Optimizing Leftovers, Adding Animal Products

The last couple of days I've been adding a couple of ounces of chicken to my day's menu, in order to work a bit on the B-12 I'm missing from a mostly-vegan diet. But I don't want to go overboard with depending on meat as a major meal component, so I want to see about having just an ounce or two (or three if there's opportunity for a really nice piece of fish or beef, for example, at a restaurant) in a day. And if some days are all-vegan, that's fine. I've still been keeping my 1% milk for coffee in the mornings all along.

SPINACH SCRAMBLED EGG

(Created to make use of already-prepared scrambled eggs the family didn't finish, plus already-prepared veggies from the COMPANY SALAD BAR yesterday.)

1/4 onion, chopped
several chopped grape tomatoes
1/4 small bell pepper, chopped
two small handfuls of fresh spinach
1 egg, either raw or pre-scrambled

Dry-saute the first three vegetables and when browned, add in the spinach and stir until wilted, then stir in the egg, either cooking the raw or just heating the cooked.

Verdict--Good. This makes a nice 1-1/2 - 2-cup serving of breakfast

BROCCOLI-POTATO BOWL

1 cup broccoli florets (ours are the last from our plants this year!)
1/2 baked potato, cubed (leftover in my case)
Garlic powder, steak seasoning, and dry onion flakes to taste
Tablespoon of plain lowfat yogurt

Steam the broccoli and then drain off the water and add the potato pieces and seasonings and heat gently until potato is heated through. Add yogurt and stir to combine.

Verdict--Excellent for the speed of preparation. Nice comfort food, and though the yogurt is really optional, it has the "feel" of the usual butter-and-cheese or sour cream additions.

TODAY'S MENU

Breakfast--SPINACH SCRAMBLED EGG, orange (to help with iron absorption from the spinach)

Lunch--BROCCOLI-POTATO BOWL; apple; ounce of roasted edamame; about 24 chocolate chips and a teaspoon or two of peanut butter made into a Reese's-type confection by my domestic daughter. I've got to be sure to keep these out of reach / out of ken.

Supper--Yellow squash with onions; peas with mushrooms (these baked in the pan with the pork loin pieces for the family, so seasoned with pepper, garlic, salt, and tarragon vinegar and olive oil)

Company Salad Bar

The salad bar today was a hit, and proof that you can feed a lot of people in a nutritarian-friendly way without making them feel funny about it. :-)

HONEYDEW-BLACKBERRY GREEN SMOOTHIE

2 cups honeydew chunks
1/2 cup frozen blackberries (from our garden)
large banana
about 1/2 cup packed kale leaves
tablespoon flax seed meal
water for consistency

Blend all in the blender, enjoy. This made one very large serving.

Verdict--Very Good.

COMPANY SALAD BAR

**Just for company
*For me, but just a bit

Appetizers: EGGPLANT HUMMUS with carrots; honey pretzels with dip **

Assorted greens in separate dishes--spinach, red leaf lettuce, iceberg, romaine
Green pepper slices
Shredded carrot
Sliced radishes
Halved grape tomatoes
Red onion rings
Diced chicken breast *
Julienned deli roast beef **
Slivered pepperoni **
Diced ham **
Devilled eggs **
Shredded cheddar **
Crumbled feta *
Olive bar olives *
Raisins **
Almond slivers *
Several bottled dressings *, plus homemade tarragon vinegar and olive oil **
Homemade sourdough bread *
Homemade apple muffins **
Butter for the bread **
Red and green grapes
Lemon for ice water

Dessert: Decadent caramel/chocolate cookie bars (brought by a guest) *
Coffee with milk * and sugar and sweetener

Arrange salad bar items in attractive containers in a logical order and invite everyone to enjoy!

Verdict: Excellent. Enjoyed by all.

