As a working mother, I love simple and easy meals. I actually have a copy of a cookbook titled, A Man, A Can, A Plan, that was created for men with recipes that do not require tons of ingredients. The recipes within this book are quick, tasty, healthful meals based on canned and other convenience foods. 

When making and eating meals, I appreciate it being made from scratch, but I do not require it. Being a working mother I appreciate quick meals moreso. There are so many ways to have meals that appear to have been slaved over but really required little to no real prep or cook time. I am all about not recreating the wheel. I am sure I have mentioned this in previous post.

If I was to create a cookbook it would probably be titled, A Mom, A Jar, A Plan! In reviewing a lot of my quick, fast meals you will notice that I usually have a main dish (tofu, fish, veggie), a jarred sauce (I use a lot of asian inspired sauces), and sides that include a starch (rice, potato, plantains) and greens (kale, spinach). When I have time and if I have the ingredients I usually will create my own sauce, but on a time crunch I will proudly use a pre-made sauce. I like to just add peppers and onions to spruce the dish up a bit.

So for lastnight, I made this Sweet and Sour Tofu and it was quite simple. Dinner was prepared at 6:00pm and was eaten by 7:00pm. I try to stick to the old rule of not eating after 7:00pm. This is not because of fear of weight gain, but moreso because it is not helpful for your digestion. I like this interesting statement I picked up on Weekly Spark:

“So what makes 7 (or 8 or 9) p.m. a magical cutoff time anyway? The original idea was that people should stop eating about 3 hours before bed, using 10 p.m. as an average bedtime. Although it is a good idea to stop eating a few hours before bed, the reasoning has nothing to do with weight gain; it’s basically an issue of digestion and personal comfort. Going to sleep on a full stomach may make sleeping uncomfortable, as the body is simultaneously shutting down to rest while still exerting energy to digest the food. This may lead to fitful sleep as well as gas and indigestion—but not weight gain. Your body is smart, but it doesn’t know what time it is when you eat. It will metabolize calories eaten after 7 p.m. the same way as it does the calories you eat earlier in the day. They will NOT automatically be stored as fat.”

 

For alot of my asian inspired recipes I use Kikkoman jarred sauces. For this recipe I used the Sweet & Sour Kikkoman sauce. 

Ingredients: 

1 Block of tofu, drained, cut in cubes or squares

4 tbs olive oil, 2 parts

1/2 green pepper, finely chopped

1/2 red pepper, finely chopped

1/2 yellow pepper, finely chopped

1/2 orange pepper, finely chopped

1/2 sweet vidalia onion, chopped

1/2 tsp fresh ginger, minced

1/2 tsp fresh garlic, minced

1 jar of Kikkoman Sweet and Sour Sauce

1 cup white or brown rice, follow package instructions

Instructions: 

1. Heat 2 tbs of oil in frying pan. Add tofu and allow to brown on both sides. I brown longer for crispier tofu.

 

2. While tofu is browning, heat 2 tbs oil in another frying pan. Add fresh chopped produce and allow to cook until onion is transparent.

3. Add browned tofu to pan with onions and peppers. Add sauce. 

4. Mix well and allow to simmer on low heat while you prepare your side.

5. Serve over warm rice and Enjoy!