Tonight for dinner I am making Sesame noodles with tofu.  I’ve never had tofu before, but it looks absolutely delicious.  I got the recipes from BBC Good Food, which Megan gave me the link to.  As my veggie, I’m using broccoli, because we have some left over from the shrimp skampi I made.  I love broccoli, so I try to add it to everything.  They used bok choi, but I don’t know what that is.

Cut to several hours later, and I’ve made the meal.  It was terrible!  It had hardly any flavor, and besides that, the recipe itself was absolutely awful.  Here:

• 250g pack firm tofu , drained (we used Cauldron)
• 2 tbsp reduced-salt soy sauce , plus extra to serve (optional)
• 300g green veg (we used mange tout and halved bok choi)
• 1 garlic clove , sliced
• small knob of ginger , peeled and shredded
• 300g pack straight-to-wok egg noodles (or use 2 sheets medium dried egg noodles and follow pack instructions)
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds

Then, here are the instructions:

1. Cut the tofu into 12 pieces and mix with 1 tbsp of soy sauce and 1 tsp of sesame oil. Heat the remaining oil in a wok, then stir-fry the vegetables, garlic and ginger for 2 mins until the vegetables are starting to wilt. Drizzle with 2 tbsp water, then stir-fry for another min.
2. Add the noodles, sesame seeds and soy sauce from the marinated tofu, then stir-fry for 2 mins. Now add the tofu, splash over the remaining soy sauce, then cover with a lid or baking sheet. Leave for 1 min so that the tofu heats through, then gently mix into the rest of the stir-fry.
3. Lift the noodles and tofu into bowls and splash over a little more soy sauce and sesame oil to serve, if you like.

I highligted my problems.  No where in the list of ‘things you need for this recipe’ was sesame oil.  But ok, I added 1 tsp.  Then, it says to add the remaining oil!  Remaining?  I don’t have any remaining, because the stupid recipes didn’t tell me about the oil in the first place!

Then, I had the tofu marinating.  And the recipe wants me to add the marinade, but NOT add the tofu.  That’s stupid.  So I had to tip over my bowl, while holding on to the tofu.  Three pieces fell out, and I had to pick them up, and put them back in the bowl.

Finally, it took well over 1 minute for the tofu to heat up.  I kept having to stir it, so the tofu would get to the bottom where it was warm.

I also couldn’t find wok-ready egg noodles, so I had to use regular egg noodles.

The whole thing was a giant mess, and it sucked.  My poor mom only ate the noodles because she hates tofu, and I didn’t know that!

I wish that I had just eaten Honey Bunches of Oats!

Tomorrow for the Super Bowl, I was invited to go over to Liz and Jordan’s with my dad.  To get me to go, Liz said “Tell her I’ll have pineapple and melon slices!”  Because she knows that I’m a healthy eater.  Maybe I’ll go to the store and buy some other fruit too, some grapes or something to add to the mix!  My mom usually makes chili for the super bowl because it is a good football food.  There’s a Three Bean Vegetarian Chili that I had wanted to make this week (and I’ve already bought all the ingredients).  Tomorrow, Larry will be at the party, and he’s a vegetarian. If I make the vegetarian chili, it will be great because it’s something that Larry can enjoy as well as everyone else.  He has a really hard time going to parties or events where there is food that doesn’t have meat in it.  Looking for recipes that don’t have meat in them, I’ve discovered that it is indeed difficult.

I’ll try to take a picture if I think of it, but here’s the recipe now. I’m sure you could also make it with canned beans.  Then, they don’t need to be soaked for hours.  It also wouldn’t have to cook for the 3 hours.  It would just have to be cooked until it was heated thoroughly.

In the pasta y fagioli soup that I made, I really liked the cannelini beans that I added.  Everyday for lunch, I make a spinach salad.  I add a variety of things on and off depending on what I feel like:  red peppers, sunflower seeds, craisins or raisins,  chicken (sometimes, but not at all lately), and always with a light honey mustard dressing.  I bet that cannellini beans would make a really good addition to my salad!  Plus, with the added protein and volume from them, I could eat the salad by itself.  Right now, I make some kind of little sandwich to go with it (mini pizza or a veggie burger).  I’m definitely liking all this new interesting food!  I’m planning our weekly meals for this coming week already.  The only repeat we have so far planned is for Friday.  Veggie pot pie again, and we’re going to invite Larry over.  It was my dad’s idea to make it.  He was bragging about it to Larry, and said “I thought it had chicken in it!!”

I also have Sausage Minestrone Soup, and grilled Tuna (it’s on sale, and we’ve decided to try it.  We’ve never had it before!).  We don’t need dinner tomorrow or Saturday, because we’re going to a Beatles dinner at the Armory.  Here are some of the recipes that I’m looking at:
Quinoa with stir fried winter vegetables

Sesame Noodles with Tofu

Organic winter vegetables with cheese

Bucatini amatriciana

I’ve been interested in trying tofu or tempeh lately.  I’ve never had either, but they both look good.  Does anyone have any opinions on them?  I know that Larry eats it occasionally, and Trevor and Amy make it and then invite Larry over for dinner.  But I’m pretty sure I’ve never had it!

