Ange has moved!

In case you haven't noticed, I haven't written in here in a while. Life has changed a lot! I am a certified food blogger now! Here's the new blog - http://reluctantwwfoodie.wordpress.com. Check it out!

Barbecue Tofu and African Curry Pizza, by Em

Ingredients:

(sauce)

1 15-oz can of tomatoes

1/2 Tb sugar

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp soy sauce

1 Tb curry paste

1/3 cup chopped cilantro

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/3 cup diced onion

1 8-in pizza crust (feel free to make your own)

1/2 cup shredded cheese

your choice of toppings

1/2 serving tofu, chopped into cubes

4 Tb barbecue sauce

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450-degrees.

Saute onions. Drain the juices from the can of tomatoes (drain well). Mix sauce ingredients (including onions). Spread half the sauce on the pizza (enough for 2 8-in pizzas).

Pour the barbecue sauce in a small bowl. Roll the tofu in the sauce, covering all sides. Add your choice of toppings on the pizza (carrots and raisins are good!), cover with cheese, and top with tofu.

Bake for 10-15 min.

Baked Tofu Sandwich and Butternut Squash Soup, by Em

Baked Tofu:

Directions:

The ingredients are firm/extra firm tofu and your favorite bbq sauce, but this didn't seem worthy of a separate section.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice tofu into 1/2-inch thick segments. Using a non-stick baking pan baste one side of the tofu segments and put in to bake for 15-20 minutes. Flip the tofu and baste the other side. Cook for approximately 10 minutes.

These can be eaten hot or cold. Add your favorite toppings. I used feta cheese, ranch dressing and bean sprouts.

Butternut Squash Soup:

Ingredients:

1 1-lb bag frozen butternut squash

4 cups water

1 tsp each curry powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg

1 pinch red pepper flakes

1/8 cup onion diced

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Put water and frozen squash (it comes in cubes) in a medium sized sauce pan. Add spices, cover pan, set it on medium low. Cook until squash falls apart, stirring occasionally.

Dice onion and saute on medium heat in a small frying pan. Add to soup and cook for another 10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 4. Yum!

Easy Chicken Parmesan by Ang

Here's another recipe from my sister, chef to the tired and hungry.

Easy Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients
1 box of tyson breaded chicken patties (or any other breaded chicken patty/breast)
1/2 box whole wheat thin spaghetti
1 can/jar of italian sauce
1 can diced italian seasoned tomatoes

Directions
At the same time:

Bake chicken according to instructions on box; begin boiling water for spaghetti; combine sauce and tomatoes in a pan and heat on med-low.

Add any italian spices to sauce - red pepper flakes, oregano, basil, sea salt, black pepper, garlic, cinnamon, chili powder - season according to taste preferences.

When spaghetti is finished cooking, drain and dish onto plates. Add one chicken patty to each serving and top with sauce and parmesan cheese. You are now ready to serve!

Variations
Make sure that you buy a quality sauce. A cheap sauce can really screw up a meal. Contadina and Prego are both really good brands. But never trust a packaged sauce at face value. Always add fresh ingredients if you can. Add some fresh mushrooms or cut up green pepper, fresh garlic and basil. Also, if you'd like a vegetarian version of this, use a vegetarian chik patty rather than a real chicken patty. You can also use other spaghetti. It doesn't have to be wheat!

Lemonade!, by Em

Sometimes, when I need a change from my normal water, coffee, or milk, I make myself a glass of lemonade, just to change it up.  I worked at a lemonade stand (seriously, a professional one!) for two summers in a row, so this is, more or less, the same proportions, only I don't usually have ice on hand, while we do keep a pitcher of water in the fridge.  Feel free to use either ice and water, or just cold water.

Ingredients:

Sugar

Water (or ice water)

Lemon juice

Ginger, minced (optional)

Directions:

This is going to be by proportions, so the actual amounts will vary, depending on whether you are making a single serving or a larger amount.

First, fill the glass (or pitcher) about 1/8-1/6 full of sugar.  Next, fill the remaining volume about 1/3 full with lemon juice.  Fill the rest of the way with water.  With larger containers, such as pitchers, you would want to leave about 1-1 1/2 inches empty at the top.

Stir contents and enjoy.  I just added the ginger for the first time yesterday and I added about a teaspoon to an 8 oz glass.  It was good, but because I like my food to have a kick, I'd probably add more next time.

No-bake Goodies by Ang

My father is quite an extraordinary man. Not only does he care for us and help us when we need it, but he actually cleans, repairs, irons AND cooks. I have a lot of wonderful memories of coming home from school and smelling a sweet chocolatey scent coming from the kitchen. I'd run up there thinking that it was my mom, but it was Dad! And he was making his famous no-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies.

These cookies are melt-in-your-mouth perfection, and they're not all that bad for you! Chocolate, oatmeal, tasty crumbs... it was the perfect afterschool snack!

No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

1 stick of butter
2 cups of sugar
a pinch of salt
2/3 cup cocoa powder (dark chocolate preferred)
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup peanut butter
3 cups of rolled oats uncooked

Directions

Melt butter in sauce pan and add sugar, milk, cocoa powder, and salt. Boil for 1 minute. Add everything but oats and stir. Take off burner and add oats, stirring until completely mixed. Spoon out into cookie sized amounts onto waxpaper covered cookie sheets. Let cool (in the refrigerator) and enjoy!

Save time with Flatbread

This is not my recipe, I found it online last week.  It is so easy and quick.  When I'm thinking of ways to save money, I always think about making my own bread.  However, making bread is so time consuming!  Even if the actual ingredient mixing doesn't take that long, you have to wait for it to rise which takes hours!  This is the beauty of flatbread, as the name suggests it is flat, or unleavened.  This griddle flatbread took no time at all.

If you follow the recipe you end up with four "loaves" of flatbread which are definitely large enough that half a "loaf" could make a sandwich.  Take twenty minutes out of your week and you've got quite a cache of sandwich-making paraphernalia.

Variations:

I used whole wheat flour and it was de-frickin-licious.  This bread would make good sandwich bread, but we ended up eating it with hummus!