Tofu!!

Ohmygosh. So today? I made the most amazing tofu. I don't usually cook tofu.. maybe because Pete is more of a meat kind of man, maybe because if it's my house I douse it in soy sauce and gobble it up before I get a chance to actually cook it.. but today? Ooohhh, today. Today I made amazing cooked tofu. So, here's what I did.

Main Ingredients:
Olive Oil
Tortillas
Tofu (cubed)
Rice (already cooked)
Frozen Peas (or whatever veggie strikes your fancy)

Sauce Ingredients:
1/2 c. plain yogurt
1/4 c. milk
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1-2 Tbsp. curry powder (to taste)
2 tsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. garam masala

Start heating some olive oil in a pan. Probably .... 1 Tbsp? Sounds like I know what I'm talking about, right? K. So. You heat up that oil. When it's hot, throw a tortilla in. Cook it until it's brown, then flip and brown the other side. When both sides are brown put the tortilla on a plate with paper towel on it. now, I'm sure many people would do this at the end, so their tortillas are nice and hot.. but I'm lazy and prefer to keep all my cooking to one pan. HA. (Back to our recipe here) Cook as many tortillas as you want, adding a dash of olive oil if you seem to be running out.

When you're done, make sure there's olive oil left in the pan, and it's hot. Nice and hot. Now, throw that tofu into the pan. It's going to hiss and spit and protest violently - but ohh it's going to get so yummy. Don't stir it right away.. the tofu will stick at first, but if you give it a minute or two to brown it won't stick anymore and you can stir away.

Now you have a pan with tofu cooking in hot oil (I was cooking mine on med.. med-high). Let those babies cook! they only need occasional stirring/flipping. While the tofu is cooking, mix up the sauce. Just throw all the ingredients into a bowl and stir. Here's an important note on the sauce though.. I cooked ~1/2 a cube of tofu, so you may want to double the sauce. There needs to be enough sauce to coat the tofu + more to mix with the rice.

When the tofu is nice and golden brown on a few sides, turn the heat down (med-lowish?) and add the sauce, then some rice and peas. Cook until the peas aren't frozen and the sauce has soaked into everything. MMmmmm....

To finish, scoop the whole mix into your fried tortillas, and eat. Isn't it yummy?!

Wish list

I'm having a difficult day so I figured I'd make a list of things I'd like.. maybe that will help?

*Cotton Wovens to make myself skirts
*Knitting needles (16": size 5,7,8.. Options tips, size 7,8,9)
*Lotion
*Pioneer Woman Cooks
*Pioneer Woman Choreganizers
*Anna's Hope necklace
*More of the square leftover containers

My to-cook list..

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2009/09/slow-cooker-orange-chicken-recipe.html

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/07/crockpot-sweet-and-sour-tofu.html

Colleen's yummy pumpkin chocolate cake. Super easy and so good (cant even taste the pumpkin) Mix chocolate fudge cake mix with 15oz can of pumpin (nothing else). Put in bundt pan. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

Garlic Butternut Squash

It's official. I love cooking. I especially love cooking when the end result makes my mouth water for more and I know it's good for me too. How awesome is that? Here's a new recipe.. it's sitting on my stove right now. You have to try it. Even if you don't like butternut squash.. TRY IT. Pete doesn't like butternut squash and he loves this.

Garlic Butternut Squash

Ingredients:
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese + 1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp. Parsley (fresh is better)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
3 garlic cloves, chopped (I use the already chopped stuff from the grocery store)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
3 1/2 lbs* butternut squash

Directions:
1. Peel and cut the squash into ~1" cubes. Like I said.. no exact science here.
2. Combine 1/2 c. parmesan cheese, parsley, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper in a large bowl.
3. Add squash and mix it around until it seems like it's all .. mixed.
4. Spread in an ungreased 9x12 pan (I think mine is non-stick, but it's not well cared for non-stick, so is it really non-stick anymore?)
5. Sprinkle 1/2 c. (or more!) parmesan cheese over the top of it
6. Bake at 400 degrees. Cooking time will vary depending on how close to 1" cubes you cut the squash. I checked mine every 15 minutes or so.. it took ~45 minutes to be nice and squishy.
7. This step is important. Use a spatula to scrape the bottom of the pan and flip the pieces around so the nice crispy brown parts are all mixed in. Mmmmm...

*HA! I say that like it's an exact science. I used 3 smallish squash that came in our CSA box. I have no clue how much it weighed, but the end result filled the bottom of my 9x12 pan. Can I say, "However much fills the bottom of your pan" in the ingredients list?

Lentil Chili

Pete says this Chili doesn't feel that spicy when you're eating it but it certainly has some heat because he was sweating by the time he was done with his bowl. I like spicy food but not burning spice and this was perfect. For some reason every time I cook lentils I feel amazing for at least a week afterward. Maybe lentils have something in them that my body craves? I don't know, but this recipe makes a massive amount of Chili. Be prepared to eat it for weeks, or freeze some for later!

Lentil Chili
(easily serves 12 adults)

Ingredients:
2 quarts water
1 lb dry lentils (rinsed and sorted, NOT soaked)
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
4 c. chopped onions
2 c. chopped carrots
2 c. chopped celery
1 head garlic, chopped (approx. 10 cloves)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
5 Tbsp. chili powder
3 Tbsp. cumin
1 Tbsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper

Directions:
1. Heat oil in a large pot (I mean LARGE - this makes a lot of chili!) Saute onions and garlic in the oil until tender.
2. Add chili powder, cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper and stir until it is well combined. (If you add them now it is much easier to get all the spice mixed in to the entire chili.)
3. Add lentils, tomato paste, and crushed tomatoes and again stir until well combined, then pour in the water.
4. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Stir in carrots and celery then continue cooking 25 minutes or until lentils, carrots, and celery are tender.
6. Serve as is or pour over rice. Mmmm!

Other option: Put all ingredients except oil in a LARGE crock pot (this recipe is too much for mine) and cook on low for ~8 hours.

After picture

Here is my "after picture" of the pantry. It looks much more empty, right? I'm so proud we did it last month. So far this month I'm doing pretty good too. Tonight I made an amazing Lentil Chili. Don't worry, the recipe is coming.. right now I need to get to bed though.

Here's a link to the starter pictures, in case you want to compare.. Starter Pictures!

Better Carrot Zucchini Muffins

I have pictures of the empty pantry to share, I just need to take a moment to upload them. I'm so proud of us!

I can't seem to leave any recipe alone.. this version of the Carrot Zucchini muffins tastes so much better than the all recipes one.

Carrot Zucchini Muffins

Ingredients:
1 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1 tsp. salt
3 eggs
1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
1 1/2 c. grated unpeeled zucchini
1 1/2 c. grated carrot
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Mix together all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and salt in a large bowl until well blended.
3. Stir together eggs, applesauce, brown sugar, zucchini, carrots, and vanilla until well combined.
4.Add the flour mixture, stirring just until blended.
Pour the batter into muffin wrappers and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes.