Tofu Tuesday

I didn’t plan it that way, but that’s the way it turned out!

I was up and at it early to exercise yesterday with Gail and Alice.  More about that later but I’m feeling good about it.

After I got home, I had to run a few errands and when I got back Ralph said he had a hankering for Chinese food.  I always have to think carefully about Chinese food which drives him a little crazy.  I Love Chinese food, no doubt about it and we have several really good restaurants in the area.  I just have to consider where it is in the week because it can make a big difference when it comes to weighing in at Weight Watchers.

I calculated…well, it was Tuesday…I’m exercising more…I’ve been very good…OK!!  Chinese for lunch it is!!

We found ourself at one of our favorites…The China House in Woodbury.  We like it there.  It’s close, the staff is very friendly and the food is reasonably priced and Good!!

We both chose from the lunch menu which gives you soup or egg roll, your entrée and pork fried rice.  Fortunately for me, they are flexible with that.

I started with the egg drop soup.

My entrée was Veggie Delite which I requested with brown rice.

It was very tasty, but I was a little disappointed that there were only 2 pieces of tofu in it.  I think that started me on my mission…must have More Tofu!!

Orange slices and fortune cookies…Ralph says the fortunes look lucky…Hope he’s right! 🙂

When we got home I decided that I wanted to make some of the “grilled” tofu I had been making before I went away to Florida.  I had gotten some of the House Foods America tofu over the weekend (with coupons!).  I got the garlic and pepper tofu steak and one plain.  I’ve used the tofu steak before and I liked it.  I figured I could experiment with the plain.

I’ve never tried to press tofu before but I thought I’d give it a try.  This was the deus ex machina I came up with to press it.

Two plastic containers with a large mayo jar and a can of refried beans as the weight! Of course, I forgot to take a photo when the squeezed out liquid was there, but after only about 3 hours, I ended up with about a half-inch of liquid in the bottom.  I was happy with how it worked.  It’ll probably work a little more efficiently when it has longer to press.  I have another idea for a press too.  It involves two glass pie plates but I didn’t have room in the fridge at the moment!! 😉  Of course, I could always BUY one! 😉

Found out that my small skillet is big enough to do this, so I don’t have to dirty the big one! 🙂

The start of the salad which had romaine, baby spring mix, red and green bell peppers and Tofu!

The finished product with Locatelli cheese and Ken’s Lite Asian Sesame.  I hadn’t tried this before and I really liked it.

In between lunch and dinner I spent a long time in the basement working.  Got rid of a lot of cardboard boxes that where damaged from a leak we had (may still have 😦  ) Sorted through a lot of pictures, some of which I’ll share.  They are pretty funny.  I found some photos of my cousins in California from a visit I made out there.  I’m going to send them to them.  I found some of Gail’s Mom’s 65th birthday party too.  I took them right over to her.  I was afraid they might make her sad, but she enjoyed them.  I hung around for a couple of Law & Order: SVU’s.  I miss seeing them every day.

While I was working out and while I was working in the basement I was making use of a wonderful little gadget I got at the library called a Playaway.  I’ll explain it and have photos tomorrow, so watch for that!

Lots to do today, better get it started!

Happy Wednesday! 🙂

Come Rummage With Me…

After probably 20 shots, I finally got what I would consider a decent photo of my new hair.  I’m still trying to learn how to do the self photo and I guess I’m getting better at it, but I wouldn’t put money on it! 😉

I realize it doesn’t look all that different, but it feels so much better and will be so much nicer when we get to Florida.  Pool…here I come! 🙂

Friday started with a refreshing breakfast…well maybe I was just clearing out the fridge!

Banana, pineapple and cantaloupe paired with Chobani plain and Mr. Honey Bear!

Very tasty, filling and good for me.

I sautéed more marinated tofu and topped my salad again.

I’m loving this!  When I get back from Florida I’m going to try various marinades to keep it interesting.  But I’m really enjoying it!

