As I said before, tofu has the great quality that it makes all things lighter, especially cakes.
have you ever thought of combining it with Chocolate?

Tofu Chocolate Cake!

INGREDIENTS:

-Light flour: 80 g
-Baking powder: 10 g
-Cooking chocolate or normal chocolate (the higher percentage in cocoa, the better!): 1 standard tablet/bar
-Eggs: 2
-Margarine or butter: 1 tablespoon
-Cocoa powder: 20 g
-Rum: to taste
-Tofu (light/kinu tofu): 300 g
-Sugar: to taste (depends on people!)

-Fresh cream: 100 ml
-Jam: 1 tablespoon

RECIPE:

-Whip the tofu until smooth. Pass it through a fine mesh sieve.

In a separate bowl pass the flour and baking powder through a fine mesh sieve.

-Melt margarine/butter and chocolate on a bain-marie (put the bowl inside a larger one over a fire.
Add 50 ml of hot water and the coca powder. Keep mixing until misture thickens.

-Separate egg yolks and whites.
Beat the whites in to solid meringue.

-Add flour and baking powder, egg yolks, rum and sugar to chocolate mixture. Mix well. Fold in the egg whites in.

-Check taste. Add flour and cocoa powder if necessary. mix in quickly.

-Line your rice-cooker with a little oil. Pour in the whole mix and switch on the rice-cooker.
If you do not have a rice cooker, pour the mixture inside a mold and bake for about 20~25 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius (check from time to time.

-Wait until cooled down completely before taking out.
Serve with whiiped cream mixed wit a little jam of your choice.

Plenty of variations possible!

RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES:
Bread + Butter, Zoy Zhang, Hungry Neko, Mangantayon, Elinluv Tidbit Corner, Maison de Christina, Chrys Niles, Lexi, Culinary Musings, Eats and Everything, One Frugal Foodie, Bite Me New England, Heather Sweet, Dodol-Mochi

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As of 3 minutes ago, it’s officially Thanksgiving! I’m cozy at home in my bed, surrounded by my stuffed animals, Polaroids from high school,  and hundreds of books, among other things.  What was your childhood bedroom like?

Speaking of childhood, I got a fun e-mail from my friend Jenny at 8 this morning while I was sipping on my coffee.  Jenny is hands-down my oldest friend; our mothers grew up together, and although Jenny and I have been separate by half a country for our entire lives and only get to see each other once a year, we’ve always been close.  When my grandfather was still living, my parents and I visited him in Indianapolis every winter between Christmas and New Year’s; this photo is from the winter of 1988.  (That’s me on the right, with the bowl cut.)

Here we are this past summer, in Lake Michigan.

I miss her so much during the year.  We look forward to our week on the lake so much!

After my trip down memory lane, I made a quick breakfast: Ezekiel English muffin with almond butter and a banana, raspberry jam on one side and pumpkin butter on the other.

I went to the post office to mail something; it didn’t open until 10 (which seems a little later) but there was a machine that got the job done.  Then to physical therapy I went! It as a particularly good appointment. I learned some new exercises to stretch my hips; I can easily do them from the hotel room in Russia.  After PT I raced back home to eat lunch before I had to turn right back around and go to an interview.  I made a quick salad:

In the mix:

• romaine
• celery
• tofu
• leftover roasted veggiesM

It was one of the rare occasions where I could not finish my meal.  Usually, once I’ve dished a certain amount of food out, I will eat every last scrap even if I’ve long since reached capacity.  (Last night’s pasta plate was an example of this.)  However, today I started getting a stomachache about partway through, and just picked out what I wanted (roast vegetables, tofu, hummus), leaving a fair amount of spinach.

I felt guilty about throwing the rest out (I won’t be back at the house for two weeks), but it was better than making myself sick.  As it was, my tum hurt for the next two hours.  My eyes are bigger than my head sometimes, and I think the most important thing I need to remember to do is slow down while I’m eating.  I’ve been so rushed these past few weeks that although I’ve been eating foods I love, I’ve barely tasted them as I’ve had to practically inhale them to get from appointment to appointment on time.  It’ll be nice to have  a little break

There’s always room for sweets, though!  I had a couple of these strawberry gummy candies from the Japanese grocery store in our neighborhood.  Not bad!

I was starving after my interview.  Luckily I had about four different snacks in my bag, so I ate one of the apple-flavored Heart Thrive bars that I was sent to review.  I’ll do a formal review once I’ve sampled all of the products, but I liked this a lot!

When I got home I folded laundry and did some preparatory packing for my trip to Russia.  I am one of the worst packers ever.  I always take too much and forget crucial items, like spare contact lenses or pajama pants.  Do you have any fool-proof (or LVP proof!) packing tips?

I snacked on some Concord grapes that were about to go bad while I waited for my dad to help me pack some things up.  These grapes are really addicting.  There are seeds, which I thought I wouldn’t like, but are actually kind of fun to work through and take longer to eat.  Plus, these are the kind of grapes used to make grape juice, so they’re the perfect combination of sweet + tart.

While my dad was at a holiday party, my mom and I had dinner at watched Hannah And Her Sisters.  Not only is this a really good Woody Allen film, but it’s told between two years’ worth of Thanksgivings!  I ordered a bento box for dinner, which came with a spicy tuna roll, tempura, sashimi & shrimp shumai.  (It came with rice, salad & miso soup as well, but I’m saving those for tomorrow.)

I also had a glass of Black Box Wine’s Sauvignon Blanc.

My mom brought home dessert from Billy’s Bakery, the same shop she ordered my birthday cupcakes from.

She bought one pumpkin cupcake and one pumpkin bar; we split them three ways. De-lish.

I’m off to bed.  There’s a lot on the agenda tomorrow!  Have a great night, a happy holiday, and safe travels wherever your day takes you.

