Guac me up!

feeling very cooking inspired these days. maybe b/c it's in the mid 90s and feels like the 100s so turning on the oven sounds like the last thing i want to do. 

anyway, it's a mexican kind of layout w/ variations on the taco and i think one of my all-time favorite breakfasts-huevos rancheros. these dishes are super quick and easy once you have all your ingredients. and you can make it more homemade or less time consuming based on your preference.

yes i know, i got too lazy to crop out all the background stuff, but really, i was too focused on getting the food ideas to you! this was the spread for make-your-own fish tacos (homemade guacamole, coleslaw, baked cod, corn tortillas and store bought salsa...this i wish i had made myself, but it was cheaper and easier, so i'll take some short cuts).

on the left is the fish taco, on the right is the tofu taco

guacamole (i just sliced the avocado and placed it on top of the taco)
2 ripe avocado (chopped, but not pureed, i like mine chunky)
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 steamed corn (slice down the side of the cob to get the corn kernels)
1/2 jalapeno pepper, diced
salt and pepper to taste
i forgot to buy a lime and my parents don't like cilantro, both of which i would have loved

coleslaw for the fish tacos
3 c shredded green and purple cabbage
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 bell pepper, diced
~1/2 tsp salt
~1/2 T sugar
~ 2 T white vinegar
Toss everything together and let it marinate for as many hours as possible

coleslaw for the tofu tacos (which everyone agreed they liked better) was from pioneer woman cooks (of course)

other ingredients to top with: raw onions, black beans, salsa, etc. the great thing about tacos is that they are so versatile and whatever ingredients you like

btw, i baked the cod for about 15 minutes after lightly coating in cumin. tofu was pan "fried" with cumin and chili powder

so now that you have all these wonderful ingredients prepped and leftover, what to do with all the yummy ingredients- make huevos rancheros. slight detour with this one. it is a corn tortilla topped w/ a runny egg (a must!), black beans and salsa, i also added hash browns, leftover guacamole and raw onions. enjoy!

oh, and i almost forgot, this blog/show/recipe person i stumbled upon today, everything looks absolutely delicious and easy (my two requirements of any recipe), check out pati's mexican table. the great thing is she breaks down all her Mexican foods and the ingredients along with a dash of history and culture. i think the first thing i'll try to make is an adaptation her empanadas.

it's all about balance

happy weekend! for those of you who celebrate easter, happy easter! the sisters were home for my bday celebration. so lots of food fun were of course required. found this image of easter bunny rolls on pinterest and s4 jumped right on it! 

the actual execution of bunnies was a bit more challenging than anticipated. haha. sort of alien-esque bunnies.

birthday lunch included fish tacos- cod double breaded w/ garlic, black pepper and salt, topped with pico de gallo, cabbage, guacamole, hot sauce and lobster dip (the tacos needed a chipotle sauce and i had gotten the lobster dip packet from the vermont country store, delicious, let me say). 

i had a hard time choosing a bday cake, and wanted to test out this recipe, so bday left perfect excuse not to get questioned about ingredients i buy :) this is a french silk pie from here, one of the many random recipes i've found probably while browsing at work. i love the vitamix we got for M for xmas/bday. so nice to be putting good use to it. this pie is delicious, so smooth and creamy, just like chocolate mousse. highly recommend!

French Silk Pie (serves 8-10)
13 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup boiling water
2 tsp instant coffee
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 12.3 ounce package silken tofu, drain out water
1 T maple syrup, grade B
1 9 inch prepared chocolate crust or homemade
fruit (optional)
whipped topping (optional)

Directions
Make the coffee with the water. Melt the chocolate chips with the coffee and vanilla in a metal bowl over simmering bowl or in a double boiler. Stir frequently until completely melted. Add the tofu, chocolate mixture, and maple syrup to a food processor or blender. Process until smooth and pour into the chocolate crust. Refrigerate for 2 hours and top with fruit or whipped topping.

