Greek Scrambled Tofu

For those of you who may follow me and my food journey. I am slowly but surely on my way to becoming vegan. This will not happen over-night and I am OK with that. I can see that in doing so I will be alienating myself even more in the social world. I will be deemed/judged as some sort of freak. It bothers me and only to the point that I look at those who sit in judgement and trust me when I tell you, they would do good by losing some of the things offered in the meat world.

It bothers me when someone who is visibly out of shape and has thee audacity to criticize me food options. Really? Give me a break. Put as I have grown older and hopefully wiser, I do not sit in judgement, or at least I do not verbalize it, I just let them know the benefits I have experienced in losing meat and now dairy from my diet. My actions speak for themselves.

I also love listening to people say they could not let go of meat. And I gently remind them that there is a difference between not being able to let go of meat and not wanting to let go of meat...BIG difference.

I have been a vegetarian now for a year and a half, save for a set back or two. And my brother-in-law just now says he found out about it. Helloooo, you were at my house on Thanksgiving. No meat on my plate then. DUH to him. With all this said, I have been experimenting with tofu. I want to like it. Aren't all vegetarians supposed to like this stuff. Thee easiest way I saw, was to use it as a scrambled egg replacer. My first attempt at trying a new recipe was a near failure. But when thrown from the horse I just get right back on and keep on going.

So, a new recipe has crossed my path. And I enjoyed this one so much that I taught it at our local health food store and it was a big hit. I will definitely be making this one again and now trying other tofu scrambler recipes in the future. Thank you to How It all Vegan for this lovely ethnic flavored tofu breakfast dish.

1 pkg. firm tofu, crumbled (squeeze as much water out as you possibly can)
1-2 T Braggs or soy sauce/tamari
turmeric (to taste)
pepper (to taste)
dried oregano (to taste)
splash of olive oil
6-8 Greek olives, chopped (remove pits if necessary)
handful of sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup spinach, chopped
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In a large saucepan, add the tofu, Braggs, turmeric, pepper, and oregano to a splash of oil and saute on medium-high heat for 10-12 minutes, until moisture has evaporated. Add the olives, sundried tomatoes, and spinach. Cover and cook for 2-4 minutes, until spinach is tender. Makes 2-4 servings.

I am in love. This is winning me over to the tofu side and I am not looking back.

The Perfect Pancake

You can all thank How it all Vegan for this recipe. Yes, it is a basic simple recipe, but there are times where we stray away from the simplicity of things and make them grander than they have to be. Well not in this case. We all know we love pancakes. I, in fact, could eat them every day. And trust me when I tell you it doe snot have to be for breakfast. There has been plenty a night that my daughter and I have had breakfast for dinner. And vice versa in this house. But most people cannot fathom left-over spaghetti for breakfast.

I went looking for a tofu scramble recipe and stumbled upon a new pancake recipe. It looked too runny, but I stuck to the recipe and let me tell you, this was one of those pancake recipes that you could make, photograph and send off to a magazine for a front cover spot. This, bar none, was thee most perfect pancake. So sit back, and try this, you will not regret it.

2 cups flour (we used unbleached white, but will use our own fresh ground, next time)
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
2 cups soy milk (we used 1 c soy & 1 cup rice milk)
2 T oil (we used olive)
sliced fruit (optional)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder together. Add the milk and oil and mix together carefully until "just mixed" (if you mix too vigorously, the pancakes won't get fluffy). Portion out about 3/4 to 1 cup of batter onto a hot non-stick pan or lightly oiled frying pan and cover with a lid. Let sit on medium heat until the centre starts to bubble and becomes sturdy. Flip pancake over and cook other side until golden brown. Repeat process until all the batter is gone. Makes 2 or more servings. Garnish with fresh fruit and maple syrup.

This will be in my morning line up for sure. Make it one of yours.