tofu | Sweatpants and Superfoods

Bok Choy and Tofu Stir-Fry

So a long time ago, during my days of waiting tables and tending bar somewhere around age 19, I once convinced a customer that bok choy was a type of sauce. Curious as to what it really was, our restaurant food prep guy told me it was lettuce. But the table had already bought my made-up sauce story and didn’t question me further, so I continued to wait their table and go about my day.

So over the span of about 10 years I have still never cooked with it, eaten it or had any desire to try it.

Having joined the Elf4Health movement a couple weeks ago, I was excited to start the challenge with Meatless Monday. Each day poses a new challenge and the entire program is based around a personal sense of accountability for your health. I found a recipe weeks ago for a stir fry (yes, it included bok choy; there’s always a point to my little anecdotes…) and thought the first day of the Elf4Health challenge would be a perfect day to employ it. I’m usually sold on any recipe that calls for orange juice. It was amazing, I have tons of leftovers and it’s the type of recipe that you can change up if your fridge is missing something. 10 points in my book! Thanks FatFree Vegan for the idea, see her recipe here.

{green stuff? bok choy! haha, it was delicious!}

Rewind: Just so you know, I did go back to the table before they left and informed I fibbed, and really had no idea what bok choy was. When I told them that it was a leafy green and not some type of imaginary asian sauce, they actually told me that they knew but were just quizzing me. Instead of letting myself get embarassed, I laughed along with them and accepted their praise for my persuasion skills. Lesson learned.

Food tastes even better if there’s a story or memory behind it!!!

November 27, 2012
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- goal setting, healthy eating, recipes, superfoods, vegan, vegetables
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Mini Coconut Cream Pies

I’ve had extra mini tart shells in my freezer since the last time I made my Lemon Custard Tarts. I wanted to make something cool & coconut-y, but wasn’t finding any insipration. Nothing was striking my fancy, so I took parts of a few recipes, made a couple mixing mistakes and finally came up with a nice, personal-sized summer dessert. And it had just enough coconut-y flavor to satisfy my craving…

Ingredients

1/2 package of silken tofu {14oz. package}

1/3 c turbinado/raw sugar

5 Tbs cornstarch

1 c coconut milk

1 tsp vanilla

flaked coconut for garnishing

4-6 mini tart shells

{i used canned coconut milk but i would assume any type of coconut milk would be fine}

mini tart shells … toasted coconut … coconut cream pie

What to do…

1. Place the tofu in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Set aside.

2. In a small pot, stir together the cornstarch and sugar. Whisk in the coconut milk and cook the mixture on medium until it thickens. Stir constantly or it’ll burn! Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and tofu. {Fold in about 1/3 c of unsweetened shredded coconut at this time for some extra coconut flavor if you want!} Chill the mixture in the fridge for at least one hour.

While the mixture is cooking, you can toss some flaked coconut in a pan on low heat to toast it. It’s done when it starts to brown and becomes very fragrant!

Add the coconut mixture to the tarts and garnish with the flaked coconut. I chose to keep these simple and monochromatic, but you can add fresh berries for some extra flavor and color!

I make the coconut cream filling and eat it alone as pudding or mix in a little with fruit for dessert. It’s smooth and creamy and has just enough coconut flavor for me!

August 8, 2012
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- dessert, health, healthy eating, recipes, superfoods, vegan
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Chocolate Pudding “Dirt”

I hated giving speeches in high school and college. I dreaded them with a great passion and played sick many times. {I’m going somewhere with this, I promise.} So for every descriptive or how-to speech, I did the same thing. I made Dirt. Simply put, dressed up chocolate pudding. It was reliable and guaranteed me a good grade every time, yet simple enough that I didn’t have a lot of memorizing to do to fill the required 5 minute time frame. So here’s the condensed version of the “Dirt Speech.”

Dirt. Crumble some sandwich cookies. {I often used Oreos for my speeches.}

Chocolate pudding mixed some cool whip to make it light and fluffy, layered with the crumbled ‘dirt’

Like the glass? Yeah, I like my Dirt classy.

Chocolate Pudding

You can use a box mix, but here’s a quick and easy recipe. And much healthier.

1 package of silken tofu

2 Tbs cacao powder

3 Tbs agave

2 Tbs soy, coconut or almond milk

1/4 tsp sea salt

Blend everything together until it is silky, pudding-y smooth. Mix the pudding with whip topping or homemade whip cream to make it light and airy. If you’re feeling extra classy, layer in some whip topping and add some berries on top. If its for a kid’s party or snack, serve it in a mini plastic flower pot (or clear plastic cup) and add some gummy worms! Who ever said you’re too old to play with Dirt?!