Wednesday, September 17, 2008

tofu recipe and a few other things

ok... for anyone that wants it, here's the tofu lasagna recipe.

2 pkgs organic tofu
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (or another, if you like)
approx 10 ripe tomatoes (maybe more or less.. depending on how much sauce you want to make)
6 or 7 large button top mushrooms, finely chopped
1/2 green bell pepper (or more, if you want), finely chopped
tomato paste
1/2 pkg bolognese spice packet
5 garlic cubes (or more.. depending on your taste) - minced
salt & pepper


the tofu i got was about 3x5 in size and it was medium firm. i was making a large casserole dish of it, or i would have gotten only one pkg. so, if you're making for just two, i'd buy only one pkg of tofu and scale down on all the other ingredients.

cut all your tomatoes in half and grate them into a sauce pan. i discard the skin. add the tomato paste... but i'll tell ya, the last time i made sauce, i instead used tomato sauce (a small can of it) and liked it better. didn't irritate my stomach as much. add 1/2 your spice packet, the garlic, cut bell pepper and mushrooms. bring to a boil and then simmer for a good 30 mins or more.

while the sauce is cooking, brown your tofu on both sides until golden brown. the chef on tv didn't have a problem browning her tofu, but mine didn't want to brown, and the 2nd time i made it, i tried regular tofu, which fell apart while i was browning... so i do recommend organic.

after the sauce has cooked, add a nice layer to the bottom of your casserole dish, then put the tofu on top of that. cover w/ the remaining cooked sauce, then top w/ the cheddar cheese - a good amount of it. i also tried adding another cheese and it was good... it was white, but can't remember which.

cook on 180 celcius for about 50 mins. i cooked mine until the cheese was browning and all the ingredients had mixed and it was all bubbly. let cool and eat :)

i hope you guys like it. it's a simple recipe and rather tasty.

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hashim took some great pics of naief today and i'll add a few later. he's changing so fast. more like a little boy now than a toddler. he doesn't kiss me any more on the lips, no matter how much i ask. sometimes i'll sneak one in, but to ask, he'll turn his cheek for me to kiss him there. i guess w/ all the arab style greetings here (on each cheek), that's why... not sure though.

last night he actually let me hold him like a baby and give him a bottle before he went to sleep, and he decided to climb onto my stomach and fall asleep there. he did the same today at his nap time... and, you know, i loved it. pretty soon he'll be a big boy... :( he runs now, and the little booger is fast! if he gets ahold of something that i don't want, it takes forever for me to catch him. he has also started to say, "no" to me, but only sometimes, thank goodness. he mainly will shake his head no or do his index finger back and forth, like i do to him. he usually figures how to unlock my mobile, can and has called ppl (even once calling his daddy when i didn't even know it and was saying, "da da" into the telephone, and tonight started playing music on it and i'm not even sure how he did it. pretty sad that my son knows how to work my phone better than i do!!

the one thing that bothers me is that when i go to change his diaper, he cries, closing his legs tightly together and refuses to let me take his diaper off. once i get it off, then he does the same when i try to put a new one on. for all of you w/ boys... is this par for the course? this doesn't happen every time, but more than i'd like. i wondered if he was having pain or such, or even going to the bathroom at that time, but now that it's happened several times, i've ruled that out. any ideas?? suggestions?? comments??

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one other quicky.... the weather is changing!!!! it's finally cooled off and there's a nice cool breeze blowing tonight... even last night, for that matter. i can hear the windchimes outside and .... it's nice. i'm so happy that the cool weather is coming. you'd think that since i was born in the hot summer, i'd love that weather... but you know, i don't. i hate freezing weather as well... but so love the nice fall type weather we're about to get.

now.. if the skies would clear.. that would be another story! ;)

7 comments:

The Moody Minstrel said...

I think Naief is finally developing the instinctive masculine dislike of changing clothes. ;-)

I'll have to try the tofu lasagne recipe. Thanks!

Christopher said...

That is a good recipe...I will keep it around! How are you doing my dear?

Olivia said...

Ooh I can't keep up with your other new posts!

The weather is changing here too. The sun is slanting lower. Days in the 70s and nights in the 50s-60s. The windows aren't open fully at night either. But the leaves still haven't turned yet.

Um Naief said...

olivia, i wish were had the changing leaves, but since the cool weather is coming, i'll try to be accepting and happy about that. it's not as cool as it is in NY, but it's coming.... hopefully not too long though.. is all i can think.

moody, YES, he hates having his clothes changed. he has since a small baby, but it's getting worse as the days go by... i just hope that once he learns how to do it that it'll get easier.

kissy, i'm doing ok... been stressed lately, so i bought a new book that'll hopefully help me figure things out. it's called Law of Attraction. have you heard of this or read it? i've only just started it and so far, so good... so we'll see if it's the right door for me. :)

how are you? how's life back in the city? i'll come by your blog probably later today to catch up!!

Olivia said...

The Laws of Attraction, my dad keeps telling me about it - it's similar to The Secret.

He says you can attract positive and enriching things to you just by wanting it, etc....

Um Naief said...

The Laws of Attraction was the first book and then The Secret came out. The one thing I'm having a hard time w/ right now is her conversations she has w/ Abraham. Because of the way I was raised, it's hard for me to be open to such.

It's a good book thus far... but the whole out of body thing is a bit weird, but hopefully it'll get better because, yes, it's all about bringing things to you by wanting it.

Christopher said...

You asked about that lipcolour. Since it was a Dior show, it probably was an almost flesh toned lipstick with a lick of pink gloss added to the top of it. A gloss that I have that looks like it and is from M.A.C is their lipglass in Oyster Girl.