I decided to use some of the tofu I bought a couple of weeks ago. Both packages expire within days of each other and their time is about up. One will be frozen and one was cooked today. I haven't made a tofu scramble in a year or so and thought it would be a perfect "brunch" item for me.
From my container garden ... yellow pear tomatoes, banana pepper, poblano pepper, red tomatoes, and jalapeno peppers. |
My poblano pepper plant. |
I microwaved a couple of russet potatoes, peeled them, diced them, and then browned them in a couple of teaspoons of canola oil until they were crispy brown on a couple of sides. I used some of the potatoes to make my son a couple of breakfast burritos. :)
While the potatoes were browning, I chopped up some red and yellow pear tomatoes, a poblano pepper, a sweet onion, and my vegan sausage. My tofu had already been squeezed in my Tofu Xpress (love that thing) for about an hour, so all I had to do was crumble it.
I sauteed the sausage, onion, pepper, and potatoes (again!) for a couple of minutes before I added a few spices (chile powder, cumin, garlic powder, oregano, and Kala Namak also called black salt). I stirred it all up, then added the tofu, some nooch, water, lime juice, and Cholula Chipolte hot sauce. I let it cook for about 10 minutes.
To serve, I threw about a tablespoon of Follow Your Heart Mozzarella Shreds and some Herdez Salsa Verde. It was quite tasty. Probably cheddar or monterey jack shreds would have been better than mozzarella, but that's all I had.
Here are the ingredients and measurements I used.
1 medium potato (microwaved, peeled and diced)
1 teaspoon canola oil
Saute the potato until browned and crispy on a couple of sides in a big skillet.
4 small vegan breakfast sausages, diced (was about a cup total)
1 small sweet onion, diced
1 poblano pepper, seeded, veins removed, and diced
Add diced sausages, onion, and pepper to skillet. Saute a few more minutes (2 or 3).
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon chipolte chile powder
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
1/2 teaspoon or so Kala Namak (black salt ... I found it locally and it was pretty cheap)
1/2 teaspoon regular salt
pepper to taste
Sprinkle spices over sausage mixture. Then immediately add the following to the skillet:
crumbled tofu (14 oz. package firm tofu, pressed and crumbled)
1-2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon Cholula Chipolte Sauce
Cook on low for about 10 minutes. Add 1 cup diced tomato and cook for a few more minutes.
Serve with salsa, avocado, fresh chopped tomatoes, vegan cheese shreds ... whatever toppings you like on your southwestern dish. This would be excellent as a breakfast burrito filling.
OK, now onto my foster pups. I began volunteering for a rescue group, It's a Pittie Rescue (Chicago, IL area) on April 7, 2012, which was Easter weekend. I started by going to their boarding facility and walking the dogs. One dog I walked was Gumbo or Gumbino as he was known to our family.
Gumbo, Kobe, and Jordan in September 2012. |
Gumbo wore worry on his face sometimes. It was a product of the hard life he had lived. September 2012. |
Frost LOVES laying in the sun. He regularly sunned himself on the deck. This was in June 2013. |
Frost is an extremely handsome, make that beautiful American Bulldog mix. I picked up Frost on Halloween 2012. We fostered him until August 21, 2013, almost 10 months. Frost was starved to the point of being a skeleton dog. He was kicked in boarding and his hip was broken and he had to have surgery. This was in February 2012 way before I met him and even before he joined the rescue group. The broken hip was when the rescue group stepped in and took Frost under its wings.
From February 2012 to Halloween 2012, he was fostered by a former official of his rescue group. The woman was wretched to all of the foster dogs in her possession as she kept them all in cages that were too small. She made them stay in the cages for 24 hours a day, only letting them out to go outside to potty, and I'm not even sure how much that happened. She made them eat in their cages and gave them rawhides in the cages. She quit the rescue group and dumped the dogs in her possession at the vet's office on Halloween 2012. It was the absolute best thing she had ever done for the dogs. They were finally free of her torture.
Frost during his first week with us ... skinny and stained from life in a cage. |
August 17, 2013, a couple of days before Frost left ... no more stained paws for this boy! |
August 21, 2013, Frost's last day with us, sunning himself on the deck. |
Sadora, now Keegan - June 29, 2013 |
Nacho Libre - August 31, 2013 |
I am already thinking ahead and have offered to foster a couple of puppies. They were born on July 13, 2013 and are a rottie/shepherd/chow mix. I think I'll be getting them on September 13, 2013. I don't expect them to last long here, either. Puppies go fast. But, I'll keep fostering. Fostering and adoption saves lives. I'm giving back and I feel good about it.