Tofu Scramble Recipe!

I have been cooking consistently for a year and a 1/2 now and I am finally at a point were I can make yummy food without a recipe! I'd like to start sharing them every so often. Here is a recipe for Tofu Scramble:

-1 TBS oil

-1 medium red pepper chopped

-1 medium green pepper chopped

-2 jalapenos chopped (or 1...or none if you don't like spicy, but I've noticed cooking jalapenos gets rid of a lot of the spice)

-1 15 oz extra firm tofu (drained well)

-2 TBS sesame seeds

-about 2 TBS of low sodium Tamari (it's like soy sauce, you can use soy sauce...but not a lot if it's not low sodium. I usually just add the tamari slowly, tasting it as I go to make sure I have enough. You definitely don't want to put too much.)

-1/2 cup green onions chopped

Chop the pepper and put in a pan with heated oil. Cook on medium heat for about 8 minutes or till peppers are a bit soft but still have a crunch! Drain tofu and crumble. Add to pan along with sesame seeds and tamari sauce. Cook for about 8 minutes or until tofu gets a bit brown. Turn off heat and add green onions. Serve! I like to douse everything in Tobasco sauce...but that's just me.

I thought I'd share how I am making the plushy corns since they are taking so long to do. I made a pattern to follow. It took an entire night to get the pattern right. What a relief when it was finally right!

I cut out two corn patterns. I also cut out hundreds of tiny circles from fabric and hand sew them to the corn patterns.

I put the two patterns face together and sew with a machine.

Flip it out like a pillow and stuff it and.....

Tada! Plushy heirloom corn!

Yesterday I found out I was accepted to be a part of the "organic/botanic" show at the Union Street Gallery. Rosa Bianca Heirloom Eggplant will be shown from February 29 to March 31. The opening reception is March 2, 6-9pm. The address is:

1527 Otto Blvd

Chicago Heights, IL 60411

It's just outside Chicago so I imagine it would be hard to come...but if you do I will make you cookies. :0 )

Potluck: Chicago Day 3

Two main things happened today with Critical Encounters.

Tonight, half of the group went to En Las Tablas Performing Arts Community Center "...a not for profit community arts organization established in 2006 for the purpose of offering performing arts training to residents in the areas of Hermosa, West Logan Square and West Humboldt Park in Chicago, Illinois." Due to the fact that the space was small and would already have 5 to 6 family's there, we had to split up the group. I was one who stayed back at Columbia. In the beginning of our day we had to come up with a game that could be played with the families that would stimulate the children and the adults and help bridge the gap between the younger generations and the older ones. This was a challenge for me because I do not know much about children and haven't spent anytime with them since I babysat a 2 year old 9 years ago. I helped where I could. I am not sure how the event went and what game they ended up choosing to play but I will find out tomorrow.

The ones who stayed back had a potluck (there was a potluck at En Las Tablas as well) and I made Vegan Chili! Here is the recipe.

1 medium zucchini
1 medium green pepper
1 medium red pepper
4 garlic cloves
2 medium yellow onions
4 cans 15oz stewed tomatoes (italian style seasoning)
1 can pinto beans drained and rinsed
2 cans black black beans drained and rinsed
4 Tablespoons chili powder
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cilantro (although, emily, since you don't like cilantro, maybe some parsley would be good instead!)

-chop vegetables, saute in olive oil till soft

-add the 4 cans of stewed tomatoes into the mixture of sauted vegetables. Make sure to break up the tomatoes before putting them in, also, take out any hard stems.

-put the rest of the ingredients into the pan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

After we ate we spoke about what our group will be doing next once Ali and Tim are gone. We actually have funds to create something! Ali and Tim will be back in February and we should have a well thought out idea of what we want to do. For now we will share our thoughts through a private blog and keep meeting to share ideas.

I am going to be honest. I am very intimidated and I thought I was the only one, but after talking to others I found out I am not alone. The work I have been creating didn't have any sort of deadline...I could walk away from it for 10 years if I wanted. I am constantly switching from wanting to change some of the issues in the world and wanting to crawl back to my home and pretend I don't care. This is an amazing opportunity to learn about myself and others and I can't back out or I will only feel regret.

Tomorrow will be an interesting day!