Simple Tofu Scramble by Eat Within Your Means

Sometimes you just need some breakfast for dinner!

When I came across this delicious-looking tofu scramble by Eat Within Your Means, I knew that I needed to try it. It looked easy, healthy and filling.

Find the recipe here.

I didn't have any vegan sour cream on hand, but it was still fantastic! It was amazing how much the tofu ended up looking like scrambled eggs from the yellow of the turmeric. The flavors were absolutely delicious.

In order to make it even easier, I bought pre-sliced mushrooms and pre-cut broccoli from Trader Joe's.

We also decided to add some Field Roast vegan sausage. I had been wanting to try it and was able to find it at Whole Foods: we had the smoked apple sage flavor and it was absolutely wonderful with the scramble. Incredibly flavorful and yummy! All you need to do is brown the links in a pan over medium heat for a few minutes.

Daniel likes everything I make (or at least says he does; he's a sweetie ;) but he was particularly enthusiastic about this meal. Give it a try for a delicious breakfast, lunch or dinner!

Prevent a Cold (Naturally!)

I know that this is supposed to be a cooking blog, but I wanted to share this great tip for stopping a cold in its tracks using apple cider vinegar (which is food related! ;)

I started to feel that dreaded tickle in my throat last week, which was quickly escalating into a runny nose, headache and fatigue. I decided to do a search for a natural vegan-friendly remedy, and came up with this

great post about apple cider vinegar as an all-out cold preventer. I picked up some raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar right away (Bragg's has a great one and seems to be available in lots of stores--as she notes in the post, make sure it is raw and unfiltered rather than the cooking type such as Heinz, which has filtered out the helpful enzymes). I got mine at Sprout's.

I also picked up some apple juice (I'm sure that other types of juice would be fine too, or just water if you don't mind the taste--just do dilute it somehow before drinking), and filled an 8 oz. glass with about about half apple juice, half water, and 2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar (shake up the vinegar first). If it tastes too sharp, you can sweeten it with some maple syrup. It doesn't taste bad to me, just a little sour and spicy, but I know that some people are more sensitive to vinegar.

She recommends doing it every 8 to 12 hours: I took mine that evening, then the next morning and evening.

When I woke up the morning after my first glass of it I felt like I was recovering, and the cold never materialized! It could just be a coincidence, but I'm sure it didn't hurt. 

I have been reading about the many other benefits of apple cider vinegar, such as being good for your skin and for heartburn prevention, so I may start doing this every day.

*Please note that I have no medical training; just sharing a tip that worked for me!

Avocado Toast

This is really less of a recipe than a tip :)

I have seen the idea of avocado toast floating around Pinterest, and decided to give it a try. Daniel was working a later shift the other night and it seemed like it was a good option for a lighter late dinner.

It was very yummy and surprisingly filling! I also had it the next day for lunch with some canned lentil soup, which was awesome. I am trying to think of really easy dinners for my upcoming crazy semester at school, and I think this would be great either on its own or with some soup or vegan sausage.

All I did to make it was toast 2 slices of bread in the toaster, drizzle on a little bit of olive oil, slice an avocado and place each half on a piece of toast, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. 

So yummy! The crunchiness of the toast and the creaminess of the avocado compliment each other nicely.

Daniel's Birthday Dinner: Herbed Tofu Tomato Salad and Vegan Stuffed Shells

Even though we went out to dinner earlier in the week for Daniel's birthday, I wanted to make him something special for his actual birthday tonight when he came home from work. I had seen an amazing-looking marinated tofu salad on Vegan Yack Attack's site, and knew that I needed to try it. Before I went vegan one of our favorite things to eat was caprese salad with fresh mozzarella, and this looked like a wonderful replacement. I can tell you that it did not disappoint!

You can find the recipe here: make sure that you have your ingredients the morning that you want to eat it for dinner, as you need to marinate the tofu for several hours. I did make a few changes based upon what I had available: I used super-firm tofu since Trader Joe's was out of of extra-firm; therefore, I didn't need to press it. The texture was great and just like mozzarella! I used 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar in place of the coconut vinegar, vine-ripened tomatoes instead of heirloom, and a spring mix instead of baby arugula. Again, these were just changes of convenience. She notes that the tofu, which you can marinate between 4-6 hours, gets saltier the longer you marinate it: I did the full 8 hours and it was a little too salty for my taste (though still wonderful!). Next time I will try 4-6 hours instead. Although she did not specify, I marinated it in the fridge (in a sealed container). I couldn't believe how similar it was to fresh mozzarella...I honestly don't think I would have suspected it wasn't if I didn't know! I can't wait to try it in other recipes such as pasta salad.

 

For our main dish, I wanted something classic, filling and yummy (and not too complicated). I saw a recipe on Pinterest for stuffed shells and thought that would be perfect. Although I liked the simplicity of it and the use of veggie ground beef (which Daniel really likes), I wasn't crazy about the use of a lot of vegan shredded cheese; I had also seen another recipe which used a tofu ricotta and spinach, which I liked the idea of...so I just decided to combine the things I liked from both recipes! I was astonished at how delicious they came out! I actually felt a bit guilty eating them because they tasted so authentic...the tofu and cashew cream was an amazing replacement for ricotta. The photo below is from before they went in the oven: not terribly photogenic, but trust me, they were amazing!

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 package jumbo pasta shells (I got mine at Fry's)
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 package veggie ground beef (I used Trader Joe's brand)
• 1 cup frozen spinach
• 1 package extra-firm tofu, drained (I actually used super-firm since that was what I had)
• 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water for about 2 to 8 hours, then rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon of pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 jar marinara sauce

1. Cook the jumbo pasta shells in salted water (I added about 1 Tbsp. of salt) according to package directions. Drain and set aside so that they are cool enough to handle.

2. Preheat the over to 350.

3. Preheat a medium pan over medium heat for a couple of minutes, then add the 1 Tbsp. olive oil, the onions, and the garlic. Cook for 5-7 minutes until softened. Add the veggie ground beef and cook for about 2 minutes, then add the frozen spinach and cook for about 5 minutes, or until heated through. Set mixture aside.

4. Place your block of tofu in a large bowl and mash with a fork until crumbly (note: this will be a little more difficult if you use super-firm tofu like I did; cutting it up a bit with a knife first helped!)

5. Place the soaked and drained cashews in a blender and add the water: blend until smooth, adding a little more water if you need to get the blender going. Add the cashew cream to the crumbled tofu and mix together.

6. Stir the tofu/cashew cream mixture into the onion/ground beef/spinach mixture and add the salt, pepper and dried basil. Mix well.

7. Coat the bottom of a 9"x13" pan with some of the marinara sauce. Stuff each shell with the mixture and place in the pan (I ended up having some leftover shells). Pour the remaining marinara sauce over the top.

8. Bake at 350 uncovered for 15 minutes.

The recipe makes a lot: we ate probably 1/4 of it for one dinner, so we will have it again (along with more of the salad) tomorrow night, and there will probably be a couple of lunches for Daniel too!

If  I do say so, I was blown away by this dinner! Luckily Daniel absolutely loved it too, and had seconds of everything :)