Hi everyone! Hope you’re having a great Tuesday! I loved hearing about all the favorite snacks that you Eat for Energy in my last post. I’m going to compile them in a list (giving credit to each of you, of course) and put them under the “Healthy Eats” tab at the top. I know I’ll be using it as a reference to break me out of my snack rut!
Pop quiz: do you know what these are?
If you said goji berries, you’re RIGHT! (If you said Red Hots, well, I can’t help you.) Sometimes, I buy dried goji berries in bulk from Whole Foods to add to oatmeal and baked goods (such as SAWICs). When I saw these in the freezer case last weekend, I knew I needed to give them a try:
That’s right, my friends – frozen goji berries. PERFECT for morning oatmeal. I added them to my oatmeal thusly:
(I guess they kinda look like Red Hots.)
The frozen goji berries were pretty good, but they are blander than the dried variety (which is true for many fruits). They were fun to try once, but I think I’ll stick with my frozen blueberries.
Today, the other girls in my community nutrition group and I hauled on over to a Head Start preschool to teach the little ones about fruits and veggies. We split up and each one of us taught three groups of 18 preschoolers. LeQuan, you were right that I needed a lot of energy today – 3 and 4 year olds have more energy in their tiny pinkies than I have in my whole body! Even so, I love little kids, so this day was a blast 🙂
Story time:
“Do you like cherries? If you like cherries, jump up and down!”
During our break, we set up a nutrition and recipe table for the parents arriving to pick up and drop off their kids.
As you can probably guess, I picked out the whole grain cereal sample 😉
We were really successful at handing out info and recipes today, probably because we’ve had a lot for practice at roping people to our table. Also, the little kids kept clamoring for the pens and fruit-shaped key chains we were handing out. All in all, a satisfying community nutrition day.
Back at home, I embarked on a simple new recipe to share with you all. I call it:
Green Curry
Is that name too boring? How about:
A Lightly-Spiced Dream Curry with Crisp Tofu Squares
Is that better? Great, let us push on!
Ingredients:
1 shallot, chopped
1 can light coconut milk (can use skim milk if you prefer a thinner sauce, or you just don’t like coconut)
1/2 cup Amoy curry paste (no, I’m not kidding)
1 14 oz. block tofu, sliced thinly
1 package noodles of choice
Cook noodles according to package directions. Prepare tofu by favorite method (I pan-fried the slices briefly, but baking would work better).
Saute the shallot in 1 tsp canola oil for 1 minute. Add coconut milk and warm through.
Now, if you are a cooking purist, you may want to avert your eyes from this next photo.
Yes, I used jarred curry paste. How very Sandra Lee of me … I can’t believe I just said that (ugh). But, you know what? I’m a busy girl, and this stuff is fantastic. Yes, I’m making excuses, but I’ll be going to bed early tonight instead of grinding spices. If you want to know what’s in this paste so you can make your own, here are the ingredients: curry powder, water, sunflower seed oil, salt, garlic, shallot, Thai spices (ambiguous, I know), and sugar.
However you obtain it, add curry paste to coconut milk and shallot. Mix until the sauce is a beautiful shade of green.
Toss with noodles and tofu, and enjoy!
We also decided to roast a few orange beets we found at the supermarket.
Wow. Dark.
As for the beet greens … don’t throw them out!
Sauteed in a little walnut oil as per this day, beet greens make a tasty and nutrient-packed veggie side.
All together on my new plate:
Not the nicest pictures, but you get the idea. The green curry dream curry was rich and smooth – delicious with the crispy tofu.
Before I go: as my prize for winning the Cook’s Mission contest (thanks to all of you who voted for me!), I get to choose next week’s ingredients! I haven’t quite decided which ingredients I will choose yet, but I’m excited to see what people will come up with. Thanks again, Mae!
I’m working late tomorrow, so to preserve my sanity … no post. 🙂 Good eve, all!
Q: Do you like to cook from scratch, or do you use a little “help” in the kitchen?
nothing wrong with curry in a jar especially when you’re pressed for time!
You look like a natural with those kiddies!! I did part of my student teaching at a head start pre-k and I was pretty impressed with their nutrition curriculum. I do remember that they were such busy bodies! 😉
Your crisp tofu dish looks so, so, so good!! 🙂
Aww, love the pictures with you and the kids – so cute! It looks like everyone had lots of fun 🙂 I also really like your new plate 🙂
Lol about 3 and 4 year olds having more energy in their pinkies than in your whole body. You hit it dead on. Imagine teaching gym class to them!? Ah, the good ol’ teaching days 😉 Glad everything went well though.
