Tofu Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients

1 pkg extra firm organic tofu, cut into 1/4" cubes
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
2 c. chopped carrot
1 T. jalapeno pepper, minced
1 T. ginger root, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 head of iceberg lettuce

Directions
1. Mix jalapeno, ginger root, garlic, and olive oil.
2. Warm jalapeno mixture in a wok or frying pan as you would regular oil for frying.
3. Fry tofu until golden brown on most sides, it takes about 10 minutes.
4. Add bell pepper and carrot to pan, saute briefly.
5. Mix soy sauce and brown sugar, add all or desired amount to pan.
5. Once soy sauce mixture warms, serve on leaves of lettuce.

Comment: We are not big tofu fans or anything, especially my husband. But this meal is so tasty and the tofu is cut small enough that the texture doesn't bother us. Plus it is by far the healthiest meal we make. Each serving is only about 269 calories and VERY nutritious. The only thing that gets you is the brown sugar.

If you absolutely can't use tofu, we've had it with chicken and it tastes good too. Just costs more and doesn't give you as much nutritional value.

Grape Salad

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese

1/2 c. sour cream

1/4-1/2 c. powdered sugar

1 (8 oz.) container Cool Whip

about 2 lb. seedless grapes (I like a combo of red and green)

chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Combine the cream cheese, sour cream and powdered sugar until creamy. Fold in the Cool Whip. Gently fold in the grapes and nuts, if desired. Chill until ready to serve.

Notes: I don't know the exact amount of grapes we use, we just kindof keep throwing them in until we feel like there are enough. I use about 1 1/2 - 2 bags of grapes. But this recipe makes a lot of cream mixture and you want plenty of grapes, so that the cream mixture is really just enough to coat the grapes, rather than being an excessively creamy salad, if that makes sense. We actually added more grapes to the salad in the picture because we felt like there weren't enough in it.

Also, we only had red grapes for the salad in the picture, but I like it with both red and green grapes for a variety in the color. And the nuts will give it a little extra crunch and texture.

Mexican Rice

Ingredients

2 c. long grain rice
8 oz. tomato sauce
4 c. water
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. each salt and pepper
dash cumin
1/2 onion chopped
1/2 bell pepper chopped
1/4 c. cooking oil

Directions

1. In a skillet brown rice in oil.
2. Add onion and pepper.
3. Saute well.
4. Add water, sauce, and spices.
5. Bring to a boil.
6. Cover and simmer until water is reduced, like cooking regular rice.

This makes a lot of rice, so for just 2 people I would cut the recipe in half.

Chicken Enchiladas

We had our neighbor over for dinner last night to make his mom's enchiladas, that he claimed were the best. And they were! So here's the recipe...


Ingredients

1 3/4 c. sour cream
1/2 c. chopped green onion
1/3 c. minced cilantro
1 TBSP. minced jalepeno
1 tsp. cumin
1 TBSP. Olive Oil (for cooking the chicken)
12 oz. chicken, cut into 3"x 1" strips
1 tsp. garlic
8 flour tortillas
cheddar cheese
chunky salsa

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Spray a 13"x 9" pan with pam.
3. In a bowl mix the sour cream, green onion, cilantro, jalepeno, and cumin.
4. Cook chicken and garlic oil.
5. Divide chicken and sour cream mixture onto the 8 tortillas.
6. Sprinkle cheese on top.
7. Cover with foil and cook for 30 minutes.
8. Spoon salsa down middle and serve.

I suggest serving this with mexican rice. I'll post a good recipe for that too.