I'm trying really hard to be excited about the pro bowl, but it's just not happening. Although I'd rather neither team win next weekend, I'm ready for the theatrics of the Super Bowl.
So instead of actually paying any attention to the game, I've been spending some time in the LKTC, because I got some new gadgets. Although I'm perpetually in budget mode (or yelling at myself for accidentally ignoring the tenets of budget mode), I found a Kohl's gift card when I moved a month ago, and used it to buy an immersion blender and a mini food processor.
We also got a Trader Joe's in my 'hood at some point, and I just explored the outpost this weekend. There might need to be a TJ's-related intervention for me at some point in the not too distant future, given my complete lack of self control in the face of budget-priced food in cute, clever packaging.
Anyways, new gadgets + cheap foodstuffs = experiments in the LKTC. This is what I whipped up tonight:
So instead of actually paying any attention to the game, I've been spending some time in the LKTC, because I got some new gadgets. Although I'm perpetually in budget mode (or yelling at myself for accidentally ignoring the tenets of budget mode), I found a Kohl's gift card when I moved a month ago, and used it to buy an immersion blender and a mini food processor.
We also got a Trader Joe's in my 'hood at some point, and I just explored the outpost this weekend. There might need to be a TJ's-related intervention for me at some point in the not too distant future, given my complete lack of self control in the face of budget-priced food in cute, clever packaging.
Anyways, new gadgets + cheap foodstuffs = experiments in the LKTC. This is what I whipped up tonight:
It's pesto, but not the traditional basil sort. The green stuff is arugula, but the cheese was replaced with silken tofu. Sneaky, sneaky. I realize that a pretty significant portion of the population likes, perhaps loves, cheese. I do not. So, replacing cheese is actually an improvement on the dish for me.
I wasn't following a recipe, nor did I really write anything out, so this is just an approximation of how it all went down. I threw about 3/4 of a cup of silken tofu, 1 or 1 1/2 cups of arugula, maybe a tablespoon of toasted pine nuts, and a few sprinkles of salt, pepper, and cayenne in my new mini food processor and whirled everything until it was combined. Then I threw that over peas and spaghetti. (And if you're wondering if the garlic omission was intentional, the answer is "no," but, I didn't realize I was out until after I'd already returned from my grocery trip. Murphy and his stupid laws.)
My complete inability to boil an appropriate quantity of pasta (and my eschewing of a cook book) aside, it was a surprising success. Everything I've read about it is true...tofu is pretty much flavorless, making it a great base for other flavors to build off of (and arugula has plenty of flavor). I really didn't miss the cheese at all (the garlic, on the other hand...).
And thanks to the aforementioned portion control issues, I will have plenty of leftovers for lunch tomorrow, which is great news for that nagging part of my conscious that's all about keeping me on budget and eating well.
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