Somedays, it doesn't help to be barefoot.

One of the downsides of being eight months pregnant is that it really hurts to be on your feet for extended periods of time.  It's always kind of bugged me to spend long stretches in the kitchen without shoes, because my feet don't have any support and my legs start to wear out, but now, it feels like I can't stand for more than 30-45 minutes or so.  So tonight, the 4-5 hours we've spent cooking and prepping food for the week has been interspersed with a lot of breaks, and things got a lot better once I went and put on my sneakers.  Hopefully the end result of this will be that almost every meal for the week is good to go and we don't have to do a lot of prep work to have delicious, healthy meals.

I haven't posted in awhile, mostly because I haven't come up with many new recipes and because Pinterest basically serves most of the purposes for which I started this blog (a way of cataloging my favorite recipes, etc.)

Anyway, I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes this week and while there are plenty of posts and blogs out there, since I have a high chance of having GD again with subsequent pregnancies (the jury is still out on whether this kid gets a sibling, ever), I figured it would be useful to me and perhaps to others to compile recipes.  I haven't met with the endocrinologist/diabetes educator or learned to test my blood sugar yet, but a few friends gave me some advice so for the past few days I've been eating low-carb, upping my protein, and eating 3 small meals and 2-3 large snacks.  I've been tracking everything on My Fitness Pal and trying to figure out how doable being a vegetarian with GD is.  I only have 8 weeks to go in my pregnancy, so if I do end up needing to eat meat to get the nutrients I need and not overload myself or the baby with sugar or salt, I will do so.  (There is very little I won't do to avoid having an 11lb baby, it turns out.)

So here is my meal plan for this week:
Sunday: Burgers and Zuchinni Fries - I used whole wheat bread crumbs and had my burger bunless, with a side of greek yogurt (the black bean burgers from Costco are pretty spicy so the yogurt cuts the flavor.)  I recommend not using panko, or running the panko through the food processor first.
Monday: Lentil Tacos (I'm trying this recipe) on whole wheat tortillas (I buy the whole wheat ones from Costco)
Tuesday: No Noodle Zucchini Lasagna 
Wednesday: Kale Quinoa Salad with Roasted corn and Lemon Vinagrette - I'll probably skip the corn on this one.  My lemon vinagrette is just lemon juice and olive oil and some garlic and salt.  You can add mustard if you want it to hold together better.
Thursday:  Stir fry with tofu and all of the vegetables from our CSA and a side of brown rice.
Friday: Fish with a side of rice and...something with lima beans.

Something that helps me a lot is to make rice and quinoa in advance, because during the week, it's hard to remember to start the rice cooker as soon as one of us gets home from work so that the rice is done at a reasonable time.  (It's possible they make rice cookers that stay warm for hours for exactly this reason but ours burns stuff if it's beyond the time.)

I also made some cookies and chocolate chip bread to use up the 8 very large zucchini that came from our CSA (we went with the Jones Family Farm for any Baltimore locals and it's been great).  Mr. Barefoot approved of the cookies and pronounced them "pretty edible, in fact good."

What are you eating these days? Any low-carb, high protein suggestions for me?

Half-30, Weeks 2 & 3

Oh dear. I started a blog post with my remaining menu plan, and totally failed to continue. This was for a few reasons, the first being I found out there is actually a whole vegetarian paleo forum and movement, with websites with meal plans and stuff, so I started to feel obsolete, and secondly, um, I'm busy.

Breakfast:
-Sweet potato hash with fried eggs (I have made this 2-3 times a week and smoothies the other days)
-Paleo Oatmeal
-Oatmeal Minus the Oats
-Smoothies

Dinners:
- Coconut Red Lentil Soup

- Sauteed Scallops over Spaghetti Squash - I did not use this recipe. I used this one, and it was gross, and worse reheated.

-Catfish sauteed with cajun spices

-Salmon patties with a big salad and homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing (Balsamic vinegar, olive oil, mustard)

- Chili Rubbed Salmon with coconut cauliflower rice

- Almond encrusted Tilapia 

-Black bean salad with avocado, tomato, and roasted peppers.

Snacks:
-Nuts
-Apples with almond butter
-Bananas
-Raisins

I'm on Week 4 now and this week I'm adding some grains back in.  This is partly because I just haven't been feeling as good this time as last time, and I realized that last time, I cheated way more. I had occasional potatoes or rice, and I felt much better. I had no energy through most of last week, and I was just really tired.

