Fur is flying in our house this morning! Man, some of the battles these cats have is unreal. All three of them are male so I guess they are fighting for dominance and territory. Yeesh. And I thought the dust was enough to clean up!
I had a good 8 hours of sleep last night and I feel back to my old self. Sometimes I find when I don’t get enough sleep I am more emotional (like yesterday). It’s funny how sleep affects every part of our body and mind!
So yesterday, while I was doing a ‘little’ grocery shop for our birthday dinner, I decided to get some tofu. I have always been scared of tofu since I had a bad experience with it in stir-frys many years ago. I hadn’t bought it since!
But I decided that I need to try some tofu recipes seeing as I am following a vegan diet now. Tofu is a great way to get some extra protein. My new cookbook, Eat Drink & Be Vegan, has a bunch of awesome looking tofu recipes that I can’t wait to try!
So today I decided to do the unthinkable. I added tofu to my green monster!
Here is the President’s Choice Extra Firm Tofu.
It has a whopping 16 grams of protein per 88 gram serving! It is also low fat, low calorie, low sodium, and has a little iron and calcium in there.
I bought this variety because it was the highest in protein out of all of the tofu varieties- by a landslide!
I decided to add 1/2 of a serving since I was unsure what it would taste like.
Here is my half serving– as you can see 44 grams is not much. Eight grams of protein packed into that tiny serving!
The tablespoon of flax is next to it if you are wondering about the actual size. I would estimate it was about 2” x 2.5” for my half serving.
My ingredients (plus 1/2 a frozen banana not shown):
- 1 Cup original almond breeze
- 1/2 serving extra firm tofu
- 1 T flax
- 2 large organic kale leaves
- 1/2 frozen banana
The taste?
O-M-G. This was maybe one of the BEST green monsters I have ever made!!! I honestly can’t believe that I waited so long to try tofu in my GM!
The taste was sweet and silky which was a bit surprising because ‘they say’ you are supposed to use silken tofu for smoothies. But this extra firm stuff seemed to work wonderfully- good to know!
I was just blown away by this combination. I will 100% be using tofu in my smoothies from now on! It will be interesting to see how long it holds me over compared to without the extra protein.
And now for the reveal…what was in that box???
My mom and stepdad had planned on buying us our first couch for a house warming gift when they were down here about a month ago. But since they discovered that we are not ready to buy furniture yet (we want to have our colours decided and all that jazz first), they decided that it would be a wonderful idea to buy us something else.
A ride on mower.
When they told us while they were visiting last week we were so thankful- we have over 2 acres of property and it takes a good 6 hours to mow with a push mower!! We got a great deal on it too- the store was having a big blow out sale the day we went. We saved about $1,000!
I admit I was not happy about buying one of these because of my environmental concerns, but with 2 acres we really didn’t have many options.
I will be out there, with my ipod and beer mug, twice monthly! :) I will probably be able to do our whole yard in just over an hour.
Day 41 (May 6th): It is time to do some side crunches and some jack crunches! These moves are excellent for ‘love handles’. I just discovered these ‘jack’ crunches last night and boy do they work! Do 3 sets of side crunches and 2 sets of jack crunches.
I’ve gotta get cracking here! It is supposed to be another hot and sunny day so I may try to get outside for my workout after I get my work done.
Enjoy your hump-day!!! :) I hope you have a happy, healthy, and rocking day.
Today’s question: Do you eat tofu? How do you eat it?
“I long to accomplish a great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.”
~Helen Keller
I am a vegan and I eat tofu every so often. To cook with tofu you really need to “press” it first. Lay it between some paper towels, and put something heavy on top (like a saute pan or heavy cookbook), then leave it like that for at least a half hour. Doing this squeezes out the extra water. You can marinade it at this point or just cook with it as is. My favorite ways to cook tofu are in tofu scrambles (with lots of veggies) or broiling it.
I like to grill the tofu with a bit of evoo and some paprika and cumin!
