4th of July weekend-and stuff

I've been busy lately! Well, the weekend. I spent 5 hours this morning on the computer, eating banana soft serve, and dancing to lady gaga. So that was a lie.

On sunday, I ran my first 5K!!! I was with my sister Fiona, (right), me, my sister Kate (left of me) and my dad (far left). It was so exciting! I ran the whole way, and placed 16th in my age group. My time was 29:53.

I'm the one with the funny looking legs...

I've really been into this banana soft serve. All you do, literally, is slice bananas, freeze them, then put them in the food processor for a few minutes. They actually turn to the consistency of ice cream, soft serve! I flavor mine with a splash of vanilla. I'm working on other flavors too-I made chocolate peanut butter by putting a few teaspoons of cocoa powder, a tablespoon of creamy peanut butter, and a squeeze of agave/maple blend. It's so yummy! The plain soft serve makes a great breakfast with some berries and nuts thrown on top. It's really all I want in this 90+ weather. I am staying away from hot food completely!! I'll have pictures tomorrow for that-I am making another batch then.

For fourth of july, I made very traditional tofu and rice!! Haha...not. I made BBQ (hey, that's fourth of july!) pomegranete tofu. YUMMY! It was homemade bbq sauce, and the tofu was baked to perfection. This was from VwaV. On the side, I made coconut rice with toasted coconut. This was amazing! I don't remember the last time I had jasmine rice, and this fulfilled my desire to have it. For the rest of my meal, my dad grilled asparagus, some fish, chicken, and there was always the standby hummus and carrots to munch on before dinner. And most importantly...chocolate peanut butter cups!! The recipe is in my blogroll, so look there. The post is literally called chocolate peanut butter cups.

BBQ pomegranete tofu

1 lb tofu, drained and pressed, sliced into eighths

2 T peanut oil

1 T soy sauce

BBQ sauce:

1 T peanut oil

1 cup shallots, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon chineese five spice powder

2 cups vegetable broth

a few dashes black pepper

1 6 oz can tomato paste

2 T creamy peanut butter

2 T pomegranete molasses (what the heck?! I used molasses. Sorry Isa! Not going to go foraging for pom. molasses!)

2 T soy sauce

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1 tsp hot sauce (or more as you like)

1 tsp liquid smoke

Garnish:

1/2 cup fresh pomegranete seeds

Preheat oven to 350. In a 9x18 (preferably glass or ceramic) baking pan, dredge the tofu in peanut oil and tamari to coat on both sides. Bake for 15 minutes, then flip the slices and bake for 15 minutes more.

Meanwhile, prepare the sauce.In a saucepan over medium heat, sauté the shallots in 1 tablespoon peanut oil for about 5 minutes, add garlic and five spice powder, sauté 1 minute more. Add veggie broth and bring to a simmer. Add the rest of the ingredients (except for the pomegranate seeds) and bring to a boil. Lower heat to simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently.

At this point your tofu should be baked. Pour the sauce over the tofu, covering all over. Return to oven and bake 15 minutes more. Remove from oven. Garnish with pomegranete seeds.

And this beautiful dish needed some coconut rice, so heres that.

2 cups jasmine rice, washed

1 can (13.5 oz.) coconut milk

1 cup water

a cinnamon stick

1/4 tsp salt

finely grated zest of 1 lime

½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Add rice, milk, water salt and cinnamon stick to a sauce pot and bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover pot and simmer 20 minutes. Add lime zest and stir with a fork. Remove from heat, cover and let sit 10 more minutes. Meanwhile prepare the shredded coconut.Heat a skillet over low-medium heat. Add the coconut and toast, turning frequently, for about 3 minutes, or until coconut is brown and toasty.Remove the cinnamon stick from the rice and serve, sprinkling the toasted coconut over each serving.

Yeah, I took that picture.

This was so good! at one point, I think the BBQ sauce made its way over to the rice, and it all merged. Still yummy.

The PB cups were a disaster!!

Tricked ya. They rock. Only 1.5 left in the freezer:( Good excuse to make more?

I have been thirsty lately (yes, for blood...) because of this crazay weather. I made the Peach and Mint iced tea from The Kind Diet. This was so refreshing! Gotta give this a try.

4-6 Kukicha or green tea teabags

4 ripe peaches, cut into 1/4" pieces

1 small bunch fresh mint

maple syrup to taste

Bring 8 cups of water to a boil. Place the teabags in a heatproof pitcher. Add the water to the pitcher, and steep for 10 minutes. Remove the teabags and allow the tea to cool.

When cool, add the peaches, mint, maple syrup, ice, and serve. Yum!!

I am not really sure whether to EAT the peaches, or if it's just to flavor the tea...I ate them. It would be such a waste to throw away perfectly good Georgia peaches, right?

Tonight, a spur of the moment thing, I made summertime succotash from the kind diet. This was yummy! Quick too. Didn't have to cook much. It's a lot better cooled, but still good piping hot.

1 tablespoon Earth Balance butter
1 teaspoon Olive oil
1 cup Diced red onion
1 Garlic clove, minced
1 (10-ounce) package Frozen baby lima beans, thawed (see Note)
1 cup Fresh or frozen corn
1 cup Cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tablespoons Chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons Chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon White or red balsamic vinegar

Heat the butter and oil together in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, and saute' for 5-7 minutes or until the onion begins to brown. Add the garlic, and cook 1 minute longer.
Stir in the lima beans, ans saute' for 5 minutes. Add the corn and tomatoes and saute' for 1 minute or longer or until just heated through. You don't wait the tomatoes to collapse and release their juices. Remove from the heat, and stir in the parsley, basil and vinegar. Serve warm or chilled.

That's all for now...Maybe more cooking soon, but right now I have no interest in going upstairs where I think I will be baked into cookies the second I walk in. (oven-bake-me? Oh whatever.) Did I mention we don't have air conditioning?