I can’t believe it’s almost here. Thanksgiving AND my Turkey Chase 10K. I’ve been nervous all day, and I have no idea why. This will be my fifth race so I think I should know what I’m doing by now. But nerves are going crazy. With that being said, work was insane to say the least. I didn’t get to sit down all day so the boss ordered us Thai food for lunch. I tried to pick something pretty healthy so I ordered the steamed tofu with veggies in a black bean sauce with brown rice and an order of summer rolls. I made a plate of about 3/4 C brown rice and some of the tofu and veggies. The veggies included broccoli, green onion, mushrooms, and red peppers.

The summer rolls were carrots, fennel, and spinach wrapped in rice paper and topped with chopped peanuts. It came with a sweet sauce on the side, but I only had a little of that. These were different than any other summer roll I’ve had because of the fennel. It had such a strong anise flavor to them. Quite interesting. And if you couldn’t tell, these are not fried, they are raw.

I only had this plate plus a tiny bit more, and then it was back to work.

For snacks I had one of my pumpkin cranberry power bars.

Picture courtesy of yesterday since I had no time for pictures today. I also had a few crostini’s and 3 or 4 small chunks of cheese. I needed something to keep me going. My energy got so slow around 5pm and I felt like I was dragging my feet.

Once I got home I knew exactly what I was going to have for dinner. I present to you leftover Thai with some kale. I needed to get my greens in somewhere today. I had the remaining 1/4 C of brown rice, the rest of the tofu (I had eaten all of the veggies at lunch) with sauce on top of a ton of steamed kale. Not the BEST tasting dinner, but it was pretty good.

Now I’m just mentally preparing for my race and icing my foot. I’m excited for it to be over and for me to enjoy the rest of my day. I love Thanksgiving a lot, but my favorite thing to do on Thanksgiving is drink hot cocoa while watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade with a fire. It reminds me of my childhood, and it’s a tradition now. I’m very excited to continue my tradition after my race tomorrow.

In other news: Look at this gorgeous wreath I got from work.

Every year we get a free wreath for our door at work, but we can never hang it up because the door won’t close. Since no one else wants it I always take it home. This years wreath is way better than lasts, and I think it is gorgeous! On Sunday evening Chris and I are going to decorate our apt for the holidays like we do every year. I really get into decorating for the holidays if you couldn’t tell already.

That’s all for now-I’m just sipping on some diet hot cocoa and just had a sliver (I’m talking sliver) of pumpkin pie. It was just staring at me calling my name! I hope everyone has a very safe and happy Thanksgiving! See you all on Black Friday for Race Recap, Thanksgiving Recap, and a wine Review coming soon!

Hello friends! Apparently a lot of you want me to make banana softserve and homemade larabars in my new food processor! I couldn’t agree more But first things first you guys, I’ve got to get my hummus on

Well, I started today off like I start every Wednesday – Waffle Wednesday!!

 
You know the drill…

• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup cottage cheese
• 1/2 cup egg whites
• 1 tbsp ground flax
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• cinnamon

All blended up, with 1/3 cup frozen blueberries added, then into the Belgian waffle maker.

 
Yummmm. I ate these with my hands

I decided to skip my usual morning snack and see if I could hold it out till lunch. Sometimes I feel like I have a snack just for the sake of having it, when I don’t really need it. Well, I made it to lunch, without eating my arm off. But I was quite hungry, and my lunch was too small.

Tofu + tofu spread pita. Usually I have a side of veggies or fruit to go with my pitas, but I thought this would be enough. Skipping snacks, then going for lighter meals apparently doesn’t work (HUGE duh!!)

Ninety minutes later I broke and had a snack.

Taste of Nature Argentina peanut plains bar. This is one of my new bar finds – and it’s Canadian!

 
Ingredients are about as simple as you get: “peanuts, agave nectar, brown rice syrup.”

I had high hopes for this bar. I mean, how is sugar and peanuts not good? But it was crunchy (not chewy) and almost like a brittle. Very plain tasting, needed some salt. Honestly, I think I’d just rather a handful of peanuts.

So lesson of the day is: I sometimes still suck at intuitive eating. But I didn’t die without a snack this morning. I made up for it by snacking all afternoon though because I was never satisfied from lunch. I guess, if my diet ain’t broke, why am I trying to fix it?

Then the highlight of my day came: I got to see the Olympic torch!!!!

How cool is that!?!? Canada is hosting the Winter Olympics, so they’re bringing the torch through all the small cities as part of its international run. Chris and I caught the start of the run. It was so neat to see. This HUGE entourage of decked out vans (including one with dancers) pulled up. The first torchbearer waited nervously until they lit the torch and brought it out. Then she was off! They did a little tour around the city and had a big ceremony tonight that I purposely avoided (eeek, crowds).

After the brief excitement, Chris and I went across the street to Boston Pizza for some grub.

Boston Pizza is definitely one of those scary chains that people warn you about. Hard to order healthy here, and the food isn’t that great to begin with.

Chris pulled a Garfield.

I got the lemon baked salmon.

BLECH. Ugh, I try not to be a food snob, but this salmon was majorly sub-par. Waaaay overcooked. You can tell it was just a frozen hunk that was thrown in the oven. The saving grace of this meal was the balsamic vinaigrette with sundried tomatoes on the side. So not worth my money.

But it didn’t matter, cause afterwards we went to go see New Moon and that was definitely worth my money! I liked it much better than the first. The acting was better, and well, I’m a Jacob fan. Edward just isn’t my type

Python business… 

Lara mentioned that maybe I should talk about what workouts I’ve been doing to get my little muscle bumps on my arms. Honestly, I haven’t been doing much! I dedicate two workouts a week to weightlifting. One of those is full-body the other is upper-body + abs. My legs get so much work in with running, spinning and step class, that I really can’t do weighted squats and lunges more than once a week. Not just for the sake of my muscles, but my hips are really sensitive to it too.

Works out fine for me because upper body has been my focus lately! Back in my triathlon days I didn’t have much time for weight training on top of my six cardio workouts a week. But my shoulders started to look awesome with all the swimming I was doing! I actually haven’t swum since the triathlon itself, and when I didn’t pick up the weight training again right away (running and biking in the summer is just too much fun!) my newly sculpted shoulders started to disappear.

