Tofu Scramble & Sweet Potato Hash

Tofu Country  Scramble pg. 101
Smokey Sweet Potato Hash pg. 102

The countdown is on.  I now have 23 recipes left to prepare from CSK.  So exciting!  Today it was all about the breakfast.  My husband and I prepared it together.  I made the Tofu Scramble and he made the Sweet Potato Hash. 

Tofu Scramble

Sweet Potato Hash

You will want to prepare the Sweet Potato Hash before the Tofu Scramble because the hash needs to bake for about 20 minutes.  While the hash is doing its thing you will have time to finish the scramble.

Neither recipe took long to prepare.  I think it took me longer to photograph breakfast than it did to make it.  How sad is that?  I can tell you taking pictures on glass plates is only a good idea in theory.  It is much more difficult to get a good shot.  Between the glare of the lights coming off the plates or the fingerprint smudges, it made things way too complicated. 

I finally decided to go eat, and then come back to my pictures.  Maybe I just couldn't concentrate on an empty stomach?  One thing is for sure, I finally found a way I like eating tofu.  If you have read any of my previous blog posts involving tofu I get a bit whiny.  Tofu scramble didn't feel like a weird texture, which was awesome.  It was much like a scramble egg.  I actually wondered if my BFF would like it? You see she hates eggs.  Maybe I will make it for her when she comes back to town in a couple of weeks. I am throwing her a baby shower. 

I was a little skeptical about the Fakin Bacon or in my case the Smart Bacon the hash called for.  My expectations were low.  It was actually pretty awesome, and only 20 calories a serving. Yeah! The hash was absolutely delicious.  I do have a confession about the hash. There was nothing "smokin" about my hash because I didn't use smoked paprika.  Truth is I can't stand it.  So I used a sweet paprika instead. 

I was thinking as I cleaned up the dishes this morning about something.  Not sure if you have ever noticed, but when you clean the pots, pans and plates from a vegan meal nothing ever sticks.  It takes very little scrubbing to get everything clean.  It is such a good example to what I am sure it does inside our bodies.  Just something to think about...

Yellow Corn Chips

Yellow Corn Chips pg. 249

Yellow Corn Chips

To say I had a great weekend would be a total understatement!  I don't mean to brag, but I have no choice right now.  I just want to scream from the rooftops how awesome my life was 24hrs ago.  Do you know the musician Pink?  Well I think she is just amazing, and have been a huge fan for years.  Last night my hubby and I saw her in concert.  It was awesome.  We had the whole VIP treatment.  We were right next to the stage.  The stadium was full of people behind us yet it was as if we were at a very private show.  All we had in front of us was the stage.  Check out some of the pics we snapped.

Check out those abs!

I warned you that it was fabulous!

Before I left for the concert I started dehydrating Yellow Corn Chips.  It's funny because as I prepared the batter for the chips I kept thinking why would anyone make their own chips when you could buy them so easily? 

I continued to make them because I am after all making every recipe from CSK, right? I blended my flaxseed and almond paste and mixed it with the remaining ingredients. Then lined my dehydrating trays being careful to not make them too thick. 

About 14 hours later... I was thinking why doesn't everyone make homemade Yellow Corn Chips?  All I can say is Yum!  It is like anything else that is homemade, it just tastes so much better.  Not to mention these aren't fried, which leaves you guilt free as you snack on them.  When they first came out of the dehydrator they were warm which tasted incredible.  I have eaten them with soup, sliced avocado and salsa. (Not all at once or together.) Each way was delish. 

These are a must, trust me!  FYI, I am on to my last 25 recipes! Yahoo! Virtual high fives all around.

Miso Soup with Shitake and Coconut Noodles

Miso Soup with Shitake and Coconut Noodles pg. 128

I woke up this morning to a ton of activity on my blog and Facebook page.  I hadn't even had my cup of coffee yet, but knew something was different, better than usual. I checked the traffic on my blog only to find thousands of page views!  Talk about shock.  I instantly called my hubby.  I was giddy.  This was why I had a spike in viewers:

Kris Carr had given me a very generous shout out on her Facebook page.  It just goes to show you how many people follow her and all her awesomeness.  Thanks for making my day so fun Kris!

