Vacation in a Bottle

I’m fairly convinced that there will never be a day where it doesn’t snow in Iowa. Yep, I’m sure of it – winter is going to last forever.

I know it’s the same story around the country so you all feel my pain – but a predicted 8-9 inches on top of the 18-19 inches we already have on the ground!? Rats!

It’s times like these that I turn to my trusty and reliable winter blues remedy – vacation in a bottle. Aka coconut scented lotion! It does wonders for the soul! One little dab instantly takes me to the white sand beaches of Hawaii… pina colada, anyone?

Back on the mainland, I got to cooking something hearty and heartwarming for dinner – Sloppy Joes – with a twist…muwahaha!

First of all, let me just tell you that sloppy joes will always and forever remind me of the crazy lunch lady in Billy Madison… “I know how you kids like ‘em…EXTRA SCHLOPPY!”

At any rate – the twist in my sloppy joes is that they’re made with crumbled tofu instead of ground meat!

I started with this block of Nasoya Lite Firm Tofu, which I pressed…

In my handy, dandy tofu press – literally one of the coolest things EVER!

Take one block of tofu, stick it in the container, put the lid on top and push down to lock.

Place in the refrigerator for an hour or overnight, and all the extra liquid is pressed right out!

See? I am such a sucker for cool, unipurpose gadgets – and this one just about takes the cake tofu.

After I drained the liquid, I crumbled up my tofu and the rest is history.

Based on the Nasoya Sloppy Joes recipe.

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons olive oil

1/2 small onion, chopped

1/2 small green bell pepper, chopped

1 package firm tofu, pressed & crumbled

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups tomato sauce

2 teaspoons chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon soy sauce

Directions:

1. In a large pan, sauté onion and bell pepper in olive oil over medium-low heat until softened, ~10 minutes*.

2. Turn the heat up to high, add the crumbled tofu and cook until it takes on a light golden brown color, ~3 minutes.

3. Add the rest of the ingredients into the pan, stir and let the mixture simmer for 3 minutes, until thick and bubbly.

4. Serve on a toasted bun!

*If you feel like you need to add more oil or your sauteing veggies will burn, add splashes of water to cook them in, until they’re tender.

Yummers!!!

Ok, while not as “hard” as ground beef or turkey, looks and taste wise you would never know this was tofu!

This sauce was really nice – a little salty, a little sweet, and a perfect little kick from the chili powder. And I know you’re thinking it – “there’s GREEN PEPPER in there!!” (one of the foods that I would banish from the face of the earth.) Yes, I could taste the green pepper and next time I probably won’t put it in there, but for green pepper lovers or neutralists, you would dig it.

Served open faced so I could get as much filling as possible, natch.

On the side I had some nice, steamed broccoli.

These pre-washed and pre-cut bags of veggies are SO convenient! All you do is snip a couple holes in the bag, and microwave for 3.5 minutes.

See?

No more excuses that veggies are too hard or time consuming to make!  

A lot of you have asked me over the past couple of weeks if Ben eats/likes tofu. The answer is yes/no. Yes, he will try anything I make but, no, he doesn’t really like tofu and usually has something else for dinner on the nights I make it. Kudos are always given to him for trying though!

Well I am getting ready to settle in to watch The Bachelor. Apparently something juicy happens tonight! Although, something juicy has happened on every episode this season, so I don’t know how much more juicy it can get! I’m predicting that Gia walks out tonight. There, I said it. What do you think is going to go down?

Have a great night, all!

~~~~~

Are you game to try new food items? Or do you know what you like and eat accordingly?

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