What happened to the Tofu??? Last Minute Stir-Fry

No, really? What happened to the tofu? This is driving me crazy! I always have tofu in the house. It is an easy way to 'beef up' (sorry, I had to say it) a meal. The last time I bought tofu I only used 1/2 of the package and I froze the rest to use in a stir-fry. Or I thought I did.

I made a lovely meal plan this week. It has a lovely mix of vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals. Friday I went and picked up all of the groceries I was going to need for the week and I even stayed well under my food budget for the week. I was feeling quite proud of myself...until Friday night.

I didn't have the main ingredient for my meal. That was because I chose to go to the wrong grocery store that didn't have a deli and couldn't pick up what I needed. I had realized this while shopping but obviously didn't think of what to replace the meal with. Oops.

So Friday night we ended up having frozen pizza. And then again Sunday because I had all of these yummy leftover plans with the meal I didn't buy. Good thing my guys like pizza. In fast last night when I still was off with my meal plan (what is the point of even making a meal plan if I don't follow it) and they were still asking for pizza:

 or begging. 

I didn't give in. Instead I remembered the tofu I had in the freezer and had a brilliant idea to have stir-fry. But then I couldn't find the tofu. Anywhere. I actually emptied both the fridge and freezer looking for it. It had disappeared. 

We still had stir-fry, just without the tofu.

We actually have stir-fry a lot. It is a great last minute meal when you don't know what else to make. You can throw whatever you want in it and serve it with a ton of different sauces. You can eat it with Couscous, Vermicelli Noodles, Quinoa, or Rice. Yum!

Last Minute Stir-Fry

The first step for me in making a stir-fry is choosing what I am going to eat it with. I love Vermicelli noodles. They take minutes to cook, and are fun to eat. The reason I say plan this first is that if you are eating rice or quinoa you need to get that cooking since they take a little bit of time. 

1 tbsp of Olive Oil

1/2 c EACH (or more if you have less veggies) of a variety of vegetables (Last night we had: Onion, Garlic, Mushrooms, Parsnips, Green Pepper, and that is all I think...)

1 cup of one or more of: Cubed or Crumbled Tofu or Beans (black bean for us last night)

Heat your pan and oil. Throw in your ingredients and stir-fry them up! Next you need a Sauce. 

Soy Sauce and a little cornstarch makes a great simple sauce. Add a little peanut butter and its so good. Have you ever thought of using your favorite salad dressing? Try it...so good!

Last night I had some Spicy Peanut Sauce in the fridge. I knew it would be too spicy for the kids so I added some water (to dilute the spice) and cornstarch (to thicken it up) to it . Add your sauce to your veggies, and when everything looks cooked and smells delicious then dish up your rice/quinoa/noodles/couscous, add your stir-fried veggies and eat up!

Usually this is a no-fail meal around here, no matter what I put in it.

 But sometimes there is a kid who just wants more pizza.

 At least he didn't cry or throw his bowl. He just sat there waiting for Aaron to come home so he could charm him into feeding him. And it worked.

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A New Favorite Around Here: The Handmade Samosa

I have discovered something about my self in the a last few weeks. I actually like cooking.

I married a man who loves to cook. for the first 4 years of our marriage that is what he did. I occasionally whipped up some sidekicks but mostly he was the chef. And then Grad school started. And Hazel was born. And Aaron was done making dinner. It is true that he will occasionally make something, or come and flavor some bland meal that I have attempted to prepare but other than that he doesn't spend as much time in the kitchen as he might like. Which was hard because up until this past year I really hated cooking. 

I hated waiting for the "look" that said we were all going to have to choke down a meal, or waiting for the leftovers to be taken for lunch the next day. I just hated it. 

Then I started (after 5 years) getting better, then pretty good, and now I have to say that some days I am just fabulous. I still have to follow a recipe (but even following a recipe before could end in disaster); but I am much better at picking ones our family would like, and I can put food together and pull off some delicious food. Which makes me happy. 

Last night as I was preparing our meal I was actually feeling relaxed. I was enjoying it, the whole thing.

 The prep:

and of course the end results:

I think all of you should try this recipe, it was a little more "hands on" than some but the bragging rights were great (I talked all night about how good my meal had been). And the actual making of the samosa was fun; though it helped that a friend had stopped by and so I had some great company while I worked. This would be a really fun recipe to make with your kids (teenager kids, definitely not preschool kids) so go ahead. 