TODAY'S MENU

Breakfast--HONEYDEW-BLACKBERRY SMOOTHIE

Lunch--EGGPLANT HUMMUS (1/3 cup or so) with baby carrots; COMPANY SALAD BAR as above--I had about two ounces of chicken breast on my salad, a teaspoon or so of feta, two olives, and a scattering of slivered almonds, with a tablespoon or so of lite Italian dressing. I had about a half ounce at most of the sourdough bread, just enough for a few small bites. I had a small piece of the dessert, about 1 x 1.5 inches, and enjoyed it thoroughly and slowly with my coffee.

Snack--Banana with peanut butter and flax seed meal

Supper--1-1/2 cups split pea soup, pear

Planning for Hospitality

Today we're making preparations for fifteen for Sunday dinner after church--our family of six, another family of five, and four college students. I decided on a salad bar--brilliant for nutritarian eating in a festive atmosphere--and I'm assembling ingredients and planning what to get at the grocery this afternoon.

TODAY'S MENU

Breakfast--Steel-cut oats with tiny frozen blueberries and lightly-toasted almond slivers, a dash of cinnamon and a pinch of sugar

Lunch--Split-pea soup (made with ham bone, onion, carrot, and bay leaf) and pink grapefruit

Supper--Chopped zucchini dry-sauteed with onion, mixed with leftover CHUNKY PASTA SAUCE and about two ounces of chicken; 1/6 acorn squash, with a few pecan halves and a dozen raisins or so

EGGPLANT HUMMUS

EGGPLANT HUMMUS

1/2 large eggplant, baked to softness and peeled (I had this left over from a couple of days ago--obviously it would make sense to bake a whole one and double the rest of the ingredients for the recipe.)
1 can chick peas / garbanzo beans, drained
2 cloves garlic, mashed
2 tablespoons tahini (260 calories!!!)
1/3 lemon (yes, I put the flesh in, too, but not the peel)
tablespoon dried parsley
water if needed to blend
dash of salt

Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree.

Verdict--Very Good. I made it a bit too thin (adding water), but it's a very satisfying snack with carrots to dip into it. The eggplant gives it a nice extra bite. The whole recipe is about 4 cups, and I estimate about 700 calories, so a generous half cup is under 90 calories.

TODAY'S MENU

Breakfast--Leftover blueberry, etc. smoothie from yesterday

Lunch--Salad of romaine, shredded carrot, onion, and red bell pepper topped with refried beans, black beans, and salsa; green grapes

Snack--EGGPLANT HUMMUS and carrots

Supper--Cabbage cooked in the browned bits left after sauteeing bratwurst for the family, but no remaining fat more than a glisten in the pan; 1/2 baked potato underneath, with a couple of tablespoons of plain yogurt on top; 1/4 cup sauerkraut; acorn squash with raisins and pecans (my dessert, really)

Snack--Pear and raw almonds (1/2 ounce or so)

Satiety Trumps Reward

Definitely. The genius behind nutritarian eating is the double-benefit of eating high-nutrient-low-calorie foods--the nutrients satisfy the body's nutrient needs more fully than do low-nutrient foods, and the quantity of nutrient-dense food it takes to get enough calories more than meets the body's need for a sense of fullness and satisfaction. Click on the title of this post to see a scientific study that proves this not even from subjects' eating experience but just on their thoughts about pictures of foods and how much they'd fill them up. Think how much more they could recognize the principle if they were actually eating in a nutritarian approach!

The recipe below is my nutrient-intensive version of what I made for my family tonight. I plan to enjoy the slaw leftovers in the days to come, as well.

BARELY-FISH SOFT TACO

Slaw (makes about eight cups)
Six cups shredded cabbage
1-1/2 cups shredded carrot
1/2 chopped red bell pepper
2 tablespoons rice vinegar (unseasoned, though seasoned would be fine if you left out the sugar)
1 teaspoon sugar
1-2 tablespoons cucumber dressing (mine has 60 calories per 2 tablespoons, 50 from fat)

2 ounces cooked frozen breaded cod fillet (mine is about 80 calories, 25 from fat)
1 South Beach Living whole grain wrap (110 calories, 8g fiber)

Combine slaw ingredients and let stand for an hour or two, then warm the wrap (I like to pass it over my stove burner, back and forth, until it starts to brown a bit) and fill with a good cup of the slaw and the fish fillet, broken into little pieces.