As a thank you gift to my sister's friend, this is the other end of the spectrum of sweets. this is thin mint gooey cake bars from picky palate. made a couple changes due to laziness in buying ingredients, but also b/c couldn't find the andes mints! still trying to figure out where they are in the grocery store...these are definitely decadent and little bits go a long way. 

Thin Mint Gooey Cake Bars (9 x 9 pan, makes 16 squares)

Ingredients

1 yellow cake box mix

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 egg

1 can condensed milk

6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

About 1 1/2 sleeves of thin mints, half of them crushed (leave 6 whole)

Combine cake mix, butter and egg. It helps to do it by hand. Press half the dough onto the bottom of the well sprayed pan. Sprinkle the chocolate chips and drizzle 1/3 of the condensed milk on the layer. Press the remaining dough as a second layer and sprinkle the crushed cookies on top. Lay the whole cookies on top (however you want to fashion it) and pour the remaining condensed milk on top. Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes (this is really thick dough so it needs a long time to bake) or until the top has become golden and crispy. 

also made smittenkitchen's thick, chewy oatmeal raisin cookies. they all got wrapped up and/or eaten before a picture could be taken. but they are really tasty. the thick, chewy part definitely comes out better baked on parchment paper rather than on silpat.

tofu dishes

cooking up a storm- it helps that i get to actually cook for someone else:) thanks s3 for being a guinea pig

dinner on tuesday- sauteed tofu w/ korean sauce (green onions, garlic, soy sauce, sesame seeds, sugar, etc.), steamed kale w/ sesame seeds, korean root vegetables (this would be labeled miscellaneous vegetable in lotte), and potato and zucchini. yum yum. 

today's lunch- blanched broccoli tossed in sesame oil and sesame seeds, sauteed tofu w/ the sauce again and some rice:) 

finally made it to wegmans. it's still daunting and hard to figure out what's cheaper or where everything is. but the wegmans peanut butter is just peanuts so switching to that once i try it. and going to give wegmans greek yogurt a try tomorrow morning. their kalamata olive roll was tasty. and i got really excited they had the wild pea company hummus (it's made it baltimore). oh, and ann's house of nuts is closing in september :(

and she's back!

hello!!!!!! back in md and ready to adventure it up and cook and bake all at the same time:D

all that time i spent in the kitchen and i forgot to grab some of the recipes! oh boy, but today was definitely a re-creation of gmfr. breakfast was my fave- greek yogi, fruit, natural pb, cinnamon, and a handful of dry cereal. man, it'll never get old.

lunch was fun- once again, my goal is to cook more, and not only for me but for others. today's is an egg and tofu salad w/ greens and baked corn tortilla chips.
for the egg/tofu salad (i wanted to buffer the amount of egg in the salad since D has high cholesterol)

Egg/tofu salad
hard boiled eggs (i had 6), peeled and chopped
big block of tofu (i microwaved it for about 2 minutes, pressed all the water out, crumbled and froze for a bit to cool down)
greek yogurt (~1/4 to 1/2 cup)
olive oil (~1-2 T)
diced onions (half a medium onion)
diced green pepper (1 small)
salt and pepper
capers (optional)

Combine all the ingredients:) 

for the corn tortilla chips- i'm liking the fact that corn tortilla has less ingredients to make than whole wheat flour tortillas. gmfr was so unprocessed that i want to try to stick to that (thus, the early morning run to safeway after my workout to pick up natural peanut butter, the smuckers version has only peanuts and salt and pretty affordable. too bad it's such a pain to mix, but i'll get over it)

Baked corn tortilla chips

corn tortilla (cut into 8 wedges)

olive oil

Lightly coat the wedges in olive oil (you can also sprinkle w/ salt and pepper or whatever spices you like, i forgot). Bake in 400F for about 5-7 minutes or until getting lightly brown.

i added a large handful of a mixed greens salad and a cup of cherries. i actually checked my plate like at gm for the size i wanted (about the size of your hand spread out, i have a tiny hand so i give myself some leeway)