everybody's got choices

Choose Your Own Adventure Bowl

The Dilemma: Kids won’t eat tofu. Husband won’t eat beef. I have steak and tofu in the fridge. I don’t want to make chicken.

My Bright Idea: Rice bowls with your choice of protein and veggie add-ons. Choose your own adventure!

The Plan: Cook the tofu how I like it—baked and crispy. See this recipe for a best basic tofu. Make rice in the Instant Pot (see this recipe for the best basic rice.) Pickle some thinly sliced peppers, roast some broccoli and sweet potatoes, sautee some mushrooms, cut up some cucumbers and tomatoes. Make some simple peanut sauce: chunky peanut butter, rice wine vinegar, fish sauce, soy sauce, hot sauce, water. Put it all out in a big dish in the middle of the table.

Variations: Mix and match any proteins or roasted/sauteed/grilled veggies (use leftovers!)—swap rice for quinoa or noodles. Choose a different sauce—like soy sauce/sesame oil or a garlic aioli.

The Verdict: Mostly success! Everyone was able to find something they liked. Mack wound up trying and liking the tofu while Nate stuck with steak/rice. With some hot sauce and a nice dose of the peanut sauce, the bowl of different healthy bites was surprisingly hearty and satisfying.

aunt molly's peanut butter balls

These were perhaps the yummiest thing I ate as a child. My great aunt Molly made them every year for our Chanukah parties and all the kids gorged on them, stuffing extras in Tupperwares to being home and make the ecstasy last just a little longer. I had never thought to make them until my cousin Bess posted Molly’s original recipe (see below) on Facebook. Despite the curly cursive and relative measurements, I followed her instructions as written—except for one thing: I left out the paraffin wax. Yup, she fed us wax every December. Instead of wax, I added some canola oil to the chocolate chips and microwaved them in 30 second increments, stirring well in between. I think this is close to “tempering chocolate” which is the modern day replacement for wax (according to Google, at least.) They are incredible—rich, sweet and peanut-buttery, just like I remember them. Mack has already asked if they can all be for him—all 38 balls.

Happy 2019

So while the rest of the world is observing a Dry/Vegan/Meatless/Paelo/Whole 360/Gluten-free January, I seem to be eating more sugar and drinking more alcohol. It could have something to do with the fact that our heat is broken – that means OFF—for a week now while they find a new part for the motor. Happy 2019!  

I now know how those southern people feel when they move to New York. I’m writing this in a winter coat and dreading taking a shower because the second floor feels like Canada. So I’m blaming the cold on my inability to give up the satisfying things in life. I need those things. I’m cold.

Michael and I did resolve to give up meat this week which was going well until I made a pork shoulder. This is the recipe for Momofuku’s Bo Ssam that I made for a dinner party of 6, and it’s amazing and surprisingly easy. We also ate it for three days after the dinner party because the leftovers were so good.

Picture (obviously) from the New York Times

So aside from that….we’re practically vegan. It is a good challenge though and has inspired some new dinners: fish tacos, Instant Pot Shakshuka (from Melissa Clark’s book Instant Dinner), shrimp with cauliflower puree. In other words, we’re not just eating pasta with the kids.

I also made my chocolate peanut-butter balls which aren’t particularly healthy but aren’t particularly unhealthy either (and this version included hemp seeds which are nutty and camouflage nicely). It’s a good snack for the ravenous 6-year-old that gets off the bus every day. I suspect that instead of eating lunch, he just says “poopy” and “fart” until recess. When he gets home he needs a snack the size of a meal. These balls are a good filler-upper for him and unlike the store-bought stuff, they are from real ingredients.

 Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls
1 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup coconut flakes
2 tablespoons hemp seeds
1/4 cup chocolate chips
3/4 cup peanut butter (or other nut/non-nut butter)
1/3 cup honey or agave

DIRECTIONS
1. Grind oats, coconut, hemp seeds and chocolate chips in mini food processor.
2. Mix peanut butter and honey, then stir in oat mixture.
3. Roll into balls (add a few drops of water if too dry). Sprinkle with powdered sugar (for effect) and refrigerate.