On the Menu

Today I resisted temptation!!! Lunch for the kids today was Chinese Chicken Salad. The chicken I use for it is so yummy! They're teriyaki chicken nuggets, just little grilled one ounce chunks of chicken. It's processed of course, ground up and then formed into the nugget shape, but they are one of my favorite things to nibble on. So i prepared, I had to go to the store to get more bags of salad for school lunch anyway so I also grabbed some bean sprouts and tofu. When I got back to make my salad I smelled the chicken and thought 'hmmmm, maybe just one' and then I quickly thought 'NO! One will turn into 3 and then 5, 6, and before you know it I will have eaten 10!' So I cut a bit of tofu off and soaked it in some teriyaki sauce, finished my work and then went to build my plate....

Chinese Tofu Salad
about a handful (give or take) of...





bagged garden salad (something with red cabbage, yummy and pretty!)
green cabbage
mandarin oranges
bean sprouts
broccoli
chow mein noodles (the canned stuff, which I wouldn't reccomend because of the trans fat but it's what I had)
oriental dressing (ken's makes a really good one)
3 oz or so of tofu
bottled teriyaki sauce

I put the tofu in a bowl and splashed some teriykai sauce and a teensy bit of OJ on it and let it sit. I stacked my plate with all the rest of the yummy veggies. I heated a skillet and greased it with some smart balance. I layed out the tofu and srinkled a pinch of brown sugar on each one so it would caramalise (and maybe get crisp, since I don't really like the texture of tofu). I fried the tofu up added the leftover sauce from the bowl and then cut it up and threw it on the salad. A sprinkle of noodles and some dressing and YUM! I didn't need the chicken after I saw my new, pretty creation. Now mind you I hate tofu, I hate the texture and it tastes weird to me. But I thought if I could put it in with all these other things maybe I'll just get used to it and it was actually really good. Towards the end when there was a lot of tofu left with all the rest of the little salad bits that always float to the bottom the texture started to get to me. But I got over it because the flavor was really good. If I was at home I would have used almonds instead of noodles and added some cilantro and green onion. I have managed to get to 1:12pm without any animal products. When I go home I will have to fight not eating the left over carne asada! Wish me luck!!