So. What exactly have I been doing? First off, I lift heavy. I usually do 2-4 sets of 8-12 reps at really challenging weights. Basically, I want my last rep to feel like I can’t push out any more. I know my weights are too low if my muscles don’t feel tired by the end, and too high if I can’t squeeze out more than two reps. I’m not entirely against low weights at high reps, as it’s good for increasing strength and endurance. But for straight up muscle building, I like the idea of heavy weights. A mix of the two is perfect!

I also really like to do alternating sets working two different muscles at a time. This allows for shorter rest times in between sets, and a better heart-pumping workout When I do my full-body work, I’ll alternate a lower-body and upper-body move for three sets, then move on to to another upper/lower combo. OR, I just do straight sets of compound moves that work both upper and lower at the same time. Squatting with a front grip on a barbell then pressing it over my head as I come up (front squat push press) is a perfect example of that.

I approach my upper body only days the same way. Except, I try to work opposite muscles in my alternating sets. It’s really easy to fatigue quickly when you’re working the same muscle in two consecutive sets. I also try to alternate pushing motions and pulling motions. A perfect example would be alternating sets of chest presses and lat pulldowns. Both work opposite muscles using opposite motions.

Of course, you don’t have to do two alternating sets. You can also do circuits of 3+ moves in a row repeatedly until, well, you’re blue in the face. But for the sake of not hogging all the equipment, I stick to two at a time.

If you’re not into the alternating thing, pyramid sets and drop sets are another great way to challenge your muscles which I addressed in this post.

And if you’re a complete newb and don’t know many lifting moves this page should keep you busy It’s all about getting in the weight room and trying things out! I’m a nerd, and I bring in notes and diagrams of any new exercises I want to try when I’m in there. Sometimes I get funny looks from people, but I’m never scared to ask for help if I need it Although, I gave a man a dirty look once for trying to help me adjust a bench. I don’t know why, but I do not appreciate chivalry in the weight room.

Aaaaand I’m off! Night night!

Question of the Day: What’s your least favourite restaurant chain? I really dislike Tim Hortons. They’re coffee tastes like grass water and their muffins are innocent looking cake bombs.

This week is going slow, as soon as I start counting down to my week off work, time drags.  I’m trying to wait till then to get all excited about Christmas, doing my Christmas shopping, putting the trimmings up with Christmas songs playing in the background oooo now I’m excited.

Breakfast was inspired by the Muller rice tasting oats I made in this post I added mashed banana, cinnamon, peanut butter and strawberry jam.

You probably remember the dinner from yesterday’s post, I saved some for today’s packed lunch and added some broccoli and quinoa.  I also took some of the Pesto I made to mix into the quinoa when I was ready to eat it.

Today’s exercise it was way too cold for me to even think about getting into a swimming costume and jumping in a cold pool so I went home to do my Nell McAndrew Peak Energy DVD.

For Dinner I made a black bean burrito repeated from this post including black beans, kidney beans and sweet corn, red pepper and this time with avocado instead of chicken YUM!

And then I ate this fruity snack of kiwi fruit, blueberries and mango.

WEDNESDAY’S WARDROBE – WINTER WARMERS part 2

Heather did a post about how much she loves jumper dresses and gave me the idea for today’s wardrobe post.  As the weather is getting colder I’m looking for clothing that keeps me warm, comfortable and looks good too.

I teamed the jumper dress with a fur body warmer, tights and ankle boots and a chain belt.

Wow it’s late (10:00) I’m off to watch Sex and The City on TV and then beddy byes.

If you don’t own Vegan Lunch Box, you seriously need to. With a ton of lunch box menus, yummy kid-friendly recipes, and great tips on how to sneak healthy veggies into their (or your) diet without them knowing, it’s a must have for vegans. 

Their tofu “fish” sticks are super delicious and one of my favorite ways to eat tofu. I made a batch yesterday so I’m gonna be munching on these for days. Yay!

Here they are served with some ketchup and super stuffed potato skins.

They also make great sandwiches. Instead of making little sticks I made two larger slices and baked them the same as the sticks. Then I put the slices on toasted bread smeared with ketchup and topped with slices of red onion and avocado. It was yummy, especially served with garlic soy crisps.

I hate to be “full of myself” but I rock.  I felt like the mom in Requiem for a Dream the way I was moving around…minus the Phen-Fen

 Yesterday morning I

1) FINISHED laundry (2 loads)

2) Baked mini gingerbread muffins for my work’s Thanksgiving potluck (boxed but don’t judge)

3) Made dinner for myself to bring to work.  Baked/roasted chickpeas and tofu (cayenne pepper, red chili flakes, olive oil, cumin, curry) to make lettuce wraps. (More pics on this later)

4) Put my mini Christmas tree up

5) Cleaned my kitchen/guest bathroom

I didn’t have time to go buy the Twilight game so I got it at work. 

To reward my good deeds I snacked on a Cashew Cookie Lara Bar.  This is one my favorite flavors.  So buttery and satisfying.

When I finally put my dinner together I was very happy that it tasted delicious.  The chili sauce was way too spicy though! Jeez, I was tearing up like there was no tomorrow.  It was almost as hot as Zac Efron…mmm…

Gotta go in early to work but I plan on making the dessert for Thanksgiving as well as get all my veggies prepped for the “big” day.  I hope you all enjoy your holidays!

I like this one better than the one I made a month ago!

6 cups veggie stock
1 container firm tofu, dried and cubed
2 tsp Chinese five-spice, or pumpkin pie spice
1/2 chopped onion
4-5 cloves garlic
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 cup potatoes (white or sweet), chopped
1/2 cup golden beets, chopped
2 bunches o’ greens (bok choi, tatsoi, yukina, napa cabbage)

Saute garlic in onions in olive oil.  Add dry spices and tofu and stir-fry till brown.  Add sauces, sugar, potatoes, and beets.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat.  Cook for 10 minutes if potatoes/beets are already cooked, 20 if not.  Add greens and simmer for another 5.  Serve with lime and cilantro.

