Eat Skinny Be Skinny: Spicy Tofu Stir Fry
PIN IT!I made tofu…and I liked it. (Sung to the tune of “I Kissed A Girl!”) Seriously though, tofu has always freaked me out, just ask my friend Katie. The texture, the consistency, the lack of flavor….it reminds me of jello, and really, who wants to eat MEAT SUBSTITUTE jello. But, like I did with the eggplant, I’m trying to broaden my palette and really grow as a foodie. So I did it. I made tofu…
…and I liked it! Although the texture was still a bit…squishy…I loved how the tofu absorbed the delicious flavor of the spicy sauce, giving each a bite a fabulous kick. It’s still not as good as chicken (sorry vegetarian and vegan friends) but it’s definitely worth experimenting more with. Oh, and now that we are moving to a house with a HUGE backyard, we can try our hand at grilling it!
PS: I can’t wait for our new place because the lighting in the kitchen is OUT OF THIS WORLD. So expect some much better photography. (The classes I’m signed up to take will also play a part in that, as well!)
Spicy Tofu Stir Fry
What You’ll Need:
- 1 pound eggplant
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon rice or white wine vinegar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons chili paste
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 8 ounces extra-firm tofu, drained and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
- 1/4 cup sliced mushrooms
How to Make It:
- Rinse and chop eggplant into bite sized pieces.
- Pour vegetable and sesame oils into a 12-inch nonstick frying pan on medium-high heat. When hot, add garlic, onion, mushroom & eggplant and stir frequently until soft when pierced and lightly browned, about 8 minutes.
- Add tofu and stir constantly.
- In a bowl, mix soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, chili paste, cornstarch, and 1/4 cup water. Pour into pan and stir until mixture is simmering and thickened, about 1 minute. Add sauce to stir fry, mix well and take off heat.
- Serve over rice or low-mien noodles and ENJOY!
Wanna know why I don’t use white dishes? The same reason I try not to wear white clothes, within an instant they are already stained! Please forgive my messy presentation. But when you are eating it, you’re less worried about what it looks like and more focused on what it tastes like, am I right?
Nutritional information per 1 cup serving: 334 calories, 13 grams of fat, 18 grams of protein and 16 grams of carbohydrates.
Eat Skinny Be Skinny: Cream Cheese Strawberry Muffins
It’s been a busy few weeks and this week isn’t shaping up much differently. I have about 10,000 things to do at work and then about 30,000 things to do in my personal life. When it rains, it freakin’ pours, my friends. My life is currently in shambles. I’m also taking a few big leaps in my personal/professional growth, so that has me quite occupied.
Did I mention, also, that we are moving? Our fridge is quite a strange mish mosh of food stuffs so our dinners have been quite interesting. Like, cream cheese strawberry muffins for example.
Yes, that is a big, honkin’ strawberry in that muffin and yes, this was my dinner a few nights ago. We have so many perishable things we need to get through before we move this weekend so I’ve been baking up a storm. (Because one can only eat SO many eggs by themselves). As delicious as these muffins were for dinner (yes, muffins is plural, I had more than one), they make an even better breakfast! For a girl who is ALWAYS rushing out of the door 1 minute before the shuttle comes, a grab-n-go breakfast is imperative.
Recipe adapted from the Foodie Bride.
Cream Cheese Strawberry Muffins
What You’ll Need:
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 8 oz fat free cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup fat free buttermilk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cup chopped fresh strawberries
How to Make Them:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix cream cheese, butter, and sugar together in a small bowl. Add the eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla and mix until just combined.
- In another bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and the salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and mix until just combined. The dough will be thick.
- Fold in the strawberries and pour batter 3/4 way full into lined muffin pan.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, until the tops are golden.
Oh and a tip for the wise, please wait until the muffins cool before eating so you don’t burn your mouth off.
Simple. Delicious. Nutritious. What more could you ask for in a breakfast? (or lunch, or dinner?) 🙂
Nutritional information per muffin: 240 calories, 8 grams of fat, 32 grams of carbohydrates and 5 grams of protein.
Giveaway, Giveaway!
Hi ya’ll! How is your Friday? Well, I just have another hour and half of work to get through so I have no complaints. I also can’t complain because, with the help of my AWESOME friend Lindsay, I’ve reached 200 likes on Facebook! Wahoo! That is cause for celebration my friends. So to thank ALL OF YOU, every stinkin’ one of you, I’m giving away ONE amazing little appliance to one lucky reader.
Before I tell you, I’ll give you a hint. It is something that will have you eating a WHOLE LOT of these delicious little treats….
[Photo via]
If you guessed a babycakes cake pop maker, well, then you are spot on. I’ve been eying one of these little babies for quite some time and I must say, I’m a little jealous of the person winning this.
So how do you win such a magnificent contraption? Easy. Just follow the few little rules below.
- Leave a comment telling me your favorite cake flavor. (OH AND PLEASE leave your email so I can contact you if you win!)
- Like me on Facebook, but of course.
- Follow me on Twitter.
- Retweet this giveaway: “I’ve entered to win a babycakes cake pop maker in @realnutritioncg’s giveaway and you should too! http://bit.ly/iWWr9R!”
Contest ends on Friday, May 27th at midnight. GOOD LUCK!