All the excitement today got me pumped to make one of the recipes in CSK that kind of intimidated me.  I have a handful of recipes left that will really test my new found cooking skills.  Each makes me sweat a little when I think about preparing them.  Whether it is the difficulty of the dish, or maybe the ingredients aren't my fav. I know I will need to man up and just get the job done.  This Miso Soup was one I wasn't sure I would like.  I don't eat miso regularly although I do like miso soup in restaurants.  Here is what I went to Whole Foods to buy so I could conquer my miso fear.

I have to give Whole Foods a major shout out of my own.  I had to get fresh coconut for this recipe.  Usually Whole Foods will have some cut up and packaged to buy.  Of course they didn't have any today.  So I stood in front of the whole coconuts thinking I was going to have to channel Survivor and Jeff Probst to shuck the coconut.  Luckily, a very nice employee offered to cut up the coconut for me.  What other grocery store provides that kind of service?  It was awesome!! I was so grateful.

I don't think I have ever made anything with miso before.  Miso is quite fascinating, the label says it has been aged for 2 years.  It is like a fine aged wine.  This was inside the package when I opened it.  I thought it was encouraging, yet it confused me a bit because of the soy in it.  I always hear so many conflicting views on the whole soy topic. Let me know if you have any info on miso...

The recipe was easy to make.  You will blend half the ingredients, and chop the other half.  The dish is served virtually raw, so once you prepare the ingredients it is basically ready it eat.

 

This soup was amazing.  My husband was chowing it when he got home.  Although he added some chile sauce to spice it up.  I was surprised how much the ginger spiced it up. 

I love a good surprise.  This soup was pretty fab, that was a tasty surprise.  Kris Carr's shout was an absolutely awesome surprise!  
 

Spiced Apple Crumble

Spiced Apple Crumble pg. 263

Spiced Apple Cobbler

I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day! I felt like a very lucky girl the entire day.  My kids were in the best moods today which is always awesome.  They bought my husband and I cards on their own which was very thoughtful and responsible I might add.  I had chocolates waiting for me when I got out of bed from the kids too.  My husband spoiled me with flowers and gifts, but more importantly he made me feel incredibly important and sexy:)  He arranged flowers for me himself. He bought one of those styrofoam things to stick flowers in so they stay put in the vase. So pretty!

Besides getting my family Valentine's,  I also showed them the love by making them a Spiced Apple Cobbler. I kept holding off with this recipe because the fruit of choice was peaches.  For some reason I thought peaches would be coming in season by March, but my son informed me that they aren't in season until summer! Oops!  I plan to be done cooking my way through CSK in the next month so some improvising needed to be done.  Plan B, the cookbook says you can make it with apples, pears, plums and nectarines.  So I think I was within guidelines with the recipe.

It is like apple pie without the crust and high sugar.  OK wait, I think that gives it the wrong impression.  This cobbler isn't missing anything.  It is absolutely delish. The blended apricots provide a ton of sweetness.  The recipe still calls for 1/2 cup of maple sugar, so those of us with a sweet tooth will feel very satisfied. My family all sat around the table tonight totally loving our dessert.

A simple recipe that will make your entire family feel very loved!

Beetroot Ravioli & Zucchini Carpaccio

Beetroot Ravioli with Cashew Cream pg. 193
Zucchini Carpaccio pg. 215

As Valentine's Day fast approaches I spent part of today helping my 4 yr. old get his Star Wars Valentine's ready for his class party tomorrow. (He only has school every other day.)  Love is in the air!  Can you feel it? I totally did today when both Kris Carr and Chef Chad Sarno Tweeted me! So cool!

In honor of the day of "love" I have a couple more options for your Valentine's dinner.  I personally don't really like to go out to dinner on Valentine's Day. The service usually sucks as places are overcrowded.  So to stay in and make a yummy dinner for those you love is where it's at in my house.  Great food and good wine make me a happy girl.

The Beetroot Ravioli would be an amazing main dish to serve.  They are absolutely delish.  My family thought they were awesome.  My teen son could not stop eating them.  That is always so rewarding to see the kids eating new and healthy foods that they love. It wasn't hard to make these either.  Yeah! The hardest part for me was trying to slice the beets paper thin. 

