Tag Archives: lunch

Fourth of July/Memorial Day, Lunch, Memorial Day, Recipes, Vegetarian

BBQ Tofu – A Vegetarian Memorial Day Recipe (GF, V, DF)

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As we are getting ready for Memorial Day, it is tough being a vegetarian when the holiday focuses on eating grilled meat. Or is it really that tough?

Today I’m bringing you a quick and easy recipe for Barbecue Tofu. You can enjoy the tastes of barbecue while staying plant based. Win-Win.

Here is what you need:
  • Pressed, firm tofu – Since I’m new to cooking tofu, here is the method of how to press tofu.
  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Avocado Oil
  • Salt and Pepper
  • Garlic Salt or Powder, Trader Joe’s Seasoning Salt, or Penzey’s Galena Street Rub
  • Your Favorite BBQ sauce

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BBQ Tofu

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Ingredients

  • Pressed, firm tofu
  • 1 Tbsp. Extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • Garlic Salt or Powder, Trader Joe’s Seasoning Salt, or Penzey’s Galena Street Rub, to taste
  • ¼ c. bbq sauce


Directions

  1. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat.
  2. In the meantime, cut the tofu into 32 rectangles.
  3. Gently add the tofu to the skillet. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and other spice blend.
  4. Allow the tofu to cook for 5 minutes. Flip.
  5. Sprinkle the other side with the spices. Cook for additional 3 to 5 minutes.
  6. Remove from the skillet. Place in a bowl. Pour the bbq sauce over the tofu. Stir until all the tofu is covered with sauce.
  7. Enjoy!



My favorite BBQ sauce is Carolina Gold. Yum!

Have a bemagical day,
Traci

condiments, Gluten Free, Recipes, Vegetarian

Cashew Cream (GF, V, DF, W30, Vegan)

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Cashew Cream

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 1 c. raw cashews
  • 3/4 c. filtered water
  • salt, to taste

Directions

  1. Soak the cashews for 2 hours.  (Place the cashews in a bowl and then cover with water.)
  2. Drain.
  3. Add the cashews, filtered water, and salt to a blender.
  4. Blend until smooth.
  5. Store in the fridge.  Use within 4 to 5 days.

Happy eating,
Traci

Recipe source

Gluten Free, Lunch, Recipes

Pickled Red Onions (GF, V, DF, W30)

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Pickled Red Onions

Ingredients

  • 1 & 1/2 c. thinly sliced red onion
  • 3 Tbsp. white sugar (omit if Whole30)
  • 1 & 1/2 Tbsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. peppercorns
  • 1 c. white vinegar

Directions

  1. Thinly slice the red onion. Place in glass mixing bowl.
  2. Combine the sugar, salt, peppercorns in a small sauce pot.
  3. Add the vinegar and stir until the sugar and salt are dissolved.
  4. Put the a lid on the pot. Bring the vinegar mixture to boil over high heat.
  5. Once the mixture has boiled, pour the vinegar over the onion. Make sure the onion is submerged.
  6. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.
  7. Place in a mason jar and then store in the fridge for 3 to 4 weeks.

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I enjoyed it on egg salad.
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After adding the boiling mixture

Happy eating,
Traci

Gluten Free, Lunch, Recipes

Egg Salad (GF, V, DF, W30)

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Egg Salad

Egg Salad

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 8 hard boiled eggs, peeled and diced into small pieces (pressure cooker, oven)
  • 2 Tbsp. mustard
  • 1/4 c. mayo
  • 2 tsp. paprika
  • 1/4 c. chopped sweet pickles plus 1 Tbsp. pickle juice, optional

Directions

  1. Combine the eggs, mustard, mayo, paprika, and pickles, if using the pickles.
  2. Allow flavors to marinade for about 1/2 hour.
  3. Enjoy with crackers, on bread, or on a lettuce leaf.
  4. Use within 3 to 5 days.

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Happy eating,
Traci

Chicken, chicken 1, Lunch, Recipes, Sandwiches

Fruity Chicken Salad

3 Comments

I’ve had this recipe in my files but hadn’t shared it with you.  If you make the crockpot chicken or buy a rotisserie chicken, you can use the left over chicken to make this delicious chicken salad.

When I made this chicken salad, I shared some with my mother-in-law.  She also loved this chicken salad.  She especially loved the addition of the dried cherries.

