YUM: Valentine Dinner = Complete Success

Woohoo! It's cookin time!  General Tao's Chicken made the Vegetarian way (Yes, I eat a lot of vegetarian food.  No, I'm not a full-fledged vegetarian.)

SO...since Jeff has a crying problem, he threw on my sunglasses and got to chopping the onions.  We used 1 onion less than the recipe from Vegweb.com called for.

 We also threw in some broccoli to sautee.  I love broccoli!

 Morning Star Chik'n Strips are more bomb than 1999.  Try them! 

 Here's our whole battering, or as I like to call it, "antiquing" process:

 And into the cornstarch, you go.

 

 Here were our ingredients.  We will definitely be making this again with so many leftovers!

 Pre-frying.

Mid-frying.

 Post-everything! YUM!!!

 

 Time to eat!

This dish rules.  Next time...a tad more sugar and we'll be as good as gold!

Recipe time:  General Tao's Chk'n.

12 ounce box firm tofu, in 1" cubes (frozen and thawed)  OR Morning Star Chik'n (That's what we did!)
1 egg or egg replacer prepared
    3 tablespoons + 2 tablespoons water, divided
    3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon cornstarch, divided
    vegetable oil (we used virgin olive. Made no difference) for frying + 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
    3 green onions, chopped
    1 tablespoon minced ginger
    1 tablespoon minced garlic
    2/3 cup vegetable stock
    1/4 cup granulated sugar
    2 tablespoons soy sauce
    1 tablespoon white vinegar
    1 tablespoon sherry, optional
    red pepper, to taste
    steamed broccoli, to serve

By the way...we had no idea what "divided" meant.  We just kept ingredients away from each other. 

1. Mix the egg and add an additional 3 tablespoons water.  Dip tofu/Chik'n in egg mixture and coat completely.  Sprinkle 3/4 cup cornstarch over tofu and coat completely.  Watch out that the cornstarch doesn't clump up at the bottom of the bowl.

2. Heat oil in pan and fry tofu pieces until golden. Drain oil. Heat 3 tablespoons vegetable oil in pan on medium heat.  Add green onions, ginger, and garlic; cook for about 2 minutes.  Be careful not to burn garlic. 

3. Add vegetable stock, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, sherry, and red pepper. 

4. Mix 2 tablespoons water with 1 tablespoon cornstarch and pour into mixture stirring well.  Add fried tofu/Chik'n and coat evenly.

Serve immediately with steamed broccoli over your choice of rice.

Serves: 4, Preparation time: 30 Minutes

Dessert - An odd rendition of the old Krispie Treat

Kamut (the recipe uses puffed rice) puff krispie treats made without marshmallows may sound kinda terrible...but they aren't!  They're just different!  Be nice.  These treats may not be like the old krispie treats made from the blue box, but they're still super dessert-y and awesome for curbing a sweet tooth in a healthier way.

Here's the recipe, taken from vegweb.com and altered a bit:

Crispy treats!

    1/2 cup agave syrup
    3/4 cup sugar
    1 tablespoon whipped

    1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
    5 cups puffed rice cereal or Kamut, divided

Directions:

1. Begin by heating the syrup in a small pot over medium heat, then add the sugar to the pot. Stir continuously for a few minutes; you might start to notice it bubbling at the bottom. If it starts to become frothy, turn down the temperature some.

2. When it starts to look like it's boiling, add the margarine. Stir until evenly mixed, then add the vanilla, still stirring. If you notice that the syrup/sugar mixture does not boil, you can turn up the heat.

3. Meanwhile, in a very large bowl, measure out about 5 cups cereal. Pour the heated mixture over the cereal. Stir all ingredients with a heat resistant spatula making sure to evenly combine.

4. You might want to add the remaining cup or more of the cereal, depending on the amount of saturation you're looking for. Lay out a 9x13" piece of wax paper, and lightly spray with oil.

5. When mixture is stirred to satisfaction, pour the cereal on to the wax paper, using the spatula to push it into a large rectangle, approximately 1" or so thick. Allow the rice crispies to cool until hard, about an hour or so (although sampling of a chunk of warm rice crispies is possible for instant gratification!)

Serves: about 20 medium sized squares, Preparation time: 15 prep, 1 hour to cool
 

Happy Happy!

Happy Valentines' Day!

Despite just being informed that my nights' plans must now include watching The Bodyguard (Whitney's death + working in TV = nutty week), I'm still excited to indulge in some QT with my very own personal chef!  Jeff is about to whip up some vegetarian General Tso's Chicken and I can't wait!!!!  

Oh and did I mention that I also have to work a double tomorrow?  This week just keeps getting better and better.  At least it's anything but predictable!

Pics of our feast...coming soon.

V-day is almost here!  Since Jeff and I don't really do gifts on holidays (just whenever the mood hits) I am thinking of buying one of the following.  The USB would really only be for me, but the sign could be for both of us!

http://www.geekstuff4u.com/heart-shape-usb-2gb-memory.html

...

My mom always sang this song to my sis and I growing up.  I love it!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/90668151/vintage-distressed-sign-i-love-you-a?ref=sr_gallery_38&sref=&ga_search_submit=&ga_search_query=valentine&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_page=9&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade%2Fhousewares

New Hope, PA

Two of my best friends from High school and I (along with our men) went to New Hope, PA for an all out good times extravaganza!  Our first stop was the Triumph Brewery (shout out to the Oatmeal Cookie stout), followed by Kelly's Irish Pub (they have a Mummers Day parade outfit there...try it on) and another, more clubby bar (not normally our scene, but after the first two...we were open to going anywhere).

 This was a landscaping place...that had massive Adirondack chairs..that we decided to try out. Comfy!

People honked and waved...so it was pretty much the equivalent of being on a parade float.

Parade moments are quite fun.  Yay for weekend trips!!!

Listening to...

A little Kings to help this Friday along...

The Bucket



Also, stay tuned for the recipe we'll be attempting tonight!

http://themoserfive.wordpress.com/2012/01/03/lasagna-soup/

I hate exercise...

But....I LOVE CARDIOLATES!!!!!

Seriously, what isn't to love?  There are little trampolines, 1 pound arm weights (ONE pound!!!) and awesome music!  I cannot recommend this class enough.   It's easy on your joints and unlike pilates (which always leaves me feeling good), I sweat enough in one class to feel I've earned my right to sit at a computer all day.

Also, as a sidebar, ever since pilates and yoga came onto the scene, I've kinda missed the old 80's workout days where jumping around like a lunatic for hours and incorporating the grapevine were considered legit means of calorie burning.  This class takes me back to that...without the leg warmers, leotard, fluorescent tights or harsh physical side effects of unwieldy limb tossing.

Try it!

http://www.coremindandbody.com/#!cardio