Verdict--Excellent! I really enjoyed this, a healthy variation that inspires me for how to deal with some restaurant items. By the way, I've never had a fish taco before! :-)

TODAY'S MENU

Breakfast--Smoothie of elderberries, banana, peach (I freeze dud peaches in the summertime if they're too mealy to eat out-of-hand, as long as the flavor is decent.), orange, blueberries, and flax seed meal. This was sweeter than my usual smoothie--nice deep berry flavor, too.

Snack--Pear, about 1/2 ounce roasted edamame

Lunch--Leftover EGGPLANT ALMOST-PARMESAN (two slices) with CHUNKY PASTA SAUCE and no pasta, leftover QUINOA-MUSHROOM SOUP

Supper--BARELY-FISH SOFT TACO; one corn taco shell toasted and divided and one part spread with refried beans and salsa, the other with black beans and dried onion, both topped with diced tomato; honeydew and blackberries .

Though this supper felt really filling and perhaps "dangerous" to me, I realize the soft taco had no more than 250 calories, the other crunchy stuff under 200. And I'm really full! (However, about three hours later I was hungry, even a little dizzy, so I had . . . )

Snack--Golden delicious apple and <1 ounce roasted cashews

Ginger-Sprout Stir Fry and Eggplant Almost-Parmesan

For lunch today I just started pulling Asian-type ingredients out of the fridge to see what ideas presented themselves to me. Here's what resulted:

GINGERED SNOW PEA AND BEAN SPROUT STIR FRY

1-2 teaspoons sesame and/or peanut oil
quarter cup diced onion
sliced clove garlic
four or five shredded baby-cut carrots (or yes, about one large whole one)
half a large zucchini, chopped
soy sauce to taste
2-3 oz. cubed firm tofu
half a cup snow peas, chopped if desired
cup of mung bean sprouts
quarter cup cooked brown rice (that's just what I had left over)
2 tablespoons raw sunflower seeds
2 slices crystallized ginger, chopped

Cook the ingredients in a medium nonstick pan or wok in the order given, pausing as needed to have them all come out done to desired extent. Putting in the soy sauce early helps insure the tofu will absorb good flavors.

Verdict--Excellent! The crispness of the sweet snow peas and bean sprouts and the firm crunch of the sunflower seeds blend well with the satisfying softness of the tofu and zucchini, and the ginger adds a nice burst of flavor here and there. This made a BIG bowl.

EGGPLANT ALMOST-PARMESAN
(Adapted from The New Moosewood Cookbook (Mollie Katzen's Classic Cooking) )

half a large eggplant, in 1/2" slices
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup combination of whole wheat bread crumbs and wheat germ
combination of basil, marjoram, thyme, etc.
sprinkling of parmesan cheese

Combine herbs with bread crumbs. Put milk in a shallow bowl and dip eggplant slices into that and then into the crumbs, then lay on a nonstick baking pan. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes or so, until soft but crispy on the outside. Serve with pasta sauce, either plain or on noodles, sprinkled with a bit of parmesan cheese.

Verdict--Excellent! I was very pleased with this--had two slices for my supper on a bed of whole wheat linguine with chunky pasta sauce over all and a sprinkling of parmesan.

CHUNKY PASTA SAUCE

1/4 to 1/3 cup pesto (mine has little oil in it)
large zucchini, chopped
onion, chopped
bell pepper, chopped
clove garlic, minced
jar of Ragu or other pasta sauce
can of diced tomatoes

Heat pesto in a pot, then add zucchini, onion, pepper, and garlic and stir while cooking to slight softness. Then add pasta sauce and tomatoes and simmer fifteen or twenty minutes. Serve over almost anything.

