Vegan skinny Asian Peanut Noodles

I first discovered this recipe on Skinnytaste.com via pinterest, searching for pad thai recipes. It was an awesome bonus that it was a skinny version of a sorta pad thai recipe. I loved it. I do find that the recipe is a tiny bit confusing. The ingredient list doesn't really seem to match up with her directions, especially with the amount of garlic. Its gotten to the point that I make it enough that it annoys me to the point I need to write a blog on the recipe so I can use this post instead. Don't get me wrong, I love this recipe. However I just got a bit tired of trying to decipher the amounts actually used. You can find the original recipe here. If you are not vegan then follow hers.

I love this recipe (it had to be said again) The first few times I made it it had chicken stock and chicken breast in it. I have since become sorta vegan. Vegetarian 99.9% of the time, vegan 88.8%. I'm trying. It's just sometimes too hard. I'm not a permanent vegan, not a permanent vegetarian. Right now it's an attempt at health. Determine if I'm sensitive to animal products. Not that I'll ever determine that if I don't stay vegan 100% of the time...

The recipe needed to be altered. The first time I made it vegan it was a disaster. Many things affected the outcome. But then I tried it a second time. That led to the third time. I'm sure I will continue to make it over and over again. And as I write this I realize the recipe isn't strictly vegan as in my little world honey is vegan. So here goes. 

Ingredients:

1 250g package of rice noodles

coconut oil or peanut oil for sautéing

Peanut sauce:

1 cup vegetable broth

5 tbsp peanut butter

1 tbsp garlic chili sauce

2 tbsp honey (totally vegan)

2 tbsp liquid aminos (I don't use soy sauce in anything)

1 tbsp fresh grated ginger

3 garlic cloves minced

Tofu:

1/2 package extra firm tofu

1 1/2 tbsp garlic chili sauce

freshly ground pepper

juice of half a lime

5 cloves garlic crushed

1 tbsp fresh grated ginger

1 tbsp liquid aminos

Topping:

1 1/4 cup julienned carrots

1 1/4 cup broccoli slaw

1 cup bean sprouts

2 tbsp chopped peanuts

fresh squeezed lime juice

Cube the tofu and place into a container. Add the rest of the ingredients for the tofu into a small bowl, mix and then toss over the tofu. Cover and leave in the fridge to allow the tofu to soak up the marinade.

Combine all the ingredients for the peanut sauce into a small sauce pan and place over medium low heat. Stir occasionally until the sauce thickens, approximately 5-10 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the sauce pan on the burner.

Boil a large pot of water and prepare the noodles as per the package directions. I boil mine for 8 minutes then drain and allow to cool.

Grating carrots would be the less violent quicker way to prepare the carrots, however I don't love how they fit into this recipe. I prefer the carrots to be a little thicker than grated carrots so I use my julienne peeler which I tend to poke myself with and may or may not draw blood. However, they are worth it.

Saute the tofu with a little bit of coconut oil (if you want a more authentic, less healthy way, use peanut oil) for a few minutes until the marinade is completely incorporated, then set aside. Then sauté the carrots and the broccoli slaw for a few minutes in a wok. You don't want them to be too well done, they still should retain a little crunch. Now combine the noodles, tofu and sauce into the wok. I prefer my vegetables mixed into it all, however you could also just add on top once cooked. Mix it up in the wok until the peanut sauce has reduced. Plate then top with chopped peanuts and fresh lime juice. I seemed to have ran out of peanuts, so I used almonds and sunflower seeds, not quite the same. Fresh lime juice tastes so much better than the bottle juice. Delicious. Insanely delicious. Although I don't think the tofu is completely necessary to the deliciousness of this dish. Enjoy.

My Love for Kitchen Gadgets - Shun Knives

While not kitchen gadgets per say, they do belong in the kitchen. And I love them. Immensely.

My old knives, as well as the
greatest peeler ever.

