merry thanksgivoween

Did you know time was speeding up?  Well, it is.  Here's a re-cap of the Halls' important bits:

 Slight obsession with Nightmare Before Christmas here.

 Dessicated jack-o-lanterns, one day after carving (darn Santa Ana winds).

Batterina and the Pumpkin Patch.

Pioneer Woman's turkey brine - it doesn't smell like the holidays until it's going.

Tom looked gorgeous, until we noticed the pink juices - wtf?

Christmas on the Prado, Balboa Park - the annual start to our festivities.

The Christmas train (another obsession) - choo choo!

Our caroling Peanuts gang broke this year - whaaaa!

Yes, the presents are wrapped and ready.  What can I say?

Christmas in San Diego - fake snow back-drop and short sleeves.

With love, from us to you!

Tha Halls

tofu veggie stirfry

My brother and SIL in Portland have declared 2011 the year of eating in.  Cool.  I'm all for it.  We don't eat out much (but at the end of the post I will list our five fav eats in Uptown SD).  Our family goal is vaguely increasing ayurvedic meals and decreasing animal proteins.  Not a meat elimination here - I'm pregnant with twins and soon to be breastfeeding so I indulge my omnivore cravings.  But a tempering.  Here's some good stuff we had today:

An almost-vegan breakfast: organic flax whole wheat waffles with organic mixed berry puree and fresh fruit salad (cara cara orange, apple, bing cherries and red grapes).  Olive oil spread and organic stick butter were both on the table - everyone reached for the butter.

Lunch was intended to be baked tofu fries with a mixed green salad but I opened the pack of organic extra firm tofu to discover it was cubed.  Oops!  Change of plans.  My 6 month pregnant belly is making big dinners uncomfortable, so I decided to swap dinner and lunch and make a tofu veggie stirfry.  

My so-called recipe: Cook 1 1/2 cups organic sweet short grain brown rice in a rice cooker with 3 1/4 cup filtered water and a dash of sea salt.  'Press' tofu cubes to remove excess liquid (sandwich them in a single even layer between clean dish towels and baking sheets - put a few cans on top and leave in the fridge for 20 min).  Remove the tofu, put in a bowl and marinate with organic tamari, organic rice vinegar, raw honey, organic veggie broth, and fresh ground black pepper.  Minced fresh ginger would be AWESOME but I forgot it.  Leave to marinate for a bit, tossing occasionally.  To reduce pitta (my ayurvedic 'dosha') I eliminated garlic chili paste - but it would be good too.

Meanwhile, chop veggies and place in separate bowls - 1/2 a sweet onion, a medium head of broccoli, 2 carrots (slice diagonally), a big handful of sweet mini red peppers.  Rinse 1/2 can each of mini corns and water chestnuts.

Set a big electric skillet to a low-ish temperature.  {I like the electric skillet because I can put all the tofu in a single, even layer to brown.}  Heat a little organic toasted sesame oil and organic olive oil, then add onions to cook for a few minutes.  Add tofu, stir, and spread the cubes out evenly; reserve the marinade.  Cover the skillet and brown tofu for a minute or two.  Stir and brown another side.  Repeat.  Next add carrot, stir, add reserved marinade and more tamari, vinegar, honey and broth.  Whatever feels right.  Cover and leave for a few minutes.  Next add red pepper, maybe a dash more tamari, cover and wait 1-2 min.  Finally add the rest of the veggies and a few splashes of whatever else (tamari, broth...).  Grind on some black pepper.  Stir, cover, and simmer until the veggies look bright and feel soft.

Put a little rice in a bowl for the kiddo, divide the remaining rice between two adult bowls.  Cover the rice with tofu and veggies.  Sprinkle on some black sesame seeds.  Serve and be happy.

Okay, and just for fun, here are our favorite five dinners out in Uptown San Diego (that's the Hillcrest, Mission Hills,  North Park, University Heights, Normal Heights, Kensington area):

1. Adobado Burrito & Shredded Beef Flautas w/ El Perfecto Margaritas @ Ponce's
2. Fish Tacos plates w/ Horchatas @ El Zarape's
3. Rainbow Roll & Crunchy Roll (etc) w/ Crazy Milk Specials @ Sushi Deli
4. Shrimp Pad Thai & Massaman Veggie Curry or Fried Tofu Spicy Noodles @ Bangkok Thai Spices
5. Honey Walnut Shrimp & Chicken Moo Shu @ City Wok
6. Chicken Kabob plates with rice & Hummus  @ Mediterranean Cafe

Ok... that's six.  Oh well.  We love food.

xoxo,
Christy

yum yum dinner

Tonight I had a goal to get a photo of dinner and post it up on the night it was eaten. I had no idea what we'd eat at 3pm, then remembered a good recipe from the paper (apple, almond, cheddar & dill stuffed chicken breasts. I scrounged up currant-pineapple couscous, broccoli & limes fresh from our tree, wheat flat bread, summer berry salad and Chardonnay.