Verdict--Very Good. Just one of those everyday things to enjoy.

TODAY'S MENU

Breakfast--Leftover BERRY KALE SMOOTHIE

Lunch--GINGERED SNOW PEA AND BEAN SPROUT STIR FRY, half pink grapefruit

Snack--Banana with peanut butter and flax seed meal

Supper--EGGPLANT ALMOST-PARMESAN, CHUNKY PASTA SAUCE, half cup of whole wheat linguine

Hungry Morning

OATMEAL WITH APPLE AND PECANS*

1/3 cup (dry) steel-cut oats (pellet-type grains, not flakes like regular oatmeal, which should cook less time)
1 cup water
1 apple, chopped finely or coarsely
a dozen pecan halves, toasted
dash of salt
sprinkling of cardamom

*This is just today's version--there are many variations, including with regular oats, or quick, if you like those (I don't)

Put oats and water together in a saucepan and bring to a boil, turning down to a simmer, then adding chopped apple according to how "done" you like it. Add salt and cardamom. Toast the pecan halves on a foil-lined tray in the toaster oven, on lightest setting, then stir and toast them again. (Or do it in a dry skillet if you prefer.) Break up the nuts with your fingers as you scatter them across the top of the oatmeal.

Verdict--Excellent. I really wanted this this morning, after a light day yesterday.

SKINNY SPINACH OMELETTE

1/4 onion, chopped
clove garlic
small handful fresh spinach
1 egg and 2 egg whites
Creole seasoning
1/2 teaspoon parmesan cheese

Dry-saute onion and garlic in skillet until slightly browned, then add spinach and cook until wilted. Beat egg and whites with a fork and a teaspoon or two of water, mix in seasoning, and add to skillet. Either scramble eggs or let set into omelette form, sprinkling on parmesan at the end.

TODAY'S MENU

Breakfast--OATMEAL WITH APPLE AND PECANS

Lunch-- Compadres Restaurant--Mexican Salad (lettuce, cucumber, tomato, onion, avocado, and lime, and I added salsa for more "dressing," as well as a couple of bites of Glenn's burrito, mostly beans), a dozen chips or so, and salsa

Early Supper--<1/2 can Progresso Creamy Tomato-Basil Soup with 2/3 cup light red kidney beans, 1/6 giant honeydew melon with half an orange squeezed over it

Later Supper--SKINNY SPINACH OMELETTE, leftover salad from previous day with low-cal Italian dressing (1 tablespoon = 13 calories, 10 from fat)

NUTRITION DATA

From Fitday.com, an analysis of the day comes up with about 1400 calories, 53g fat (9g saturated)--this is more than usual, from the chips and avocado at lunch, 53g protein, 200g carbohydrate (44g fiber).

Progress Report, Kale Revisited, Dressing Up Canned Soup

Okay. This morning I gave the kale smoothie idea another try--I was craving citrusy flavors. It's still "rough" with kale to chew as I drink it, but I actually enjoyed it, especially as I got into it a bit. Betsy tasted it and said it seemed bitter to her, but I like the bitterness of grapefruit, and I thought they went well together. Here's what I did:

CITRUSY KALE SMOOTHIE

1/2 small pink grapefruit
1 tangerine
1 frozen banana
several leaves curly kale, stems removed
tablespoon or so flax seed meal

Combine all in a blender with ice and water and blend. I found that even a longer time of blending did not appreciably reduce the particle sizes for the kale. Maybe when I break out that new blender (about $70 at a local Target store--this link specifies 600 watts but my box says 1000) . . .

Verdict: Excellent. I wasn't so sure with the first couple of sips, but I really enjoyed the rest of it, and I'm even getting used to chewing with a smoothie. :-) This made one very tall glass, but I usually divide and save my smoothies into two servings--this was just one.