 This is a love that has been 5 years in the making. I went to Calgary with a friend to shop 5 years ago and we found these knives. They are amazing. They are Damascus steel, strong and beautiful, made with a hard wood handle. They felt amazing in our hands, and were beyond sharp. The only problem? They were ridiculously expensive! They were completely out for me for that reason, but that did not stop me from dreaming of them, talking about them, researching them, planning to one day buy the first and slowly build up my collection. My friend received a knife here and there over the years, she now has 4 beautiful Shun Classics. I on the other hand have had the same 2 knives for the past 5 years. Don't get me wrong. They have served their purpose, and I actually really like them a lot. They have been honed once and sharpened once over the past 5 years (yes, honed and sharpened once, on the same day in 5 years). About a year ago I was about ready to throw them out a window and my dad offered to take them home and sharpen them, leaving his Henckel Twin Signature santoku and pairing knives in their place. They were amazing in comparison. I didn't want to give them back. I looked online and found a really good deal on a Twin Signature knife set. I was all ready to buy it but just couldn't go through with it. Knives were switched back, returned to their homes and I forced myself to be happy with what I had. In all honesty it wasn't hard, once sharpened they were returned to their former glory and they once again served their purpose well. I actually didn't have much room to complain about them. So I put new knives on the back burner, and continued on with mine. Slowly I started researching and hunting for deals for the Henckels. I would put them in a shopping cart and take them out. Look at them online, in stores. But I couldn't commit.

My bread knife was left behind
by a crazy roomie

 Over the last few weeks I've renewed my passion for the kitchen. I don't know what happened but I just love cooking again. One day I was cutting a piece of thawed chicken breast and decided the madness must stop! The knives are in desperate need for sharpening again. Now here is where my logic was a little skewed. I figured I couldn't live without my knives for a day or two, because I was eating healthy, cooking daily, cutting veggies and chicken. There was no way I could make do without my santoku. I'm not sure why it didn't occur to me to do the exact same thing as before. They have a chef's knife AND a santoku. They could have made it a day or two without one or the other (personally chef's knives look too daunting for me and I would prefer not to use one). So I decided it was time to actually buy a knife. I promise my intention was to just buy the Henckel Twin Signature set. I went to Amazon, I found the set that I had almost bought before, only to discover that it was a whole $20 more than before. Instantly turned off I let my attentions wander and I discovered Amazons Warehouse deals. I was fascinated. How did I not know of this before? I looked through everything in the kitchen section. Everything. I discovered a set of Shun's that were an 'internet special'. It included a 7 1/2" hollow Santoku (which was the knife I was going to buy first), a weird looking pairing knife (not the exact pairing knife I wanted, but it would be fine) and a bizarre looking 'utility' knife. I'm pretty sure utility knife is code for "a knife you don't actually need, doesn't serve a specific function, waste of money" but the price couldn't be argued. If I were to buy each knife separatly it would have easily come to around $400, but they were only $299 as the internet special. Even better? The warehouse had them used-like new condition. Which to me was code for, some idiot bought them, sent them back without the original packaging, so they had to be resold at almost half the $299. (idiot because they returned them. WHY?? Its a SHUN!!). Decision made. Into the cart they went, out went the Henckels. I would buy three knives first for less than $50 more than what the essential santoku would have cost me alone. I was well on my way to making my collection. All I needed was a honing steel and a bread knife, but I would buy those later. Then I noticed the honing steel in the warehouse deals. Into the cart it went as well. Now all that was left was the bread knife. I casually clicked my way over to it. It was full price. Do I leave it and buy it later? Yes. I would. I could live without it another few months. My little sister on mat leave is in spending withdrawals. Normally she tells me I don't need to spend so much money, but I've noticed she kinda does the opposite lately. I mistakenly asked her opinion and she told me to go for it. I laughed, called her on it, got a sorta confession, but decided to do it anyways. So instead of paying $20 extra for the 11 piece Henckel set, I ended up paying $110 more for the 5 Shun's. All in all, I'm happy I did it. What is the point of a knife set? Tons of knives that you won't actually use. I knew originally all I needed was the santoku and paring knife. It was what I had survived on for years, a bread knife was a perk, a bonus, a desire. The utility knife? I have no idea what I will do with it. I read its good for bagels and tomatoes, and is a dream for sandwiches. Awesome. Don't eat bagels, and do not really care for sandwiches. But the tomatoes? I will slice those bad boys into oblivion. My necessities are complete. I don't NEED any more knives. But, to be honest, I do like the look of the birds beak pairing knife, as well as the small vegetable knife. Maybe next year.
 I had them sent to the border storage, as they would not ship to Canada. If I had patience I could have sent them to my sister in the states, but I didn't have patience. My little sister and I went to pick them up only to discover my stupid debit card would not work at the ATM in the store. So we went to Shelby to an actual bank ATM and I got money out. My sister wanted butter (yup, butter) so we stopped at the grocery store and she bought butter. We then grabbed my knives and I prepared myself to have to pay $60-80 in duty. The border guard asked us how long we were gone for (few hours), where we went (Shelby), why (to which I answered "Oh, we also picked up a package from the border storage, but we went to pick up butter in Shelby"). The package was not what interested him. Butter? You bought butter? How much? ($15). He then proceeded to tell us that you were only allowed to bring $20 of dairy across the border, then you are charge 237%. That is not a typo. We were stunned. We laughed. He gave us our passports, said have a nice day and sent us on our way. We were asked 4 questions. The package was not one of them. I escaped duty honestly! Trip success!

