Tofu, it isn't just for Vegans!

General Tao's Tofu

Okay, so anytime I mention Tofu, people shutter! No reason!!!!!! My picky eaters all love it, and as long as you have no allergies to it, it's a great way to cut your fat and calories down on your favorite foods! One of my family's favorite is the General Tao's Tofu! It's super yummy and you don't feel like you are being too terribly bad. The key is firm or extra firm tofu. Make sure you drain it and put it in a white towel to dry! It's super important! Check out this website for a video of instructions. http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=8769.0

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

• 1 box of extra firm tofu
• egg substitute for 1 egg
• 3/4 cup cornstarch
• vegetable oil for frying
• 3 chopped green onions
• 1 Tablespoon minced ginger
• 1 Tablespoon minced garlic (I use the already minced in water)
• 2/3 cup vegetable stock
• 2 Tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
• 4 Tablespoons sugar
• red pepper to taste
• 1 Tablespoon sherry (optional) I love this though and wouldn't leave it out.
• 1 Tablespoon white vinegar
• steamed broccoli (I buy the steamable bags)

I sometimes put this over brown rice too!

Directions:

Drain, dry and cut tofu into 1 inch chunks. You can freeze tofu the night before to get a more chicken-like consistency, but it isn't necessary.

Mix the egg replacer as specified on the box and add an additional 3 tablespoons water.

Dip tofu in egg replacer/water mixture and coat completely.

Sprinkle 3/4 cup cornstarch over tofu and coat completely. Watch out that the cornstarch doesn't clump up at the bottom of the bowl.

Heat oil in pan and fry tofu pieces until golden. Drain oil.

Heat 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil in pan on medium heat.

Add green onions, ginger and garlic, cook for about 2 minutes. Be careful not to burn garlic.

Add vegetable stock, soy sauce, sugar, red pepper and vinegar.

Mix 2 Tablespoons water with 1 Tablespoon cornstarch and pour into mixture stirring well.

Add fried tofu and coat evenly.

Serve immediately with steamed broccoli over your choice of rice.

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 30 Minutes

Oh so good Sweet Pork!

The other night I didn't know what to make and I had some pork thawed so I decided to make something up. I had a ton of produce that was about to go bad. So I chopped some carrots, celery, small white potatoes, garlic, and onions and put it in with some pork loin that I cut into stew meat slices. I stared at it and wondered what would I do to it? So I threw on some soy sauce (because, who doesn't like soy sauce?) Then I realized it would be really salty with the pork and soy sauce, so I added a handful of brown sugar and about a tablespoon of water and covered it. I baked it at 375 for 45 minutes. The results were insane! I will pat myself on the back because every member of the family devoured it! It was so great, but alas, there are no pictures (mainly b/c James literally ate every bite and drank the juice from the bowl...LOL). I think everyone out there would love this! Just give it a try. It's fast, easy, and great for a weeknight rushed meal!

Happy eating!

The great misadventures of Chicken and Dumplings

Oh my goodness, who would have thought that my nemesis would be chicken and dumplings? Well it was! Well not really the dumplings, it was the chicken. But let me start from the beginning.

Brooklynn and James just LOVE chicken and dumplings. They are always talking about it. My sister and friend told me that it was not hard to make. So I pulled out my "Simply Delicious" Weight Watchers cookbook and looked up a recipe.

3 1/2 lb chicken (pulled apart) {There lies my problem}

2 small carrots

2 small celery

1 onion

3/4 cups baking mix

1/3 c. fat free milk

3 c. low sodium chicken broth

salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp parsley

The first thing the recipe told me was to pull apart the raw chicken...wh...wh...what? Pull apart and take off the skin of a raw, whole chicken? How was I supposed to do this? It must have looked very comical, because James was peeking through the window of the kitchen grinning at me as I tore this little *%#&^%& apart. After about 25 minutes I said, that is enough chicken.