DRESSED-UP PROGRESSO CREAMY TOMATO-BASIL SOUP

2 small or one large zucchini, chopped
small onion, chopped
tablespoon or two pesto (my homemade is low in oil)
can of Progresso Creamy Tomato-Basil Soup (130 calories, 7g fiber, 3g protein per serving)

Saute the zucchini and onion in the pesto until slightly softened, then add the soup and heat, cooking to further tenderness if desired.

Verdict: Excellent. I have a reputation for messing with packaged goods (like adding lots more noodles and vegetables to Hamburger Helper or frozen chicken alfredo), so this was a natural for me. I had half of this for my lunch.

TODAY'S MENU

Breakfast--CITRUSY KALE SMOOTHIE

Snack--less than an ounce of roasted edamame

Lunch--DRESSED-UP PROGRESSO CREAMY TOMATO-BASIL SOUP, apple

Snack--two tablespoons of granola with raisins as I set out on a 40-minute walk

Supper--Salad of romaine and red leaf lettuce topped with diced cucumber, chopped bell pepper and tomatoes and red onion, 2 tablespoons raw sunflower seeds, about five or six snipped dried apricots, 1/2 cup light red kidney beans, and 2 tablespoons of cucumber dressing (60 calories, 50 from fat); orange

PROGRESS REPORT

Down two pounds this week, for a total of eight-plus pounds in three weeks!

Pantry and Grocery and Recipes

Renee asked me to detail what I have in my pantry and fridge and what I do at the grocery store, as well as sources for good recipes.

First, on the recipes, Mollie Katzen is author of The New Moosewood Cookbook (Mollie Katzen's Classic Cooking), which I've enjoyed for decades. I just googled the title and found to my joy that she has a whole website, and I'd say you can probably trust anything on there to be good. Now whether it's Nutritarian or not, well, let's just say that she has some awesome desserts in the cookbook that I won't be looking at anytime soon. Click on her name above to explore. In just clicking around a bit I found "Lentil Soup with a Hint of Fruit," "Swedish Cabbage Soup," and "White Bean and Collard Greens Soup" (with less oil if possible) very promising!

The Eat to Live book and the cookbook portion of Eat For Health   at drfuhrman.com have some very good recipes I've already tried here and even before. GARDEN STUFFED VEGETABLES is a great recipe, and I look forward to making it again when the bags of peppers are marked down at the grocery.

I tend to do a lot of cooking "off the cuff," often googling ingredients in combination to see what I can come up with (like CAULIFLOWER CURRY recently), then using the online recipes just for inspiration as I head out on my own. Cooking the Nutritarian way takes good advantage of this kind of instinct, since so many combinations of vegetables and fruits work so well in salads, stir fries, soups, and smoothies.

I'm a little wary of vegan websites, in part because of all the baggage that goes with being a vegan (usually earth-worship-level PETA activism and that kind of thing). I really don't see a lot of advantage in using all kinds of soy faux foods when a little bit of plain lowfat yogurt or pork or a grating of parmesan cheese is called for. No "tofurkey" for me for Thanksgiving! In fact, I was a little afraid my family would make fun of me for having tofu in my stir fry today. But I'm a Crunchy Con (see here, too) so I share a lot of territory with these folks, too. Nevertheless, the vegans have some good things going, particularly the raw food ones with their smoothies I'm happy to take inspiration from. As I find good recipes or sites I'll share them through this blog, as I have already.

Now to the groceries.