Terrible! No way to treat
knives!

Their temporary home. Sad

The knives are amazing. I am in love with them. Everything is butter! Everything! They glide through the potatoes. They slice the peppers with ease. I am astonished. I can honestly say as soon as I had these bad boys in my house, all buyers remorse was gone. My friend told me her Shun Code. No one besides her and her husband can use them. They must be immediately wash, dried and put safely away into her Kaboosh Knife Block. I have adapted that code, however with a slight modification as I have no storage solution. I'm ashamed to admit that I have abused my knives in the past. I let them sit dirty, I let them soak in water (that's why the paring knife's handle is discoloured), and I just tossed all my knives together in a drawer all these years. Terrible. But the Shun's will not suffer that same fate. Currently they are lined up on my counter on a paper towel. I went to Calgary to search for a block I liked. Nothing. I looked online, nothing under $100 I liked. I considered a magnetic bar, but I'm not in love with the idea. Eventually I decided on a magnetic wooden knife block. The blades will be on display, which is perfect as the blades are unique and worth displaying. I can see what knife is where and not have to hunt through the stupid block to find the one I want. I hate blocks because you don't know what is in those holes, bleh. Problem solved! This time I did send to my sister's place, but luckily I go next week!

Can not wait

update! I got my block! I love my block! 

Update on my lotion bars

UPDATE!

 So I've discovered that these lotion bars aren't quite as magical as I thought. They are amazing. Everyone LOVES them that uses them. A few of my friends have actually made their own. However, despite all the reviews that I read online, my skin condition wasn't quite healed by them. They did, however, drastically reduce the reactions that I have at work. As long as the lotion was accessible to me at work my hands would fair moderately well. It would take days of not working to get better. If I accidentally left my lotion bar at home (sadly this happens more often than I'd like to admit!) then the results are disastrous. For some reason, last July I became highly allergic to my work, and I still refuse to go see a doctor about it. 

 These pictures are of my sad hands while I was on break at work on evening.  It was a couple months ago, they got worse. And worse. And worse. Almost took over my entire hands. Then I made my lotion bars and I was able to slightly contain it, however it slowly worsens a little as the months go by. As I'm writing this the nurse in me is kicking in and I realize that whatever I'm sensitized to at work is clearly not removed from me, which could lead to a serious reaction one day. I refuse to have to change professions because of an allergy. So my option is to figure a way around it.

