Tofu-Veggie Stir-Fry

I'm doing it. I'm really doing it. I'm attempting to go one month living a vegetarian lifestyle. It's something that has interested me for a long time. I'm curious about how it will make me feel, and if it will help me to lose any weight. I considered trying to go vegan, but there's no way I'm giving up cheese or ice cream!

I started on May 1st, so today is day 6 of my experiment. I might go really crazy and try a fruit/veggie cleanse or even a juice fast while I'm on this bandwagon. Both the vegetarian lifestyle and a cleanse are things on my 30 Things Before 30 list... of which I have been rather neglectful. I'm trying to step it up since I'm down to four years until I turn 30 (yikes....).

I know it's only been six days, but so far giving up meat hasn't been difficult. It's a little hard at work because the employee cafeterias don't have many healthy vegetarian options. The past couple of days, I've made do with a salad and some fries. I'm probably going to start packing a lunch more often. This is where learning to cook without meat comes in (or, you know, lots of PB&J's). I sought out tofu at the grocery store and decided to try to make something with it. I came up with the idea of stir-frying, and it seemed easy and something I knew I would like.

Now, this wasn't as homemade as I would have liked, but I had just gotten off of work and I was tired and lazy, so I bought a frozen stir-fry veggie mix (sugar snap peas, carrots, onions, peppers, broccoli, celery, water chestnuts, and green beans), and a jar of stir-fry sauce. Someday, I'll try the sauce from scratch, but the frozen mixed veggies are just so easy. No washing, no dicing/chopping/julienne-ing, no wait time for it to cook.... So nice.

This is the perfect recipe for those nights when you just don't want to put a lot of effort into a healthy dinner, but still want something satisfying and impressive. It's fast, easy, and delicious!

Tofu-Veggie Stir-Fry

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
3 cloves Garlic - minced
7 oz. Extra Firm Tofu - cubed
1 bag Frozen Mixed Vegetables - thawed (Any variety you like.)
2 tsp. Crushed Red Pepper
1/8 tsp. Ground Cloves
1/2 C. Stir-Fry Sauce (I used La Choy brand.) 

Method:
-  In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over med-high heat. Add in the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds, until it softens and starts to brown. Add the tofu and cook until golden.

- Stir in the veggies, crushed red pepper, and cloves, until all incorporated. Let cook, stirring occasionally, until the veggies are heated through.

-Stir in the sauce so that everything is coated, and let cook for about a minute, stirring occasionally.

- Remove from heat and let stand a minute or two before serving, to let the sauce set and the flavors come together.

I served mine with brown rice. It'd be great by itself, too, or with something like Quinoa or Couscous.  If you want to get really fancy, you could go the Lo Mein route, but that's a whole other dish to prepare!

The whole recipe (not including the rice) has about 760 calories in it, and I got two meals out of it, so 380 calories for a serving is amazing! Let's say half a cup of brown rice has about 110 calories in it, that's only 490 calories for the whole meal! Of course, I enjoyed a Yuengling Lager with my meal for another 135 calories... oops!

Please comment with some of your favorite vegetarian/tofu recipes that I can try out!

Enjoy!

Chocolate-PB-Banana Smoothie

Ok, so this wasn't exactly a difficult recipe to come up with, but it's so freaking delicious that I had to share. I've been super into fruit smoothies, sometimes with kale and/or spinach in them. This is a bit more of an indulgent smoothie.

Now don't let the word indulgent throw you off. While this does taste very dessert-y and it may not have as many fruits and veggies as a health-nut smoothie, it's far from bad for you. In fact, this smoothie is probably the perfect post-workout drink. Not to mention, even with all the delicious in it, it's still only about 250 calories!

As you may have heard recently, chocolate milk is the new "it" post-workout drink. Instead of just water or a sports drink, chocolate milk has protein, carbs, and sugar, so you get a little energy boost and you give your body something to metabolize. Well, this smoothie has chocolate and milk in it. It also has yogurt (even more protein), peanut butter (yet more protein), a banana (vitamins, minerals, carbs, natural sugars), and ice (for hydration). I've gotten back into a workout routine lately and I feel like I'm going to be having this smoothie quite a bit!

 Ingredients
1/4 C. skim milk
1/4 C. plain or vanilla yogurt
1 Tbsp. smooth peanut butter
2 tsp. chocolate syrup
1 medium banana, cut into pieces
5 or 6 ice cubes

Method
- Add milk, yogurt, peanut butter, chocolate, and  cut-up banana to a blender. Cover and blend for about 30 seconds.
- Add the ice cubes, and blend for 30-45 seconds, or until no chunks of ice remain.
- Drink!