I think to maintain a somewhat varied Nutritarian way of eating, the pantry should always have these things:

• canned beans of several types
• dry beans of two or more types
• salsa in reserve
• peanut butter (I haven't yet experimented with almond butter and things like that)
  
• nuts and seeds of several types (raw is best, but I like roasted ones, too--not eliminating salt yet)
  
• dried fruits of several types (raisins, craisins, apricots, dates, . . .)
• canned fruits of several types (pineapple, peaches, apricots, pears, all in juices if possible)
• canned veggies if you like them (beets, corn, and peas are about the only ones I tolerate besides tomato things)
  
• canned and jarred tomato products (diced, paste, and Ragu-type pasta sauces, V-8)
• canned soups with the right numbers (vegetarian or high-fiber choices; Progresso lentil is one of my favorites)
  
• canned tuna, salmon, maybe chicken breast if you use it
• whole grains (oats, barley, brown rice, whole-wheat pasta, quinoa)
• healthy crackers (Ry-Krisp, etc.)
  
• lots of herbs and spices
• vinegars (balsamic, red wine, white, cider, and I have homemade tarragon of several types)
  
• good oils (olive, sesame, canola, peanut)
• strongly-flavored things to use in small quantities (olives, capers, sundried tomatoes in oil, horseradish, sherry, white and red wine, beer, rum, liqueurs)
  

In the freezer:

• fresh frozen fruits of all types for smoothies (We're blessed to freeze tart and sweet cherries, peaches, and blackberries from our garden. Be sure to keep bananas in here!)
• bagged or boxed vegetables (green beans, peas, broccoli, mixtures, and corn are my staples, but I get asparagus, brussels sprouts, pearl onions, carrots, etc. sometimes)
• fresh herbs you can't use before they'll dry out or spoil in the fridge or in the room (Robert Farrar Capon has in one of his cooking books a great idea I want to try with the last of our herb harvest--pack the fresh herbs into plastic freezer bags, tightly "rolled" and secured. When needed, just shave off some with a knife. This is great for chives, basil, cilantro, tarragon, and others that don't keep well dry.)
• leftovers of great dishes you made too much of (I regularly save half of a smoothie for another day)
• bread products you're using slowly (small whole-wheat bagels or tortillas, Arnold's Sandwich Thins, etc.)
  
• plain lean fish and poultry and beef and pork to use or to feed the family
• unhealthy things like meatballs, frozen lasagne, etc. to feed the family in a hurry (but feeding the rest of the family is for another post . . .)

In the fridge:

• Condiments of all kinds (salsa, mustards, horseradish, jams and jellies, ketchup, etc.)
• Tofu if you like it
• Flax seed meal
  
• ALWAYS a lot of fresh dark greens (It took me two weeks to get through a three-pound bag of spinach from Costco, but I finished off a head of bok choy for the family's lunch today, and this week I'm working on a bunch of curly kale. You don't want to have too much of the same thing too often, but you don't want it going bad while you're working through it all. So I say go with something new each week, go with something on sale, go with something you've got in mind for a particular kind of recipe.)
• Carrots, peppers, onions, zucchini, yellow squash, radishes, sprouts, celery, cabbage (keeps a long time), any interesting veggies the store has on sale or that looks good. (I got jicama, snow peas, and mung bean sprouts yesterday.)
• Fruits that refrigerate well (grapes, lemons and limes, strawberries, blueberries, e.g.)
• Whole wheat or corn tortillas
  
• Leftovers of large quantities of soup or skillet items you made earlier in the week, for convenient lunches and so forth. As you can see from the blog, I thrive on these!

On the counter:

• Tomatoes, winter squash, some peppers, onions, and sweet potatoes and regular potatoes
• ALWAYS have on hand oranges or other citrus, bananas, and apples, with more exotic ones as the season provides (pineapple, pears, plums, peaches, grapefruit, clementines)

At the grocery, besides the things I need for the family, I scan the health foods aisle for things I'm running out of (barley, flax seed meal) or interesting staples to have around (canned veggie soups). I check the frozen and fresh fish areas for things on sale I can enjoy. I check the deli for high-flavor things to add to salads, especially (olive bar items, feta cheese). And I spend a lot of time in the produce section, treating myself to things that look especially good and patting myself on the back for really good deals.

