The dish that made me like tofu

A year ago if you tried to make me eat tofu I'd either laugh in your face or roll my eyes. The only person that I've ever ate tofu for was Karen. And that was because I was so happy to have her and Ben come visit/help me move/make me dinner I felt it would be rude to admit how much I hated tofu.  (Side apology: Karen/Ben, I'm sorry I didn't like your food two years ago and didn't tell you. I bet you if I ate it now I'd love it!)

Then one day while grocery shopping with Karin a few months back, we decided to be brave for some reason. We looked up tofu recipes on allrecipes.com, found one that sounded not horrible and bought the supplies. And my palate has been forever changed.

Tofu + Onions + Mangos + Cilantro + Spices =

Throw it together over a salad and it's AMAZING!

The reason I will now eat plain baked tofu is because of delicious Mango Tofu Tacos. There are multiple ways to enjoy this dish, these are the ways we've tried:

1) In a wrap with a green salad on the side with tortilla chips and guac as an appetizer

2) In hard tortilla shells, with homemade salsa, and guacamole

3) Over spinach as a salad with homemade salsa, homemade guacamole, baked tortilla shells crunched on the top and a bit of sour cream (as pictured above, except ours is sans the guacamole and more sour cream than usual because it was extremely spicy last night) This tends to be my favourite because you can load up on veggies.

4) Leftovers straight from the container, with a spoon :)

5) Not tested yet, but we want to try this with fish instead of tofu.

It is super easy to make and everyone we've made it for absolutely loves it. If you do decide to try it for yourself.. here is the recipe and here are a few tips:

1) It's easier to buy and cut canned mangos that cut fresh ones. Make sure the ones you buy are canned in water, not juice.

2) If you're using homemade taco seasonings (like we did with last night's dish) add a little at a time and then taste it as you go. It was WAY too spicy for me yesterday, although perfect for Karin, so just spice to taste. We got our homemade taco seasoning recipe here.

3) Firm tofu is best. We started off using the medium, but we found it does get a little more mushy.

4) Do not make if you plan to have Emily Gage over the next day. The mango juices get everywhere and we don't want Emily dead any time soon! :)

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Be Prepared

Today's weigh in just goes to show you never know what the scale is going to do. Even after my week of not so great eating, I managed to lose two pounds!! This happens sometimes with me. I think my body is just loving the consistent healthy eating and exercising, so even when I have "off" weeks my body still sheds the fat. Today's success means I just need to maintain this week to make the 10 lb challenge.. looks like new boots are coming my way! Now that the pressure is off to lose weight and get my $150 back, I feel much more relaxed. That doesn't mean I'm going to go crazy with unhealthy foods and take it easy all week though. This week is about going back to focusing on choosing healthy, nutritious, and yummy foods (which coincidentally usually correlates with losing weight). I'm confident that I will do well this week, largely due to spending a good chunk of my day today prepping over a dozen meals. My fridge and freezer are well stocked and I'm feeling back in the game.

I forgot to take a picture of the final product, but this was the beginning stage of
the  mushroom and quinoa soup  that I can't wait to eat for lunch tomorrow!

I love me some crockpot chili! It takes minutes to put together
and then 6 hours later you have 9 meals ready to go!

I love the "almost gone bad" section of the Root Cellar. $2.99 for a huge bin of strawberries that I will be eating in my smoothies and on my pancakes all week.

Slice 'em and freeze 'em... I haven't had moldy strawberries in a while
thanks to my cookie sheet and deep freezer :) One of the many tricks I've picked up this year.

What's life without treats right? You'll never guess what the main
ingredient is in these yummy brownies!

Black Bean Brownies.. another healthy way to enjoy my chocolate fix :) They tasted better than
I thought they would, which I am super happy about! The closest recipe I could
 find is this one. Michele's recipe replaced the sugar with 1/3 cup agave syrup.
These brownies are also gluten free. (Hey Brea, let's
convince Nana to serve these at the next family party!)

Using my weekend to prep food is really important to me. When I'm in classes and crazy busy, I don't have the time to cook every night. I felt like humming this song from my childhood while I made all my food:


Instead of plotting to kill a king, I'm killing the fat on my body? :) I love that I get to put in just a couple of hours and the result is a week's worth of meals - one of the benefits of cooking for one. I'm also super thankful for my BW group posting a lot of great recipes, because all them so far - super tasty! The week coming up is another tough one - a presentation, a paper, a quiz, a take home test and the hardest of all.. my great grandpa's service. I often memorize quotes to get me through a tough week.. however, this week is more materialistic than philosophical... "Do it for the boots!" I'm going to drink my water, get to my workouts and stick to my pre prepared meals. My emotions are not in control this week, I am.

I've realized though that life is so much easier to get through when I focus on how grateful I am to be where I am and to have the life I have. Not the most eloquent way to express myself, but my brain hurts from all the homework and recipe reading this weekend. I've gone through a lot of emotions lately and while I am not feeling at the top of my game, I know I have what it takes to meet my goals. Both in terms of weight loss and life in general. Great friends, loving family, a supportive BW team, and my own strength and determination. My downs are just as much part of the journey as the ups.

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