Crunchy Oatmeal and Awards Night
I love my morning oatmeal, but sometimes I just get into a routine.
Have you ever sprinkled panko breadcrumbs on your oatmeal, thinking it was shredded coconut? I have.
For someone who preaches mindfulness, I could use a little help in the breakfast topper department 🙂 (Don’t worry, I scraped off all the panko prior to first chomp.) Tomorrow I’m going to top my oatmeal with whole peppercorns instead of blueberries.
This afternoon, I prepared my lunches for the week by making baked tofu bites, adapted from this recipe.
Sweet and Spicy Baked Tofu Bites
Adapted from Baked Tofu Bites, Allrecipes
Ingredients:
1 14 oz. container extra firm tofu, cut into tiny cubes
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 tsp hot sauce
1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp Chinese five spice powder
This recipe is super easy! First, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix all ingredients together except tofu. How did I cube the tofu. Well! Let me tell YOU!
Lay the tofu with its largest side down and cut thin slices, first perpendicular to one side, then perpendicular to the other side. Don’t let the tofu pillars collapse! Carefully tip the first set of pillars over to the side and slice to make cubes.
Mix tofu with other ingredients and spread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Don’t forget to use a Silpat or parchment paper or spray on the baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring bites every 5 minutes or so.
I’ve made this recipe many MANY times and I love it every time. Sometimes I’ll change up the marinade ingredients, such as adding herbs or other spices, or maple syrup or honey. Good stuff 🙂 I’m planning on topping spinach or brown rice with the tofu bites and bringing it for lunch during the week.
***
I had the fortune of receiving not one, but TWO awards over the past week! I have some wonderful bloggie friends out there 🙂
First up is the lovely LeQuan, who gave me the Sunshine Award! The Sunshine Award is given to bloggers who are deemed warm, inspirational, and positive, symbolized by the gorgeous sunflower. LeQuan certainly embodies all these qualities: sweet and kind to everyone she meets, and always sending out a friendly email to brighten my day! Thanks, LeQuan! 🙂
To the award winners, here are the rules:
1. Put the logo on your blog or within your post.
2. Pass the award on to 8 bloggers!
3. Link the nominees within your post.
4. Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.
Here are the wonderful bloggers to whom I want to pass this award:
Em @ HomecookedEm
Katie @ Faith Food & Fitness
Mae @ Ohh May!
Lucy @ Sweet Spirit Shine
Caitlin @ The Twenty-Fifth Year
Meghan @ Travel Eat Love
Kelsey @ Snacking Squirrel
Ashley @ Food Fotos and Fun
Please don’t feel like you have to participate if you prefer not. I just wanted to recognize some wonderful bloggers 🙂
The next award from the superb Lazaro of Lazaro Cooks!, who nominated me for the “I Love Your Blog” award. I’ve just recently discovered Lazaro’s blog and I love it! He has the most delicious recipes – you simply MUST check out his blog 🙂 Thanks, Lazaro!
Here are some of the blogs that I luuuuurve 😀
LeQuan @ luvtoeat
Sophia @ Burp and Slurp
Joanne @ Eats Well With Others
Andrea @ Can You Stay For Dinner?
Ameena @ Fancy That … Fancy This
Katie @ Health for the Whole Self
Christie @ Honoring Health
Tou Tou @ Light Delight with TouTou
Aletheia @ La Fille Naturelle
Melinda @ Nutrition Food Travel and More
Kristen @ The Swanky Dietitian
Lynn & Christy @ The Actor’s Diet
Christina @ Dinner at Christina’s
Gina @ The Candid RD
Super Gal @ The Empty Nut Jar
Samantha @ Bikini Birthday
Emma @ Midget Keeper Daily
Lauren @ Health on the Run
Nicole @ PreventionRD
Once again, don’t feel the need to participate if you don’t want to 🙂
Have a wonderful beginning of your week, everyone!
Q: Do you like tofu? What is your favorite way to cook it?
oh my goodness…i was just drooling over your oats and tofu concoction…and then I noticed my name…i am having a bad night – and this was so so so sweet of you Jessie. I love your blog also!
Much nicer than mine, for certain.
Thank you. And yes I do like tofu…never tried it your way…so many different ways toexperiment!
Thanks for the love! You’re awesome.
Lol at you using panko bread crumbs in your oatmeal. Things like that happen to me all the time. I lost my mind once I had kids.
Is it weird that panko bread crumbs sound kinda good to me on top of oatmeal?? 😉
I’m so very honored to receive this award from someone as sunshiney and lovely as YOU!! Thanks for thinkin of me sweet girl, love ya!!
Aw, thanks for the award, Jessie! So honored! >.<
Haha, do I like tofu? What a thing to ask….no, I really detest tofu, but if it's marinated well enough, I can tolerate it okay.
Thank you so much for the sunshine award – you’re too sweet :-).
I love tofu although I’ve never actually cooked with it, just eaten it as a salad topper at my college cafeteria. Your tofu bites look delish though!
your tofu recipe looks really good – that combo in the sauce sounds perfect. thanks so much for the award too – means a lot!
Those tofu bites sound amazing. I have been looking for ways to spice up my tofu, I can’t wait to try this!
Congrats on the awards!
I have had tofu and I like it! I like it seared, grilled, and I used to have this recipe that was good with eggplant and balsamic vinegar!
Congrats on the awards and thank you!!
