Spicy Peanut Stir Fry

Have you heard of Miracle Noodles? My Dad mentioned these to me and I knew I'd have to buy them. They have 0 calories and consist of water and glucomannan, a soluble plant fiber which comes from the konjac plant. They're mainly used to lose weight, however, I bought them not necessarily to lose weight but to put in meals where I'd have something starchy -- rice, pasta, potatoes, etc. 

I tried them out by making a spicy peanut stir fry sauce using this recipe (but of course changing it just a bit).

Ingredients:

1 c. natural peanut butter

1 c. hot water

3 tbsp. low sodium soy sauce

splash lemon juice

1 tsp. crushed red pepper

1/2 tsp. chili powder

1 block firm tofu, pressed for at least 20 minutes and chopped to your liking

stir fry vegetables -- I used a bag of frozen string beans, broccoli, and mushrooms

1 pack of Miracle Noodles, prepared

Instructions:

- Stir hot water into the peanut butter making sure to break up the peanut butter. It'll take a few minutes so be patient!

- Add the rest of the sauce ingredients to your peanut butter mixture.

- Pour 1 cup of the spicy peanut sauce over tofu in a shallow dish and let sit for a few hours. Make sure to keep the remaining sauce refrigerated until use.

- When it's time to cook your tofu, heat a wok or skillet on medium-high heat. Cook tofu until browned, about 10 minutes. I just dumped the tofu and marinade into the wok and cooked together.

- When your tofu is browned, add in your veggies. Cook this until your vegetables are just barely cooked through but still nice and crisp.

- Stir in your Miracle Noodles and the remaining sauce when the vegetables and tofu are perfectly cooked. You just want to cook this until the sauce is heated through.

I was amazed at how this tasted. I figured the Miracle Noodles would taste gross and I'd need a lot of sauce to mask it. I was wrong! They were definitely a different texture than what I am used to but it wasn't bad. I'm glad I bought a few bags of these because I will definitely use them again.

As for the sauce -- YUM! I wish I had some cayenne to throw in it but unfortunately ran out. It had a very nice but subtle spiciness to it. This stir fry would have been great with some peanuts sprinkled on top! Overall, though, I think this was a hit. Both Michael and I loved it and were pretty happy with how the Miracle Noodles turned out. I was also able to use my new wok so that was exciting in and of itself!

In non-food related news, we were out surfing last night and saw a SEA LION! In the ocean! About 25 feet from us! It was a little scary but super cool. I sure love San Diego.

Sweet and Sour Stir Fry

I get these weird ethnic food cravings that I absolutely have to satisfy or I turn into one grumpy girl. The other night I wanted something Asian inspired so I threw together this sauce. I would say this is a sweet and sour stir fry, except it doesn't taste like your average sweet and sour sauce. It definitely has some sweetness and some tartness to it, though. I also used some random vegetables because I didn't have time or energy to run to the store for some delicious Asian vegetables. In any case, this satisfied my craving well enough!

Ingredients:

1 c. water

juice from 1 orange

2 tbsp. lemon juice

2 tbsp. soy sauce

1/4 c. white vinegar

1 tbsp. brown sugar

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

1/8 tsp. cayenne

2 tbsp. corn starch

Instructions:

- Mix in all ingredients except for the corn starch in a small pot.

- Heat on medium heat until just hot and then slowly stir in the corn starch. Make sure to keep whisking.

- Continue whisking until the mixture thickens up. Be patient -- it'll take a few minutes.

- Once the mixture is thick, take it off the heat and set aside.

- Saute some veggies and tofu. I just cooked up green peppers, white onion, corn, and peas. Instead of rice for this stir fry, I made red quinoa.

- Once your vegetables are done cooking, plate and then drizzle with your sauce!

I absolutely loved this sauce. It had the perfect amount of spiciness to it. This really would've been good with some better vegetables (and a better camera)! I am glad that it turned out so well. I love cooking this way -- just throw ingredients in a pot, taste, add some more, etc. This only problem is that this makes it hard to tell you how much I used! I think tonight I will be making stuffed peppers. YUM!