Morning appetite

Vegetable tofu scramble.

My appetite has finally returned since the pups are home safe and sound.

This morning I wanted a big plate of veggies and some fruit but, as you know, I am trying to eat protein on a more consistent basis. Cue the protein:

Locally made tofu.

I chopped two small rainbow carrots, 1/2 a small Yukon gold potato and two stalks of broccoli rabe and threw them into the steamer.

Most tofu scrambles use crumbly tofu and I personally hate that texture in the scramble. The tofu starts to break down and the bits of tofu feel like tiny pebbles. Ugh, not my favorite.

Instead, I sliced of long, fairly thick slices of tofu and put them into a hot pan with some peanut oil. 

A lot of recipes want you to marinate the tofu first but I find this makes it harder to get the tofu nice and crisp. Luckily this tofu had very little water in it so it crisped up very nicely.

I pulled the tofu out of the pan when both sides had browned. I cut it up into small squares and set it aside.

When the vegetables were nice and tender (you may want to pull them out earlier if you want more crunch to the veggies) and they went into the skillet.

Then I added:

1 Tbsp of vegetable broth
1 Tbsp of soy sauce
1/2 tsp of white miso paste mixed with a little water

I covered the skillet and let this cook over low heat for a few minutes. 

The tofu went in at the end and everything was tossed together till well coated with the sauce.

Then I plated the tofu and vegetables and finished it with a drizzle of sesame oil.

The tofu was wonderful. It had a crisp and chewy texture like bacon or sausage. This texture is much more to my taste and it was delicious!

On the side I enjoyed one of my favorite instant espresso drinks.

This instant coffee is great to have on hand for making a quick cup of espresso or to use in recipes if you want a nice non-bitter coffee flavor.

Vegetable tofu scramble, a cup of espresso with soymilk and some juicy, ripe watermelon.

I do have to tell you that crispy tofu is a wonderful thing.

Connor was crying for the watermelon so both dogs enjoyed a nice, juicy chunk of the water filled fruit. 

No surprise there, I suppose, since going a day with limited water (because of the anesthesia) would make anyone lust after a slice of watermelon :-)

Greens in the morning

Brown rice with broccoli rabe, carrot and Miso Mayo with a topping of Udo's oil.

Lol, if you saw the post with just the picture - yeah, that was my big pre-caffeine mistake of the day:-)

And what you see in the first picture was not my breakfast. It was, in fact, the dogs treat.

They have been eating grass again so I figured they would enjoy some greens. They went crazy over this. And, yes, they ate all of the greens and came back into the kitchen trying to sniff out more.

My dogs are strange.

This was my breakfast:

Breakfast bowl with brown rice, black beans, carrots, broccoli rabe.

 I started with the rainbow carrots.

The carrots went into the steamer along with two stalks of broccoli rabe (chopped). 

When the vegetables were tender, I took the pan off the heat and assembled the dogs treat. 

I grabbed my leftover brown rice from the fridge and put a tsp of the rice on the dish, some broccoli rabe, a piece of carrot, a dollop of Miso Mayo and drizzled all with some Udo's oil.

A heavenly dog treat.

Then I went on with assembling my breakfast. I emptied the steamer pot of all but about 1 Tbsp of the steaming liquid. 

I tossed in 1/2 cup of brown rice into the pot along with the carrots and broccoli rabe. 

Then came the spices. A pinch of cumin, cayenne pepper, 1Tbsp of salsa and a pinch of salt. 

At this point I still wanted to boost the flavor so I chopped up one scallion and that went into the pot along with 1/2 cup of cooked black beans (rinsed).


I was liking the way this was coming together but I wanted to boost the protein a bit so I lightly beat one whole egg and stirred that into the pan.

I topped the bowl with more salsa and a bit of avocado.

The pot cooked on medium heat until the egg was cooked through. 

I have a lot of greens in my fridge. My game plan is to try to incorporate greens into every meal I eat this week.

Wish me luck!

Clean as a whistle

No, these aren't my teeth. I wish...

I just got back from the dentist. I am cavity free and from what the dental hygienist said, I do a great job at keeping plaque at bay.

Unfortunately, things are not all roses and rainbows. I have a chipped front tooth (it happened when I was six) and when I was a kid I was so proud of it that I refused to get it fixed.

But it seems the two front teeth are starting to show the effects of the 'traumatic teeth event' and are started to turn a darker shade. Ewww.

So it looks like I may have to get veneers in the future, sigh.

After the bad news I headed over to Draeger's and treated myself to a breakfast salad.

When I got home I realized that maybe I shouldn't be eating beets (which stain everything) with newly polished teeth so I picked them out.

I couldn't resist adding a light sprinkle of blue cheese.

I love the big slices of chicken breast that are available at the salad bar.

And I picked up some fun things:

Organic rainbow carrots and organic Lacinato kale.

The kale is an incredibly deep shade of green. I can't wait to figure out a way to use it.

And lastly:

Organic and locally made fresh pasta.

I picked a shape that I thought would work well with mac & cheese.

And before I have to truly contemplate the possibility of veneers I am going to head out and pick up some Crest White Strips and see if they perform a miracle on my front teeth.