Tofu Scramble on Toast with Avocado

This recipe is a result of having soft tofu and not knowing what to do with it. I normally cook with firm, so when my mom came back from the grocery store with soft, I had to make the most of it!

Ingredients:

• 8-10 ounces soft tofu (you can use firm, but soft tends to "scramble" better
• handful spinach
• handful broccoli
• handful, yellow squash
• small tomato
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 pieces of bread, toasted
• half an avocado
• olive oil

Directions

1. Prepare tofu by draining it of any excess water. Break into small pieces. They don't have to be even. 
2. Chop broccoli, squash, and tomato.
3. Combine cumin, thyme, salt, and water in a small bowl. Set aside.
4. Slice avocado, set aside.
5. Preheat a pan over high heat. Add a little oil to the pan once heated.
6. Place tofu in pan and begin "scrambling:" Stir the tofu with a wooden spoon or spatula, making sure it doesn't stick to the pan.
7. Once the tofu is golden brown, add broccoli, squash and tomato.
8. Stir until broccoli is bright green, but not brown.
9. Add spinach and mix well. It will drastically decrease in size.
10. Pour water, cumin, thyme mixture over the tofu and vegetables.
11. Pour the nutritional yeast evenly over tofu and vegetables. Stir until coated.
12. Toast the bread.
13. Once the bread has toasted and the tofu mixture is sufficiently coated with spices and nutritional yeast, prepare your plate by putting the tofu mixture onto one slice of bread. Add sliced avocado. 
14. Can be eaten as a sandwich or with a fork.
15. Bon appétit! 

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Homemade Raspberry Poptarts (Vegan AND Gluten Free!)

I didn't realize how much I missed poptarts until I made these. Oh man.

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• pinch of salt
• 2/3 cup vegan butter or margarine
• 4 tablespoons cold water
• 1 and 1/2 cup frozen raspberries (filling)
• 2 tablespoons water (filling)
• 3 tablespoons sugar (filling)
• 2 cups powdered sugar (icing)
• Raspberry water (from filling, used for icing)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. Prepare baking sheet by covering with parchment paper.
3. For the filling, place raspberries in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add a few tablespoons of water. 
4. Once the berries have melted and broken apart, add the sugar and mix well. 
5. Drain the excess raspberry juice/water into a bowl (this will be used for the icing). Set both saucepan and bowl aside.
6. For the crust, mix flour and salt in a large bowl. Using a pastry cutter, cut in butter until well incorperated and crumbly. (I didn't have a pastry cutter so I used a hand-held potato masher and that worked just as well).
7. Add four tablespoons of water and mix until dough is forms a ball.
8. On a lightly floured countertop, roll out dough using a rolling pin until it is only about a centimeter thick. 
9. Using a butter knife or pizza cutter, cut dough into evenly-sized rectangles (not sure of dimensions, but you know how big poptarts are, right? Also, clearly mine are not evenly sized. Oh well.)
10. Place half of the rectangles on the baking sheet. 
11. Spoon filling onto the center of the rectangles. 
12. Cover the filling with the other half of the dough rectangles. Pinch sides together to seal.
13. Poke about six holes in the top of each poptart with a toothpick or small skewer.
14. Spread a thin layer of butter over each poptart
15. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden-brown
16. Mix leftover raspberry juice with powdered sugar for the icing/glaze. You made need more sugar, depending on how much juice there was.
17. Glaze poptarts once they are cool.

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Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Warning: These pancakes are very filling. I had two, and that made me full (the peanut butter didn't help any--oh! And I ate one while they were cooking, shh!).

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/4 cups almond milk
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips or chunks (I used a chocolate bar cut into pieces)
• Oil for frying
• Condiments: Peanut butter, jam, maple syrup, etc.
• Fruit for topping

Procedure:

1. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl. 
2. Add almond milk slowly, mixing as you go.
3. Mix in oil.
4. Evenly distribute chocolate chips.
5. Heat frying pan on medium, add a little bit of oil to the pan. 
6. Pour batter in frying pan in the shape of a circle, about 3 or 4 inches in diameter. 
7. When batter starts to get bubbly, it's time to flip.
8. The first one is usually a dud. The pan is still warming up, and you've got to practice your flipping skills. It's okay. Just eat this one while you're frying as a "taste test" to make sure it's good. 
9. Keep pancakes warm by storing them in a glass casserole dish or warming them on low in the oven.
10. Top with your favorite condiments and fruit!

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Homemade Granola

This stuff is so addicting. It makes about six servings and we finished it in a day. 

Ingredients:

• 3 cups oats
• 1/2 cup flax seed
• 1/2 cup almond meal
• 1/3 cup chopped up walnuts
• 1/3 cup chopped almonds (you can substitute these for any nuts)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons agave
• 1 tablespoon vegetable/canola oil
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/3 to 2/3 cup raisins or other dried fruit

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 325 F (165 C).
2. Mix oats, flax, almond meal, and nuts in a large mixing bowl.
3. In a saucepan, mix salt, brown sugar, maple syrup, agave, oil, and cinnamon over low to medium heat until melted together.
4. Pour liquid over dry ingredients until coated.
5. Spread mixture on a large pan and bake for about 20 minutes, stirring halfway through.
6. This stuff is good on ice cream, or with soy milk (like cereal). Enjoy!

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Tofu Scramble

Have you ever missed scrambled eggs? I know I have. I don't miss causing suffering of hens or the killing of male chicks anything, but I miss the quickness of just whipping something up that only takes a few minutes. Miss it no more, for I bring you tofu scramble! This stuff is addicting. Whenever I make it, I wish I had made more. The great thing about it is that it is so versatile. You can add veggies to it, use different spices, eat it plain, put it in a wrap. You can eat it for any meal, or just a snack. I can't promote tofu scramble enough!

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces soft tofu
• 2 tbs nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp thyme
• 2 tsps cumin
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• Olive oil

Procedure:

1. Drain and press tofu. Because it is soft, it will most likely crumble and be squishy but that doesn't matter. 
2. Cut up tofu in whatever size pieces you feel like. They can be all the same size, or different sizes. They'll break apart when you cook them anyway.
3. Fry the tofu with a little bit of oil in a frying pan. Stir often.
4. Once tofu starts to brown, add seasonings and nutritional yeast. Stir to incorporate. 
5. It's ready to eat as is, or put it on a sandwich or something! 

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