Now I have to admit that I didn't actually measure anything when I made this, so I'm guessing on the amounts I used. It would be really difficult to mess this up, though, and depending on your tastes, you may want more or less of something anyway. Love chocolate? Add another tsp. or two. Hate peanut butter? We're not friends. Like a thicker, more frappuccino-like smoothie? Add more ice and blend it a little longer. Want a sweeter/more tropical taste? Use almond or coconut milk instead of skim. Play around with it!

Enjoy!

Joy the Baker

Joy the Baker is awesome. If you've never been to her blog, you should check it out. She just released a cookbook and to break it in, I'm going to do a series of posts about it.



I've actually been baking quite a bit recently. I made my mom Chocolate-Butterscotch Brownies to take in to her classroom. I made my dad an Apple-Raisin Pie because he put in a request. But those posts will have to wait. Because this week is Joy the Baker Appreciation Week. JtBAW, for short. (Ok, let's not actually call it JtBAW.)

Last year, one of my bosses at the Brooks Center told me I should check out Joy's website, and I've been hooked ever since. She has a quirky personality, and a very familiar way of writing that draws you in. I feel like we're old friends, even though we've never met. (Although that will totally change when I go to her book signing in Brooklyn at the end of the month!) She's the one who got me into collecting random plates and dishes. I sent her an e-mail when I started my collection, and she even responded! She's that cool.

To start off this series, I made something a little out of my comfort zone. Not preparation-wise, but out of my eating comfort zone. I made a Kale-Spinach-Banana-Peanut Butter Smoothie. I know, it sounds scary. Let me share the recipe, and then we'll discuss.



Ingredients
1 heaping cup of chopped kale leaves
1 heaping cup of spinach leaves
1 1/2 C. skim milk (or soy or almond milk for a vegan option)
1 frozen banana, cut into chunks
2 tsp. honey
1 Tbsp. natural creamy peanut butter

Method
- Remove kale leaves from the center stalk and roughly chop. Clean spinach leaves and remove any thick stalks.

- In a blender, blend together the kale, spinach, and milk until no large chunks of leaf remain, about 45 seconds. Stop the blender and add the banana, honey, and peanut butter. Blend until thoroughly combined. Drink right away.




So the taste is much more pleasant than I expected. The predominant flavors are the peanut butter and banana. It doesn't taste salad-y at all, which is what I expected. My problem is with the texture. The little leaf bits are a little too... leafy... for me. I blended it for a good couple of minutes, but maybe a little longer would help. I don't know.... I drank it all though, and it does taste great. I'll have to either play with it to get it smoother, or just get used to it. I have a ton of spinach and kale now, so I've got to make more!




So there you have it. We kicked off Joy the Baker Appreciation Week with something super healthy! Make sure to check out Joy's blog. She also has a couple of podcasts available on iTunes. The first is just the Joy the Baker podcast with Tracy from shutterbean. (If Tracy ever releases a cookbook, that's a whole other appreciation week.) This is the one I listen to (although I'll admit I'm a few weeks behind). They actually rarely talk about baking/cooking, and it's pretty girly most of the time, but they're hilarious together. She also has one called We're About to be Friends. I haven't checked this one out yet, since I'm horrible at keeping up with podcasts. I'm sure I will one day, though!

Enjoy!

Cranberry-Pistachio Biscotti

Alright! This is the last post in my Green Mountain at Fox Run contest series that I've been doing this week. If you haven't read the other two (Super Smoothie and Berry-Lemon Muffins), please do!

Today I made Cranberry-Pistachio Biscotti.



It turned out to be a surprisingly frustrating recipe, but that was mostly my fault. It calls for dried cranberries, reconstituted with some hot water and then drained. Well, we had a bag of fresh cranberries in the freezer, so I figured I'd thaw those out and use them. Well, they had way too much juice in them and I didn't drain them nearly well enough. So, when I added them to the dough, it was waaay too watery and I had to add about a cup and a half more flour. Lesson of the day...? Follow the recipe.

After all of my problems, they actually came out pretty good, and they're totally delicious. Here's the original recipe:

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup salted shelled natural pistachios

Method
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a small bowl, cover dried cranberries in boiling water and soak until softened, about 10 minutes. Drain and pat dry with paper towels.

- In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add eggs and vanilla and beat just until dough forms. Add cranberries and pistachios and mix well (using spoon or by hand).

- Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead several times. Halve dough and then form each half into a 13-by-2 inch slightly flattened log. Place logs on a greased and floured baking sheet, using floured hands and spacing logs about 3 inches apart.



- Bake in middle of oven until golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool logs on baking sheet on a rack for about 10 minutes. Transfer logs to a cutting board and cut diagonally into 1/2 inch slices with a serrated knife. Arrange slices, cut-side down, in a single layer on baking sheet (don't worry if slices touch each other) Bake in middle of oven, turning once, until golden and crisp, about 20 to 25 minutes total.



