Day Off!

Hello there. No work today...and I have been loving every minute of it! I have been staying busy though: cooking, cleaning, shoveling snow, etc. It's been a good day.

I made a quick batch of french toast Sunday morning using up the rest of my bread that I made Thursday night. I only had a small amount of bread, so I mixed 1/4C almond milk, a splash of cinnamon and nutmeg. That was it...

I went to a friend's baptism on Sunday. Well, not their baptism, but for their little girl:

We all had a really good time (especially Addison, since she slept the whole time). There was SO much food at reception and it was really tempting to just grab a piece of bread...or a pretzel. I was pretty hungry, even though I ate a healthy amount before going to the church. I made it though the food just fine...but when they brought this out, I really struggled:

 Two kinds of cakes...cookies...I just wanted a little piece of the icing. But I was good and waited to have anything until I got home.

I got a smoker for Christmas from my friend Allison. It's a great little thing...just sits right on the stove top and cooks away. It's really great.

We used to once to smoke some tilapia...and it was so good. I have been wanting to use it and decided to try smoked tofu. I bought some wing sauce at the store...and did half wing sauce, half BBQ.

Let me save you the time and trouble. Do not do this. I'm not really sure what happened in there while it did it's "smoking"...but the combination of the sauces and the tofu and the cherry wood...epic failure! In fact, I threw it away with only having one small bite of each kind. I think from now, I'll keep to seafood and maybe veggies in there.

Since I had the day off, I decided I should test out some other options for cooking the tofu. Baked tofu is really my favorite because it gets a really nice "crust" on the outside, but stays super soft on the inside. So, I cut four small pieces and set the oven to 425. Two pieces I marinated the two sauces (seperatly) and the other two I left plain (with olive oil to avoid sticking). I baked both for 15 minutes on each side. The two that were plain, I tossed in the sauces after cooking (on right).

They were both really good, but I would go for the baked plain and then tossed in the sauce. Very tasty!

With my dinner last night, I had roasted brussel sprouts. Toss sprouts in olive oil, salt pepper and throw into 425 oven for 20 minutes. Pull out and toss after 10 minutes and add two cloves of chopped garlic. Return to oven for 10 minutes. I could eat these all day long!

I also made my own version of potatoes au grain. For the sauce:
1 head of cauliflower
2T olive oil
1t salt
2t black pepper
1/4C nutritional yeast
juice of 1 lemon
3C water

Preheat oven to 425. Cut cauliflower into small pieces and lay onto cookie sheet. Toss in olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for approximately 30 minutes until nice and tender, tossing occasionally. After roasting is done, let cool for a few minutes and transfer to a blender. Add the water, nutritional yeast and lemon juice. Blend until smooth.
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For the potatoes:
8 red potatoes
1 medium yellow onion
6 cloves of garlic

Slice potatoes and chop onion/garlic. Place all into baking dish. Pour sauce on top and bake at 425 for 45 covered. Remove cover and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes.
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This afternoon I made another loaf of banana bread for my breakfasts this week. I'm currently pressing some tofu for dinner and lunches to come. Then, I'm going to chill out for a bit. But before I go, I must share one more thing with you. My sister, Heather, gave me some ideas that I decided to make into a recipe to put on here. I have really been crazing sweets lately, and let me tell you...this did the trick!

Nut balls
3/4C walnuts
3/4C almonds
3/4C pecans
9oz prunes
1/2C Craisins
2T cocoa powder

In a food processor, add nuts (whatever combo you want), prunes and cocoa powder. Blend until it all comes together into a nice big ball. Remove and add in Craisins. Roll into balls or spread out into pan and cut into squares...whatever you prefer. Refrigerate after you have finished.
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These are seriously good (and raw, Stephanie!). A little sweet...a little nutty. You must give these a try. Thanks Heather!

I am officially on my last week of this experiment. Although I feel like I have been incredibly busy this month, it clearly gave me something to do. And I think it has been great to make me more aware of a few things:
1. I spend a lot of money just eating out
2. Cooking at home and making things from scratch is so rewarding
3. I wasted a lot of food before starting this
4. I feel so much better

I'm really happy that I've done this...and even more...stuck to it! I firmly believe that this will change the way I think about eating out in the future. Limiting my eating out will be a good thing...for body and bank account!