campus –

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I never buy Snyder’s pretzels because I have zero self-control with those delicious nuggets but this vending machine find had a slightly more reasonable 2servings per bag.

After class Caroline asked if I wanted to grab dinner and do some review.  After wasting time all day it was the perfect opportunity to make up!  Plus, we got Wegman’s salad bar which you know I love.

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Steamed broccoli,

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roasted brussels sprouts (nowhere near as good as the ones I make at home, *mental note to make them soon*),

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and curried tofu.

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All pretty yummy.  I love that the curried tofu had raisins in it!

We got a lot done and I got home around 10.  It ended up being a semi-sucessful day.  My foot has been really hurting and favoring my other side has caused my right hip to hurt but I am hoping to make it to the gym for a run tomorrow.  I have a doctor’s appointment this Friday which we put me out of commission for at least a few days so I don’t want to fall too far behind.  I’m going to do some blog reading and then I need to hit the sack to rest up for tomorrow, night!

Do you like raisins in things?  I love them, I put raisins in salad, cookies, where ever I can fit them.

Dinner Was Roasted and Orange

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Not exactly my proudest day, you can go ahead and just call me Super Sloth!  I felt like crap so I took a solid 2hour nap.  Plus I’ve been so. frickin. hungry. all. day.  I feel like all I did is eat and sleep but there was literally no reprieve from the hunger!  After the many meals I posted earlier I ate this before dinner.

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Healthy.  But I’d been wanting chips all day so I finally walked to the gas station and went with it.  And that was before dinner mind you!

Dinner was actually pretty good.  It started yesterday when I marinated 2blocks of tofu overnight.  Usually we make 1block at a time but then there is never leftovers for more than one person.  Since I have class tomorrow I decided to try a double batch.

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Asian Orange Tofu Bake, serves 6

  • 2blocks extra firm tofu, drained and lightly pressed
  • 2C orange juice
  • 4T cornstarch
  • 1T soy sauce
  • 4T rice vinegar
  • 2T chipotle oil (or any spicy oil; you could also use evoo and just add red pepper flakes)
  • 1T honey
  1. Slice each block of tofu into 7 pieces and set aside.
  2. In a large tupperware, stir together oj and cornstarch to mix.
  3. Add the rest of the marinade ingredients and stir to combine.
  4. Place the tofu slices in the marinade, making sure each piece is fully covered.  Cover and let sit for 2hours or overnight.
  5. Remove slices from marinade and place in a single layer on a foiled and sprayed baking sheet.
  6. Bake for 25minutes at 450*.
  7. ***Tip – we reserved our leftover marinade to cook with broccoli later this week.

I also roasted up some butternut squash with salt, pepper, and a bit of nutmeg.  I was so excited to see this convenient package at Wegmans.

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Finally, I used a sample from Annie Chun’s on the side.

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These rice bowls have two servings each and are quick, healthy, and tasty.

Dinner was very starchy and orange upon second glance, but rather good.

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I’m not gonna lie though, I’m still hungry.  The husband just said I was a fatty!!  I will most likely have a snack, even though I know that it’s probably unnecessary.  I am also still pretty sleepy, so in spite of the nappage, I will probably go to bed early tonight.  We’re wild and crazy around here 🙂

Tomorrow I must go to the gym, work on Chemistry, and go to class (duh).  What are your big goals for Hump Day?

*****Updated – You know ate more crap!  I used a Wholly Wholesome sample to bake cookies!

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Unhappy Owl

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It is 2o’clock in the morning, holy frick holy frick holy frick!  Let me just add that I am not even caught up with all my work yet.  I am at least, completely finished with the assignment that is due tomorrow (I got 102.2%, woot).  Clearly, this will be a speedy post; I took a few walks, did something very exciting I will mention tomorrow, etc. but I will focus just on eats.

Snack = Justin’s Nut Butter Honey PB packet, squeezed straight into my mouth.

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Justin’s was so sweet to send me a box of samples, and I will be doing a full review tomorrow.

Lunch = tried some new veggies, i.e. turnips, parsnips, okra.

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Okra is actually not new to me perse, but I kept it whole this time.  Oven roasted.

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I ate all the okra and put 1/3 of the rest into the fridge for tomorrow.  My tasty dipping sauce was – buffalo wing sauce, ketchup, maple syrup, chipotle tabasco.

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Dinner takes forever = 5 salt water taffies.

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Actual dinner =

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Orange Tofu from Eat, Drink, and Be Veganby Dreena Burton.  It was good, but I had to sub some ingredients and I imagine it could be better.

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Oven roasted white asparagus.

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Broccoli, keeping with the citrus theme I sauted chopped broccoli and shalots in some clementine olive oil.

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Yums.

Studying hurts my brain snack = packet of Rolos.

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Nighty night!  I probably will skip the breakfast post tomorrow, but will be back after volunteering at 2.

What’s the latest work usually keeps you up?  When I was a teacher I would often sleep 2-3hours a night and still be behind!  Nyc’s standards from English teachers were out of control.

Smooth Talker

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There were some dryer issues and we ended up waiting at the apartment a little longer than planned.  Not an issue though, and we enjoyed the best smoothies ever.  The secret was this Naysoya Smoothie Starter.

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How have I not bought this before?!  It gave the smoothies the perfect thickness, and had the best aftertaste.  The smoothies were more than ready for their close-up.

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For 2 portions I used –

  • 1C Naysoya Smoothie Starter, Vanilla
  • 2frozen bananas
  • 3/4C frozen strawberries
  • splash So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk

I enjoyed mine in one of our lovely new Guinness cups.

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Now, fingers crossed, we should be off in the next 10minutes.  Can’t wait to see what the wings festival entails!