Do it.

Mildly Spiced Vegetable Samosas

(I got this recipe from my favorite kids/baby cookbook: "First Meals" by Annabel Karmel)

1/2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
1/2 Onion, peeled and very finely chopped

1/2 Garlic Clove, peeled and chopped (I stopped buying fresh garlic about a year ago. I didn't even use it fast enough so it would loose its punch. I now always have a jar of Chopped Garlic. 1 tsp is a clove and it is always so flavorful which means my meals will aways be garlicy. yum)  

1/4 tsp of each Curry Powder, Ground Ginger, and Ground Cumin
1 cup of Button Mushrooms, finely chopped
1 cup of Cauliflower, finely chopped
1 Carrot, finely chopped (How did I finely chop all these veggies? With my Manual Blender. I bought this for $2 at Salvation Army and I use it for EVERYTHING. I dont use a knife on onions, and look at the great job it did on the cauliflower) 

2 tsp of Superfine Sugar

3 tsp of Mild Natural Yogurt 

1 package of Phyllo Pastry Sheets

4 Tbsp of Melted Butter

Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the Onion and Garlic. Saute for 2-3 Minutes. Stir in the spices and Saute for 1 minute. Add the vegetables and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the sugar and yogurt. Cook for 3-5 minutes (or until vegetables are soft).

Lay the Phyllo Pastry out flat and cover with a clean damp cloth (I skipped the cloth part and just got to work so the pastry wouldn't dry out). Brush first piece of pastry with melted butter. Fold in half length wise and brush again with butter. 

Place 1 Tbsp of vegetable filling on one end of the strip, leaving a 2 cm border around it. Fold over the corner to make a triangle, then keep folding the parcel over on itself along the length of the pastry (think of the triangle folded notes you would send in grade 8 to your friends in class). Repeat with the remaining pastry and filling. 

Place Samosas on a Parchment Paper covered cookie sheet and brush the tops with more butter. Bake in a preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

These were served with Sticky Rice and Salad. I was worried we would be hungry but we were all stuffed. 

SO GOOD!

Here are a couple of shots with the kiddies eating/playing with their sticky rice. This was such a fun meal!

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Enough sticky rice for everyone!

How do your kids feel about rice? Mine can take it or leave it. It mostly ends up ion my floor where I wait until the next day to sweep it up when its good and dry and crunchy. Much less work.

My sister is, or can be at times, a sticky rice girl. She has the fancy bamboo steamer and will make a batch just to eat. I must admit this is great fun.  

Have you ever had sticky rice? And by this I mean actual sticky rice and not just rice that is sticky? What's the difference? Sticky rice is a whole variety of rice altogether. It isn't just rice that was cooked in too much water and became a clump of rice glob which is of course very sticky. It sticks to itself but isn't messy. You can ball it up, dip it in sauce and have a nice little snack. It is so so good. And you don't have to wash your hands afterward. 

I've been wanting to get a bamboo sticky rice bowl for a few years now but never really think about it enough that I have gone to get one. Until today. I'm not sure what prompted it but I decided that today was our Sticky Rice Day. I went to a little Asian Grocery store and came out with a brand new bamboo steamer. 

It was SO fun to use and so easy. I steamed some Broccoli (which turned out perfect) and sticky rice at the same time. Lovely. The kids LOVED it. I let them eat it with their fingers and clump it into balls then pop it in their mouths. Hazel asked if she could have some in her lunch at school and Nigel ate every bite. 

This is a new favorite kitchen toy for me. And as for sticky rice? I think we will be eating a lot of it!

Steamed Sticky Rice

1 cup of Sticky Rice (aka Sweet Rice or Glutinous Rice)

Soak rice for at least 2 hours. Fill a wok or deep frying pan with water and boil on high. When water reaches a rolling boil turn down to low-med. low. Place bamboo steamer in the water for 15-20 minutes or until rice is  translucent. Remove steamer from water. Serve.

(You can also make this without a bamboo steamer; I'm just a sucker for cool kitchen gadgets. If you have a steamer stock pot that will be fine. Place a layer of cheese cloth, lettuce, wax paper or something on the bottom. This is to keep the rice from falling through. Place soaked rice in the pot. Place pot on the base of boiling water. Steam until translucent. Easy.)

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