I also have concluded, that while a number of things on the Whole30 website talk about the importance of healing your relationships with food, and not "slipping up" or "cheating" and how horrible it is, I also decided that I'm sorry, but I do not want to look back on the awesome camping trip I took with my cousins and remember bitterly watching everybody else roast marshmallows around the campfire and feeling upset and like I missed out.  So I bought gluten free graham crackers and tried to make my own marshmallows but I failed at that so I bought some, and I bought really good dark chocolate, and I bought normal food for the other people, and I ate exactly two s'mores, which is less than usual, and I did not continue roasting marshmallows for the fun of it, which I hope indicates I'm working on my portion control.

I'm not sure what the next step is. I'm not sure whether I'm adding gluten back in. I think I will be, because I don't actually have a problem digesting it, but I think I will be limiting my intake of wheat to weekends/evenings so that I don't experience a carb crash during the day.  My new eating philosophy is to eat as little processed food as possible, and sleep as much as possible, and I think these two things combined will make me feel my best.  I think cutting sugar has been good for me, although I'm unable to kick my sweet tooth entirely, I'm very much so hoping to be able to kick soda for good one of these days. I also don't believe my body doesn't know the difference between raisins and chocolate, and I'm going to try to switch to healthy snacks instead of grabbing something toxic and candyfilled at the convenience store.

The biggest thing I got out of this was being totally convinced that the Once a Month Meals philosophy is a good one.  One big monthly cooking day to have most of my meals ready/prepped for the month is going to go a long way in the future, so now it's just a matter of clearing my freezer and making space one weekend a month.

Salad Dressing Flounder

I know, it sounds gross.  But there really aren't many good flounder recipes out there, even though flounder is pretty cheap and can be quite delicious.  I did that thing where you go to Costco and think, "oh, I need fish" and then get home and find out in fact, you have fish.  Twice.  So we are working through three bags of flounder.  Since fish cooks so fast, I like to have quick and cheap recipes in my back pocket.  This one was really good. 

Ingredients:
4 fillets flounder
1 bottle of creamy salad dressing (I used a low fat parmesean peppercorn ranch)
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
parmesean cheese (optional)
olive oil in a spray bottle (or other spray oil)

Procedure:
1. Heat oven to 425.  If you have a pizza stone, heat it up in the oven. 
2. Mix breadcrumbs and parmesean cheese
3. Once the oven is hot, take out the stone (or skip that step and just put it on a pan) and spray with olive oil. 
4. Put the fish on the pan, squeeze about 2 tsp of salad dressing on each piece of fish and spread evenly over fish.
5. Cover the top with breadcrumbs, pressing into the dressing, until well coated. 
6. Spray with a little more olive oil.
7. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until cooked through. 

Honey Mustard Flounder

I really don't care for mustard.  I think it's pretty disgusting, really.  However, on fish?  It's delicious.  Especially when mixed with honey.  I made this last night, and both Mr. Barefoot and I thought it was really tasty.  The best part was, the whole thing took about 15 minutes.  Served with a side of garlic mashed potatoes and steamed green beans.

Honey Mustard Flounder

• 2 (or more) flounder fillets, thawed if using frozen.
• some mustard (I would guess I used about 2 tbsp)
• some honey (I would guess I used about 1 tbsp)
• Cooking spray

Recipe:

1. Mix honey and mustard together.  Preheat oven to 425.  
2. Spray pan. Put fillets on pan.  Put honey mustard mixture on top of fillets.  
3. Bake for 15 minutes.  

Actually, it's embarrassing to type that and call it a recipe, but I'm working and commuting these days, so we've been doing a lot of quick, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants cooking and this will probably be a meal we turn to more and more (as long as we remember to thaw the fish.)

Cookbook Project: Ok, so now you're a vegetarian

Okay, So Now You're A Vegetarian 
Spiced vegetable dal p 166

This was my first vegetarian cookbook, and it's often a gift for newbie vegetarians. Since I only owned two cookbooks when I met my husband, and he wanted to try cooking meals with me, we made several out of this book. it's an excellent first cookbook, with clear, complete easy to read instructions.


I don't have a picture of the finished Dal, but I'm a big fan of getting all my ingredients together before cooking.  It helps avoid frantic moments of "OMG THE GINGER NEEDS TO BE CHOPPED AND SO DO THE TOMATOES!!!! AND EVERYTHING IS BURNING."

