Wednesday, April 4, 2012

It Looks Like Spring

But it's still pretty cold outside up here in the Mountains!  We are still enjoying evening fires and Craig says it has to get warmer before he is ready to start the "outside" work!


On the "inside" work, he has completed work on one of three bathrooms.  The other two will come after a long summer of outside jobs.  


Not much happening with the RV.  I did firm up our plans for the Crater lake trip, and made reservations at the Shingletown KOA for the week we will be down near Lassen National Park. 


 I first made a mistake in booking a one night stop over at the Burney Falls State park. I had looked at the reservation sight several times and was under the impression there were no sites big enough for the Alfa, but then I found one. Unfortunately it was a handicap site and I didn't notice that until after I had confirmed the reservation.  OOPS, I called right away, but still got stuck with a cancellation fee.  Lesson learned.  Look at everything twice when you find something to good to be true! 


 I guess we will just be driving up to Burney Falls one of the days we are at Shingletown.  We will have the Prius with us.


On the food front, I've slipped a couple of times.  I remind myself no one is perfect and building new habits that will be good for me for the rest of my life.
I just get so bummed when I hit a plateau like I have for the last week or so.


I am excited about a new dressing/dip recipe that I have been making.  I'm sure all my Vegan  friends know all about silken tofu, but it was new to me.  Silken tofu is sold in water packages next to the firm tofu in the cold case of the grocery stores. I see that it is also sold in "shelf stable" boxes which would be great to have along in the RV when you can't get to a grocery!


The following is a recipe for a very basic salad dressing.  I made half at a time because I don't like to keep things mixed in the refrigerator for very long. It is a "basic" recipe and you could easily add more or other spices or even add tomato and relish for a Thousand Island style dressing.

Ingredients

  • Ingredients:
  • 6 ounces silken tofu (or soft tofu, drained) (comes in 
  • a box)

  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

  • 1 tablespoon canola oil

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper

  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley (I used dried)

  • 1 clove garlic, chopped

  • 1 1/2 tablespoons cider vinegar

Directions

  1. Instructions:
  2. Combine all ingredients in a blender container. Blend until well mixed.



The first time I made it we tried it as a veggie dip.  I guess we were hungry, because between Craig and I we did in a whole small head of fresh cauliflower! At that time I thought the dressing was a bit thin and would have been better as a salad dressing than as a dipping dressing.  I did save the little that was left over and used it on a salad a few days later and it was still good.


I made a second batch with the remaining tofu a few days later.  This time I added a Tablespoon of Chia seeds and put it in the refrigerator over night. The dressing became a nice thick dip!




I had never heard of Chia Seeds before last week, except for when they are spread over a funny sculpture to grow a "Cha- Cha -Cha- Chia pet!  


They are very high in fiber, 5 grams per tablespoon, and can be added to things like breads or smoothies.  If you mix them into a liquid, and let them stand for awhile, they expand into a jelly like substance with  little seeds inside.  This is what thickened the dressing.


By the way, do not mix Chia seeds, almond milk and blueberries in a blender and pour it into little cups, expecting to get a  nice "Chia pudding."  The resulting concoction is not visually pleasing. The blueberries turn gray.  







11 comments:

  1. Shingletown to Burney Falls is an easy day trip. I think you would have been a tight squeeze in the park.

    Sounds like your plans are coming together for a fun trip!

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  2. the dressing looks good - I'll try it tomorrow. It is hard to make these changes for life and there are sure to be slip ups...

    I got a can of black bean refried beans today - no added fat, organic - I think it will be a good dip for whole wheat pita chips, or celery. And its easy to keep in the camper.

    I've used the shelf stable tofu and find them VERY handy!

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  3. Getting a house ready is a big pain as we both know..

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  4. You will enjoy Burney Falls as a day trip. We always try to stop there when we're driving to Reno to see Donna's family there. Hat Creek and Burney Falls are both part of our travel plans whenever we take that trip. We'll look forward to your photos after you've been there.

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  5. Hmm, shelf-stable tofu? I've never seen it. Is it usually near other soy products, like the shelf-stable milks?

    So, the chia seeds sort of gel up? Flaxseeds do that, too, which is probably what makes them a good sub for eggs in baking.

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  6. Just had a bad visual of chia seeds growing on your animal heads - sorry - you said Ch-cha chia pets and I just couldn't stop the image!!

    If you are driving the rig to Burney Falls, be careful. Not a lot of room in the parking lot for big rigs, especially in the summer when it gets busy. Forgot - are you taking the Prius? Would be a great trip in the car.

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  7. I've never tried Tofu. Thanks for the tip on the Chia and Blueberries.

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  8. Sounds like a good recipe. We are trying tofu tomorrow - Asian Stirfry w/tofu. I'll let you know how it goes!

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  9. the tofu dressing looks good. I used to eat a lot of it but have gotten away from it lately. I guess I need to get some tofu.

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  10. Merikay, your dressing / dip sounds interesting. We haven't yet been interested enough in tofu to actually buy some, so maybe this will encourage us. Tuesday night we learned about a green smoothie that we will be trying. If we like what we come up with, maybe we'll put the recipe in our blog. Have fun on your way to Crater Lake. Last time we visited Burney Falls, I was trapped in some rocks while photographing a beautiful tiger lily. Had an immense goose egg on my shin when I got back to the car!

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  11. Looks like a great recipe, I've never used the Chia seeds in fact just recently learned about them.

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