New blog posts coming up very soon, apologies for the hiatus. In the mean time, we’re celebrating moms today, here’s to some of the best! Love ya mom! You’re doing a killer job at the whole “raising a kid” thing, especially on your first try! Twenty-one years and counting 
Iced Coffee Bubble Tea?!
You betcha. I cam across this idea while having some boba milk tea that tasted a lot like iced coffee, then realizing I may have come up with the greatest idea ever. I headed to my local world market grocer to pick up some tapioca pearls, which apparently, you have to buy in the cinderblock-sized, vacuum-sealed, quantity. Unless you get the little pack of green tea flavored ones. So be forewarned, this is technically green tea coffee but it sufficed and was still tasty. I’d suggest looking for the regular ones though for your endeavors.
Iced Mocha Coffee Bubble Tea
Ingredients (makes two servings):
- two instant coffee packets (or the real thing if that’s your jam)
- two tablespoons of sugar or other sweetener
- two tablespoons of cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 1 cup of tapioca pearls
- water to boil them in
- drizzle of agave or other sweetener for the pearls (optional)
Directions:
- make the coffee. heat water and add the mixture and toss it in the freezer to cool while you’re making the bobas.
- follow directions to boil the pearls. mine said to use 10 cups of water to boil 1 cup of pearls. I probably only used 5 though
- I boiled the water first and then tossed them in for about 5-8 minutes until they swelled up
- Then, take your nifty magic bullet or equivalent, and load it up with the coffee, almond milk, cocoa powder, and sugar. I had to make mine in batches because the cup filled up quickly. Also, I tossed in a handful of ice cubes to help give it a nice froth.
- I wasn’t sure how to whip the drink up, but the blender worked well and it had a great foam layer when I finally poured it out.
- Add the pearls, pour coffee overtop, and enjoy the sunny days
Now, I’ll throw in some life bits for those interested. Firstly, apologies for dropping off the face of the blog world for so long. I’d like to just say I was busy, and it’d be the truth, but more accurately I just hadn’t made the time. Well, most notably, I had a weekend trip to Minneapolis for the National Championships of club gymnastics. Which was a ball. The actual gymnastics part was nothing spectacularly stellar but that lasted all of maybe 5 minutes out of the entire weekend. It was a series of comically delayed flights, an unexpected blizzard and a priceless adventure through the Mall of America. And above all else, a much needed break from school. I’ve got a little bit of downtime now, but by the end of this week finals will be in full swing- so this little detour was great.
Ahh.. The rest of life? Well in case the entire world isn’t already aware, my girl Sara B has released a single, album release date, and I’m going to see her live in four days. I mean it’s whatever, no big deal. I also got to make a trip home to vb for a friends wedding, which was perfect and beautiful and a lovely occasion all together. Friends getting married, man, entering that phase of life where this stuff starts happening regularly!
In other news, I’ll have an announcement soon! Not going to blow the cover yet, but it did occur to me that I haven’t shared travel plans with this world wide blogweb really at all. And they are DEFINITELY developing quickly. Remember that post where I said that this year was going to be a year of low-key, no international travel, and just a building year? LOL. good one shannon. as if I thought I wasn’t infected with this travel bug they speak of. That said, I’ll release fun details as they become more official, but I have all but shattered those thoughts of domestic life. STAY TUNED (:
Tofu Tutorial
Lately, tofu has been the bold topic of my healthy-eating conversations. It’s affiliated with a health conscious diet and used as a symbol for the tasteless way that veggie folks can get adequate protein. Chances are, if you’re reading this blog you’re already beyond that stereotype, but nonetheless, it’s an interesting ingredient. And as it is showing up on menus more and more, people are becoming curious. Personally, I am a huge fan. Once I learned the basics about proper preparation, it became a welcome ingredient into many meals.
However, tofu is not for everyone. Several different people have come up to me recently asking what they’re doing wrong or how to cook tofu in a way that makes it edible. These friends happen to be health nuts in their own right, just truly trying to figure out how to make tofu taste good. Even though it may seem like a right of passage into vegan-hood, the bottom line is that it’s just another food that some people like and some people don’t. It just so happens to be extremely versatile so many people don’t know that they like it until it is prepared to their tastes. The take away message here is short. 1, you are not a bad vegan if you don’t like tofu, 2, listen to your tongue (it’s like your heart, but gives clearer messages and won’t leave you in a pool of tears later on down the road) and the easily acceptable #3, be open to trying it new ways!
For all those that have asked, and those that haven’t, here is my go-to tofu preparation. It’s my favorite way to throw it into a meal (see chocolate covered katie for some KILLER desert interpretations). Here’s the full recipe for one of my favorite meals but feel free to just skim for the tofu advice.
Indian Roasted Cauliflower with tofu and sweet potato
Ingredients
- 1 block of “extra firm” tofu
- 1/2 head of cauliflower
- 1 medium sweet potato
- 3/4 cup of tiki masala sauce (I keep store-bought asian sauces on hand as a quick way to jazz up veggies)
- 1 tablespoon nut butter (trust me)
- 1/2 tablespoon salsa (I wanted an extra kick, but it’s optional)
Directions
- Open the package so that the tofu juice can drain out, empty as much as you can
- Now wrap it in paper towels. It may not be the most environmentally friendly advice I can suggest, but if you don’t have a tofu press it works pretty well.
- I normally make it a few layers thick, if I can already feel liquid soaking through I throw another layer on top. Then, I comfortably lodge it under a stack of cookbooks, or something equally heavy.
- Now go about your daily business. I let it wait for AT LEAST twenty minutes but I typically aim for 40. Especially for baking, it varies depending on how you’re planning on cooking it. If the paper towel soaks through you may want to swap it out for a dry one at some point.
- While you’re waiting, peel and chop the sweet potato and break apart the cauliflower.
- When your time is up, preheat the oven to 400F
- Next step is to unwrap it. It will likely be beautiful and appetizing at this point. Just kidding. It will look weird and smell of a rice field during monsoon season. I’m assuming. I haven’t actually been to a rice field.
- Now slice it up however you’d like. I typically make little cubes for when I’m tossing it in with veggies, kind of the same size as whatever else I’m cooking.
- I mixed the tiki masala with the pb and salsa first (heating to make it easier), and then pour it over the cauliflower, sweet potatoes and tofu. Mmmmmm.
- Grease a pan, spread the veggie mixture out, toss it in the oven, and set a timer for 15 min.
- Half way through flip the veggies over so they can bake evenly, and set it for another 15 min.
- Total bake time is normally between 30-45 minutes for me, but I check it frequently at the end.
- You’re looking for a golden, slightly tough exterior. Similar to chicken nuggets. Since you’re not frying, it won’t get that hard crispy crunch, so if you cook it too long it will just burn.
- When it’s done and your whole house is smelling heavenly, serve it up how you’d like and dig in! The first night I had it with spinach and rice, but I had them alone for leftovers and I think I preferred that method.
Enjoy! Feel free to through feedback my way, very open to new ideas!