So the recipe:
Ingredients:

• 1 cup dry lentils
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tsp peeled, minced, fresh ginger
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• pinch of ground tumeric
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 2 14.5 oz cans vegetable broth (I used 4 cups of water and bullion)
• 3 ripe plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley (skipped this - I'm too cheap to buy spices)
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 4 cups hot cooked white rice (I used brown and it was just as good.)  

Procedure:

1. Rinse the lentils and pick through them.  
2. Heat butter and oil in a heavy pot on medium heat; add ginger, garlic, onion, and saute for 10 minutes.  Add cumin, cloves, and tumeric; cook for another 2 minutes.  
3. Stir in the lentils and the broth, bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes.  
4. Add the tomatoes and parsley. Simmer for another 15-20 minutes, until lentils are soft.  (I actually simmered for longer, since the rice cooker was taking awhile.)
5. Place 1 cup rice on each place, spoon the dal over the rice and serve.  

Verdict: 

Yum!  I will definitely be making this again when we get tomatoes from our CSA.  It takes a little while, but it's largely unattended.  

Taco Casserole

Last night I made rice to go with dinner, but the fish was done before the rice.  We made couscous in a hurry and then ate that, and I decided to use the leftover rice to make boxed lunches for us, since there wasn't really any leftover fish.  I checked our pantry but we were out of, well, a lot of stuff.  So I plugged the ingredients into Allrecipes.com and found this recipe for Easy Mexican Rice.

You will need:
1 can kidney beans
1 can (large) tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups brown rice, cooked [if using a slow cooker, use uncooked rice and 1 1/2 cups water as well)
Taco seasoning

Procedure:
1. Drain and rinse kidney beans; drain diced tomatoes.
2. Add beans, tomatoes, and tomato sauce to brown rice, stir.
3. Add taco seasoning.

You can heat everything together over a stove or in a crockpot if you would like, but if you are making boxed lunches, they'll all be microwaved together anyway.  Next time you make rice, just make an extra cup and a half and make some taco casserole to have in stock for healthy lunches.

Mustard Salmon

I'm not a big mustard person, but I do love mustard salmon.  It somehow has just the right blend of flavors, and it's amazing.
Tonight my husband made this - the original recipe is here, he added the breadcrumbs and they totally make the dish.
Salmon Glazed with Honey and Mustard
1 1/2 pound salmon fillet with skin (1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches thick)
1 garlic clove
3 tablespoons grainy Dijon mustard 
2 tablespoons mild honey
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds, crushed
Panko bread crumbs
Preheat broiler. Line rack of a broiler pan with foil and lightly coat with oil. 
Pat salmon dry and put, skin side down, on pan. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt. 
Mince and mash garlic to a paste with a pinch of salt, then stir together with mustard, honey, vinegar, caraway seeds, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. 
Spread mustard mixture evenly on top of salmon, sprinkle panko on top of that, then broil 5 to 6 inches from heat until just cooked through, 12 to 15 minutes. 
Transfer salmon to a platter with 2 large spatulas. 

Miscellaneous Friday

I went to a potluck tonight.  It was awesome.  I brought Cauliflower and Barley Risotto.  It was pretty good, although I think I still prefer the sweet potato barley risotto.  It took longer to cook than I thought it would, and I was panicking towards the end because I was so late - I would say it took a good 45-50 minutes to really cook properly.  I will probably work on adapting this for the crockpot, since it was pretty good.  I think I might use white wine next time.

The taco casserole from the other day actually came out great.  A tortilla was rendered unnecessary by the rice, but cheddar cheese and sour cream on top would not go amiss.

I have found the winning bread recipe.  I'll repost it shortly, but it's the American Sandwich Bread recipe from The New Best Recipe Cookbook.  Do yourself a favor and buy a copy.  It comes out dense and filling but not too chewy, and no matter how you screw it up, it's totally salvageable.  Thus ends the quest for the perfect white bread and I'll be moving onto whole wheat.

