Taco-fu and marshmallows, too

So in an effort to get more lean protein in my diet I've totally jumped on the tofu bandwagon, and wow, do I love that stuff. Could eat it all day. Last week Scott wanted tacos for dinner but I didn't want all the calories and fat from ground beef, so I made my own version - taco-fu. It was actually good, assuming you like tofu.

Taco-fu Recipe:
Extra firm tofu
Cooking oil (the lighter the better - you can actually just cook the tofu in the taco seasoning, but I wanted to try the texture of the fried tofu tonight.)
Taco seasoning mix
Tortillas/chips
Fixin's (tomatoes, olives, cheese, lettuce, etc.)

Cut tofu into one-inch (or smaller) cubes. Fill a pan with enough oil to half-cover the tofu cubes, then lightly fry to a light golden color. Pour out the oil. Mix the taco seasoning and put the tofu cubes in - simmer for 5 minutes. Place tofu cubes in tortillas or crumble onto chips, then cover with the fixin's. Enjoy! (If you like tofu. If not, be like everyone else in my family and turn your nose up at it. The dog won't even eat it.)

One other thing I've actually made lately is my friend Breezi's wedding cake. I found a recipe for fondant (the icing-like stuff that smoothly covers a cake - you usually find it on wedding cakes). This stuff is to DIE for and it's SO much fun to make.

Marshmallow Fondant
1 two-pound bag of powdered sugar (C&H works best, but you should sift any brand you use)
2 tbsp water
1 one-pound bag of mini marshmallows
1 cup Crisco shortening (the white kind - the yellow butter-flavor kind makes the color off-white)

Dump the marshmallows and water into a large bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals until melted - stir between each interval. When completely melted, pour 3/4ths of the sugar on top and cover the whole top of the marshmallows (this is so that you have a powdery coating when you dump it onto your kneading surface). Coat your kneading surface with a LOT of Crisco so the marshmallow doesn't stick, then dump the marshmallow/sugar mixture onto the surface. (I use a "Fondant Fun" mat by Wilton, but any flat surface will do.)

This is the messy (and fun!) part. Dig your hands into the Crisco and coat them with it - front, sides, backs, in between fingers, everywhere. Wrists too - this stuff sticks to everything. Squish the stuff over and over between your fingers until you get all the sugar squished in with the marshmallow. Once you have something you can actually manipulate (as opposed to squish) then sprinkle a LOT of powdered sugar on the greased surface and begin kneading it like bread dough. You have to keep lifting it off of the surface and adding powdered sugar or it will stick. Keep kneading until you have a ball that, when rolled out, doesn't tear easily and is smooth. (Sometimes you'll need to add a drop or two of water if you have powdered sugar balls stuck in the fondant - just keep kneading. And don't add too much water - a drop or two should be enough.)

If you aren't ready to put the fondant on the cake right away, coat the ball of fondant with Crisco and wrap it in plastic wrap, then put it in a zip bag. It will stay fresh in the fridge for at least a few weeks. If your cake is cooled and ready, frost it with about a quarter to an eighth of an inch of frosting (I usually use white since it won't change the color of the fondant) so the fondant will stick to the cake. Roll out the fondant to about an eighth of an inch thick. Measure two sides and the top of your cake and add those together, which will tell you how wide to roll the fondant. (Example: an 8 inch wide by 2 inch high cake would be 8 + 2 + 2 or 12 inches wide.) Then place the rolling pin on top of the fondant and pull the fondant on top of it, rolling it as you go along the measured amount. Make sure the side you want ON THE CAKE is the side on which you place the rolling pin. Place the fondant over the cake (can I say "roll" once more? I think I can!) and roll it out so it completely covers the cake.

At this point, use your hands to gently push, pull and prod the fondant into the shape of the cake, using a pizza cutter to remove the excess. Store the excess in your plastic wrap/zip bag combo, and voila! You have a cake that is to DIE for - trust me, this fondant is amazing, and it will NOT be left on the side of the plate like some other fondants.

Here's Breezi's cake:

Love This!

I really can't believe the kinds of things people will do to food. It almost makes me not want to eat cake.

Almost.

Cake Wrecks

I now crown myself MOTY

First words out of Alex's mouth this morning: "Morning, Mom! Can I have my cookie with breakfast?"

An aside, for the moment: I have now figured out a way to get Alex to behave like a normal kid when we go out to dinner. I would suggest drugging him, but that might be illegal. Although I might want to check on that... Anyway, so yesterday my parents kidnapped him and took him to the play area at the BX on base, and we met up with them at the mall where he got to wander around for another almost-two-hours before we met up with our friends Scott and Becky for dinner. Midway through dinner I looked at Alex and realized that I had had almost 20 minutes of straight actual honest-to-god listening to conversation, without having to correct, admonish, remind, ask to sit down, or any other constant nagging of Alex. And I'm thinking, what the hell is wrong with my kid, what did somebody slip into his corndog and can I please get some more of that?

So I grabbed the little snot, gave him a big hug and a kiss, and over his head mouthed to Scott, "What's wrong with him?" The magic formula? ALL DAY EXERCISE AND NO NAP. It can be done! We CAN tire him out! Holy shit, it's only taken us four years to figure it out, but it CAN be done! Unfortunately it's about as good for him as those aforementioned drugs. Dammit.

So back to the cookie. See, last night at dinner, he wanted dessert. He was so quiet and good at dinner, I wanted to stuff sugar down his throat to reward him for it. However, I do have my limits - I didn't want to get dessert because their desserts are huge, and much more sugar than my overtired four-year-old needed in his system at that moment. So I told him we'd get something on the way home. Thinking we'd stop by DQ for a little mini cup of ice cream. But then I realized, NO, DQ is closed for remodeling. So after we got home and I had forgotten about it, he reminded me (after brushing his teeth) that I had promised him dessert. My solution? Because I often forget that my son remembers EVERYTHING (especially involving food)? I told him he could have a cookie with breakfast in the morning. Thinking he would forget. You see how well that worked out for me.

Oh, and then! This morning he went back to preschool for the first time in two weeks. (Mommy was ready for a BREAK. SO NOT CUT OUT FOR STAYING HOME.) And I thought, he hasn't had McDonald's in forever, so I'll get him a special treat for breakfast. Mind you, fast food for Alex involves one item, usually a burger, that's unhealthy, and milk and fruit. My little healthy eater, after I told him we were going to McDonald's, says, "Remember, Mom, I love fruit salads. Don't forget my fruit salad."

He made up for the cookie. :-)