Tofu Mashed "Not-atoes"

Somehow, I've begun to embrace getting up early. It seems a daunting task at first, like, "5:00. NO. We were not made for each other. Why do you even exist?" but then it's not quite so bad. I get so much done early on in the day and feel like I'm prepared and not scurrying around gathering things for school or cleaning or throwing things randomly into my lunch and later asking myself, "Why did I even buy this? It's gross." and then eating it anyway, because, well, I'm a runner and that's what we do. Eat. Because we get hungry :) A lot, haha.

And so some of us try to whip up better things that will fill us up and keep us pounding out the miles. Like, oh, I don't know, a more protein-rich mashed 'potato' recipe that's super creamy and chocked full of vegetables.

Not to toot my horn, but I was actually pretty proud of how this turned out, considering my very meat-and-potatoes oriented father even told me it looked 'like real food'. Oh, Dad... That being said, it is not your buttery, thick and starchy mashed potato recipe. At all. So don't expect that. It tastes different, but it has awesome flavors in itself. I promise. I ate the whole thing :)

I still have a ways to go on the kitchen front, cooking up a storm. I know I'm no professional chef. I know I'm no super-blogger. But I take pride in what I HAVE done. Take that step back in your life and realize that you don't need to compare to others or worry that they'll believe you're not humble and good. You ARE. Do things that will satisfy you, and the rest will come. Others can like 'em or not.

But hopefully you'll like these :)

MASHED TOFU "NOT-ATOES"

The view, half eaten, on my dinner plate

3 oz lite firm tofu, drained and pressed once

2 cups steamed cauliflower florets

2-3 T. Nutritional Yeast

1/4 tsp celery salt

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp minced onion flakes

S+P, to taste

ON TOP: 

Mixed, sauteed veggies

BALSAMIC VINEGAR (You will want this even if you leave off the veggies!!)

Basil

Rosemary

1. Puree the tofu and cauliflower in blender until well mixed and super-creamy. This may take some time, depending on the strength of your blender. Stir a few times in between to ensure that EVERYTHING is getting down to the blades and getting pureed.
2. Scoop out and add spices and Nutritional Yeast. VOILA! It is done! (I refrigerated mine for about 3 hours prior to eating and it thickened up a little more. Otherwise, if you want them thicker, add more tofu, some greek yogurt, or possibly a tablespoon of ground flax or flour. I did none of these, though, and they were AWESOME!) ENJOY!

*Pictured on top is a little bit of mixed veggies I made which really added to the admittedly bland nature of the mashed tofu/cauliflower. I chopped up 5 mushrooms, a stalk of  celery, and steamed it in the microwave with basil, rosemary, olive oil, and about 1 T. balsamic vinegar (I used not-soaked up vinegar as a drizzle for the not-atoes also.)

Spicy Roast Cauliflower

It's tough to choose a favorite vegetable. I realized this very recently, when someone asked me WHAT my favorite veggie was. I would have expected myself to have some immediate answer, but nothing was coming to me. I guess it's like choosing a favorite child...although I neither have children nor have any desire to currently! The closest I could come to naming a favorite was making a list (and lists are what I do best!) of some potential candidates:

• Zucchini
• Brussel Sprouts
• Spaghetti Squash....actually all squash really :)
• Salads
• Cabbage
• Water Chestnuts
• Mushrooms
• Baby Corn
• Roasted Red Peppers
• Snap Peas
• FRESH tomatoes
• Celery

And actually, this list could go on for quite a while. I won't continue it in the interest of time, but it's nice to know I've begun to outgrow my childhood pickiness. One veggie that HAS succeeded in making it through the long haul with me, though, is cauliflower. I was ALWAYS part of the clean-plate club when those steamed florets were served. So it is with great excitement that I continue to show off my old friend in a new way:

SPICY ROAST CAULIFLOWER

adapted from here

1 head cauliflower, washed and cut into florets

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp garlic powder

Pinch chili flakes

1/4 tsp paprika

2-3 dashes salt

Dash pepper

1/4 tsp. onion powder

2 tsp. Olive Oil

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Pour oil into large ziploc baggie, then add cauliflower and shake to evenly coat. Open up baggie and add spices, shake around again to coat evenly one more time.
3. Spread onto baking sheet and roast in oven for 40 minutes. It smells and tastes AMAZING, by the way! Enjoy!

First 4F Challenge: a Healthy Coffee Coolatta

Breakfast today was a fail. I tried making some Overnight Oats last night, because my oatmeal obsession is still going strong, but they remained liquidy and kind of tasteless. I even tried adding some yogurt pre-overnighting and it didn't help. Anyone have any advice? Oh, well. You win some, you lose some. And since the oats lost, something else could win...

An awesome mix of strawberry Greek Yogurt and Delicious Kashi GoLean for protein, fiber, and staying power! (I also had an apple, because I love them, and some fruit seemed to be needed for this meal.)
Plus, the good thing is I am really lazy today could put my cereal straight in the yogurt cup and had NO CLEAN UP! After yesterday, I was in no mood to clean (though I could go for another cauliflower pizza today!)

So I mentioned in yesterday's post that I wanted to start another Foodie Blogger Challenge. THE 4F!

'Fast-Food Fantasy Friday' ('for foodies'. Maybe the 6F?) That's right. Take a favorite dish that you like to get out at a restaurant, preferably a fast food or at least a chain, and then remake it so it is more economical, healthful, and maybe, dare I say it? TASTIER. Try and post nutritional information and cost for both original and your versions for a comparison. And if you do take on this weekly challenge, please link back to me or at least post a little gadget thing (I'm working on designs!) Thanks to everyone!

