TLAT repost

That is Tempeh Lettuce Avocado Tomato. Yes I have already post this but I have had a craving for it. I will be using this recipe, (oops that is another TLAT post hehehehehehe XD) for the tempeh bacon. Here is the recipe from Celine of Have Cake Will Travel. I make this bread by hand and to do that, take the sugar, yeast and water (warm) and dissolve in a large bowl. Add butter, pumpkin and 2 cups of flour. I went with one cup AP and one cup whole wheat. Turn out onto floured bowl and knead for about 2-5 minutes adding more (AP) flour as needed. Cover with bowl or clean tea towel. One hour later, turn out onto floured board and knead for about 2 minutes. Place in oiled bread pan and cover with tea towel. One hour later place into preheated oven (350 degrees F) and cook for about 30-60 minutes, until lightly browned and loaf sounds hollow when tapped. The color of this sandwich bread is beautiful.

Below, tempeh bacon marinating. To cook, heat a bit of oil in a skillet and fry until golden on each side.

As for that TLAT....
bread, sliced (2 slices)
one half ripe avocado, sliced
two slices tomato
lettuce of choice
mayo of choice
2-3 slices of crisp tempeh bacon

It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time!

Hehehehehehe, sorry I couldn't resist! Who doesn't like PB and J's? These Popsicles taste just like a PB and J sandwich. I posted this recipe a while back and I have decided to leave the chocolate sauce out and layer these with strawberry jam, but feel free to use grape if you like that better. I will be using Splenda for the sugar called for. I made these with 2 tbsp. Splenda, but I think next time I will use 1/4 cup.

PB and Jelly Popsicles

1/2 cup milk (can use skim)
1/2 cup PB
1/2 cup yogurt (can be fat free plain)
1/4 cup sugar or Splenda

grape or strawberry jam or jelly (I use sugar free)


Mix all of your ingredients (except jam) until very, very smooth. In 3 ounce paper cups ("Bathroom Cups"), layer PB mixture, then jelly, then PB mixture. Insert Popsicle sticks and freeze for at least 6 hours.

Aww, how cute! This is not my photo.

Chinese Hot and Sour Soup

Who doesn't love this soup? Plus you can even make it vegetarian if you would like. This is the recipe that I decided to make, I found this recipe looking for recipes to make with cloud ear fungus. I actually have never had this soup but I really don't see how you can go wrong with this list of ingredients. Chris says this looks exactly like the soup that he gets and he thinks that I will really like it, even though I am I little dubious because it has what I call "uncooked tofu".....I normally don't tofu that isn't lightly fried. I liked this soup, I found if you make it vegetarian you should add some vegan chick'n broth powder. But it was not "hot". I looked at another recipe and it uses ginger and chili garlic sauce and I added some of that and now it tastes on point.

Bitter Melon with Shrimp

This is not my photo.

Bitter Melon, also known as Bitter Gourd is an Asian vegetable that is known for healing properties. It can lower blood sugar,  a component of the seeds can possibly prevent HIV from infecting human cells, and the extract can  be used to slow the spread of cancer to cells. More research is needed to make sure that these uses are warranted and are feasible. It also may lower triglyceride levels. Here is a link that explains these uses in further detail.

The seeds and peel should be removed as they may cause headaches in some people. Bitter melon is safe to consume and is used throughout the Far East, South America, India, Africa and throughout the Caribbean.

Here is a simple recipe that uses bitter melon that I found while I was looking for recipes that used this vegetable. I kept on seeing it at Tan-A and was wondering what to do with it and Chris and I both thought that this stir fry looked wonderful.

I will be salting my bitter melon and placing it in a colander for about an hour to make this melon less bitter, then blanching it and finally shocking it in cold water before cooking.

Wow, this is very bitter so bitter we couldn't eat it....It looks better than it tastes.

Vegetarian Pho

Chris and I both love Pho. I never get the Tofu Pho bowl since I think they use chicken or beef broth for all of the noodle soups. Chris usually gets the Pho with mixed meat. Chris actually took me to Pho the first time and I didn't like it immediately because I wasn't using the optional sauces like Hoisin, Chili Garlic and Sriracha.

In this recipe it calls for flat rice noodles, and I will be using Mung Bean Noodles, you can also use  Rice Vermicelli. Some people really get into the garnishes but Chris just likes the soup with sauce. I will be using fried tofu, cooked napa cabbage and mushrooms.

I used ground anise seed and coriander seeds as that was all I could find. I think it turned out good.Chris didn't want napa cabbage and I forgot the mushrooms....

Tofu, Soba and Napa Cabbage Stir Fry

I am in a desperate search for Napa Cabbage recipes as I have a ton of it to use. I stumbled upon this recipe from Little Blue Hen. I have all of the ingredients and that for me is always a plus. It also sounds like a pretty easy and fast recipe. The pictures are beautiful, and that is actually how I choose what recipe I will try. I love all of the ingredients in this recipe.Chris and I really like the simplicity of stir fries and we like shopping at Tan-A (the Asian Grocer) since it is so cheap in comparison to buying it from the regular grocery store, and it is worth the trip even though it is a 30 minute drive for us to get there. I used a full container of tofu (14 ounces) instead of the 8 ounces called for. Sorry for the crappy picture. Chris loved it.

Orange Strawberry Smoothie

I wanted to use up some oranges I have, and some of the strawberries I bought. I came up with the following recipe.

Orange Strawberry Smoothie
3 oranges, juiced or 1 cup OJ
1/2-1 cup frozen strawberries
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. honey or Splenda

Puree in blender until smooth, serve immediately. As you can see, I only had 2 oranges so I used a bit of milk for the rest of the liquid. Still delicious!