So, 48 hours out after my final race of the season; it’s time to reflect on the mess that was yesterday and the relative success that was my season as a whole.

Racing Stats:

• Peachtree International Triathlon: 2:56:54
• Irongirl Triathlon: 1:45:28
• Peachtree Road Race 10K: 50:22
• Acworth Women’s Triathlon:
• Augusta 70.3: 5:41:04
• Chicago Marathon: 3:36:57
• Augusta Half Marathon: 1:42:04
• Philly Half Marathon: 1:46:47

Highlights:

• Completing my first marathon.  and getting a BQ.
• Completing my first half iron distance.
• Getting more confident on the bike.
• Meeting tri friends in ATL and Augusta

Lowlights:

• Being stuck in a boot from 11/08-4/09 with a never healing sesamoid stress fracture
• Bike crash at mile 18 of the Augusta
• Slicing my ankle open at T-2 of Irongirl and requiring stitches
• Getting laid off and having to leave ATC in Atlanta. (that’s the real lowlight)

SOOOOO. What are my goals for next season?

• Sub 3:30 marathon (hopefully sub 3:20)
• Sub 21min (pref <20min) 5K
• Lose 15 lbs (and/or reduce to 15% bf) to help accomplish the above goals
• Increase bike speed to avg 20mph over 70.3 bike course
• Complete first Ironman

I’m thinking that I want and need a coach for next year.  The only issue is I’m not one to hand over control.  I am very much a control freak and the thought that I would trust someone enough to just follow their plan and believe that I would be ready to reach my full potential…it just, well…it just wouldn’t happen.

That doesn’t mean that I don’t want that to happen.  It’s just hard.  But, the IM training really needs to not be done by myself.  That said, suggestions for tri & track coaches are so welcome.

And finally, a pictorial summary of the season…and the final summarizing statement: a good season, all in all.

I woke up this morning craving everything and decided on scrambled egg with tomato ketchup and a slice of toast with blackberry jam, perfect and satisfied those cravings.

I needed a bright colourful breakfast plate after waking up to a dull, dreary day.

For lunch, I took a falafel burger to work, to add to this salad I bought in the canteen.

Today’s exercise  Badminton.  It’s been a while since my Mum and I played, what with my neck and then being busy at work. We really enjoyed whizzing around the court pretending to be the “Williams Sisters” (I know that’s tennis but I don’t know any famous Badminton players)

When we got home I had a quick snack of sliced apple with peanut butter and then made dinner for me and Mum.

I talked my Mum into trying tofu.  I know there’s no way my Dad would try it being the meat lover he is (remember the steak) so I thought as he’s out, this would be a great time to convert her. So I marinated the tofu in soy sauce, ginger, garlic and chilli powder and then pan fried.

I used Simply Life’s pesto recipe to go with the tofu.  How can something so simple taste so good, I recommend everyone to try this if you like basil, nuts and cheese (and who doesn’t )

And added it to some tofu pieces served with sweet potato and broccoli.  I’m pleased to say she enjoyed it very much and hopefully will be joining me in “Veggie for a Day” at least once a week.

I saved some tofu for tomorrows packed lunch.  I love it when I can make a meal on an evening and use the leftovers for my work lunches.  Sometimes I plan it that way too.  Do you make more so you have leftovers for another day?

Hey y’all!  Welcome to the end of Tuesday!

I am rushing around trying to get packed, Sissy all set up (she will be alone on Thursday and Nick will be home with her on Friday), do laundry and try and clean up the place a bit.  I hate coming home to a dirty house!

As for the eats of the day…

Morning snack was the other 1/2 of my apple from breakfast.

Yes, I took a bite before the picture, or maybe someone took a bite out of it while it was in the break room fridge???  How many people bring reusable lunch boxes to your work?  It is embarrassing how many people bring plastic bags to a place dedicated to the environment.  I guess this shows that the place may be environmental, but that doesn’t mean the people are.

And my lunch?  Well it was a bunch of all different sorts of things.  I am trying to use things up before I leave.

All of my Tupperware to combat all of the plastic bags at the office.

Brown Cow greek and the remainder of the pom arils, peanut butter and celery sticks.

Leftover buttercup squash mouth.

Lots of crunch and ubber filling.

We had our usual Friday crisis.  How do they know we are off for 3 days?!?!?!  Those Fates are tricky!

I slowly made my way through my PM snack for the last hour of work.

Clementine, shredded wheat, mixed nuts.

After work I went to the gym for a quick workout so I could be home to say good bye to Nick!  I did 25 min of the hill and then 30min of negative splits.

Dinner?!?! What to make????

Tofu. Roasted Veggies. Wheat berries. Check, check and check!

Tofu mixed in maple syrup, EVOO, salt, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg.

Wheat berries cooked normally with a little goat cheese mixed in.

Roasted onion, broccoli, mushrooms and carrots in EVOO, oregano and S&P.

Wow, I did not realized how full this would make me feel!  I also must admit I had a few (yes really only a few) Kashi crackers while I was waiting for my food to cook.

OK it is time to get crackin’!  Biggest Loser is on in the background I have some on MamaPea’s maple chick peas to take out of the oven!

See you bright and early!

Yay Maine!!!!!

Stuffed Peppers w/ Tofu

Serves:4

CarbsPerServing:10

Prep Time:30 minutes

Effort:Average

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. ground beef

4 bell peppers ( any color)

1 package firm tofu – chopped in 1/2 inch cubes

chopped onion

1 can tomatoes – diced

1 can tomatoe sauce

1/2 cup cheddar cheese- grated

salt and pepper

How to Prepare:

Brown ground beef and onion. Drain and add tomatoes and tomatoe sauce. Warm through. Mix in cheddar cheese and tofu. Add salt and pepper. Sit aside and clean bell peppers. Cut tops off of peppers, remove seeds and wash out. Fill peppers with hamburger mixture. Sit tops back on peppers. Cook at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

My previous post on tofu seemed to be a hit, so I’ve decided to share a few more tips and recipes for making tofu.  My last post featured tofu recipes that I’d normally make for lunch.  Check out two of my favorite effortless tofu dinner dishes.

