Pan-fried tofu with greens and peanut sauce

Variation from a recipe in Feeding the Whole Family. I've been making it for years. It turned out so well tonight with a few modifications, thought i'd post it.
Here's the recipe as found on MDC:

1 pound firm tofu
1-2 tablespoons sesame oil
1-2 large bunches collard greens

Marinade
3 cloves garlic, sliced
4-5 slices (1/8 inch thick) fresh gingerroot
1 cup water
1 tablespoon brown-rice vinegar
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1/3 cup tamari or shoyu

Sauce
1/4 cup creamy cashew butter
2 teaspoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons tamari or shoyu
1 tablespoon brown-rice vinegar
1 teaspoon grated gingerroot
1-2 teaspoons hot pepper oil
1/3 cup water

In the morning, combine all ingredients for marinade. Cut tofu into 1/2-inch slabs, then cut slabs into triangles. Put marinade and tofu in a glass storage container with a tight-fitting lid.

Heat sesame oil in a skillet. Place marinated and drained tofu pieces in oil and brown on both sides. Set aside. Prepare greens by stripping leaves from stems before washing. Wash greens carefully. (An easy way is to fill your sink with cold water and submerge the leaves.) Bring 2 quarts of water and 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt to boil. Submerge greens and boil for 5-8 minutes. Pour cooked greens into a colander in the sink. Let cool. Squeeze out excess water with your hands. Chop into bite-size pieces and set aside.

Combine all sauce ingredients in a small pan over low heat. Using a whisk, mix ingredients until smooth and warm. Add extra water for desired consistency. Serve cooked greens and browned tofu on top of noodles or grains. Drizzle sauce over all.

Makes 4 servings, 1 cup sauce

Preparation time: Overnight for marinade, 30 minutes to make dish

For Babies 10 Months & Older: Reserve some unmarinated tofu, cut into cubes, and serve with bite-size pieces of cooked noodles.

Variation for Children: Separate foods. Serve plain noodles, fried tofu, small pile of greens, and a little bowl of sauce for dipping.

DAWN'S NOTES:
Today I made this with these modifications, which made this easy recipe even easier -
1. subbed powdered ginger for fresh. still good.
2. subbed peanut butter for cashew.
3. subbed frozen broccoli florets for fresh greens. Just boiled them with the soba noodles. Super easy.
4. No hot pepper oil - didn't have any, didn't need it.

Baked Oatmeal

Found this on MDC. This is good stuff, especially for lazy winter mornings or as part of a festive brunch. It's kind of a breakfast dessert--like an oatmeal cake. It's nice to prepare it all the night before and then all you have to do in the morning is put it in the oven and wait 35 minutes. I especially like baked oatmeal with cooked apples on top. You can just peel and slice a bunch of apples and put them in the crockpot with some sugar, cinnamon, and butter (or just by themselves) and put it on high for an hour and the apples are done. But I wouldn't do that in the morning--I would have the apples made ahead of time. Anyway, the baked oatmeal:

1/2 cup applesauce or vegetable oil (I use organic cinnamon applesauce)
3/4 cup sweetener (I use a little less and use a combination of honey and sugar)
2 eggs
1 cup milk (I use light plain soymilk)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 cups regular oats
1/2 cup raisins (or other dried fruit, I like cherries)
1-2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions: Beat together applesauce and sweetener. Mix in eggs, milk, salt, baking powder, oatmeal. Beat well and then stir in raisins. Pour into a lightly greased pie pan. Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon. Refrigerate overnight. The next morning, preheat oven to 350. Bake in preheated oven until firm, about 35 minutes. Serve hot.

Super Chocolate Cake with Buttercream Icing

Ok, I know folks around here aren't so into the baked goods. But. It's January and we've got a few months of cold, hard, gloomy weather and what's better than chocolate for getting through that, right? So I thought I'd share the recipe for this cake my friend made for me when Grace was born. It's really good (she always makes it for new babies- as an excuse to eat some herself, lol!)

Cake:
Mix together:
1 3/4 c. flour
2 c sugar
3/4 c. cocoa powder
2 t. baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 t salt

Add to dry ingredients:
2 eggs
1 c. strong coffee
1 c. buttermilk
1/2 c vegetable oil
1 t. vanilla

Mix for 2 minutes. Pour batter into 2 round cake pans and bake for 30-35 minutes at 350'. Cool completely then frost with buttercream frosting.

Frosting:
6 T butter, softened
2 2/3 c powedered sugar
1/2 t. + 3/4 c. cocoa powder
1 t. vanilla
4-5 T milk

Beat sugar, butter, & cocoa powder together until smooth and creamy. Add milk & vanilla and mix til smooth. If too thick, thin with a little more milk.

Cheddar & Bacon Potato Soup

I made this tonight and it was so yummy I have to share! I like potato soups and this was one I pulled together in honor of this super cheddar cheese my aunt got us for Christmas (raw artisan cheddar from a small farm in Vermont!). Anyway, if you're not afraid of fat, give it whirl!

Ingredients:
8 slices of bacon chopped into 1/2" pieces
1 onion finely diced
3 Tbs flour
4 medium potatoes, chopped
1 bay leaf
3-4 cups chicken stock or water
1 1/2- 2 cups sharp cheddar, shredded (the better the cheese, the better the soup!!)

