Back and Better Than Ever

Since my last post four months ago, my family has had some major changes:

-  We now have a daughter- Taylor Grace.  She was born on June 16 and is so precious.  She eats a lot, so I know she will enjoy my cooking one day.   For now, I spend a lot of time feeding her and less time preparing labor-intensive meals.

-  Jacob has become s a very selective eater.  I do not describe him as picky, because he will eat just about anything.  He just has to select when and where he will eat.  Food on his tray often goes untouched during supper and is put in the fridge to be pulled out when he wants it at 9:30am the next day.

-  Our home office has been converted in to a room for Taylor Grace.  So, our computer is now in the kitchen.  This invasion of my favorite room in the house is surprisingly convenient- reason number one being I no longer have to tip-toe across the incredibly creaky hallway during nap-time to write a blog post.  (Being able to play videos from www.sesamestreet.org while cooking is also amazing.)  I hope this improvement encourages more posts.

- Art and I have recently obtained smart phones.  This virtually unlimited connection with the world has revolutionized our lives.  Among many other things, I have been using recipe apps to easily find new and exciting dishes.  This translates into more new and exciting recipes on this blog. 

Today's recipe for Thai Tofu Crunch is from the Whole Foods Market app.  This is a unique, easy recipe that is good for a hot summer day.  I doubled the recipe and used a whole container of firm tofu.  I marinated the sliced tofu in 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup soy sauce for 2 hours.  Then, I broiled it for about 7 minutes and let it cool. 

Ingredients

1 (3-ounce) package uncooked all-natural ramen noodles
4 to 6 tablespoons prepared peanut sauce
1 (6-ounce) package cooked tofu, cut into small cubes
1/2 small cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
1/2 medium carrot, thinly sliced
1/2 cup frozen small broccoli florets, thawed

Method

Crumble the ramen noodles into a medium bowl; save ramen seasoning packet for another use. Add peanut sauce and stir to coat well. Add tofu, cucumbers, carrots and broccoli and toss together gently. Cover and refrigerate for a few hours before serving, or transfer to plastic containers and pack in lunches. The noodles will soften somewhat as they soak up the sauce. Keep cold until ready to serve.

I used a chili peanut sauce which made the dish pretty spicy.  The first night we had it, we made it into a salad and ate it over lettuce.  The second night, we ate it over cooked noodles.  Both ways were good.