Glad you enjoyed it in the smoothie!
I buy the same kind of tofu, it’s definitely the best kind I’ve come across! I like the idea of using extra-firm in smoothies, since I don’t really care for the softer varieties. Raw tofu gives me tummy aches though :(
My favourite way to eat it is just pan fried with some garlic and tossed with a salad :)
The vegan cupcakes from your last post are adorable! I love using food coloring in cupcakes…I should send you some pictuers of the ones I made for easter…they were super cute and easy to make. Also…it seems as if you’re always looking to switch up your ab moves so you should check out the p90x ab ripper moves.
http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&q=p90x%20ab%20ripper&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv#
I just use the google videos every so often…it’s a great work out!
Thanks for the watch suggestion…I think I will probably wind up shelling out the money…it will be a good investment in the long run!
Now for a beauty question…do you have any suggestions for good hair straightners? I hear everyone loves the chi but it’s super pricey…I’m on a question to find an average priced (40-65) dollar straightner that won’t smoke when I use it!
wow…i’m currently writing a 10 page paper…i’m on a QUEST to find an average priced straightner haha…wow.
LOL, I actually despise tofu. Strictly a texture thing. I cannot get past it.
Wow, 2 acres! You so lucky girl. :)
I love tofu! I like to freeze it and then it doesn’t have such a weird texture once its defrosted. I mainly use it in stir frys or bake it as tofu parm (with sauce) or with bbq sauce.
6 hours to mow your lawn?! That’s crazy – you definitely deserve that new lawn mower!
Love love tofu!
I saw tofu in Kath’s smoothie yesterday and decided I would HAVE to try it out. Glad to know that it works well in your Green Monsters too! What a great addition! :D
Haha, love the present! That will definitely cut back on the mowing time!
I LOVE tofu. Baked, stir friend, made into desserts, whatever. My female cats fight and leave furballs all over the place, too! A ride on mower, huh? Great gift!
I like tofu marinated and baked the best.
For an easy option: I also adore Small Planet’s organic savory baked tofu: galic & herb.
Happiness Awaits
I was pretty nervous to let my boyfriend know I’d started a blog. But, he knows now and he’s supportive. :) And I’ve always wanted to try that kind of hot dog. Hmm maybe when I finish up my boca burgers I will give them a shot!
I gotta say….the majority of the food you make looks absolutely delicious. But that tofu is grossing me out!! :D
Angela!!
As for now,I am still a follower as well. I am planning on starting my own blog soon though!
You say you are trying tofu because you are following a vegan diet now. Does that mean you are cutting out eggs and fish too! I know you don’t usually have meat and dairy… so I was just wondering. I’m not saying that it would be bad if you DIDN”T follow a complete rather than partly vegan diet at all! I was just curious =)
After all, everyone knows what their body needs. I am not trying to push anything by any means.
Hugs,
Pamela
I am vegan and yes, no eggs and fish or it’s not a vegan diet at all.
My favourite way to eat tofu is fried in a nonstick pan and served on a sandwich. I do have to be careful, though. If I eat too much I suffer intense breast pain.
I have a question about the green smoothies-how do you fit the kale in your blender?!?! Maybe because I just have a handheld blender thing so it probably wouldn’t work. And does it make more than your glass pictured? I always feel like mine makes way too much.
@Hannah: A great way to measure smoothies is to use a cup as big as you want your smoothie to be. Fill that cup with your ingredients. After blending, your smoothie will fit perfectly into that cup.
Did you press the water out of your tofu before putting it in the smoothie? I, so far, am having a hard time eating tofu, but keep coming back as I hear so many people like it. I bought some to put in my green monster and want to make sure I don’t mess it up and cause me to continue to dislike it. Thanks for any information you can give me!
LOL Liberals. SO concerned about “the environment”. Until they have to be slightly inconvenienced by OMG OMG WALKING TO CUT THE GRASS????