I myself have a coffee weakness. I love the stuff black, but also in iced form with oodles of sugar and milk. Particularly Dunkin' Donuts "Coffee Coolatta" (although I wouldn't snub my nose at a Starbucks frappacino or a Peet's Blender either. Or a DQ moolatte... the list goes on on and on.)

It's an interesting story, actually. The idea for 4F came up a while ago, but I wasn't actually intending to make my submission when I was creating this marvelous little beastie. I wanted ice cream. I wanted Katie's Vanilla Frosty (seen here)

Well, I didn't have the tofu, so then I decided I was just going to change it to one of her ice creams. HA! Luck was against me again. Because I can be a little bit ditzy (and because I had no option- I have no ice cube tray. What is this madness?) I froze all the milk in a LARGE dixie cup. I took it out and I have this HUGE, 16 oz frozen milk cup. There was no way my little blender could handle that. So dutifully, I began to try and mutilate cut it into smaller cubes.Not really working out either. At last, it thawed enough that I was able to take the knife and 'shave' the whole thing. Like an icee or a slushie in consistency, if you will. And it probably took a good 25 minutes. But during that long stretch of time, it came to me. This milk-mistake was not meant to be ice cream- although that would have been lovely. It was meant to be my first 4F, forever something near and dear to my heart. It was meant to be...

DUNKIN' DONUTS COFFEE COOLATTA- 4F

ONLY 3 INGREDIENTS!

2 cups non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened almond)

2 packets instant Hazelnut Coffee, or any flavor variety for a variation

3-5 Packets Zero-Calorie Sweetener

In the mixin' bowl

1. Freeze the nondairy milk. I DON'T recommend doing it all in one cup as I did, because the shaving will be hard. Try doing it in several small ice cube trays.
2. After at LEAST 2 hours, or when frozen, take out your milk and 'shave it'. This can be done if you have one of those Italian Ice Shavers, or I bet you could use a food processor also. What I did was take a large, very sharp knife and kind of 'grate' the sides of the ice so it sort of peeled off. You could also do some chopping up if you chop it very fine. (Those chunks in my picture? Not good)
3. Throw ice milk shavings in a bowl or large measuring cup (see Pyrex in background of picture). Do this as you go so that your ice shavings don't melt completely all over the place.
4. Pour in instant coffee and sweetener to taste. Mix it all up and let it melt just the tiniest bit so there is a coffee brown liquid, and then stir again to re-coat everything. This gives it that optimal melty slushy thing that DD and the Bucks have going on.

DUNKIN DONUTS Small Coffee Coolatta: 350 calories, 22g fat, 40g carbohydrate (35g sugar), 10% DV Calcium, 3g protein. Cost: $2.75

Sarah's 4F Coffee Coolatta: 70 calories, 3g fat, 5g carbohydrate (4g sugar), 90% DV Calcium (I used the extra calcium almond milk.), 3 g protein. Cost: 80 cents

TASTE? AMAZINGLY COMPRABLE!!

Today I found an amazing quote that I thought I'd share, for running and for life: 

SUCCESS ISN'T HOW FAR YOU GOT, BUT THE DISTANCE YOU TRAVELED FROM WHERE YOU STARTED. -Steve Prefontaine (if you don't know who he is...well, look him up. Probably greatest American Distance Runner ever. A hero of mine!)

So think about that next time you're considering whether or not you succeeded. No, you didn't meet your 7:30 split at the 5K. No, you had to walk that last mile because you thought your shins were going to give out on you. But metaphorically... you've traveled beyond your past limits, and THAT, my friends is success.

*Other note- official XC practice starts tomorrow. Wish me luck!!!!*

Question of the Day: How far have you come in YOUR journey towards success? And what would you say being successful is?

Cauliflower Pizza and Cleaning the Cupboard

Hooray! I did it! My OCD has been temporarily assuaged, until another family member comes along and moves something, of course, but I'm hoping that doesn't happen.
Just like Sonia and Heather challenged today, I reordered my kitchen cupboard. It looks a ton better and should help me cut down on some waste from buying extra packages when I already have some lying around!

See Everything in disarray? The open packages? The similar items on TOTALLY different shelves? Well, it bothered me. It may not look so bad, but IT WAS!

 So, after an intense hour in which I took out empty packages, combined half-full ones, sorted goods by use and flavor, and cleaned some disgusting sticky/moldy junk out (yes...I know. It made me sick to think that was in our cupboard. Maybe take a peek at what's hiding in YOURS...) it was much better.

You can't tell that much has changed in this picture...but it has

The Canned Foods all sorted out

ORGANIZED!

Nuts and Nut Butters...

And a nice little section for the Asian Food!

 I also discovered some nifty things that I didn't realize we had. I'm going to have to find uses for them, obviously :)

Sour Cherry 'Spoon Fruit'

Tikka Masala Mix- okay, so not 'weird' but I could do so many things with this...

Well, after cleaning everything out, my stomach was telling me it was time for dinner. Something that had been intriguing me for quite a while was Cauliflower Crust Pizza. Since we had a head of cauliflower on hand, I decided to give it a try. HOWEVER, I neglected to check and see if we had every ingredient necessary (no eggs or cheese, which make up a good portion of the ingredients!) so I had to make some modifications. Surprisingly, they worked! I felt so proud and creative I almost cried. I'm learning how to actually cook! I never thought I'd see the day!