So this morning I made it to Weight Watchers after being gone for 2 weeks.  I thought I might have a gain (that’s how I felt) and was just hoping I didn’t have to pay.  The verdict??  I LOST three-quarters of a pound!! 🙂  I was so excited I couldn’t believe it!  Hopefully, I can stay on track while in Florida.  Gail and Alice and I will be going to a meeting while we’re there, so that should help.

After WW, Gail, Alice and I headed to the Gateway Diner for breakfast.  Forgot to do a photo, but I had scrambled eggs with sliced tomatoes.  Trying to stay as on track as possible

I then headed to the Rummage Sale!!! After all of our hard work this week, it really looked good.

I think it looked great and we had a lot of traffic today.  Financially we did pretty well.  We need to find ways of getting the word out.  Our next sale is June 25 when there will be a town wide yard sale so hopefully, that will help to get people to know we’re there.

At one point, I tried on a jacket that I really liked.  It was, however a little big.  I offer this photo as the evidence…

Ele and Me wearing the jacket!  I was sad…I really liked it… 😦

I need to get this finished up and get my act together.  We’re leaving for the airport at 7:45am tomorrow.  My clothes are already there, but I need to gather up all of my incidentals.  I have a list…I just need to stick to it!

I hope to be able to post while I’m there, but it may be a little sporadic.  I’m looking forward to this!

Happy Saturday!

New ‘Do and Getting It Done

Well, if I’d thought about it, I would have taken a photo of my new ‘do when I got home last night.  It would be way too scary to take a photo now to post, so I’ll post one tomorrow when I’m looking my best ! 😉

It feels SO much better and it really needed to be done before we leave for Clearwater on Sunday.

I got some things done around the house in preparation for being away.  Cleaned the bathroom (oh JOY!), folded laundry and on and on.  Finally around 11:30 I realized I hadn’t eaten breakfast.

Oikos Greek Yogurt, Fiber One and a banana!  See, I’m eating my bananas!  😉 It looks a little spotty, but it was just right inside.  I have 4 more left that look just like it.  Guess I should start eating them!  I was given the Oikos and I’m not sure if I like it as much as I like Chobani.  They’re not a lot different, Chobani seems a little creamier, though.  I guess I’ll let what’s on sale dictate which I buy.  I do love the Greek yogurt though and you really can’t beat it for the protein content! 🙂

I met Ele at the Church for more Rummage Prep.  It’s amazing what we’ve been able to accomplish in a few short hours each day this week.  Just a bit more today should have it ready for the Sale tomorrow!

I had to leave a little earlier than I might have to go to my hair appointment, but I’d been feeling a little light-headed all day.  I stopped home and remembered that I had some protein bars in the cabinet. 

I grabbed this Carrot Cake Clif bar.  Yum!  I forgot how good these are.  I was so hungry I didn’t take a photo first so all you get is the empty wrapper! 😉   7 Points on Weight Watchers, but I got 10 grams of protein and it was just what I needed to tide me over until I got back home for dinner.

A few days ago ( I confess, I don’t exactly remember when…) I started to marinate some tofu.  I’m so bad on forgetting to use things.  This was from QUITE a while ago.  I had bought it at Natural Harvest Market. It’s from a company called Wild Wood Organic. It must be good stuff because when I just went to look at the label, I realized that it is really FAR past it’s date (you know I have a problem with that!) but it was still good .

I marinated it in Italian dressing, sprinkled it with ground black pepper and then sautéed it in a skillet coated with cooking spray.

I snagged a piece to taste first and it was great!

I added a little more of the dressing, some Locatelli cheese and I’M IN LOVE!!  I had never prepared tofu at home before. I would buy it and it would stay in the fridge until it became a science experiment!  I’d gotten some that was already flavored and used it for wraps but this is the first time I’ve cooked with it.  I like it so much that this morning I sliced some more and put it in to marinate again.  I guess I need to get myself one of those tofu presses now.  Oh, goody…another kitchen gadget!! 😉

Ralph had to go to a funeral today, so I’m on my own until it’s time to work on the Rummage sale this afternoon.  Lots of things I can do.  I need to use my time wisely!

Happy Friday!!