Wordless Wednesday: Team Spirit

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Meatless Monday! Szechuan Tofu

Happy Meatless Monday, everyone! Here's a spicy one for ya, Szechuan Tofu with Peanuts from Cooking Light.

Ingredients

• 2 (3 1/2-ounce) bags boil-in-bag jasmine rice
• 1 (14-ounce) package water-packed firm tofu, drained and cut into 1-inch pieces
• Cooking spray
• 1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth (veggie)
  
• 1 tablespoon sambal oelek (ground fresh chile paste) (I used chile sauce)
  
• 1 tablespoon less-sodium soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons black bean garlic sauce
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms
• 1/2 cup matchstick-cut carrots
• 1 tablespoon bottled ground fresh ginger (such as Spice World)
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• 1/4 cup unsalted dry-roasted peanuts, chopped

Preparation

1. Preheat broiler. (I sautee'd my tofu in a pan, instead)

2. Cook rice according to package directions, omitting salt and fat.

3. Arrange tofu in a single layer on a foil-lined jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray; broil 14 minutes or until golden.

4. While tofu cooks, combine broth and next 4 ingredients (through black bean sauce), stirring with a whisk; set aside.

5. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add salt and mushrooms; sauté 4 minutes or until mushrooms begin to release liquid, stirring occasionally. Stir in carrots and ginger; cook 1 minute. Add broth mixture; cook 30 seconds or until sauce begins to thicken. Remove from heat; stir in tofu and onions. Serve over rice; sprinkle with peanuts.

******Wow! This was SPICY! Too spicy for me, actually. Not sure of it's because I used chile sauce instead of paste, but wow! I probably won't make this again, but if you like some heat, go for it! Very good flavor aside from the heat.

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My Roses and Haiku

A blog friend of mine writes Haiku everyday. How cool is that? She has a blog dedicated to it; My Year in Haiku. Every time I stop by and peruse her blog, I spend hours thinking in Haiku. So, that is the inspiration for today's post.

Roses in full bloom.
Spared by hungry gypsy moths
this year. I revel.

Fibers on Friday: It's Finished!

I am in love with how this turned out! First I'll show you the pictures, then I'll talk.

I wet blocked the sweater. First time I've ever blocked. I sprayed it with a spray bottle of water and pinned it down to a towel. I guess it made the fibers a little nicer, but probably not as much as it would have had I used a better yarn. More on that later.


This tank was made for my purple loving girl. For those of you that know us personally......THIS is not the purple lovin' girl.

But darn she's adorable! This is rainbow lovin' girl. Purple lovin' girl didn't want to cooperate with pictures.

Rainbow lovin' girl was in a much better mood.

At THIS moment.

Anyway.....the pattern, Eden's Adam, is great. Easy to follow. Easy to knit. LOVE it to pieces! (To see other posts about this sweater, click the Fibers on Friday tag)

The yarn, Berroco Vintage, I'm not 100% thrilled with. It's a blend....not 100% natural....but I got it because it was inexpensive and the salesperson said it was flying off the shelves, so people must be loving it. What I don't love is that it's a little fuzzy in spots. I already know I'll handwash it, but I just hope it holds up well.

I'm off to the yarn store tomorrow to get some pink yarn for the rainbow lovin girl. Perhaps I can talk her into rainbow.....kids are finicky, though.

Fibers on Friday might be little boring as I set out to make the same exact thing....but that's life with twins :-) Maybe someday I'll get to make something for me to wear!

Linking to:
Blue Cricket Design
Sew Much Ado

My Garden in Mid May

Here's my lovely little square foot garden in Mid May. We are beyond thrilled to report we have pea pods! One was plump enough last night to pick and taste. Paige was so excited! I have to say it was sweet like candy! Can't wait to harvest a bunch!


Not sure why my cukes are so unhappy. Hopefully they'll turn around, because I have big plans for pickling!

The spinach is finally coming around. I added a soil amendment called Bumper Crop as a mulch. I think it provided just what the spinach and beets needed to take off a little bit!

But here's the amazing part:

And a nice handful of radishes. Spicy!

Thanks for visiting!

I Heart Faces: Flowers and Faces

I haven't submitted a I Heart Faces picture in a while, but when I saw this week's challenge, I went right to this picture.


Visit I Heart Faces for some fantastic photography!

Fibers on Friday: Almost Done, I promise!

I know this doesn't look like very much progress from last week, but it's probably a couple extra inches longer. I'm almost done. Maybe I'll finish today or tonight. I know it's taking me dreadfully long, but as you can see I have too many hobbies and interests! Thanks for hanging in there with me!

Now here's something new, friends!
Link to your knitting project! I'd love to see what you're working on.