Usually, my girlfriends and I take the kids to Friendly's for lunch (there's a deal on Wednesdays and the kids are famished from swimming), but today, we went for the free buffet at Pizza Hut. This is where it began. Though, I won't say that they were perfect, I will say that even with 11 kids, 5 and under, and 6 moms, you wouldn't have noticed our party over any other. Well, that's of course beyond the enormous size of the table. The kids were surprisingly well behaved, all of them.
When we got home, from a brief and drizzly park date, I was beat and both the girls were knocked out (yes, the heavens were good to me today). L and I hung out in the living room where I took a nap. This kid was absolutely amazing! He took the dog out and let her in, and then when J woke up, he got her a cup of milk and even cleaned up the mess when he spilled it. We bought a PetSafe static stimulation collar for our dog today, and he was very responsible about ensuring the dog didn't get zapped for no reason, but instead that we used the noise function instead. Add to that, when J complained that she was chilly, he took his sweatshirt off and let her wear it. My heart was just so full of pride and joy that he is such an amazing kid. I could go on and on, but I will stop bragging.
For this reason, and this reason alone, I decided not to flake on making dinner and actually cook. I was so zonked that I was going to use my fall back plan of leftover sweet potato and barley soup, but instead I went with my original plan: pecan crusted tofu. Okay, doesn't sound like something my kids would like, but I had previously made tofu that was covered in wheat germ and baked, it was a tofu nugget, if you will, and the kids loved them, so I felt confident that they'd feel the same way about this recipe.
A friend of mine told me about this recipe at the gym this morning and was so generous to bring me some pecans to make it. Here's the recipe for every 1/2 pound of extra firm tofu:
2 Tbsp. chopped pecans
1 Tbsp. shredded unsweetened coconut
Dash of salt
Dash of pepper
Dash of cayenne
--Cut the tofu into chunks and then coat in a mixture of the above items. Bake on 350 degrees for 20 minutes, flipping 1/2 way through the cooking time.
I had to quadruple the recipe for my one block of tofu and didn't have enough pecans. Not to worry though, I had macadamia nuts in the pantry which I used for the second half of the tofu block. When I asked P which he liked better, he said, "ummm...neither. Let's not do that again." L was definitely in agreement with him, and I'm certain that J wouldn't miss it if we never served it again either, though she did eat it. C ate all of hers though, and asked for more. In the end, we only had 3 little pieces go uneaten, but there was no ringing endorsement for it.
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| The kids are stealing P's carrot sticks! |
I served the tofu with Cremini mushrooms sauteed with Worcestershire sauce, garlic, salt and pepper, and some sauteed frozen spinach with garlic and salt. In general, my kids despise mushrooms, but they really enjoyed these and asked for more. The spinach though, was surprisingly not enjoyed. Maybe because it was originally frozen and I usually buy fresh. Whatever the reason, it was the least enjoyed of the 3 items. Actually, the fresh cut raw carrots I served the kids while the food cooked were the popular thing they ate. Kind of frustrating that they liked raw carrots better than food I cooked, but its healthy, so I'll get over it.
If you are interested in trying this recipe, I recommend serving the tofu atop of a green salad. There is a nutty coconut flavor that is really a nice addition to crunching mixed greens.
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