red and green pasta salad

is it summer yet? 

i feel like summer is prime pasta salad time. it's great for warm-weather potlucks, or beside some barbequed tofu. it's quick and easy to throw together, and cheap to boot. 

i'm so ready for summer. winters in calgary are far too long, and i am one of those unlucky people who is always cold. i'm so ready for shorts and green grass and pasta salad. bring it on!

herbed mushrooms

i used to not like mushrooms. i think it was a texture thing - as i kid i was a really picky eater, and i would not touch mushrooms. now i love them, and it was this recipe that changed my mind!

i have my lovely mother in law to thank for this one. she made these mushrooms for matt (who was also not a huge mushroom fan) and he liked them so much, he came home and made them for me! HE COOKED. that's when you KNOW he likes something!! 

that was probably 7 years ago, and this has become a staple side-dish in our house since.  

tasty dinner reminder

every single time i ask matt what he wants for dinner, he says pad thai. even if we've just had it the day before, and there are still leftovers in the fridge, he asks for pad thai. he's like a crazy pad thai monster, and he just can't get enough. 

he'd never had pad thai before we met! i took him to the green room, a grungy toronto restaurant that i'm pretty sure doesn't exist any more, and fed him pad thai for the first time. mind. blown. 

so go on, give in. live a little. 

make pad thai!!

chewy bars

when i was a kid, we always called granola bars chewy bars. now, that makes me think of chewbacca (nerd alert!). 

regardless, these bars certainly live up to the chewy name. i made the recipe up, but based it (VERY) loosely on oatmeal raisin cookies. i made them a ton healthier, but they still have an almost cookie-like texture to them (speaking as someone who only makes chewy cookies).

as such, they won't last quite as long as more traditional granola bar recipes, but that's okay, because you'll eat them all in a day anyway!! 

i made these for matt and i before an 18 hour rally day (that's right, i'm a nerd in every way you can imagine - AND WE TOTALLY WON!!), and they made lovely snacks for a long, asskicking day.

agave-mustard baked tofu

 

baked is one of my favourite ways to eat tofu. it gets just a little crispy on the outside, but without being greasy, like when it's fried. 

by marinating the tofu first, you give it lots of time to suck up the flavours in the sauce - i'd recommend marinating tofu regardless of how you plan to cook it, if you have the time. 

as you can see in the picture, i was serving it with herbed mushrooms (recipe coming soon!) and quinoa salad. i also really like to make baked tofu sandwiches, when i want a big, filling dinner-style sandwich. 

this is a great dish to make in advance - do a whole block, then have it for dinner, chop it up on top of a salad, etc. it will last at least a few days in the fridge.  

double layer smoothie

i got a new blender recently. 

i'm working up a post to tell you all about it, but in the mean time, here's a fabulous giant smoothie i made!!

the bottom layer is pineapple, mango, coconut oil, banana, protein powder and almond milk. the top layer is strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, banana, protein powder and almond milk. 

it tasted even better than it looks!

breakfast?!

i recently made another batch of my fabulous maple pecan granola, and so am inspired to remind you of the recipe. i've been thinking of making a granola bar recipe based on this cereal, what do you think?

lately i've been eating a smoothie for breakfast every day (with some coconut oil thrown in for good measure), but i like to sprinkle a handful of this on top, and eat it with a spoon. mmmm.