Years ago there was a great vegetarian restaurant in Boulder that served this tofu. I was crazy about it, and the owner of the restaurant generously invited me into the kitchen to learn the process of making it. Even after attending vegetarian cooking school, I had never tasted tofu this good. It’s a special dish.

It is made with margarine, and the woman who explained the recipe to me said that she found margarine to be necessary to get the sear on the tofu (that helps it not fall apart as you grill it). I have used ghee and the results are about the same.

This video brings bad camera work to an all time low. But, I actually thought it came out ok since I did not even use a tripod – I was holding the darn camera. Annoying as it may be, it is a way that you can see the actual process before you make it. Enjoy, and please let me know if you make it – I’d love to hear your experience!

I really love making bran muffins. And unless everyone is just being nice to me, my friends and family like them too.

The recipe listed on this site is the recipe that I use, but I wanted to give some enhancements that make the muffins fantabulous.

First, all of the “optional” ingredients, I use when I make muffins. The applesauce that I use is the little cups of cinnamon applesauce. I don’t think that small amount of cinnamon is important to the end product at all. But, cinnamon applesauce is sweetened applesauce. So, if you’re using unsweetened applesauce, you may want to throw another tablespoon of honey or sugar into the batter.

Most often, I use a heaping 1/4 cup white sugar and a true 1/4 cup honey in my mix. So, I have a generous 1/2 cup of sweetener. I am no Alton Brown, I can’t tell you why it matters, but the muffins seem to taste better when I use two sweeteners. Sometimes, I use real maple syrup and honey, that also makes a great muffin.

Another important bit is the milk you’re using. Again, I can’t tell you why, but if I use soymilk, I use 2 whole cups. But, if I’m using cow’s milk, I cut that back to 1 3/4 cups. If I use 2 cups of cow’s milk, the muffins turn out flat.

Lastly, I’ve started using muffin tin liners – I don’t know why it took me so long to do this! Makes clean up so much easier. I will tell you that if you’re going to grease the muffin cups, I’d use cooking spray, and spray the living daylights out of the cups. That way the muffins pop right out.

I’m sure this is too much info about bran muffins for some of you. But I didn’t want my recipe secret – I wanted it out there. Happy baking and if you make them, please let me know if they came out for you! I want to help.

This footage was shot in April (note: pregnant Tani). If you like chicken tortilla soup, you will love this recipe. I promise you, it’s simple. If you have trouble finding chiles in  your area, let me know – and I’ll try to hook you up with some.

Here is the video:

I mentioned in the spring that we had joined a CSA for the first time (Community Shared Agriculture). I haven’t posted much since the shares started arriving – but it’s been a wonderful experience! Every week we get a bag of random vegetables, and at first I was a little grossed out. Everything was so dirty! But then I remembered, “hey, vegetables do grow in dirt”! That helped me not be weirded out anymore, and since then the produce and I have gotten along much better.

A couple of weeks ago, my fridge was overflowing with squash, onions, green beans and corn (just to name a few) so, I made a huge pot of vegetable soup. It was super yummy (even my husband, who is suspicious of anything vegetarian, loved it). I froze 5 quart bags of soup, I know I’ll appreciate these summer vegetables this winter. And the best part is, it will be an easy dinner in months to come!

This recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks:

Not an instructional video at all, just me showing off (Tess and vegetables!):

As of today, I’m 11 days from my due date with my third pregnancy. Feeling very, very pregnant and nesting in my home very, very much (I’ve got the pantry stocked, the fridge stocked, the laundry done, the cupboards vacuumed out, the almost 2-year old potty trained … you know all the essentials). But this has left little time for shooting informative, entertaining videos for you to learn and cook from.

And in fact, I have to tell you, lately I’ve had days where all I could think to have for dinner was a pizza delivered (…again). I have not felt inspired in the least. But I am grateful for the lull, because I know that is how a lot of people feel all of the time. If I can get myself out of a dinner-funk, I figure I’ll be able to help one or two of my friends do the same one day.

Do me a favor, tonight, be kind to yourself. Order take out, or buy chicken from the grocery store. Spend the extra time with your family, or knitting on the couch. And enjoy every minute of it. Inspiration will hit you soon, and then you’ll be off and running on whatever it is you’re passionate about. Until then, really, really love yourself and take it easy.

I can tell you that on the weeks I plan a little bit, life is easier. I can also tell you, that making a list and shopping once a week is really just a habit. The more you do it, the easier it gets. An added plus to making a shopping list is, we eat out less, save money and eat healthier.