Tofu Marinara
The key to this recipe is freezing the tofu beforehand.  This will create a nice chewy, meaty texture. (Serves 4-5)

-1 8 0z. block of tofu, prefrozen and thawed
-2 1/2 cups of your favorite tomato sauce  (If I don’t use homemade, I enjoy Classico’s Basil and Tomato sauce or Trader Joe’s Tomato and Basil sauce)
-Brown Rice or whole wheat pasta, cooked
-A few basil leaves, chopped

Press the block of tofu between a towel, squeezing out any excess water.  Cut the tofu into 1/2 inch cubes.  Place the tomato sauce into a saucepan and bring to a simmer.  Add the cubed tofu and cook an additional 5 minutes, letting the flavors of the sauce melt into the tofu.  Remove from heat and spoon sauce over a bowl of brown rice or pasta.  Sprinkle with chopped basil.

Tofu With Asian Garlic Sauce

This recipe will leave your mouth lingering with garlic, but it’s so tasty that it’s worth a little late-night garlic breath. (Serves 4)

-1/4 cup fresh cilantro (If you don’t enjoy cilantro, feel free to substitute parsley)

-1 to 2 garlic cloves, minced

-1 scallion, minced

-1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

-2 Tbsp soy sauce

-2 Tbsp mirin or a sweet white wine

-1 tsp hoisin sauce

-1 tsp toasted sesame oil

-2 Tbsp olive oil

-1 pound extra firm tofu, cut into 1/2 inch strips

-Brown rice, cooked

Combine the cilantro, garlic, scallion, pepper flakes, soy sauce, mirin, hoisin sauce, and sesame oil in a bowl.  In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat.  Stir-fry tofu until golden brown on both sides, 2 to 3 minutes.  Add sauce, and cook for approx. 2 minutes.  Serve finished tofu over the brown rice.

Miso Soup

Ever wonder how they make the miso soup you order at your favorite Japanese restaurant?  Let me tell you, it’s not hard!  Miso soup makes a great, healthy vegetarian replacement for chicken noodle soup when you’re feeling a little under the weather, or if you simply have the winter blues.

-3 cups water
-2 Tbsp miso (Take your choice of red, white, or barley miso)
-2 scallions, chopped
-3-5 shitake mushrooms, sliced
-1 5×5 inch piece of wakame, shredded
-1/2 block medium or firm tofu, cut into 1 inch cubes

Bring water to a simmer and add seaweed.  Let simmer for about 5-6 minutes. Add the mushrooms and scallions, and cook until tender.  Reduce heat to very low and stir in the miso.  Once the miso is dissolved, remove from heat.  Try to prevent the soup from boiling once the miso is added because this will diminish some of it’s healthy properties.

It is sometimes a hard world for vegans when it comes to find new ideas and recipes, even you love tofu!
Here is a simple way to prepare and enjoy tofu as it was a big piece of cheese!

Vegan Smoked Tofu!

INGREDIENTS: for ? People

-Tofu: a large piece 300~400g or more
-Miso of your liking, as much as you wish
-Soy sauce, not too much (beware the salt)
-Sake or mirin, a little just for the taste
-Spices, if you wish!

RECIPE:

-As the tofu shouldn’t be too soft, choose “momendofu”, or slightly solid.

-Place the tofu on a clean cloth.
-Top it with a clean plate or board.
-Put a heavy weight on top.
-Leave it like this for half a day. The tofu will reduce to half.

-Smear the whole tofu on every face with plenty of a mixture of miso, soy sauce and other ingredients of your choice. The more, the better.

-Wrap it carefully in cellophane paper and leave it in the fridge overnight.

-Take it out of the fridge and take off the cellophane paper.
-Let it dry for 2 hours at room temperature over a piece of kitchen paper.

-Smoke inside a Chinese smoking set for 1 hour.

-Very practical for smoking small quantities!

-Here you are! Enjoy!

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I try to eat vegetarian at least a few times a week.  You wouldn’t know it by some of the meat heavy dishes that I make but I do enjoy eating meatless.  I’m actually thinking of doing another cleanse or fast in the new year.  My body has been slower than I’d like and I feel my overall health isn’t at its peak… thinking a cleanse might be the answer… but I digress.

I know soy isn’t one of the greatest foods for you (apparently soybeans are some of the most genetically modified foods) but I do love me some tofu.  I particularly enjoy a lot of Chinese preparations of tofu… even if they involve some meat.  I found this recipe for tofu with crabmeat in Helen Chen’s Chinese Home Cooking, which is one of my fave cookbooks.  It’s not like I’ve ever craved tofu with a crab sauce but something about this just seemed right.

Like most of her recipes this one was easy to make and good for a weeknight.  The flavours worked well together and served on top of sauteed bok choy this was totally yummy.

While I enjoyed this it won’t likely make it into my regular rotation.  I don’t usually have canned crab in my cupboard and something about eating too much canned crab freaks me out (although I suppose it’s like eating tuna).  It’s definitely worth trying if you want a new way to spice up your tofu.

Bean Curd with Crabmeat

1 pound firm tofu
3/4 cup fresh lump or 1 (6-ounce) can crabmeat, drained (about 3/4 cup)
1 teaspoon dry sherry
3 tablespoon oil
2 slices unpeeled gingerroot, 1 x 1/8 inch each
1 cup canned chicken broth
2 tablespoons cornstarch, dissolved in 1/4 cup water
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
3 tablespoons thinly sliced scallions

1. Drain the tofu and cut into 1-inch cubes. Mix the crabmeat with the sherry. Set aside.

2. Pour the oil into a wok or stir-fry pan and place over medium-high heat. Add the gingerroot and stir around the pan until the oil is hot but not smoking; the gingerroot will begin to sizzle. Add the crabmeat and broth and stir gently. Add the tofu. Simmer over medium-low heat for about 4 minutes.