Great curry recipe. Can I come over for din din sometime? Love your dinners! And that new plate is beautiful. Congrats on winning the cook’s mission!!
I try to cook from scratch but sometimes it’s hard with 2 little ones and you’re pressed for time. Like they say, “a little help goes a long way.” Hope you have a great Wednesday!
Sure! 🙂 I can imagine it must be hard to find time to cook with two little ones, but you are still whipping up some mouth-watering dishes!
Oh what a fun nutrition class!! I love your little table of nutrition, with the healthy cereal as a snack. That’s fantastic.
So frozen goji berries just don’t beat the frozen blueberries? I wouldn’t think so. I LOVE my frozen blueberries!! In oats they are perfect.
I prefer cooking from scratch, but typically I don’t cooking 100% from scratch, unless I have plenty of time. Over the weekends it’s much easier, as I’m sure you can imagine. Pizza is my favorite from scratch meal!
The blueberries definitely win out 🙂 I’m going to try baking something with the gojis.
Man, I hate Sandra Lee. I don’t have a problem with using pre-made store bought items as ingredients but I don’t want to watch someone do it on tv. Snoozefest.
On a side note, I would also be clamoring over small children to get myself a fruit shaped keychain. I’m a sucker for swag.
I typically cook from scratch but take help from the store with canned beans sometimes, or already prepared hummus or cut veggies. But, I am also not opposed to using jarred sauce as long as I feel good about the ingredients in it. That is all that really matters to me.
Love you sharing with the kids, how cute!
and I love to cook from scratch I get help every now and then but not much jarred stuff in our house.
Congrats on winning Cook’s Mission!! Your recipe was unbelievable!
And dinner looks fantastic, I love coconut with all my heart. Such a warm, comforting meal for a cold wet night.
I’m a big fan of cooking from scratch, but there’s nothing wrong with taking some help from the store! I do this with several things: stuffing (in a pinch), cream of mushroom soup, and sometimes gravy mixes.
Love the pics of you with the preschoolers- what a cute and fun day!
I love how you were able to go and share some information about nutrition with kids and also their families with the information set out. That is awesome and I wish more schools did that. Hopefully, it is something that continues to be focused on at that school.
I know I’ve said before how much I love what you do in the community, but I really LOVE what you do in the community!! Healthy habits start early so I am all about educating the little ones.
And I was cracking up at your “less boring” recipe name. I absolutely hate and despise curry, but that was pretty funny.
Aww, thanks Caitlin!
more bland
Guess that Emma Willard education did me more gooder.
I’ve only ever seen goji berries in their dried form – very cool!
LOVE the photos of you and the kids…melt.
and I also LOVE your new plate! 🙂
I like cooking from scratch! If I could, I would just cook all day long 🙂
The goji bears have me intrigued! I’ve never tried frozen, fresh or dried, but they sound like a yummy addition to oats! 😀
Everything looks great. I have never tried goji berries. Gosh, there are so many foods I still need to try.
Looks like you did a great nutrition lessons!
Nothing wrong with curry paste!! I use it all the time!
Thanks for sharing your Community lessons – so fun to see!
I love that you guys are going into schools to educate little kids! You have to start from the young’uns up because their parents will probably listen to them before anyone else.
I bet those gojis would be excellent in a smoothie! Get those nutrients in!
I am a total curry addict and definitely use jarred curry pastes. If you find a good brand, then who cares whether or not you ground it yourself!
I love that new dish!
I have to start doing health risk assessments at a local Head Start and I’m not excited! I feel like a grinch, but I much prefer working with adults. When I see kids with health concerns and lacking nutrition knowledge for their age, I get discouraged with them when in reality, I should be discouraged with the parents and school system. Makes no sense, I know! Kids also have a loooot of energy!! But they are pretty cute when the jump for enjoying cherries, I bet 🙂
I love that new dish!
I cook mostly from scratch, but I happily accept the help of jarred tomato sauce many times, and salsa, etc. But from scratch really is always best, just not always practical or time-efficient!
I’m in love with your adorable new plate! You read my mind because I’ve been dying for a coconut milk-based curry…yours looks phenomenal! (I love using jarred curries…such a huge timesaver! 😉 )
Thanks for linking this up to Friday Firsts Jessie! I’ve never tried any form of goji berries! The preschool class looks fun – I’ve been saying the same thing about my cousin too that she has more energy in her pinky! I usually have to cook from scrath b/c J’s allergy (whey is in a lot of pre packaged foods) but if I find something I can use and feel good about the calories, salt, and list of ingredients than YES I definitely take the help!!