Thanks to my beautiful, amazing BFF, Jayne, I have a shopping list that you can download! For those who don’t know me, I am not so technologically gifted, but luckily for me, Jayne can do anything on a computer. This download-able PDF is all because of her. Thank you!

When I sit down to make my grocery list, I’ll usually brainstorm a few meals that I could make that week. I shoot for 4 ideas, and I’ll either get out those recipes, or sometimes I know them by heart. I do this in the kitchen so I can check the pantry and refrigerator to see what ingredients I have on hand, and what I need to buy. (see the box in the upper right – use this for capturing your dinner / lunch ideas).

I think about our schedule a little bit and try to make the meals healthy, delicious and easy. For example, I normally work late on Tuesdays, so that night, I try to have something super-easy to prepare, or even better, already made (quiche, lasagna, etc).

The other box lower down on the right hand side is for items that I need to buy from other stores (health food stores, etc). You can see a sample below of my shopping list from this week. A little lower, there’s a place to click for a blank page.

I hope you find this useful. I’d love to hear from you if you download and print this. Tell me what you think!

Click here for Free download

Last night I made sesame-encrusted seared tuna (with wasabi), brown rice and sauteed broccolini. It’s not the cheapest meal in my repertoire, but it’s one of the best and it’s one of the easiest.

The cooking really begins when I can manage to get the kids loaded up and make it to Wholefoods. I love their produce, and even though it’s expensive, on special occasions that is where I shop. Not to disappoint, the broccolini was beautiful and FOUR DOLLARS a bunch.

Oh well, next stop: the fish counter. I asked for about 3/4 pound of tuna, cut in two pieces and covered all over with the sesame rub. In the end, I decided on a beautiful steak that was about .80 pound – (large servings, but so yummy that there were no leftovers). The gentleman behind the counter cut it into two equal pieces and covered it in the rub. I think all total the fish was about $18. Again, not cheap, but no extra money for the rub – it would be the same cost if you bought plain tuna and made the rub yourself.

The hardest part of this meal is starting the brown rice in time (takes about an hour). Just in case you want a basic recipe for brown rice: 1 cup dry rice, 2 cups water, drizzle of olive oil and pinch of salt – bring to boil and then reduce to low for 45 – 50 minutes. Check to be sure water is absorbed, and then turn off heat and let it rest, covered, for 10 minutes or until everything else is ready.

For the broccolini, I washed it and cut off the ends. Heated up a skillet over medium-high heat, drizzled a bit of olive oil (about 1 Tbs), pressed 1 clove of garlic into the pan, then added the broccolini, sauteed it for about 3 – 5 minutes. Added about 1/4 cup water, reduced heat to low, put a little sprinkle of salt over, covered and let it steam while I seared the fish (5 – 7 minutes).

For the tuna, heat a skillet over medium-high heat, add canola oil (or vegetable oil – something that will take high heat cooking) approx. 3 Tbs (you don’t want to tuna to stick). And place the tuna steaks in the pan. You definitely want action in the skillet – sizzles and oil splattering. As soon as the white sesame seeds turn brown, turn the fish over (maybe 1 -2 minutes). The way our steaks were cut last night, we seared them on four sides, but if you have one big steak, you have to cook a little longer on just two sides. We like our tuna quite rare, but check it and cook as long as you like.

For the wasabi – buy a small jar of wasabi powder (near the Asian foods in the grocery store). All you do is mix a little bit (1 Tbs or so) with a small amount of hot water (2 tsp) – and stir. Add more water (or more powder) to make desired consistency. They also sell tubes of it already mixed up. I like the powder, because one jar lasts a year or two – and we just mix it up when we need it.

We sliced the tuna steaks and fanned the fish on a plate with a scoop of brown rice, a few broccolini stalks, a dollop of wasabi paste and a small bowl with soy sauce (for dipping). It was like professional restaurant shit, but ready in about 15 – 20 minutes (if you don’t count the cook time on the rice).

I should have snapped a picture. But it was eight o’clock and our sweet, almost-3-year old had tested our patience all evening. So, taking photos for my blog was the last thing on my mind at that moment. The kids were in bed, I sat down at the kitchen table with my sweetheart and we talked about our day, talked about starting a list of the top 10 restaurants we want to eat at in our lifetime, and enjoyed the best dinner we’ve had together in a long time.

So, I just did another video of the same salad, and this time the camera is focused on the food. You’ll even learn the coolest way to chop a bell pepper – I promise you’ll impress your friends and family with your sweet knife skills.

I’d love to hear your questions or comments about the salad, the blog, my bad camera angles … let me know how I can help you in the kitchen! Here is the new video:

- Molly Wizenberg, from A HOMEMADE LIFE