What do you use to thicken your smoothies?  Usually I’m all about just liquid/frozen fruit, but this was pretty fabulous.  I never ever use protein powders.

Errands to Ecstasy

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 I found time for a mid-day post!  We’ve been busy, but having fun.  I ❤ errand Saturday with my husband.  We got up around 8:20 and got straight to work; there’s been a lot of movement today.  After loading up the car with stuff for Goodwill (including a heavy mattress that gave me an arm work out) we headed out to our car inspection.  The car took about an hour so Adam and I walked to the post office and back while we waited.  Afterwards we dropped off our donations.  During the drive I ate this Balance Bar I found at Target yesterday for 78cents.

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Gah, too good!  I ate the cookie dough flavor and it was literally like cookie dough.  I try not to eat them that often because they have much more saturated fat (3-4g) than I prefer, but they are a really great occasional treat.  I gave Adam a bite and he fell in love too.

Next we took our coupons to Wegmans.

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I’m sure you’re all shocked that Adam insisted on salad bar again 🙂

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I knew I would eat some snacky food tonight at the party so I skipped my usual buffet philosophy (90/10 healthy food to splurges) and went all healthy.  I had Bourbon grilled chicken, Asian baked tofu, and steamed veggies (that is a small container).

We got a ton at the grocery store (I got another arm workout carrying purchases up the stairs) and then came home to do some cleaning.  I stopped to paint my toenails and figured drying time was a good time for dessert.  I don’t know if you guys remember my super sample sundae?  Forget that.  This is the new hottness –

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Purely Decadent Dairy Free Coconut and Crofter’s Asia Superfruit Spread.  Ridiculous.

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This is hands-down my favorite ice-creamand the jam addition was out of this world.  I was in ecstasy.

We have a few more to-do’s this afternoon, and then tonight people are coming over for wine/cheese.  I’ll do a recap but I’m not sure how many pictures I’ll take.  See you later for some drogging!

  1. Do you use coupons when you food shop?  I don’t comparison shop or anything like that, but I do clip coupons.  I keep them in a mini file folder, organized by category and expiration date.
  2. Do you bring your own bags to the grocery store?  I sometimes slip, but 90% of the time we bring cloth bags from home.  It’s good for the environment, and I find it way easier to carry heavy bags over my shoulder.
  3. What was your most exciting grocery purchase this week?  We got some organic, dairy free chocolate syrup with a bear on the front that I am pretty eager to open up!

Don’t Cry Over Chopped Onions

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Wow, today has somehow been packed!  We slept in until 9:30 or so, due to a late night last night, and then got out and had husband/wife time.  I’ve missed Adam now that he is in school full-time!  When we were finally ready to take off our pjs we headed out for errands -can recycling, change making, grocery shopping – check.

Of course, Adam was able to convince me to get Wegman’s salad bar!

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I got tofu curried salad, with red and green peppers, nuts, and raisins

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and a small portion of chicken and broccoli, heavy on the broccoli.

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Adam and I split a Black Forest Berry Honest Tea to drink.

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We tried to shop quickly, but I got distracted by my hysterical laughter over this –

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🙂  I am super excited to be done with volunteering next week so I can buy fun veggies to make for lunches at home.

After we finished the errands Adam played Devil’s advocate again and convinced me to go watch “Inglorious Basterds.”  I was super hungry by the time we got to the theatre and I ate 90% of a thing of pretzel bites.

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When we got home Adam took a nap and it got later and later.  Suddenly it was 8:30 and we had tonsof baking to do.  For dinner we made a Rachael Ray recipe, Lazy Chicken.  It got majorly modified, for some good reasons – I wanted to use my farmers’ market tomatoes,

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and some bad reasons – this was our potato,

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so I decided it ended up being my own recipe. 

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Here is a link.  I had only a small plate.

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It was good, but I was saving my self for –

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homemade french onion dip!  The recipe was from Delicious Dips by Diane Morgan so I can’t post it, but I highly recommend buying the book.  We shared a small bowl with toasted (homemade) sourdough bread.

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Yums.

We are watching “My So-Called Life” and snuggling and then it’s off to bed.  See you Sunday.

What have you made from scratch recently (ever)?

Life

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Soooo, I guess I’ve been gone for a little while.  Through a combination of slight sickness and extreme laziness I decided to take a short break from the real world.  I haven’t posted, pictured or studied, but I have eaten a ton of crap and spent an inordinate amount of time on fmylife and watching Bones reruns online.  I actually called in from volunteering today because my tummy was feeling off and I didn’t get much sleep the night before.  We live right above a street and I need to buy earplugs, stat!

At 4pm today I decided it was time to rejoin the living and tackle my to-dos.  This is what I accomplished from 4o’clock on, not bad.

  • post office
  • unload the dishwasher
  • do 2 loads of laundry
  • make dough starter for bread
  • make dinner for Tuesday (plus leftovers)
  • pack lunch for Adam
  • and finally make dinner for tonight

The last to-do was the most exciting, because I got to use the new clementine olive oil my mom sent,

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plus the bundle of multi-colored carrots I bought at the Farmer’s market.

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We started dinner with a salad.

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Chopped Chinese cabbage dressed with clementine oil, sliced plum tomato, and macademia nuts.  Very tasty.

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Then I made Sweet Cilantro Baked Tofu, you can find the recipe here.

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And maple carrots.

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After peeling and chopping the carrots I put them in a pan over medium-high heat with 2T of Smart Balance Light.  I covered and let them cook for 5minutes then pour 2T of maple syrup over the top.  Yums.

Here was my plate.

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We watched “My So-Called Life” while we ate, and now it’s time for bed!  I promise that regularly scheduled posting will continue tomorrow!