They're just so pretty! The little dots of red and green are fun, and biting into the crunchy pistachios and sweet/tart cranberries make this probably the best biscotti I've ever had. My only deviation from the original recipe was my whole fresh cranberry debacle. Next time I make this, I'll use the dried instead, and it will be much quicker and easier!



Well, that wraps up my contest post series. You can find lots more awesome/delicious/healthy recipes at the Green Mountain at Fox Run website. Under the "support" tab, click on "healthy recipes". I'll definitely be making more of them once we finish up all the baked goods we have in the house right now. They have also gotten me hooked on smoothies! So check them out, and if you find a recipe you'd like me to try and post about, leave a comment and let me know!

Enjoy!

Spa Cuisine courtesy of the spa cuisine collection found at Green Mountain at Fox Run Weight Loss and Health Spa for Women, Vermont and SpaIndex.com: Guide to Spas.

Whole Wheat Berry-Lemon Muffins

This is the second in my series of contest posts this week. If you didn't read Super Smoothie, you should. Basically, Green Mountain at Fox Run is a women's healthy living spa in Vermont and they're having a contest for bloggers to make some of their healthy recipes.

I found this contest at the perfect time. I'm back on the health bandwagon, trying to workout regularly and be smart about my eating. So making these recipes is the perfect way to have some healthy snacks around so I can stay on track.

Today I made their Berry-Lemon Muffins. They were appealing because I still had berries and skim milk from making the smoothie, and I happened to have a bag of whole wheat flour that I've been looking to use. They were simple, quick, and turned out to be delicious!



Here's their recipe:

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
Zest of one large lemon
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup fat-free (skim) milk
1/3 cup canola oil
1 cup berries (blueberries, raspberries or combination)

Method
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly oil standard 12-cup muffin tin.

- Mix together dry ingredients and lemon zest in a medium bowl. In another small bowl, combine egg, milk and oil. Add liquid ingredients to dry and stir until just combined. Do not overmix. The batter should be lumpy, thick and moist, not smooth. Carefully fold in berries.



- Fill muffin tins 2/3 full.



- Bake 20-30 minutes or until browned.



I made a couple of minor changes, but nothing that made them less healthy or really changed the taste. First of all, I used vegetable oil instead of canola, because that's what I had on hand. If you compare the nutrition facts on vegetable and canola oils, they're virtually the same, so you should be good as long as you don't use lard.

Also, I added in the juice of half of the lemon that I zested. The zest just didn't seem like enough lemon to me, and the juice gave it a bright taste and made them perfectly moist.

A tip on the recipe page was, "If you like them sweeter, try sprinkling each one with a pinch of brown sugar, which will add to the flavor and produce a beautiful crunchy golden top to enjoy." I did just that, and I have no regrets. A bit of brown sugar to crunch into made them perfect!




Spa Cuisine courtesy of the spa cuisine collection found at Green Mountain at Fox Run Weight Loss and Health Spa for Women, Vermont and SpaIndex.com: Guide to Spas.

Super Smoothie

So today is the first in a series of three posts this week. I found a contest from this healthy living spa, Green Mountain at Fox Run. It's a spa/weight loss retreat just for women in Vermont. So while I couldn't actually go there, the contest says nothing about only women being able to enter. I think most of my readers are women anyway, so I'm reaching their target demographic.

The contest is to make some of their healthy living recipes and post them on your food or healthy living blog, and the best post gets a cookbook and a gift card. So I've decided to pick three recipes to make this week and blog about. Today I made their Mixed Berry Smoothie.



It acted as my breakfast/pre-workout sustenance today. It's a pretty basic smoothie, and super easy to make. Here's their exact recipe:

Ingredients
1 fresh or frozen banana
1/2 - 3/4 cup fresh or frozen berries (blueberries, raspberries or blackberries)
1/3 cup fat-free (skim) milk
1/3 cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoon orange juice concentrate
1 tablespoon honey

Method
Place all the ingredients in the blender or food processor. Cover and blend on high speed about 30 seconds or until smooth. Pour in tall glass; garnish with a fresh berry or sprig of mint and serve.

I followed it pretty much exactly. The only change I made was using about a quarter cup of plain orange juice instead of the o.j. concentrate. I used an overripe banana since we had some to use up, and frozen berries - the mixed kind with blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries. I also did not happen to have any sprigs of mint on hand with which to garnish, but it was just for me and I didn't have to impress me.



It made a LOT of smoothie, but since it has practically no fat, and not many calories, I don't feel bad that I totally drank it all. I think smoothies may become my go-to breakfast. It was quick, delicious, and super healthy. I'm excited for summer to get here so I can use fresh berries!



Spa Cuisine courtesy of the spa cuisine collection found at Green Mountain at Fox Run Weight Loss and Health Spa for Women, Vermont and SpaIndex.com: Guide to Spas.