  While I love the lotion bars, they are not magical, maybe just magical-ish. Something had to be improved. Recently I walked into my local health food store on their fabulous 20% off customer appreciation day (the only day I shop, leads to an expensive trip) and there was a rep offering samples of Dr. Lorna Vanderheghe's Borage Oil. Something I had never heard of before, so I was clearly intrigued. The rep said that it was tasteless (false. I can definitely taste it. It has a subtle oil taste, much more subtle than Udo's Oil. It isn't disgusting, but it isn't delicious either) and had added it to greek vanilla yogurt. I personally would rather just take a teaspoon of it straight up. The rep said that it would help your skin from the inside out. It could be taken internally as well as applied externally. I've done research on Lorna Vanderhaeghe before, and so I decided to try it out. Admission: I suck at following a regimen. I am terrible at remembering to take medications, vitamins, supplements, healthy stuff. Almost daily I made smoothies, so once the smoothie was in my cup I ended up dumping the oil in and mixing it up with my straw (the vitamix is far too powerful for delicate oils such as borage and Udo's 3-6-9. It would tear them up and destroy the beneficial parts of the oil) and drinking it down that way. Didn't alter the taste too much as my smoothies consisted of flax, psyllium, spinach, chia, and a few berries. I noticed a slight change for the better, especially as I would apply what was left in the teaspoon to my hands directly. I probably would have noticed more if I did it consistently. I was impressed, so I decided to research this oil a little further. See if it was all in my mind. Turns out borage oil has an impressive level of GLA's (Gamma-linoleic-acid) which is an important fatty acid that has inflammatory properties. The borage oil helps with inflammatory conditions, such as eczema. Huzah! Done. Clearly there are more benefits, other research, I read a lot. I liked what I read, so I decided to add it to my lotion. 

 I found a new site that actually had a little bit cheaper products than Mountain Rose Herbs. Saffire Blue. Best of all its Canadian, so I didn't have to worry about exchange rates and duty. I ordered a ton of fun stuff, including more tins to store the lotion in, push up tubes to test out, cocoa butter (don't know what I was thinking. I HATE chocolate, and it smells just like chocolate), mango butter, almond oil and borage oil. Rather than put the certified edible borage into my lotion I decided to use one from Saffire that was half the price. I placed the order and began the wait for my package. 

I made a tiny batch, just enough to make 1.5 oz. This time, I added 15g of beeswax, 15g of shea, and 14g of coconut oil. Once they had all melted and cooled slightly, not to the point of hardening, I added 1g of borage oil, mixed it all up, poured it into a push up tube, then poured the rest into a small mould. I had to make sure that the push up tubes worked well, as well as adding borage oil to the mixture. It all turned out beautifully!

The tubes held exactly 1 oz of lotion. They push up with ease, however you do have to keep your finger underneath to ensure it doesn't slip back down as you apply to your skin. This is not a hindrance to me in the slightest. I feel as though you waste less lotion this way, as you do not push too hard, applying less lotion to your hands. This is fantastic at work as it absorbs quicker. I will probably continue to make both the tubes as well as in the moulds, this way when my hands need more I can easily warm up the circle of lotion and slather all over my hands. 

 I am amazed. Using the sans borage oil lotion bars, my hands would heal slowly, but the protection was there. I've had the borage oil bars for 2 days now and my hands are much much happier. It took me days and days before to get where they are today. I'm impressed. And I would say that it is worth the price for the expensive oil. 

They are still a little swollen, a little rough, but its almost unnoticeable to other people, which makes me happy. I wish I had taken a before picture from a couple days ago, because my hands were a little worse than the pictures above, but it gives you a good idea of just how bad it is. The best part? The borage oil soaks into the skin and then does its magic all over the body, not just where you applied it. So my skin is slowly healing. Healing and happy.