Fried Tofu & Veggies with Couscous

*Casie Here*

There is a similar dish I made a while back, but this one I fried the Tofu. Boy was it good. 

Here is what I did:

1 cup couscous cooked according to the package directions

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 medium onion, diced

2-3 cloves of garlic, diced

1 can mushroom, diced

2 medium carrots, diced

1 medium zucchini, diced

1 medium yellow squash, diced

1/2 cup frozen peas

1 container of Tofu (I had extra firm, but any would work), sliced into small cubes

A few shakes of Shoyu sauce (could use soy sauce)

Sal & Pepper to taste

Directions: 

Make your couscous according to the directions and set aside.

Saute onions in cocout oil. Once transparent, add the rest one at a time as you get them chopped up.

 I added them in order above.

Mix everything in and heat through.

Add some salt and pepper

Once all the veggies are softened, fluff the couscous and then mix all the veggies in with it. In the pan you sauteed the veggies, put a little more coconut oil and let it heat up, medium high heat. 

Place the cut up tofu in the pan. LET IT SIT for quite a while. Maybe like 8-10 minutes. It has to get golden brown on the bottom before turning them over. Some may break, that is totally ok! Just try to scrape all the little bits off the bottom of the pan. When all sides of the tofu are golden brown, you are done! Add that to the veggie/couscous and mix all together.

I sprinkled on some Nama Shoyu (soy sauce) on at the end

Everyone loved it and it was especially a hit with the kids! 

Enjoy at your house!!!

Strength

Another amazing, relaxing video.

Just take a few minutes of your day to distract your mind from all of your stress in your life. 

 

Watch, listen and relax.

 

 

 

Tricks to Get Kids to Eat Healthier at Home

This is a great video from one of my favorite websites, www.nutrionfacts.org, discussing how to get kids to eat healthier at home.

 

 

Make your daughter a Fix-it Girl

 

Almost every guy appreciates that it is very important for fathers to spend quality time with their daughters.   There are so many experiences that can constitute this quality time, but I firmly believe that it is imperative that some of this shared time be finding ways to get our daughters more interested in math and science.  Why?  Because girls are interested in more than just dolls, pink toys and fairy tales.....and they are surrounded by too many influences that associate math and science with males. Don't believe me?  Look at your daughter's books, movies and toys and the manufacturer's marketing towards girls.  There may be some exceptions, but the majority of the products perpetuate the stereotypical gender roles.

 

There is no one better to influence our daughters about the wonder and applications of math and science than us dads.  If math and science is not of interest to you, don't fret.  You can still make sure your daughter is not deprived from learning more about these topics.  Even if you are bored or don't understand math and science, than at least make an effort to find shows, books and role models for your daughters that showcase women working directly with math, technology and science. 

 

Want to build your daughter's confidence?  Want to really connect or reconnect with your daughter? 

 

You can involve your daughter with hands on projects, household fix-it projects, yard projects or even just getting out the tape measure to measure things......you can measure anything as long as it does not involve cooking or baking for this activity. 

 

You can spend time playing games with your daughter, but use toys that are typically marketed towards boys. 

 

Teach your daughters to give directions using North, South, East and West instead of just right or left.

 

Have her calculate things for you.

 

Take her to a hardware store and show her all the tools and materials that can be used to create things. 

 

Have her help you work on the mower, car or bicycle.

 

Have her help you change a car tire, the wire line in a weed wacker or put together a model car/ship/train.

 

Have her measure this....and that...using and verbalizing 4ths, 8ths and 16ths. 

 

Get out your socket sets/saw/hammer and teach her how to use it.

 

Buy her safety goggles, work boots and work gloves.  Make sure they are not pink or purple.

 

Have her help you replace a faucet, fix a toilet or unclog a drain.

 

Have her help you wire a speaker or fix a table. 

 

Have her design and build things.  Give her tools and materials to work with.  Watch with wonder what she creates.

 

All you have to do is involve her with these hands on projects and the activity will be a learning one for her. 

 

Talk to your daughters about what doctors, engineers and scientists do and make sure she knows that these occupations are not just for us guys.

 

Find out what technologies she is interested in and explore all the activities that can be completed by the two of you using that technology.

 

Ask yourself if you know of any women you know that currently are in one of these type of occupations that are typically male dominated and ask her what ideas she has for getting a child interested more in math and science.  Possibly ask if she would be interested in talking with your daughter about this.

 

YOU CAN make a difference in your daughter's dreams and future by supporting her and seeking out

activities that engage here in technology, engineering and science fun. YOU, yes YOU.

 

Don't put all the responsibility on the school system or media to teach your daughter about this.

 

In most cases, you will find that you cannot come up with enough activities to quench her brain's thirst for information and involvement.  And guess what, you BOTH are going to have a great time.

 

Even if she doesn't pursue a career in these fields, she will forever appreciate all the abilities you taught her that she will apply towards so many things for the rest of her life. 

 

Her future self will thank you for every moment you spend doing these things with her. 

 

Pictured below is my daughter assisting me with measuring, marking, cutting and installing insulation in our house.  Does she look bored to you? 

 

 

 

 Thank you to D.O. for being an inspiration for this post.

No-Bake Nut Balz

*Casie Here*

If you are allergic to nuts walk away from this post right now. This is a nut allergen's NIGHTMARE!

So, I started off with this No-Bake Energy Bites recipe here from Pinterest:

Ingredients:

For about 20 bites
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup peanut butter (or other nut butter)
1/3 cup honey
1 cup coconut flakes
1/2 cup ground flaxseed 
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1 tsp. vanilla

But then I adapted it and added a bunch of extra stuff, and left out some of their stuff, in the end my completely new recipe made 99 bottles of beer on the wall ~ I mean balls on the wall! Ha! Yep, I counted ALL of them!

Here is EVERYTHING that is in MY recipe. I know, I know it is A LOT. But just throw in whatever you have on hand and like and don't put in what you don't have or can't stand. It will still be delicious!

2 cups rolled oats

1 cup rice krispies

1/2 cup flaxseed

1 TBS. PB2

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup chopped cashews

1/2 cup chopped almonds

(AND about 1 cup of very finely chopped almonds - set aside - to roll in at the end)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup of chopped pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup chopped sunflower seeds

4 pitted dates (all I had that day or I would have used more)

10 pitted prunes (this means the pit REMOVED)

15 apricots

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup agave

1/2 cup honey

1 cup peanut butter

The food processor is your friend for this recipe. I would chop up all the nuts and seeds first if they  aren't already to a semi-fine crumble. Once those are all chopped and put into a bowl together, I would move onto the sticker parts. I put the dates, prunes and apricots in the food processor together and chopped them all up, they stick together towards the end and create one BIG sticky ball. Add that sticky ball to the bowl and try to spread it out so all the little pieces get mixed in with all the rest. Add the rest (vanilla, agave, honey and peanut butter). This is a heavy mixture and you will BUST a spatula if you try to mix this by hand. Dig out your hand mixer and spin away. Try to get everything mixed up thoroughly. Now comes the worst, most boring and tedious part. Sorry, it's true. You have to roll the balls out. ALL 99 of them. By hand. 

BLEH

Once you roll them into about 1" balls, roll the ball into the extra cup of very finely chopped almonds you set aside earlier. Then place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. And REPEAT.

This takes FOREVER. If you had some helpers, this would go much, much faster, but I didn't at the time (or didn't want their dirty little hands all over my nut balls), so I did them myself. They are so good. The rice krispies give a fun little crunch and they are very moist. Make these for a healthy snack the whole house will love. All the work will totally be worth it!!!