In totally other news, I just closed out our registry at the Pampered Chef, and will be getting my new pizza stones (2!) and pie pan and other stuff shortly.  The one thing we didn't upgrade at all with our registry was really our baking stuff, so I'm very excited to have the stones - I got a round one and a rectangular one, but imagine that I can make cookies and stuff on both of them.  We have a bunch of frozen pizzas in the oven that I think we'll be using in the next few weeks because I've actually started to be busy during the day - volunteer work, but good stuff and keeping me occupied.  Has anyone tried baking stuff other than pizza on stones?  Help a girl out with some tips!

I think the first thing I might try to make are these cookies, which a co-worker brought and and are amazing!  Her's didn't have the nuts or the drizzle on top, but they were still seriously seriously fantastic.  

Taco Trials

I just threw dinner in the crockpot for Mr. Barefoot, since I have a legislative briefing tonight. (But no job, so I'm still playing housewife.) Tonight's menu item was tacos, so I opened up the new jar of taco seasoning he got for Christmas and went to work.  I hope this turns out well - I'll let you know the verdict.  This was literally a "throw a bunch of sh*t in the crockpot and hope food comes out."
Ingredients:
1 can diced tomatoes, with juice
1 can black beans, drained
1 can kidney beans, drained
2/3ish cup frozen corn
1/2 cup frozen green and red peppers
4 cubes frozen cilantro from those freezer spice packs
1 cup dried parboiled rice
1 cup water
salt, pepper, dumps of taco seasoning

Procedure:
Dump into crockpot.  Stir.  It'll be cooking on low for about 6 hours.

I suspect I put in too much water, which will result in the rice being too fluffy, or the mix being too wet, but these are better than the rice being dry and crunchy.  I didn't put in jalapenos, but would have, but the plant is all the way upstairs and I didn't feel like harvesting or chopping.  It was really nice to just throw together a canned/frozen meal like this, and I'm excited to see how it comes out without my having to do any real prep work (you'll notice there are no minced onions or garlic, etc.).

Zuchinni and Quinoa Pilaf

I went to the farmer's market this morning. I got some zuchinni and asparagus. I made zuchinni with quinoa and onions and garlic for dinner. It was pretty good, but I would have cooked the garlic and the zuchinni at the same time. Also, I'm bitter because the guy at the farmer's market gave me the smallest zuchinni that they had!
Ingredients:

• Yellow Zuchinni
  
• Green Zuchinni
• Garlic
• 1/2 Onion
• 1/4 cup quinoa
• 1/2 cup water
• Salt & Pepper
  

Procedure:

1. Chop all ingredients. I like to slice the zuchinni really thin. Mince garlic and onions.
   
2. Rinse quinoa. Boil in 1/2 cup of water and reduce to a simmer.
   
3. Saute onions until soft.
   
4. Add garlic and zuchinni.
   
5. Saute until delicious. Add seasonings.
   
6. Add quinoa once water has been absorbed.
   

You can eat with cheese, or without. I'm trying to cut down on my cheese intake, so I abstained.

mmmm dinner.

Tonight I finally got myself to a grocery store. I've been living off a Target and Trader Joe's preliminary run which left me with a random array of foodstuffs.
So for dinner I made myself eggplant topped with sauted onion and cheese.
Ingredients:

• eggplant, sliced into half-inch-thick slices
• onions, cut into slices
  
• cheese (I used cheddar and mozzerella)

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 425
   
2. Saute onions in frying pan. Set aside.
3. Fry eggplant in pan.
   
4. Set eggplant on cookie sheet. Top with onions and cheese.
5. Bake in the oven for about 5-7 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and melty.
   

This was good, but it has a lot of potential. Different cheeses, and next time I'm definitely adding garlic to the onions mixed. And maybe some balsamic vinegar.

Feb 09 Fitness Recipes

So here are some good looking recipes from fitness I wanted to jot down before I lose/spill something on the magazine. I'm gonna skip the usual formatting here.
Goat Cheese, Caramelized Onion, and Spinach Quesadilla
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cups thinly sliced onions
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
9 oz baby spinach
4 ounces semisoft goat cheese
4 8-inch while wheat flour tortillas
2 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced.

Heat oil, add onion, sugar and salt; cook until onion is dark golden brown. Remove from pan. Add spinach and 1 tbsp water to pan, wilt spinach. Spread a quarter of the goat cheese on each tortilla and top with tomato, onion, and spach, fold closed and press lightly. Heat the skillet and place two folded quesadillas in it; cook two minutes per side.

