Two Recipes!

Good morning and happy Saturday! How were your Black Fridays? Mine was interesting, for sure. Working retail on that day is NO JOKE. I was running around the store like a crazy woman for eight hours or so. Luckily, I was armed with style! 

Breakfast

This morning, I woke up craving something warm, soft, and comforting. While my bed was serving those three adjectives, my stomach was telling me that food would be a better choice. I debated between waffles and oats and came up with…a scramble! It’s not often that I get to prepare my own meals on a stove (cough, dorm life, cough), and this long weekend has allowed for plenty of cooking, which pleases my mind as well as my senses!

Breakfast Tofu Scramble
(inspired by Tone it Up) 

Serves: 1 hungry Heather
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 oz. (1/5 block) organic extra firm tofu, cubed*
• 1 cup kale, chopped
• 4 cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters
• 1/4 onion, sliced
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tsp. Trader Joe’s Island Soyaki Sauce (or soy sauce)

Directions

• Set burner to medium-high heat and spray frying pan with non-stick cooking spray.
• Dice tofu into small cubes and place in the frying pan.

• After a couple of minutes, add 1/2 the garlic clove and stir.
• Add onion, stir, and let the flavors blend for 2 minutes.
• Add kale, tomato, and the rest of the garlic. Stir thoroughly and let it cook for a few minutes, until tofu begins to turn golden.

• Add soyaki (or soy) sauce, stir, and let the flavors blend until tofu turns golden-brown.
• Serve and smile!

 

*Purchase organic tofu whenever possible. Most grocery stores sell an inexpensive organic version of tofu. Stear clear of non-organic because it usually means the soy is genetically modified. We want to stick to clean eating!

I served my stir fry with 1/2 a Macintosh apple. This was perfect fuel for today’s workout!

Workout

Today, I did something I haven’t done in awhile: running! My right IT band has been a little sore for the past few weeks, so I wanted to avoid pounding the pavement because that is one of the activities that can really cause some damage if you’re feeling sore in that area. I’ve been stretching and foam rolling like a mad woman! My legs were itching for a good run today and my IT band wasn’t sore in the least, so I bit the bullet and set out for a 2-mile run before tackling Wednesday’s total body workout. I was a sweaty swamp monster by the end of it all!

Lunch

I’m usually not hungry until roughly an hour after exercising. Today a was different story because post-workout, my stomach was ready for some fuel. I kept things simple by warming up some leftover stuffing from Thanksgiving. For an extra punch of protein, I added some nutritional yeast and served the stuffing with some green juice (kale, spinach, celery, and cucumber) and a few strawberries. Basically, it was the lunch that dreams are made of.

There is nothing better than leftovers for lunch…or breakfast…or dinner. 

Keeping Tradition Alive

My great grandmother died when I was 8-years-old. Bubbie, as we called her, was a spunky, pint-sized lady with a heart of gold. She showered us with love and amazing homecooked meals, and lovingly barked at us if we tried to lend a hand with anything. Bubbie was stubborn – so stubborn, in fact, that she would stand on a step-stool in front of the kitchen sink window in order to open it instead of asking for help. It was simply the “Bubbie” way of doing things. If learned anything from Bubbie, it was that keeping tradition alive is so important. It keeps the love flowing from generation to generation.

One of my favorite things to do is veganize non-vegan recipes. Many (if not all) of Bubbie’s meals contained animal-derived foods, and I made it a mission this Thanksgiving to veganize one of my favorite “Bubbie dishes:” tzimmes. Tzimmes is a traditional Jewish side dish made from sweet potatoes, carrots, and prunes. Bubbie would lather hers with butter and no doubt, it warmed my belly from the inside out. This one will warm your belly too – and contains zero cholesterol to boot!

Sweet Potato Tzimmes

Serves: 8 – 10
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 sweet potatoes, cubed
• 4 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2/3 cup prunes
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup raw, organic honey
• 1 Tbsp. maple syrup
• 2 Tbsp. Earth Balance, melted
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tsp. salt

Directions

• Set burner to medium-high heat and set oven to 350 degrees.
• Boil sweet potatoes and carrots in a large pot until tender.

• While the veggies are boiling, melt the Earth Balance in one bowl. In a separate bowl, slowly whisk orange juice, honey, maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.

• Once veggies are tender, drain them from the pot and transfer to a baking dish.
• Add prunes and pour the mixture over the cooked veggies and cover with aluminum foil.
• Bake for 40 minutes, stirring the mixture every 10 minutes.
• After 40 minutes, turn the oven off and leave the dish to set so the flavors can blend efficiently.