3. Raise the heat to high and when the mixture comes to a boil, slowly stir in the cornstarch slurry and stir until thickened. When the mixture just begins to boil again, stir in the egg white. Remove the pan from the heat, taste, and add salt as needed. Discard the gingerroot, if desired. Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle the scallions over the top. Serve hot.

Marketing the Soybean

The truth is, however, that most of us are unlikely to adopt traditional soy products as their principal food. Tofu, bean curd and tempeh have a disagreeable texture and are too bland for the Western palate; pungent and musty miso and natto lose out in taste tests; only soy sauce enjoys widespread popularity as a condiment. The soy industry has therefore looked for other ways to market the superabundance of soybeans now grown in the United States and around the world.

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Large scale cultivation of the soybean in the United States began only after the Second World War, and quickly rose to 140 billion pounds per year. Most of the crop is made into animal feed and soy oil for hydrogenated fats- margarine and shortening. During the past 20 years, the industry has concentrated on finding markets for the byproducts of soy oil manufacture, including soy “lecithin“, made from the oil sludge, and soy protein products, made from defatted soy flakes, a challenge that has involved overcoming consumer resistance to soy products, generally considered tasteless “poverty foods”. “The quickest way to gain product acceptability in the less affluent society,” said a soy industry spokesman, ” … is to have the product consumed on its own merit in a more affluent society.”¹¹ Hence the proliferation of soy products resembling traditional American foods-soy milk for cows milk, soy baby formula, soy yogurt, soy ice cream, soy cheese, soy flour for baking and textured soy protein as meat substitutes, usually promoted as high protein, low-fat, no cholesterol “healthfoods” to the upscale consumer increasingly concerned about his health. The growth of vegetarianism among the more affluent classes has greatly accelerated the acceptability and use of these ersatz products. Unfortunately they pose numerous dangers.

Processing Denatures and Dangers Remain

The production of soy milk is relatively simple. In order to remove as much of the trypsin inhibitor content as possible, the beans are first soaked in an alkaline solution. The pureed solution is then heated to about 115 degrees C in a pressure cooker. This method destroys most (but not all) of the anti-nutrients but has the unhappy side effect of so denaturing the proteins that they become very difficult to digest and much reduced in effectiveness.¹² The phytate content remains in soy milk to block the uptake of essential minerals. In addition, the alkaline soaking solution produces a carcinogen, lysinealine, and reduces the cystine content, which is already low in the soybean.¹³ Lacking cystine, the entire protein complex of the soybean becomes useless unless the diet is fortified with cystine-rich meat, eggs, or dairy products, an unlikely occurrence as the typical soy milk consumer drinks the awful stuff because he wants to avoid meat, eggs and dairy products.

Most soy products that imitate traditional American food items, including baby formulas and some brands of soy milk, are made with soy protein isolate, that is the soy protein isolated from the carbohydrate and fatty acid components that naturally occur in the bean. Soy beans are first ground and subjected to high-temperature and solvent extraction processes to remove the oils. The resultant defatted meal is then mixed with an alkaline solution and sugars in a separation process to remove fiber. Then it is precipitated and separated using an acid wash. Finally the resultant curds are neutralized in an alkaline solution and spray dried at high temperatures to produce high protein powder. This is a highly refined product in which both vitamin and protein quality are compromised-but some trypsin inhibitors remain, even after such extreme refining! Trypsin inhibitor content of soy protein isolate can vary as much as 5-fold.¹⁴ In rats, even low level trypsin inhibitor soy protein isolate feeding results in reduced weight gain compared to controls.¹⁵ Soy product producers are not required to state trypsin inhibitor content on labels, nor even to meet minimum standards, and the public, trained to avoid dietary cholesterol, a substance vital for normal growth and metabolism, has never heard of the potent anti-nutrients found in cholesterol-free soy products.

Soy Formula Is Not the Answer

Soy protein isolate is the main ingredient of soy-based infant formulas. Along with trypsin inhibitors, these formulas have a high phytate content. Use of soy formula has caused zinc deficiency in infants.¹⁶ Aluminum content of soy formula is 10 times greater than milk based formula, and 100 times greater than unprocessed milk.¹⁷ Aluminum has a toxic effect on the kidneys of infants, and has been implicated as causing Alzheimer’s in adults. Soy milk formulas are often given to babies with milk allergy; but allergies to soy are almost as common as those to milk.¹⁸ Use of soy formula to treat infant diarrhea has had mixed results, some studies showing improvement with soy formula while others show none at all.¹⁹ Soy formulas lack cholesterol which is absolutely essential for the development of the brain and nervous system; they also lack lactose and galactose, which play an equally important role in the development of the nervous system. A number of other substances, which are unnecessary and of questionable safety, are added to soy formulas including carrageenan, guar gum, sodium hydroxide (caustic soda), potassium citrate monohydrate, tricalcium phosphate, dibasic magnesium phosphate trihydrate, BHA and BHT. Nitrosamines, which are potent carcinogens, are often found in soy protein foods, and are greatly increased during the high temperature drying process.²⁰ Not surprisingly, animal feeding studies show a lower weight gain for rats on soy formula than those on whole milk, high-lactose formula.²¹ Similar results have been observed in children on macrobiotic diets which include the use of soy milk and large amounts of whole grains. Children brought up on high-phytate diets tend to be thin and scrawny.²²

Fabricated Soy Foods

A final indignity to the original soy bean is high-temperature, high-pressure extrusion processing of soy protein isolate to produce textured vegetable protein. Numerous artificial flavorings, particularly MSG, are added to TVP products to mask their strong “beany” taste, and impart the flavor of meat. Soy protein isolate and textured vegetable protein are used extensively in school lunch programs, commercial baked goods, diet beverages and fast food products. They are heavily promoted in third world countries and form the basis of many food give-away programs. These soy products greatly inhibit zinc and iron absorption; in test animals they cause enlarged organs, particularly the pancreas and thyroid gland, and increased deposition of fatty acids in the liver.²³ Human feeding tests to determine the cholesterol lowering properties of soy protein isolate have not shown them to be effective.²⁴ Nevertheless, they are often promoted as having beneficial effects on cholesterol levels.