Pasta e Fagioli
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
2 carrots, chopped
4 cups low sodium veggie broth
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes with italian seasonings
1.5 cups small bow tie pasta
2 15oz cans white cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup grated parmesean cheese

Heat the oil in a large pot. Add onion, garlic, rosemary, and carrots; cook 5 min. Add the broth and tomatoes; bring to a boil. stir in the pasta and cook 8 minutes. Add the beans, cook 2 minutes. Top with cheese.

Curried Lentils and Rice
1 cup jasmine rice
1 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp curry powder
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
4 cups water
1 cup brown lentils
1 tsp honey
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream

Cook rice according to package directions. Heat the oil and curry powder together in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and celery, cook 5 mnutes; stirring occasionally until vegetables are soft. Add the water and lentils and bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 22 minutes, until lentils are soft. Remove from heat, stir in the honey, vengar, salt, and sour cream.
Ladle over bowls of rice. Top with cilantro if using.

More later, as long as I don't destroy the magazine.

Dinner Party at the Treadhoffigans

We had one of my law school friends and his wife over for dinner tonight. I got to play with some of my new toys - namely my new rolling pin and my Le Crueset baking dish.
I made - breaded and sauted talipia, green beans with garlic and butter, spinach pinwheels, sweet potato casserole, and salad.
Spinach Pinwheels - super easy, super delicious. Buying crescent roll dough in bulk at Costco is a smart move, because you can make so many great appetizers out of it at the last minute which end up being delicious and tasting like they are harder to make than they are.
Ingredients -
1 8 oz package crescent rolls
4 oz cream cheese, softened
fresh or dried herbs (I used fresh thyme and oregano, and powdered garlic)
5 oz (1/2 square package) frozen spinach, thawed & drained

Equipment:
Cookie sheet
cutting board
rolling pin

Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 400
2. Open crescent dough and break in the middle (there is a perforation there).
3. Roll the dough out into a rectangle (about 8" by 10")
4. Combine cream cheese and herbs, spread on dough.
5. Sprinkle spinach on top of the cream cheese - try to make sure it is even
6. Roll dough widthways into a log. Cut log into 3/4 slices and place them on the cookie sheet.
7. Bake for 12 minutes.

The green beans were pretty easy - just chop up some fresh green beans and put them in a small baking dish with slices of butter on top and some minced garlic - my new le Cruset pan was a great size for this - less awkward than a 9" square baking dish, plus it looked nice on the table. Bake at 350 or 400 until they look done, stirring a couple times through to redistribute the butter and garlic. I cooked them a little too long, but my friends said they were good.

Next up: Sweet Potato Casserole!

Restaurant Review

The Barefoots went out last night for a finals victory dinner. We chose to go someplace near my school that I have been to before, which Mark wanted to try because it's gotten great reviews. It was a good post-finals place because sometimes the wait for a table is a long one, but we weren't pressed for time.
We picked the Brewer's Art, which is a local microbrewery and pub kind of place, except its like bar food on crack. Its delicious. Over winter break, we will be attempting to replicate the garlic and rosemary french fries that they serve. I will also buy myself a mini cast iron skillet so I can attempt my own version of their caramelized onion and chipotle mac & cheese. Last time I was there I got a veggie burger, which was also delicious. There is actually nothing on the menu that doesn't look amazing, and I think it will be one of the only places I go where I actually try multiple things because everything is so good. Mark got the shrimp & grits, which I didn't really like because the sauce wasn't my style and I don't like grits. But he enjoyed it. I think next time I'm going to make him get the Croque Monsieur so I can live vicariously through him.
The meals I'm speaking of are off their surprisingly reasonably priced bar menu. The restaurant portion is way fancier and three times the price, but if you're looking for fancy, its a good place. Otherwise, just head into the upstairs bar or the downstairs lounge. Sometimes you have to stand around and stalk people for a table. There are no waiters pushing people to clear the tables, so sometimes you need to go with dirty looks or a gentle, "when you're heading out, can you let us know so we can have your table?" Don't wear heels, because you might be standing around, especially on a Friday night or after 8pm.
If you just feel like stopping in for a drink, they have a range of their own beers, plus other local beers, and while you're there, get a plate of Garlic & Rosemary fries. I can guarantee you that it will be the best $4 you ever spend.