That tofu looks so good. I tried five spice powder ages ago and honestly, didn’t really like it but my tastes have really changed since then and I have been thinking a lot about giving it another try. This looks like the perfect recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the award chica and congrats on receiving it! You so deserve it, your posts always put a HUGE smile on my face.
I can just see you pouring panko on your oats thinking it was coconut. Mainly because I can see myself doing the exact same thing. Way to live on the wild side though. You let me know how that black pepper goes.
Oh I will, Joanne, I will …
Sorry to hear about your breadcrumb oatmeal disaster — but I have to say, it’s kind of hilarious (and similar to pouring OJ in your cereal instead of milk! ;))
The tofu recipe looks delicious!! I actually really like tofu in all forms, but my favorite way to make it is to actually drain/freeze it first and then (defrost) sautee it in a little EVOO and balsamic. It really soaks up the flavor that way!
And finally — thank you SO MUCH for saying you love my blog!! It really means a lot to have you say that (and literally made my morning)!!! …especially since I love yours 🙂
Also…why do I somehow always put the weirdest smiley faces on your blog!?! What is that first face doing and how did it get there?? haha I have no idea….
I’ve never thought of freezing the tofu first – how clever!
i love cubing my tofu as well.. and then i like to put it in the oven on some parchment paper.. brown it up a bit. i love how tiny u get ur tofu cubes tho.. its like a soy rubix cube (not sure if spelling is right)
aweee i hate it when i accidently pour the wrong thing on food.. or if the spice jar lid cap falls off mid pour haha.
i once thought the sage seasoning was cinnamon. smoothie didnt work out so well!! haha xoxo <3
Why hello, hello. Lovely Jessie. (Those two sentences were punctuated separately so as to mimic how I would actually enunciate the phrase out loud if I were speaking in person, but are not actually representative of their grammatical sense.)
In other words, THANK YOU FOR THE HONOUR. I am, indeed, very honoured. I happen to think the same thing about your blog. 🙂
As for Tofu – I’ll eat tofu in almost any and all contexts. Sometimes I even eat it plain and raw. But I’m also disgusting and have poor-smelling feet during exam season. So take your pick. HARRRR.
I loooove your blog too 😀
Congrats on your awards, dear! You definitely deserve all of them, and I don’t just mean these but every award out there. You’re one of the most sincere people I’ve met in the blogosphere and I’m so glad I found your blog. I absolutely love reading your posts! It really means a lot to me to get an award from you. Thank you so much Jessie, you’ve made my week! 😀
Okay too funny with the breadcrumbs thing. Sounds like something I woulda done except I probably would’ve taken a bite (or two) ;-P I’m sure it was quite early in the morning so I understand. Don’t worry, you’re still on my top bloggers list 😉
I’m actually not a huge fan of tofu but if done the right way it sure can taste yummy. Yours looks and sounds delicious. I’m going to give that a try this week since I think I have all the ingredients. I’ll let you know how it turns out. Thanks for sharing, luv. Hope you have a wonderful week 😀
Lmao at your oatmeal mistake! I do stuff like that all the time and I’m sure I’ll be a certifiable dotty old bird by the time I’m 50.
I don’t mind tofu in say miso soup, but I never cook with it. Hubby won’t touch it with a ten foot pole so I never bother trying.
Congrats on your awards!
Congrats on your awards, and thanks for passing it along!!! I absolutely love following your healthy adventures! 🙂
I’m a huge tofu fan – I love it baked or pan-fried. This week I’m trying out a new recipe for BBQ tofu sandwiches!
I love tofu! I know this is not the healthiest but I think it tastes the best when fried in pad thai 🙂
Have you ever bought the pre-cubed tofu? You seem to have mastered the craft of cubing it, but personally I find it so much easier when it’s already cubed up!
I’ve seen it, but never tried it. I guess I like the cubing process 🙂
your tofu looks great! i like to bake it with some BBQ sauce 🙂 great awards!
I’ve never ever made any tofu dishes at home but I hope I’ll get enough courage to do it soon, because the dishes I’ve seen in blog world look so good 🙂
Thank you for the award. I am glad you love my blog. Yours rocks too! I am not sure I have ever put anything wacky in my cereal that doesn’t belong, but maybe I did. Hmm, maybe I did and never realized it. I have done sugar instead of salt or salt instead of sugar.
I like tofu with soba noodles, Trade Joes makes a really good dish with these.
I like my tofu how you made it – crunchy, flavorful bites!
Thanks for loving my blog! I am always excited when I get a shout out! Yours is definitely one I have come to enjoy as well!
Thanks for the tips on how to slice tofu. It’s funny cause my squares never turn out all that well.
This recipe looks great. I have been cooking with tofu more and more. It is so tasty!
How funny with the panko…definitely sounds like something I would do first thing in the morning! 🙂 That tofu looks delicious!
Congrats on your awards!
Jessie,
Your awards are more than well deserved. I have enjoyed reading your blog. I love your tofu post. Maybe this weekend I will post a tofu dish, hope you will check it out. Cheers!
Thank you, hunnie 🙂 I’m flattered 🙂 I lurrrrve your blog, too!!!
And that tofu looks UHHHmazing!!!
Your tofu looks delicious! My favourite way to cook tofu is to bake it so I think your recipe is perfect!
I love when its crispy. I usually follow some of the recipes in the Veganomicon cookbook or try to do my own thing (which often doesn’t come out very well because I’m a spaz in the kitchen).
Awww thank you so much! THat’s so sweet of you. 🙂