Cancer Preventing or Cancer Causing?

The food industry also touts soy products for their cancer preventing properties. Isoflavone aglycones are anticarcinogenic substances found in traditionally fermented soybean products. However, in non-fermented soy products such as tofu and soy milk, these isoflavones are present in an altered form, as beta-glycoside conjugates, which have no anti-carcinogenic effect.²⁵ Some researchers believe the rapid increase in liver and pancreatic cancer in Africa is due to the introduction of soy products there.²⁶

The fatty acid profile of the soybean includes large amounts of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids compared to other pulses (legumes); but these omega-3 fatty acids are particularly susceptible to rancidity when subjected to high pressures and temperatures. This is exactly what is required to remove oil from the bean, as soybean oil is particularly difficult to extract. Hexane or other solvents are always used to extract oil from soybeans, and traces remain in the commercial product.

(The Next Story)

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References:

• 11. Coleman, Richard J., “Vegetable Protein-A Delayed Birth?”, J-Am-Oil-Chem-Soc, v. 52, Apr 1975, p. 238A.
• 12. Wallace, G.M., “Studies on the Processing and Properties of Soymilk”, J-Sci-Fd-Agric, v.22, Oct 1971, pp.526-535.
• 13. Berk, Zeki, “Technology of production of edible flours and protein products from soybeans”, FAO Agricultural Services Bulletin 97, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 1992, p. 85.
• 14. Rackis, J.J., et. al., “The USDA trypsin inhibitor study. I. Background, objectives and procedural details”, Qual-Plant-Foods-Hum-Nutr, v. 35 1985, p. 232.
• 15. Ibid.
• 16. Lonnerdal, B. et. al., “The effect of individual components of soy formula and cows’ milk formula on zinc bioavailability”, Am-Jour-Clin-Nutr, v. 40 Nov 1984, pp. 1064-1070.
• 17. Palmer, Gabrielle, “The Politics of Breastfeeding”, Pandora Press, London, 1993, p. 310.
• 18. Ganse, R. “Doctors still sleuthing cause of food allergies”, Sch-Foodserv J, v. 40 (4), May 1986, pp. 38-39.
• 19. Alarcon, P. et. al., “Clinical trial of home available, mixed diets versus a lactose-free soy-protein formula for the dietary management of acute childhood diarrhea”, J-Pediatr-Gastroenterol Nutr, v.12 (2), Feb 1991, pp.224-232
• 20. “Rackis”, Op. Cit., P. 225.
• 21. Dukakis, E.S., et. al., “Evaluating the nutritional quality of infant formula” Nutr-Res, v. 9 (1), Jan 1989, pp. 93-104.
• 22. “Lonnerdal”, Op. Cit.
• 23. Smith, Allan K. Ph.D. ed., Soybeans: Chemistry and Technology, Vol 1, Avi Publishing Company, Inc. Westport, CT, 1972, p. 183; Jenkins, M. Y., et. al., “Nutritional assessment of twelve protein foods/ingredients”, NutrRes, v. 9 (1), Jan 1989, pp. 83-92.
• 24. Wolfe, B.M., “Elevation of VLDL-cholesterol during substitution of soy protein for animal protein in diets of hypercholesterolemic Canadians”, Nutr-Rep-lnt, v. 32 (5), Nov 1985, pp.1057-1065.
• 25. Coward, L., et. al., “Genistein, daidzein and their beta-glycoside conjugates: Antitumor isoflavones in soybean food from American and Asian diets”, J-Agric-Food-Chem, v. 41 (11), Nov 1993, pp. 1961-1967.
• 26. Katz, Op. Cit.

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You know that song from West Side Story… the one whose lyrics go, I feel pretty, / Oh, so pretty, / I feel pretty and witty and bright?  I don’t; I had to Google that, because in my head, it’s all mixed up.  Anyway, more appropriate lyrics at this moment would be I feel ugly, / Oh, so ugly, / I feel ugly and bland and dumb.  Or something to that effect.

To condense a whole lot of whining into one neat package, I didn’t wind up doing my presentation today, because my professor is apparently an idiot and screwed up the schedule.  I, however, am an idiot as well… we got our grades for the project proposal presentation (alliteration much?) we did last week, and we got a 9/10.  Which is admittedly not a bad grade, except that the point is all in my sections.  I’m past caring very much, speaking for myself; but it sucks for my group members, so now I’m going to have to re-do it.  Sigh.  Why do I have to be so stupid??  And I might be paranoid — I probably am paranoid — but I can’t help thinking that they’re talking about that fact behind my back.  Not to mention the fact that I don’t even want to think about getting back my grade for my paper in my other class, because I’m pretty sure it sucks.  In retrospect.

Moving on.

A Honeycrisp apple that is not the size of my head… you can bet I pounced on it!  The first bite of this was so incredibly juicy and sweet… the first bite of an apple is always the best, and every time I bite into one, I think of Beezus and Ramona.  Anyone ever read that? … I loved those books when I was a kid… I still do, actually!  What books did you love when you were younger?

Romaine, roasted acorn squash, roasted okra, and tofu.  Some observations: acorn squash is better without the skin, which I find upsetting because I hate to peel things, especially when they’re not smooth.  Also, the okra was in my freezer and I just had to finish it, but I don’t think I’ll be buying it again.  I have no objections to the taste, but, um, it’s got fuzz on it, which creeps me out.