Slow Cooker Challenge

So next week, I'm meeting with my moot court team, dealing with Christmas, and undertaking a Challenge.
The challenge will be to use our slow cooker all 5 nights of the week. This is not a very big challenge, but usually when we menu-plan, at least one thing gets clipped.
So far the possibilities I have assembled for the week are these (from 125 Best Vegetarian Slow Cooker Recipes):
-Mushroom and Artichoke Lasagna
-Tofu in Indian-Spiced Tomato Sauce
-Rigatoni with Fennel and Spicy Peppers
-Cheesy White Chili with Cauliflower
-Cider Baked Beans
-New Potato Curry
from Best Loved Slow Cooker Recipes
-Arroz Con Queso
-Sweet potato casserole
-Company Chicken Casserole (what should I substitute for cream of chicken soup? Creamy silken tofu? Cream of celery soup? Heavy cream? I think all of these are possibilities. Cream of mushroom and cream of brocolli are not opitons. Maybe it would be good with a creamy tomato soup)
There are others out there. The only rule is that it can't be something I've made before. There is also nothing stopping me from maximizing our available slow-cookers. We are currently housing a guest slow-cooker, so if we really need to we'll use that. But I think I'll do the cider beans and sweet potato casserole one night because that sounds like a good combination.

Slow Cooker Vegetarian Couscous

This is another recipe from www.vegweb.com
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon dried onion flakes
2 carrots chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can garbanzos drained
1 veggie bouillon cube
1 tablespoon diced garlic
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon tumeric
1/4 cup raisins
1 1/2 cups cooked couscous
Equipment:
1 slow cooker/crockpot/rice cooker
Procedure:

1. Put all ingredients except for couscous into the crockpot.
2. Cover and put on the high setting for 3 hours.
3. After 3 hours, stir the mixture, shut off the crockpot, and then add the cooked couscous.
4. Let set for 10 minutes.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

There came a point where in my life where I had to admit to myself that cheese should not come in powder. And while I still enjoy the sporatic box of Kraft Mac&Cheese, I have since moved on to a more grown up form of Mac&Cheese which is only a little bit more difficult to make and can be made even if your kitchen is almost completely bare. I'm going to put in both a very specific recipe and a much more general recipe so you can have some general guidelines of things to make sure you have.
This recipe came from my first vegetarian cookbook Ok, So Now You're A Vegetarian, by Lauren Butts. It's a great book for anyone you know who just became a vegetarian, particularly if they're in high school.
Ingredients:
4 tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups skim milk
2 1/2 cups grated Cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups dry elbow macaroni
Salt & Pepper
Breadcrumbs (optional)
Equipment:
Oven at 350
Large pot
Colander
Frying pan or saucepan
8x8 glass baking dish
Procedure:
1. Boil some water and cook up the Macaroni. When the Macaroni is about half done, start the sauce. When the macaroni is all done, just drain it and set it aside - since this is baked, it's okay if it gets a little cold.
2. In the small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter.
3. Whisk the flour and salt into the butter. This will form a paste, but don't be afraid.
4. Gradually whisk in the milk and simmer for 4-6 minutes, stirring. The sauce will become thick - about the consistency of slightly melted ice cream. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Add half of the cheddar cheese and melt it in.
6. Pour the cooked macaroni into the baking dish.
7. Pour the sauce over the macaroni and stir to ensure all macaroni is coated.
8. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese. (I actually like to stir the remaining cheese into the macaroni until it melts a little bit, and then top with breadcrumbs.)


This is a really easy recipe to make larger or smaller, and I'll be posting one of my other favorite mac&cheese recipes at a later time. Also, it gives you lots of leftovers for the week!

Stovetop Italian Tofu with Roasted Red Peppers and Snow Peas

The boyfriend and I got busy in the kitchen the other night - in a totally G-rated way. Feeling experimental, we variated a little on the themes we learned when making the below-mentioned Lemon Rosemary Tofu. The results were fantastic. This is a three-food-group meal, totally FDA approved, all unsaturated "healthy" fats and actually totally vegan. Until I covered everything with Pecorino Romano cheese at the end :-D.
Ingredients:
1 block firm or extra firm tofu, pressed.
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
4 tbsp. Italian dressing (we used a Wishbone Olive Oil Vinaigrette)
1 can Vegetable Broth
Italian Seasonings (oregano, basil, thyme, or a mixed container)

1 package couscous of desired flavor (we used a Near East parm. flavor) prepared according to package directions