Ok, I’m off to hang out with Maria!  She is over at her mom’s house, which is a quick 20 minutes away.  We’re going to hang out and watch a movie and eat chocolate chip cookies!  Yum!

Three Bean Vegetarian Chili

¾ cup dried pinto beans
¾ cup dried red kidney beans
¾ cup dried black beans
1/3 cup EVOO
3 yellow onions, chopped
2 or 3 fresh jalapeno peppers
6 large cloves garlic, minced
6 T chili powder
2 ½ T ground cumin
¼ t cayenne pepper
¼ t dried oregano
2 cans (28 ounces) diced plum tomatoes
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pick over beans. Soak for three hours. Drain beans and set aside.
In a large heavy saucepan over low heat, warm the olive oil. Add the onions and chili peppers and sauté, stirring until the onions are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, chili powder, cumin, cayenne and oregano and sauté, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the beans, tomatoes and water to cover by 3 inches. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until the beans are very tender and begin to fall apart, 2 ½ - 3 hours; add water if the beans begin to dry out but are not yet cooked. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle into individual bowls and serve.

Serves six. Can also be used as a dip, or as a filling for burritos.

This is for Alissa and Dave.  This is a recipe that my mom used to make a lot when I was little.  It was mostly made when us kids had to eat without any parents.  It is a very quick and simple meal, and all three of us liked it.  Once Megan left, Dylan and I would make it just the two of us (it was this, or Mac and Cheese).  Dylan and I most recently made it sometime last year.

You need:  margarine, flour, pepper, whole milk, and one can of chicken breast (about the size of a tuna can - 6oz?)

1.  Melt 2 tablespoons margarine in a double boiler.

2.  Add 2 heaping tablespoons flour, and a dash of pepper.  Stir well.

3.  Slowly add 1 cup whole milk to mix, stirring constantly

4.  After it thickens (several minutes later), add can of chicken, drained, and broken up.

5.  Heat and put over toast

Feeds 3 hungry Streb kids
(it really says that in my mom’s handwriting on the recipe!)

We also make frozen peas to go along with this.  When I eat it, I pile the peas on top of my toast.  So it is toast, then the creamed chicken, and then peas on top of the chicken.  Then I cut it up into bite sized pieces, and eat it with fork.  It’s very delicious.

I made an apple cranberry crisp last night.  It was deeeeelicious.

Apple Cranberry Crisp

• 2 pounds  apples - peeled, cored and thinly sliced
• 1 cup cranberries
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/3 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, cut into pieces
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C.) Butter an 8 inch square baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, mix together apples, cranberries, white sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Place evenly into baking dish.
3. In the same bowl, combine oats, flour and brown sugar. With a fork, mix in butter until crumbly. Stir in pecans. Sprinkle over apples.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until topping is golden brown, and apples are tender.

I have tons of apples hanging around the house, because our local apple orchard (Marshall Farm, or, as I call it, Bitchy Farm) is having an end of season sale.  Apples went from $1.59 to $.59  a pound (at the grocery store, they are $.99, and not from Fitchburg).  I went Friday afternoon, and bought 27 pounds of apples.  $16 worth of apples.  I bought a huge bag of Marshall McIntosh, and then a slightly smaller, but still large, bag of McCouns.  My mom doesn’t like the McCouns, so the smaller bag will be just for me.  We have lots of apples to eat, and bake with.  Today, my mom is baking two apple pies.  One to bake today, and one to freeze for later.

I LOVE baking new things, but don’t really like them hanging around for more than one day.  I have a WONDERFUL book, Small Batch Baking, it has recipes for making four brownies, or six cookies, or two small tarts (among many things).  It’s wonderful to make things that small, especially if I’m cooking for myself.  Anyway, I had probably two servings of the dessert after dinner (I had a small serving of lasagna and small salad to leave room!).  Then, I got hungry around 10, and had a couple more bites while I made popcorn.  Then, I went out with Niles at 11 to get a drink at Hooligans (he had called on his way home from work, and figured I could go out for a bit!).  Then I came home and had several more bites!!!!  It was very yummy, but I wrote a note on it asking my dad to “Bring this to work, and please don’t leave me any.”  I had already eaten probably 1/2 of the entire crisp!!!!  I don’t like things hanging around the house, cause I have absolutely no control over myself, and will just pick and pick and pick.  Dylan made brownies when he was home last weekend, and I told my mom to hide them, cause I couldn’t contain myself.  I would just rather things not hang around like that.  And that is why the small serving sizes are awesome.  Or, just bake sweets when we’re going to a dinner party, and then there won’t be left overs.

Luckily, I’m not crazy about apple pie (I like it, but I don’t love it).  I like more interesting things (crisps, crumbles, tarts, things with more than one fruit, or much more flavor).  I want to make Apple Pumpkin Bread next!