The 411 on me and my cooking

So there are a few things you should know about the things I cook:

They don't contain meat. Ever. At all. :p 

I'm a vegetarian. Why? Well mostly because of this:

That's Star. She's my baby. She's also an animal. Would I ever eat her? No. I love her. Would you eat her? I hope not. So if I wouldn't eat her, why would I eat other animals who have feeling just like she does? 

I'm not trying to convince anyone to stop eating animals, that's your issue, I'm just explaining why I choose not to eat meat or cook it! I really want people to warm up to the idea that vegetarian dishes don't have to be bland and boring. 

I don't usually measure things.

The only reason I measure things is to get nutritional information on them. When I'm cooking, usually I just add however much of an ingredient looks good. Then when I calculate the calories, I guess how much I put in. Why then, you ask, can't you just go and tell us how much you used? Because I already forgot, sorry. Be brave, add however much looks good to you, live a little!!

I try to keep my meals under 500 calories.

After I married this hottie,

I gained a lovely 15-20 lbs. I was at an overweight BMI and feeling like poo about myself. April of this year I decided that I couldn't take it anymore and started counting my calories and exercising. I've lost 14 lbs so far and I want to keep them off! So I try not to go crazy with the calories. I think everyone can appreciate that. 

The End. :)

Panko Crusted Peanut Butter Tofu Fries

First post, yay!

So back home, there was a Chinese buffet that had one of the most amazingly delicious dishes ever. Breaded, fried, sliced chicken sitting in a pool of yummy peanut butter sauce. It was the first thing I would go to there. 

I was craving Chinese food today and got to thinking, why not make my beloved peanut butter chicken, but with tofu? I think it turned out wonderfully and with way less calories and murder :p I know it seems like a lot of fat, but the fat comes from the tofu and the peanut butter, not from grease, so that's our excuse!

Nutritional Info for Tofu: (1 Serving, Serves 1)

Calories: 348 Carbs: 26 Fat: 17 Protein: 26

Ingredients you'll need for the tofu fries: 

Half of one package of extra firm tofu

1/3 cup of panko breadcrumbs

1 tbsp of peanut butter

Some extra light tasting or extra virgin olive oil spray

salt

pepper

powdered ginger

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees.
2. Begin by slicing your tofu (already halved since you are only using half the package) into slices about as thick as an iPhone (I'm so scientific). Then slice those slices in half. Basically what you want in the end are slices of tofu the size of fish sticks.
3. Next, I sprinkled salt and pepper on each side of the tofu fries and sprayed the oil on them.
4. Prepare a baking sheet by topping it with a layer of tin foil greased with whatever cooking spray you feel compelled to use.
5. Measure your panko breadcrumbs into a container of your choice, and add powdered ginger. I didn't measure, I rarely do, just add how much you think would be tasty :)
6. Coat each tofu fry in the panko mixture.
7. Place the fries onto the baking sheet and put it in the oven.
8. For our peanut butter sauce, I added one tbsp of peanut butter to a microwave safe tupperware container and added water. Again, I didn't measure. You want the sauce to be the consistency of a cream of chicken soup (again with the scientificness!) when you're done. 
9. Put that mixture into the microwave for about 20 seconds at a time until you can mix the peanut butter and water into a smooth sauce.
10. Don't hate me, but I didn't time the tofu fries. I checked on them every few minutes. At some point, the panko crumbs will start to turn golden brown. That's when you take them out and flip them. They should look kinda like that first picture up there. 
11. Let the tofu fries cook as long on this side as they did on the other. 
12. When the tofu has cooked on both sides, take it out and brush your peanut butter mixture on each fry. 
13. Back in the oven they go until you deem them ready! Enjoy!