I don't have any kitchen tools to get the beets thin enough, so I had to do my best with a knife.  I actually tried various knives as I tried to perfect the thinness.  The ravioli filling was a Cashew Cream Cheese which is scrumptious.  I have made this before, and here is a link if you want to check it out. http://crazysexykitchenproject.blogspot.com/2012/12/mediterranean-wrap-with-cashew-cream.html  I had no idea you can eat beets without cooking them.  The greens on the plate are asparagus that are peeled really thin as well. Again, all I can say is yum. This meal is totally raw!  The ravioli were so addicting, and the color just screams Valentine's Day.  Here is what you will need when you decide to make them.

I also made Zucchini Carpaccio to serve with the ravioli.

 It was a light yet flavorful dish.  The toasted pine nuts were a great compliment to the zucchini. 

Besides everything tasting so darn good, you walk away from this meal feeling totally stuffed, and not the least bit guilty.  You just gave yourself a Valentine's gift.  A healthy, flavorful and beautiful meal. Happy Valentine's Day!

Roasted Root Veggies 5 Ways

Roasted Root Vegetables Five Ways pg. 210

Roasted Root Vegetables Five Ways

Remember the commercials when Coke and Pepsi would do "The Taste Test Challenge?"  Well tonight we did a taste test challenge of our own.  I made Roasted Root Vegetables 5 different ways. 

Let me just say this is a terrific way for your kids to get excited about veggies.  I think my kids ate more vegetables in one sitting than I ever saw them eat.  It was awesome!  They thought it was so fun. Which flavor do you think you would like the best?

Spicy Indian

Apricot Mustard

Fresh Herb

BBQ

Peanut Sauce

There is nothing hard about this recipe, each flavor takes only seconds to whip up.  Chopping the root veggies is where you will spend the majority of your time but really no biggie. 

So have you picked your possible favorite?  I can tell you that my husband and daughter loved the Fresh Herb. I really liked that one as well, but my favorite was the Apricot Mustard.  My oldest son surprised me the most because his fav was the Peanut Sauce.  He couldn't get enough of it, and finished them all. 

What are your predictions?  Let me know...

Crazy Sexy Cancer

I am writing today not about a recipe from Crazy Sexy Kitchen.  You see I am feeling quite sad about something.  Normally I probably wouldn't share my personal feelings too heavily because this is a food blog.  Even so, in a round about way this subject relates to Kris Carr and all that she has built in the past 10 years.  You see Kris was diagnosed with Cancer on February 14, 2003. (10 years ago)  I found Kris when her documentary Crazy Sexy Cancer was on TV.  I was immediately drawn to her story.  A few years later I would Google Kris because a friend of mine had just been diagnosed with cancer.  I was scared for my friend.  I was scared for me.  I wanted to find information and  power because of the shitty news.

When I found Kris again that night, Crazy Sexy Diet was just about to be released.  I was so happy to see how great and healthy she looked.  I consumed everything she had written in books, all her blog posts and her vlogs as well.  I wanted power with all the uncertainty that was taking place with my friend.  Kris and her message made me feel like I had a small amount of control over the situation.

Flash forward  a few months, and one of my family members had surgery to remove reoccurring cancerous tumors growing in her body.  She too started following Kris.  It gave her hope.  Let's jump another year ahead, and another family member gets the diagnosis.  He is young.  It broke my heart.  During this time another friend/neighbor is being treated for breast cancer, and back in my old neighborhood yet another friend/neighbor is being treated for breast cancer.

Today I sadly found out  another one of my friends has cancer.  I am sad, scared and angry.  It just keeps happening.  I never seem to find the right words to say each time I find out the news.  I just am so shocked. I pray she has a speedy recovery.

All of this is what led me to Kris Carr.   I follow Kris because she has given me kick ass weapons to help keep myself and family healthy.  I know none of us really have the power to avoid cancer.  We can eat clean, get plenty of rest,  and not stress.  It really seems to boil down to luck.  Even so, I still love that Kris has been a warrior in terms of getting info out to the rest of us.  We can use her wealth of knowledge to live an amazingly conscience life. 

Well, if you ever wondered why I am such a strong believer in Kris Carr now you know.  I wish it wasn't because someone got sick.  I wish cancer just disappeared forever.  I am thankful Kris shed a bit of light for me when I was scared.  I am so happy she is doing so awesome 10 years later!  She has given me many tools to live happily and healthy.  Lastly, she is funny! The girl makes me laugh, and as her doctor Kenneth Bock said at a recent Chat & Chew, "Laughter is still the best medicine!."

Thanks for listening to my story. Tomorrow more recipes from Crazy Sexy Kitchen!