Tofu Friday

Since it was just the girls and I tonight (no husband for dinner), we ate leftovers and did a good job of cleaning out the fridge.  So, I've decided to show you our Friday dinner instead.  Once again, I was looking for something to make on a Friday night other than pizza, so we went with tofu!  I don't cook it often, but when I do, I do like it...I'm really not sure why it gets such a bad rap. It wasn't my favorite recipe (so I'm not going to share it with you), but basically it was a tofu and veggie stir fry.  You can really make it up yourself and add whatever veggies and sauces you like best. The girls were a little skeptical at first, but when I told E that Kai-Lan (from the cartoon) loves bok choy, she gave it a try (even though she didn't quite believe me).  Luckily, a few days later on TV we saw a short clip of Kai-Lan picking bok choy!  What luck!  It's great when my little white lies actually pan out!  Oh, and it didn't hurt that I shaped the rice in a heart shaped cookie cutter...she went straight for the rice when I put it on the table.  :)  Can't go wrong with a good old fashioned cookie cutter.

Tofu Bento - tofu stir fry with bok choy and carrots, white rice (heart shaped), pear slices, craisins

Kids Cook - Eve's Sweet and Sour Chicken!

My daughters cook and bake with me all the time, but I've never given them very much responsibility other than dumping, stirring, etc.  So when we fount a kids cookbook at the library (called Mom and Me Cookbook by Annabel Karmel), Eve was pretty excited to become the "chef."  I basically only cut up the chicken, did the reading (and handing her the right measuring spoons), and the actual cooking on the stove.  Other than that, she did everything by herself...from making the batter for the chicken, the sauce, breaking up the veggies into smaller bite sized pieces, and dipping the raw chicken into the batter before cooking.  Here's a picture of the girls snapping the baby corn and green beans in half.

They loved doing the work and Eve was so proud of what she had accomplished!  I was skeptical of the recipe only because it was so simple, but it actually tasted really good!  We will definitely be making this again!

Eve's Sweet and Sour Chicken Bento - sweet and sour chicken, baby carrots, baby corn, green beans, white rice, and apple stars on the side