It’s good as on a bun or eaten with crackers.  It would also be good just eaten with a fork.

Fruity Chicken Salad

Fruity Chicken Salad

Adapted from Add a Pinch

Stars of the recipe:

  • 1 pound or 2 c. cooked chicken chopped or shredded
  • 1 c. chopped celery
  • 1 c. red grapes, halved or quartered depending on the size of the grapes
  • 1/2 c. dried cherries or cranberries
  • 1/2 c. chopped pecan pieces
  • 1 c. mayo (I use an olive oil based mayo.)
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Steps:

  1. Add all the ingredients to a large bowl.
  2. Mix to combine.
  3. Enjoy with crackers or on a bun!.

Happy eating,
Traci

 

Recipes

Sloppy Joes

16 Comments

A few years ago, I got this easy recipe from Menus4Moms.  This is a family favorite.  I think the Imaginative One loves it because it combines two of his favorite foods – hamburgers and ketchup.  The reason I like the recipe is because of its ease.  Since I work all day and then come home to cook, I need recipes that come together easily.

Without further ado, the recipe:

Ingredients:

  • 2 pounds of ground beef – I usually half this recipe and do only one pound of ground beef.
  • 1/2 cup of chopped onion
  • 1/2 cup of chopped green pepper
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 2 tsp prepared yellow mustard – Shh!  I usually put more in.  I am the only one who likes mustard so this is our little secret that I put more in there.
  • 1 and 1/2 cup of ketchup
  • 1 Tbsp. and 2 tsp. of brown sugar – That is 6 tsp. of brown sugar.
  • salt and pepper to taste

Steps:

  1. In a skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef, onion, and green pepper; drain off liquids.
  2. Stir in the next 4 ingredients; mix thoroughly.
  3. Reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes.
  4. Season with salt and pepper.

This recipe is linked up to Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

Recipes

Homemade pizza

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For the longest time, the Imaginative One would not even touch a piece of pizza. A few weeks ago, he decided he needed to see if his taste buds had changed. He discovered that he does like cheese pizza so that makes meal planning easier because I know he will eat it if I make it. In the past, he would eat something different if we had pizza.

The sauce:

Pizza Sauce

Homemade Pizza Sauce

  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

– a small can of tomato paste

– 1 Tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil

– 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water

– 1 Tbsp. of sugar

– salt to taste

– Italian Seasoning (or 21 Seasoning Salute from Trader Joe’s) again to taste

– garlic powder again to taste

Directions

  1. Open up can of tomato paste and put it a small bowl.
  2. Put the EVOO, sugar, and seasonings into the bowl. Pour water into the bowl.
  3. Stir up the tomato paste, EVOO, seasonings, sugar, and water.

That’s it. It’s very easy to make. You can put more or less water in it depending on how thin you like your sauce to be. You put how much seasonings you would like in it depending on your taste buds.

Quick Pizza Crust:
(I got the recipe from Mommy’s Kitchen. When I made this on Saturday, I wanted a simple pizza crust for our pizza. This recipe fit the bill. It was easy to make and was tasty. The only change I would make is adding some Italian seasoning to the crust so that it would have a little more flavor. Other then that, I wouldn’t change a thing.)

Homemade Pizza Crust

  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 1 & 1/4 oz packet of yeast (2 1/4 tsp. of yeast)
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 Tbsp. oil (vegetable or olive) – I used EVOO.
  • 2 & 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons cornmeal – optional for sprinkling on cookie sheet

Directions

  1.  Dissolve yeast in warm water and add sugar. Let yeast sit about 10 minutes (you want it good and foamy).
  2. Stir in remaining ingredients until blended. Beat vigorously 20 strokes. I removed the dough from the bowl and kneaded it until it was no longer sticky.
  3. Place the dough in a greased bowl, turning dough to coat all sides and then allow the dough to rest for at least five minutes.
  4. Preheat oven to 425, spread dough onto a lightly greased baking sheet sprinkled with corn meal (optional)
  5. Top with desired toppings and bake for 20 minutes This makes 1 – 14 inch pizza.

My hubby who works in the pizza business and has for the past twenty years said the pizza was pretty good. That is a compliment coming from him. Both of the boys liked it. We’ll use this pizza crust recipe again.
This is what the 21 Seasoning Salute looks like.