I browned chicken, then added the chopped veggies and browned them as well (about 6 minutes each) then I added the broth and let it simmer for 35 minutes. I mixed the milk and baking mix and parsley together to make the dumplings. After the 35 minutes I dropped the dumplings in and let it simmer with a cover 20 minutes, then without a cover for 15 more minutes. The end result was super yummy, but next time...I get chicken breasts. AJ opted out because of the carrots, but it fed 4 adults, 2 children (with B and James having two helpings). No leftovers, that's my goal!

MMM...MMM...Mini Caesar Salad Bites

Tonight at our house was a night of mini's, or tapas, depending on who you talk to. I decided to make this a game for the kids. I made all different tapas and color coded them with toothpicks. The more fruit, veg, meat the kids eat the more toothpicks. The most toothpicks wins! One of the dishes was a big surprise. Mini Caesar Salad Bites. Lettuce leaves, small chicken bites, prosciutto, anchovies, homemade dressing, hard boiled egg. Yum! They are little and so great!

I got pre-made chicken that just needed warmed up.

Broiled prosciutto

2 hard boiled eggs

sliced anchovies

lettuce leaves pulled apart

miracle whip

white vinegar

water

Parmesan cheese

For dressing, mix 1 tbsp of mayo, 1 tbsp of water and 1 tsp of white vinegar.

I pulled apart the lettuce leaves and set them as cups.

Put the pieces of chicken in the cups.

Put the sliced egg and prosciutto in the cup.

Put an anchovy on top.

Sprinkled parm on top.

Poured dressing over the top

Yummy Summer Obsession

This yummy Summer obsession was first introduced to me by my friend Kim. We used to barbecue almost every weekend last summer and I dearly miss hanging out together!

Strawberry Pretzel Salad
ingredients:

2 c. crushed pretzel pieces

2 tbsp. brown sugar

3/4 c. butter, melted

1/2 c. mini chocolate chips

8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened (we used weight watchers)

1 c. sugar8 oz. tub of Cool Whip (we used fat free)

2 regular boxes of strawberry Jello

2 c. boiling water

About 10 ounces of frozen fruit (we used strawberries) thawed and drained

instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Crush regular pretzels in a zip lock bag with something heavy. In a large bowl, mix 2 cups of crushed pretzel, 2 tbs. brown sugar, and 2/3 cup of melted butter. Press mixture firmly into the bottom of a 9×13 baking pan. Bake for 8 minutes then allow to cool. Mix Jello packets and boiling water until dissolved. Stir in thawed fruit then place mixture in the fridge to chill while you make the middle layer. Stir together softened cream cheese, 1 cup of sugar, and thawed tub of Cool Whip until nicely mixed. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips over the cooled pretzel crust. Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly on top the crust. Then top with the fruit-jello mixture. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.

Yummy 4 point Veal

So let me pre-empt by saying I have never had veal before! I was against it because of the treatment of the animals...but all good Chef's must use all good food. So I sucked it up and decided to make Veal (one of my husband's favorites.) I made Veal Cutlets with Wine Braised Mushrooms (for you fellow WWers it was only 4 points per serving).

Ingredients

• 1 lb. Veal scaloppine


• 1/4 c. all purpose flour


• 2 tsp evoo (extra virgin olive oil) divided


• 1 (8 oz package) of pre-sliced mushrooms


• 1/4 c. of sliced green onions


• 1/3 c. low sodium beef or chicken broth (I prefer chicken)


• 1/4 c. your favorite dry wine (I used Cupcake Riesling)


• 1/4 c. water


• 1/2 c. chopped seeded tomato


• 1/2 tsp. salt


• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper


• 2 tbsp. chopped basil (if you use dry only do 1 1/2 tbsp.)

Instructions

Dredge veal in flour. Heat nonstick skillet over medium/high heat. Add veal and cook 2 minutes per side. Transfer veal to a serving platter; cover and keep warm. Add mushrooms and green onions to renderings in pan and saute 1 1/2 minutes until tender. Combine broth, wine, and water. Add to pan, scraping pan to loosen those yummy brown bits. Stir in tomato, salt and pepper. Then add veal back in to rewarm it.

I put it over brown rice (2 points) and serve. So good, I only ate a small piece of veal but James ate the entire pan...LOL

Enjoy!