2 red bell peppers
2 tbsp. olive oil
Italian Seasonings

Snow peas
2 cups water

Equipment:
1 large frying pan with deep sides (omlett pan or wok will work best)
1 two-part-pot (these are called either pasta pots or steamers, it is not essential. If you have a metal colander you can also set that over a smaller pot, or you can just use a regular pot.)
1 oven or toaster oven at 350 degrees
1 small pot to prepare couscous in
1 good knife
heat resistant spatula

Procedure:
1. Cut tofu into strips and/or bite sized pieces.
2. Heat olive oil in pan, fry tofu in pan on medium-high until one side is browned. Flip tofu.
3. While the other side browns, add the garlic and onions and cook until translucent.
4. After the onions are ready, pour in the italian dressing. Fry everything in the dressing until coated. Turn heat to medium-low.
5. Pour vegetable broth in the pan. Allow to come to a boil.
6. Let simmer for ~20 minutes on medium-low, or until almost all liquid has evaporated.
7. While the broth is simmering, prepare snow peas and red peppers by chopping off the ends of snow peas and coring and chopping the red peppers.
8. Brush red peppers with olive oil, spread evenly on pan, and put in oven.
9. Fill pasta cooker/steamer with 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Put snow peas in the colander part (or just in the pot if you don't have a steamer) and allow to cook until tender (about 10 minutes), making sure the pot doesn't boil dry.
10. Turn red peppers and add seasoning.
11. After 15 minutes, prepare couscous according to package directions.
12. Grate some cheese to put on top, or serve cheese-less.

Enjoy!

Lemon Rosemary Baked Tofu

This is another great recipe from www.vegweb.com. It's a good pantry staple - something you can make with stuff you should have on hand. (If you're a vegetarian, or live with one.)
Ingredients:
1 block of extra firm tofu packed in water (frozen and thawed)
2 tablespoon margarine
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup whole wheat flour + 2 tablespoons
1 lemon juiced and zest (or a few generous squirts of lemon juice...about 1tbsp.)
4 tablespoon rosemary
1/2 onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 cup of veggie broth
Equipment:
1 Pyrex 9x9 dish
1 frying pan
knives
cutting board
small container to roll tofu in (a tupperware dish works well for this)
Oven at 350
Procedure:

1. Slice the tofu on the short end to create 12 similar size cutlets - press the tofu for at least 30 minutes to drain.
2. Once drained, dredge the tofu through the flour and brown in olive oil in a skillet till browned on each side
3. Place all the browned tofu into a 9x9 baking dish.
4. In the skillet add 1/2 tablespoon of margarine and sauté the onion and garlic until they are translucent. Then add the remaining margarine and 2 tablespoon of flour and combine well. When it all forms a paste, add the juice and zest of the lemon, rosemary and the veggie broth and stir well to combine all ingredients. (If you are going to make rice to go with it, start boiling the water now.)
   
5. Pour the sauce over the tofu and bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 - 20 minutes.
   

This is best served over rice, if you'd prefer something a little weird, try noodles.

Tofu-Chickpea Curry

So my boyfriend has an apartment right next to an H-Mart (an Asian grocery store which carries many many types of tofu and other foods not normally found in Safeway.)
This makes for great vegetarian adventures. One of my favorite websites for such recipes is www.vegweb.com, which,being a vegan website provides some of the best tofu recipes I've tried yet and last night's was no exception.
Tofu-Chickpea Curry
1 large onion (chop fine)
2 cloves garlic (feel free to double)
1 block firm tofu
1 can chickpeas
curry powder
A few tablespoons oil for frying
Equipment:
1 wok
1 cutting board
1 really good knife (sadly, boyfriend fails me in this category.)
Process:
1. Add finely chopped onion to wok with oil, fry at medium heat until tender.
2. Add garlic cloves and fry until the onion starts to brown, make sure heat is low enough not to burn the garlic.
3. Add tofu cut into strips. Fry the tofu strips and onion/garlic mixture until the tofu starts to brown.
4. Add 1 1/2 cups water and 1 can of drained chickpeas. Bring to a boil. Once at boil, reduce heat, cover pot, and simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Add curry spices/mix. Simmer, stirring constantly for 5 minutes--this is the time when your tofu and chickpeas will absorb the curry flavor, so you don't want to rush this stage.

This went really well with Asian noodles, it would also be good with some rice. We had grilled red peppers alongside it.