So, it's been awhile

Summer has been pretty busy for us. My husband has basically been working nonstop, which means little break for moi. Food has been pretty rudimentary, simple grilled protein, rice, and veggies for the most part. I have had a chance to try a few new recipes and I'm very eager to share them with you :)

First, we have cashew noodles with tofu and broccoli. I got this recipe from a Whole Foods "The whole deal" coupon book. I don't go to Whole Foods all that often, but I do know that they have some fantastic recipes in them, and I wish I had found out sooner that they have budget friendly recipes online. Click here for the link. Here's the recipe:

Salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 large head organic broccoli, stemmed and cut into small florets
3/4 lb 365 Everyday Value Wide or Extra Wide Enriched Egg Noodles
3 tbsp 365 Everyday Value Organic Ginger Soy Vinaigrette, divided
3/4 c roasted, unsalted cashews
1 8-oz pkg Thai or Teriyaki baked tofu, cut into 1" cubes

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add broccoli and cook until al dente, 3-4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer broccoli to a large plate; set aside. Return water to a boil; add noodles and cook until al dente, 7-8 minutes; drain well. Meanwhile, put vinaigrette, cashews and 1/2 cup water into a blender and puree until smooth. Return hot noodles to pot along with cashew mixture, broccoli and tofu and cook over medium heat, tossing gently, until heated through, 1-2 minutes more; transfer to bowls and serve.

Serves 4, $2.77 per serving.


Ok, I'm going to confess right off the bat, I didn't follow the recipe exactly. First of all, I didn't drive all the way across town to get their specific noodles and vinaigrette. I got Drew's brand soy ginger dressing and marinade. I baked my own tofu because I couldn't find it. Sometimes I get myself into situations where I don't think something is too hard and then find myself up to my eyeballs in trouble. This wasn't the case, luckily. I took a pound of extra firm tofu, cut it into slices, and marinaded it in a mixture of 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce, 1 tbsp honey, 1 tsp yellow mustard, 1 tbsp minced garlic, 1 tsp ginger (I used the dried powdered ginger from the spice aisle, would probably taste awesome with fresh!) for 30 minutes, flipping it over at 15 minutes. I baked it at 350 for about 80 minutes, flipping it every 20 minutes until it got to the texture I liked. This is subjective, and I recommend doing a test batch, but I love baked tofu and will definitely be making this more often.


I didn't like that the recipe has you basically discard the stems of the broccoli. I like to peel it with a potato peeler and slice it into coins, I also peel the stems of the florets, it takes away the tough texture and makes the broccoli a nice soft texture. In a practical area as well, I find it greatly diminishes the likelihood of broccoli farts. I did this while the tofu was baking.

Anywho, I boiled the broccoli, then the noodles. I added the broccoli to the noodles in the big pot I boiled the noodles in. I added the dressing to taste, and when the tofu was done I cut it up into smaller bits and added it. The cashews I sprinkled on top as I wanted (seriously, why get the blender dirty too?) The kids didn't like it very much, and the hubby refused to eat it. For once I was happy with their pickiness, more for me! Here's a picture of the finished product:



There are some more recipes that I've tried that I'll be sharing with you very shortly, but time is short right now, so I've got to go!