1) Cook chopped potatoes in a separate pot until they are just cooked through (still nice and firm). If you want a smooth soup, puree the potatoes now. If you like it chunkier, then leave them be. Set aside.

2) Put the bacon into a hot pot and turn heat to medium-low. Render the fat out of the bacon by cooking it on med-low til the bacon is crispy and there's a lot of fat in the pan (about 10-15 minutes). Add chopped onion and cook til onion is soft & clear. Add flour and cook for another minute, stirring often.

3) Add broth and bay leaf and cooked potatoes, bringing soup to a boil. Turn heat to low and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Add shredded cheese, stirring until smooth and completely melted. Remove bay leaf and enjoy!

Basic granola

I've been making my own granola for a long time and I know Linsey has started making her own too. I thought I'd share my "learning recipe" since I found it more helpful than the more specific recipes out there. It gives a good idea of what goes into granola and how you can make it truly your own. The trick is not to overcook it. Like candy it gets harder after cooling so you want it to be still kinda soft when it comes out of the oven.

Enjoy making your very own $8.50 a pound fancy granola on the cheap ;) and share your favorite combo with us if you already make granola!

Basic Dry Cereal from the More With Less cookbook.
preheat oven to 300'

In a large bowl combine 7 cups of dry ingredients including at least 2-3c rolled oats plus other grains:
wheat germ
whole wheat flour
wheat bran
wheat grits
cornmeal
soy flour grits or roasted beans
grape nuts
sunflower seeds
sesame seeds
pumpkin seeds, roasted
coconut
dry milk
chopped nuts
1-2 tsp spices- nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, etc.

Combine seperately and pour over dry ingredients 1 c. liquids including some fat & some sweetener:
honey,
syrup,
brown sugar (combined with 2T. water for 1/2c.)
oil
melted butter
nut butter
milk or cream

Spread mixture onto cookie sheets so it's not too thick. Put in oven and bake for 10 minutes, stir, bake another 10 minutes, stir then start checking it & stirring it more frequently. It can take anywhere between 30 and 60 minutes to bake. It's done when the oats are still maleable but just lightly browned. Allow to cool completely then add dried fruits as desired. Happy granola making! I'll post my current favorite in the comments.

Chicken Potpie or Dumplings

This chicken (or turkey) stew recipe, adapted from the Joy of Cooking, can be used for either potpie or dumplings. It's super yummy and thick. I've only made this with leftovers from roasted chicken, shredded and added after the vegetables are cooked. The original recipe calls for browning raw pieces of chicken and cooking along with the vegetables.

Chicken Fricassee:
3 1/2- 4 1/2 pounds chicken pieces
1 1/2c onions, chopped
1/3c flour
1 3/4 c chicken stock, broth, or water
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced (optional but yummy)
3 carrots, diced
3 potatoes cubed
1/2 tsp dried oregano, thyme or herbe de provence
1/4 tsp crushed rosemary
salt & pepper to taste
1/4c- 1/2c heavy cream
1/2 c. dry white wine

Debone (make into bite-sized shreds) and set aside chicken.

In a dutch oven or heavy soup pot, melt some butter or oil and cook onions til they are clear but not browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring often.

Reduce heat to low and whisk in broth, carefully getting rid of lumps. Whisking constantly bring to a boil over high heat. Add mushrooms, carrots, potato, herbs, salt & pepper. Cover and reduce heat so liquid barely bubbles. Cook until veggies are tender, about 20 minutes.

Whisk in milk & white wine. Add cooked chicken.

***If making with dumplings, plop dumplings on top, double check liquid levels (if stew is too thick, add broth), cover and allow dumplings to steam over medium-low heat for about 10-12 minutes.

***If making potpie, transfer stew to prepared baking dish and cover with thin biscuits. Bake in preheated oven at 375' for 20-30 minutes. Until biscuits have risen and tops are slightly browned.

Dumplings recipe (from Joy of Cooking):
Whisk together:
1 c cake flour (I used all-purp, no problem)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Break 1 egg into 1-cup measure. Add milk til cup is half full. Beat well and stir liquid ingredients into dry ingredients. Add more milk if necessary but keep batter as stiff as possible. Using a small spoon, drop spoonfuls of batter into simmering stock or stew (dipping spoon into hot water or hot broth between will help ease batter off of spoon).

Potpie biscuits:
Use your favorite biscuit recipe rolled very thin and cut into circles (if a rolled recipe) or dropped evenly (if a drop recipe) across the top of a baking dish. Just in case you haven't got a favorite biscuit recipe, here's mine:
2c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/3c butter or shortening
~ 3/4 c. water

Mix dry then wet, roll & cut. Bake at 450' for 10 minutes.

Portuguese Kale Soup

Just found this today. 5 ingredients!

1 lb of chorizo (or another spicy sausage), sliced
1 med-large onion, diced
8-12 cups of chicken stock
1 10 oz box of frozen kale (thawed & drained) or a few handfuls of fresh kale (spinach works too)
3-4 cubed potatoes (sometimes I use sweet potatoes instead)

Saute onions in a little oil. Add stock. Add sliced sausage. Bring to a boil. Add kale. Reduce heat & simmer until sausage is done and the potatoes & kale are tender.

No need to add salt or pepper as the chorizo has all the seasoning you need.