If you keep in mind that every day you need to work toward a pound of salad veggies raw and a pound of cooked veggies, a cup or more of beans, four or more fruits, a cup of grain or starchy veggie, an ounce of nuts, a tablespoon of flax seed meal, and that you want no more than a serving of animal product every other day or so, you know what you need to get and to keep on hand.

Does that help? :-)

Kale-y*

*Click the title to find my pun--a "ceilidh."

Well, I don't know about kale in a smoothie. I got the curly kind and chewed a bit of it and thought, there's no way I can eat this in a salad, but maybe ground up in a smoothie. The only problem is, I don't have the vaunted Vita-Mix but just a regular blender, and my smoothie has lots of discernible chewy kale bits I chew after a mouthful of the liquid goes down. I saved half for another day, but I won't have it until I make sure it doesn't wreak havoc with my digestion! :-/

BERRY KALE SMOOTHIE

large frozen banana
a dozen frozen strawberries
optional--1/3 cup frozen elderberries (search posts for earlier note on these--don't eat raw!)
tangerine, seeds and peel removed (I figured somebody might wonder)
small handful curly kale, stems removed
tablespoon or two flax seed meal
water as needed

Blend all in a blender and serve. Makes two glasses

Verdict--Good. The taste is nice but the kale a bit tough even after blending. I looked it up a bit on the 'net and it seems that just over-blending can fix some of that. Kale has more absorbable calcium than does spinach (opposed by oxalic acid), so I should try, right?

ALL-ASIAN STIR FRY

2 teaspoons peanut oil
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/2 small onion
small bell pepper, chopped
1/2 small head bok choy, chopped
------
teaspoon sesame oil (the dark, flavorful kind)
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger root
1 clove garlic, sliced
2-3 oz. tofu cubes
------
small handful mung bean sprouts
snow pea pods, chopped if desired
2 teaspoons peanut butter
2 teaspoons soy sauce (I looked up Braggs Liquid Aminos and found it's pretty much a health-food-nut unnecessary expense, unless you prefer the flavor, of course!)
Chinese five-spice powder
A few roasted peanuts to garnish

Heat the peanut oil in a wok or large skillet, then add carrot and stir fry a bit to soften, then adding onion, peppers, and the white portions of the bok choy. Meanwhile, in a small skillet or saucepan, heat the sesame oil with ginger and garlic and add the tofu, sauteeing to brown the tofu. While that is cooking, to the large skillet add the bean sprouts and peas and stir fry until almost done. Then make a space in the center of the pan and drop in the peanut butter and soy sauce, stirring to combine, then incorporating into the whole skillet. Add the tofu to the large skillet and stir gently to combine, sprinkling on the five-spice powder (if you can find it in the stores!) and adding a few peanuts to the top of the dish when serving.

Verdict: Excellent! I actually made about twice this much of everything (except the tofu part) and after taking my portion of the vegetables out to add to my tofu skillet I added some leftover roasted pork cubes and a few leftover meatballs to the original large skillet for the rest of the family. Theirs was served with a choice of brown rice or spaghetti noodles or both, and I had sweet-and-sour and soy sauce and extra peanuts on the table. They loved it, too.

TODAY'S MENU

Breakfast--BERRY KALE SMOOTHIE

Lunch--ALL-ASIAN STIR FRY, locally-grown apple

Snack--3 tablespoons tuna salad (made with light mayo) on two Ry Krisp crackers (I was really hungry after only about 500 calories all day so far!)

Supper--(Got surprised by a spur-of-the-moment invitation, so I did the best I could) 3/4 cup or so of mixed veggie salad (zucchini, peppers, tomatoes, onions, mushrooms) with an oil-and-vinegar dressing, tablespoon or so of winter squash that I discovered had a lot of butter and sugar in it, half a piece of Italian bread; then at home I topped off with about two ounces of fish and veggies from the POLLOCK CREOLE WITH SPINACH I made the other day over 1/3 cup brown rice and half a banana.