Have I Told You I Love Peanut Butter?

Today after work Bridget and I did the same routine we did yesterday. She picked me up at the train station, I ran to her car, we drove to the gym, then attended two classes.

The first class was Kickboxing, which included all of your basic kickboxing moves plus others that were a bit more challenging. Overall, I thought the class was pretty good, although it was not as challenging as I would have liked.

Following Kickboxing, I took my favorite Group Power class, which kicked my behind. Holy soreness tomorrow! Gotta love the burn.

When we got home we were both starving, so we cooked up some salmon and I stirfryed some veggies.

My creation...

Asparagus, zucchini (so good right now), carrots, and red bell pepper. I seasoned the veggies with some onion powder, garlic powder, and lots of peppa'.

I decided to put barbecue on my salmon and oh my gosh it was awesome! I love barbecue sauce and I live for fish so that's a double win.

The salmon was baked perfectly. Lots of flakiness going on, and it also had a really buttery texture. Perfection.

***

Enough of dinner, lets get on to the good stuff.  Remember today when I promised to make something for you all? Well, I never let go of promises, so make something I did!

Any guesses?

Nope, you guessed wrong. I decided on homemade cinnamon raisin swirl peanut butter. I am obsessed with PB and Co.'s Cinnamon Raisin Swirl. If you haven't tried it, then your not truly living. You must get your hands on a jar now, I mean like tomorrow.

Anyway, I came up with the following recipe and it turned out very yummy!

Homemade Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Peanut Butter

Ingredients:
1 cup peanuts (I used salted, whatever you prefer)
2/3 cup Raisins
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
1 tsp. Agave (honey, cane sugar, and maple syrup would also be yummy options)
1 1/2 tbsp. Olive oil (any oil will work here)

Directions:
Add peanuts to food processor and blend until creamy (about 3-4 minutes). Stream in the olive oil, cinnamon and agave. If you like your peanut butter more or less creamy, add more oil as needed. Transfer peanut butter to container and fold in the raisins. Eat spoonfuls and spoonfuls!


Confession: I did not fold in the raisins, I put them in the food processor where they became chopped liver. If you want plump, whole raisins in your peanut butter you must fold them in.

Voila!

Cinnamony, raisony, creamy peanut butter. Yes, those are made up words.  I may even call this recipe killer. Maybe, like I said, killer is a strong word. I suggest you go make this now, so you can live a happier life! Seriously, though.

Tofu Love

Hello, everyone! Hope you had a fantastic day. Mine went by surprisingly fast, but I was glad to be outta there when 5 o'clock came around.

Earlier in the day, I decided to take a 7 o'clock spin class. I wanted an instructed workout and I knew spinning would kick me in the behind. However, this meant that I had to run home from the train station, quickly eat something, change, and boogie out the door. My train gets in at 6:32 or so, so I was in quite the hurry.

Anyway, I made it and completely an hour of spinning! During some parts I thought I was gonna die, puke, or faint. But, hey, I made it! I always tell myself that pain is only temporary.

Dinner
Tonight for dinner I decided to use of the other half of tofu from last night. However, I wanted to put a different spin on it, insert broiled tofu.

Have you ever had the baked tofu at Whole Foods? If so, you know that it's really, really firm and the outer part is almost crunchy. Well, its my absolute favorite so I tried to recreate it tonight. I would say I was successful.

Ingredients:

• 1 serving of organic firm or extra firm tofu
• Rice wine vinegar
• Low sodium teriyaki sauce
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Ground peppercorn

Directions:

• Turn oven on to high broil
• Foil a baking sheet and spray with non-stick cooking spray
• Place tofu on baking sheet and cover with 2 tbsp. reduced sodium teriyaki sauce, 1 tbsp. rice wine vinegar, 1 tsp. garlic powder, 1 tsp. onion powder, and ground peppercorn to taste
• Stick in oven for 13-15 minutes until desired firmness  
• Take out of oven and enjoy!

Although the tofu was not as firm as I would have liked it (I bought firm instead of extra firm), it was still pretty broiled and had a firm texture. I  added some extra teriyaki sauce to my plate to dip the tofu in, as the flavor seemed to disappear once I put it in the oven. Don't know why this happened??

On the side, I sauteed diced red bell pepper, zucchini, and chopped carrots. I sauteed them in a little bit of olive oil, sriracha (spicy!!), pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and red pepper flakes. T'was delicious!

I also had a side salad with spring mix and balsamic vinegar (x2). Also x2 on the veggies, yum.

I'm off to watch Pretty Little Liars. I can't wait to see what dramatic events will unfold this week, there's always somethin'. Tomorrow is an off day so I'm hoping to gym it, relax, maybe bake, or even see a movie. We shall see! Good night. xx

Pump It Up

Hello all! Hope everyone had a good day. I think I can definitely say that I did, despite the lack of work for me today at the office. What's new.

Ever since the company I intern for, OK! Magazine, got bought out by another company, they have not had much for me to do since the employees themselves are still trying to learn the new rules, people, and environment. So what I have come to do all day is read. Yes, read for six or seven hours of my workday, and I am definitely not complaining.

Today after work, I had plans to attend a Group Power class. So I rushed home, obviously my train was late, and quickly ate an apple with peanut butter. I sample four different kinds and finally decided that my favorite peanut butter is Wild Harvest organic. Holy yum!

After Group Power, which by the way kicked my a**, I came home to prepare dinner. I had been thinking about it all day, so I was very anxious. On the menu tonight was a tofu scramble.

Tofu Scramble

Ingredients:

• half a block of organic, firm tofu (I used Nasoya)
• 1 stalk of broccoli
• 1 red bell pepper
• half a zucchini
• 2 tbsp. or more of reduced sodium teriyaki sauce
• 1/8 tsp. ground ginger 
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• black pepper to taste
• red pepper flakes to taste

Directions:

• Place the block of tofu in a tofu press or between two paper towels or plates, and put something heavy on top of the plate or towel to rid excess water from the tofu. This will make the tofu extra firm
• Chop the zucchini, broccoli, and red bell pepper into desired size
• Cut the block of tofu in half, since this recipe only calls for one serving 
• Dice the tofu and place all ingredients into a greased pan on medium heat. I used Pam
• After the veggies and tofu start to sizzle, add the teriyaki sauce, ground ginger, garlic powder, black pepper, and red pepper flakes
• Cover the skillet and let cook for about ten minutes. Check occasionally to make sure nothing is burning 
• If you want the veggies to be more or less steamed, adjust the heat or allow the dish to cook for a few minutes longer
• Enjoy!

This dish was not only so easy and fast to make, but it was really good! I haven't had tofu in awhile and it definitely made me remember why I like it so much. This dinner is perfect if your pressed for time and need a quick, easy, and healthy dinner.

Look how firm the tofu is?! I think I need to invest in a tofu press soon. You can add whatever veggies, seasonings, and sauces you want to this recipe, the options are endless! I used what I had on hand, but I can imagine onions, sugar snap peas, water chestnuts, or corn would work well in this dish as well.

Well, I hope you give this recipe a try, it definitely will not dissapoint. I am off to take a much needed shower and then hop in bed. I am thinking of taking a 5:45 am spin class tomorrow morning, so I better boogie to bed or I will probably bail when my alarm goes off tomorrow. We shall see. G'night!