Sweet and Sour Freeze-Dried Tofu (Koya Dofu)

Sweet and sour pork is one of David's favorite Chinese dish. But since the girls aren't eating meat right now, I tried making sweet and sour freeze-dried tofu.

I froze some tofu in the freezer. Poked a small hole and drained the water, and froze it in its container.

Defrosted it, then cut it up into cubes. Squeezed to drain the excess water then soaked it in some soy sauce. It absorbed so much soy sauce, I gently squeezed it before coating it with cornstarch and deep frying it. This actually tasted good on its own.

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Stir-fried some bell peppers, carrots, and onions, added the tofu and sweet and sour sauce. The tofu lost its crunch and got a little soft, but it was still pretty good.

Cooking Rice without a Rice Cooker

The snow storm caused a blackout and we didn't have electricity for a day and a half. Curry was already planned for dinner so I attempted cooking rice on the stove (again... never had succeeded in doing this). But this time I followed directions from a cookbook and... SUCCESS!

Directions:

Wash 3 cups (540ml) rice and drain in colander for 30 minutes. Add 600 ml water in a pot, add the rice, and let sit 10 minutes. Cover with lid, turn on heat to medium-low, and when it starts to boil, let boil for 2 minutes. Turn down the heat and let simmer 10 minutes. After the simmering, turn the heat on high for 10 seconds or so, just to remove any leftover moisture. Turn heat off, and let steam for 10 minutes. After which you can open the lid, stir the rice, and enjoy!

Vegan Bacon

Tried making vegan bacon although I didn't think it'll turn out like real bacon (despite some of the reviews.) It was more a curiosity thing. Found the recipe on recipezaar that I tried, omitted the nutritional yeast since I didn't have any (nor know what that really is) and it actually turned out pretty good. It was more like tofu jerky than vegan bacon, but it tasted good and even my carnivore son like it. It was very soy-saucy, I can see how it could satisfy a meat craving.

Beer Batter Fried Mushrooms

My girls wished there was more! One package of mushies was not enough. Recipe from Recipezaar. Yummy with some ranch dressing.

Jamaica Iced Tea

I'm a tea drinker and I'm always keeping my eyes open for something new. I saw some loose Jamaica at a Mexican market for only $3 a pound. I've had Jamaica before, a long time ago and remember liking it. So I tried making it myself. A very refreshing drink, although there is a hint of a strong flavor that Sage didn't like. But Abby kept asking for more! Kinda like an exotic cranberry juice. I bet it would taste good in a cocktail. ^_^

Veggie "Ground Beef"

My girls have decided they want to try being vegetarians this year. So I started looking into meat substitutes and what I can make at home. Store bought stuff is actually more expensive than real meat. Aren't veggies supposed to be cheaper than meat?

A lot of veggie meats use Textured Vegetable Protein. I'm not sure what that is, I've never seen it at a store before. But I found Soy Meat at a Mexican grocery store and I figure it's a resonable substitue. (I wonder how they use this in Mexican cooking...)
Found a recipe for vegetarian "ground beef" so I gave it a try. Of course, the texture isn't the same as meat, it was a little gooshy and spongy. But the flavor wasn't bad at all, really, not bad for fake meat.

So I threw it into spaghetti sauce. If you didn't know it was in there, you can't really tell.