Eat Skinny Be Skinny: Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Bread
I had a hankering for some peanut buttery goodness last week and for not just a typical peanut butter cookie either. I wanted something thicker, denser, more flavorful and heartier. However, here’s the kick, it had to be healthy. I had a size 6 dress to zip up on Saturday and Lord knows that wasn’t happening without some drastic diet changes. So after a bit of searching stalking on Tasty Kitchen, I found the perfect remedy for my PB craving that was actually healthy: peanut butter bread made with whole wheat flour! Thank you Jesse’s kitchen!
And you can’t have peanut butter without organic cherry jam, right? The bread was perfectly moist and had just the right amount of peanut butter to give it that nutty flavor. The only complaint I have about this recipe is the bread comes out VERY crumbly. I had to eat it with a fork most of the time! But the flavor and consistency otherwise was perfect. So next time you’re not sure what to bring for lunch, stick a slice of this in your lunchbox with a dash of jam and you have yourself a much improved PB & J!
Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Bread
What You’ll Need:
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- ⅓ cups granulated sugar
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoons salt
- ⅔ cups peanut butter
- 1-½ cup skim milk
How to Make It:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.
- In a large bowl mix together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
- Add peanut butter and milk and stir until just combined.
- Pour into the prepared loaf pan.
- Bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Let cool completely before you slice and enjoy with some organic jam!
Perfect afternoon snack or breakfast, if you ask me! 🙂 Even if you didn’t, I’m telling you since it’s my blog. So HA. (Please forgive me, I’m hungry and tend to get delirious when I haven’t eaten lunch).
Nutritional information per piece: 220 calories, 5 grams of fat, 37 grams of carbohydrates and 7 grams of protein.
Eat Skinny Be Skinny: Pasta Salad & A Weekend Recap
What a weekend. It’s going to take me a few extra days to fully recover. I honestly just can not party like I used to. In my ripe old age of 25, I can not stay out past midnight two nights in a row and function like a proper adult. It’s just not something I can handle. No matter how bad I feel now, it was all SO worth it! I’ll share a few pics from my fabulous weekend before I get to the delicious (and so freakin’ easy) dinner I made last night.
On Friday, I met up with some of my favorite blogger friends and got to hang out, in real life! It’s absolutely such an amazing community, the blogging world. So many amazing people come into your life from all parts of the nation and world and you get to form these incredible bonds that wouldn’t have happened otherwise. Some of my blogging friends have become my best friends, because no matter what, they are constantly supporting me, offering me advice and a virtual shoulder to lean on. Some know more about me than my real life friends. And you know what? I think that’s pretty cool. So, here’s a photo of some of these amazing confidants!
Em, me, Anni, Steph, Megan, Maria & Jessica [Photo from Emily!]
On Saturday morning, I was NOT feeling good. Remember how you felt the morning after your 21st birthday? Yeah, about that good. I’m not sure if it was because I mixed beer and wine, or because I had 4 glasses of wine, either way, the combination left me literally incapacitated most of the morning. Which is normally fine because those are the days I lay in bed and watch endless streams of Lifetime with as little movement as possible. However, this Saturday, laying in bed was not an option. A really good friend at work was getting married and I couldn’t miss it. I’ve been there from the beginning helping him along as he planned his wedding (and he helped plan mine). Over hell or high water, I was going to be at that wedding. And guess what? I made it out! And it was incredible. Luckily by about 5pm my hangover had finally gone away.
Us with the Groom!
Myself and my fabulous date in front of the venue!
I didn’t get home until well after midnight and I was EXHAUSTED. However, sleeping all day Sunday wasn’t an option either because we have less than 2 weeks to find a new place to live and if you can recall, it hasn’t been an easy process. So I lined up four open houses yesterday in hopes one of them would be what we were looking for. The lucky stars must have been shining down on us because we found (AND RENTED!) the cutest little house you ever did see! It’s 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths and has a HUGE backyard for the pups. It’s in Falls Church, which is total suburbia, but we are fine with it. We finally have our own space!
Pic from Google! The house now has a white front porch and no icky power line in front!
As you can see, it was quite the weekend. After spending a full day house hunting on an empty stomach (couldn’t bring myself to eat Sunday morning, either) I was RAVENOUS by the time 5pm rolled around. Because I bought a giant size package of tortellini at Costco (don’t ask) I decided to whip up an easy and delicious salad for dinner. It was one of those salads that had a little bit of everything; a can of olives, some artichoke hearts, canned tomatos, some Italian seasoning, Parmesan cheese, etc.
It was amazing. I loved all of the different flavors together. It was exactly what I wanted. This is a perfect dish to make ahead for a picnic, party or to bring for lunches! This has been deemed my new go to summer salad!
Easy Tortellini Summer Salad
What You’ll Need:
- 1 package of tortellini
- 1 can of pitted black olives
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 can of artichoke hearts, drained
- 1 can of basil and oregano tomatoes
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Italian seasoning to taste
- 1/3 cup of Parmesan cheese
How to Make It:
- Bring 6-8 cups of water to a boil; add pasta and a dash of salt and cook until tortellinis (and cheese inside) are soft; Drain
- In a large bowl, mix pasta, olives, artichokes, olive oil, tomatoes, Italian seasoning and Parmesan. Sprinkle with additional salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!
I got to use my fancy new pasta plates that we got as a wedding gift…
…and my favorite salad tossers from Italy!
Such an easy and delicious dinner! Hope you all had a great weekend too!
Nutritional Information per cup: 350 calories, 13 grams of fat, 42 grams of carbohydrates and 12 grams of protein.