I tried the last variety of the NuGo10 bar, which was the cranberry flavor… and I absolutely loved it. It has the perfect balance of tartness and sweetness, and the texture is soft and just slightly chewy.  I think this may even top my favorite Larabars!

Baby carrots, to help me finish up the tower of hommus!  I hate to crunch at work.  Even though it shouldn’t bother me at all, because everyone there is apparently hard of hearing.

…And now comes the verbal vomit!  After the class reinforcing, if not my stupidity, my technical retardation, I consumed not one, but two PBJ mini pitas.  And a kid’s cacao bar.  Yet for some inexplicably crazy reason, I somehow made the executive decision that I had not eaten enough calories today and opted to go out and buy soy crisps.  In particular, Glenny’s multigrain soy crisps, which I always used to be able to buy at Duane Reade. Apparently, now that they’ve got their own store brand of soy crisps, they no longer carry Glenny’s. So off I hiked to find them. And I never did… I was getting all aggravated and ready to forego it altogether, but instead I vastly overpaid for these…

…and hated myself more with every bite.  Lucky, then, that I had to all but inhale the bag, since by the time I was finished making a whole federal case out of nothing, I was practically late for my next class.  Obviously, I’m not about to eat in class.  Let’s pretend I’m not insane, and blame it on this:

It was also raining — just the kind of drizzly damp mist that causes my hair to erupt into a halo of frizz.  And to prove that I do actually hear compliments when I get them, one of my classmates chose today of all days to ask me what gel I use, because she has “always loved [my] curls.”  Huh.  I guess you get what you pay for.

Speaking of which… since I’m such a multi-millionaire these days, and I apparently have a compulsive shopping problem, I bought earrings today.  A dozen pairs of earrings.  That would be because it was 12/$12… and even though they’re barely existent, I do have my limits, so I got a couple of pairs for my mom as well.  I probably would have been better off getting them for my sister, as she would have been more appreciative and not said something along the lines of, “Oh, so I am an excuse to meet a ‘quota’? … How little did you pay for them?”  Blah.  Blah.  Blah.

This is what a dozen pairs of earrings looks like.  I think I have a problem.  Do you think I have a problem?!  Why am I even asking?  I know I have a problem.

But about getting what you pay for?  Take a look.

I don’t know how I didn’t notice that.  I checked all of them!!  Apparently not very well.  I think I’m just going to cut off the other three, so that they’ll look the same.  Grrr.

Having not slept well last night — to the tune of not drifting off until at least 1.00 AM, then waking up multiple times until finally giving in and getting up before 5.00 — I think bed is probably a brilliant idea at this point.  Especially after my commute home… I can’t decide which is worse, the frigid subway cars in the summer, or the stifling cars in the winter!!  I was thisclose to passing out… when I step out into a gust of cold air and breathe a sigh of relief, we know that something is wrong.  Maybe I’m naive, but is it really so difficult to regulate the temperature on the subway??

Okay.  I’ll shut up now.  Really.

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Hi friends,

The only thing I could think about for dindin tonight was my tahini, tamari, and sriracha sauce combo.  I stuck some veggies and tofu in the oven until they got all roasty and drizzled the snauce over everything.  I toasted a piece of Ezekiel bread to accompany the mix.

I promised baked goods for my last day of work not realizing how much other stuff I needed to get done in the next few days.  I did the old chocolate cake mix and can of pumpkin trick.  I stirred in a bit of instant pumpkin mocha coffee I got for Halloween last year.  It smells super good so I hope it will taste good too.

I did two 10 min butt toner exercise downloads from Women’s Health while the cake baked.  I can tell I’m going to feel it tomorrow!  I love it when my glutes are sore.

One day left friends, one day left

Kate

Be sure to check out the recipe on Arroz Caldo because this dish is its perfect mate. Then again, this can work as a stand alone snack. Better yet, serve it as bar chow. It really goes great with beer. Unlike my wife, I am a fan of tofu, cooked in any way. I like its texture, and the fact that it’s really healthy (unless you deep fry it, which is the case here), not to mention that it is cheap. Just bear in mind that you purchase it from a reputable store to ensure that it has been prepared hygienically. Also, raw tofu spoils easily so cook them right away upon buying.

For the pork, I used liempo or pork belly as it is easily available. Ideally, it would be best to use pork head, since the texture of the pig’s face and ears is crunchy due to the soft cartilage. But to ask a grocery butcher here in Singapore for a pig’s head will only elicit a peculiar response.

The best Tokwa’t Baboy I have tasted is once again found in Dencia’s in Davao City. As I have mentioned in my previous post on preparing Arroz Caldo, dining in Dencia’s will leave you reeking with its kitchen aromas. At times you’d like to argue that it’s all worth it, but then you could always argue that there should be something they could do about their kitchen’s ventilation.

When serving this dish, make sure you give it a good toss to infuse the ingredients with the sauce. And did I mention that this really goes well with beer?

You’ll need:

• about 250 grams of Pork belly
• 200 grams of tokwa or soy bean curd
• 1/4 cup of vinegar
• a tablespoon of soy sauce
• half a teaspoon of salt
• half a teaspoon of pepper
• a teaspoon of sugar
• a tablespoon of minced garlic
• onions, either minced or rings if you prefer

Boil the pork in water 2 cups of water with about half a teaspoon of salt until tender and cut into half-inch cubes then set aside. Pan fry the tokwa until golden brown and drain on paper towels to get rid of the excess oil. Cut tokwa in the same size as the pork and set it aside.

If you want to go hardcore and use pig’s face/head, boil the head in pot with water enough to cover it. Season with salt and sliced onions. Remove scum as it boils. Once tender, debone and cut the meat into cubes.

In a mixing bowl, combine the vinegar, soy sauce, salt, pepper, sugar, garlic and minced onions until the sugar and salt have been dissolved. Simply combine the tokwa and pork in a serving bowl and pour over the sauce. Top with onion rings if you wish. Now bust open that cold bottle of beer. I know, I’m a beer lover.