After reading this post on Iowa Girl Eats, I was really craving tofu and stir fry.

I adapted the recipe to fit my style.  I used:

• Nasoya cubed tofu
• Frozen broccoli spears
• Frozen snap peas
• Zucchini
• Ginger peanut sauce
• Brown rice

I drained the tofu, cut open the bags of frozen broccoli and snap peas, and sliced the fresh zucchini.  Then I tossed all of the ingredients into a medium sized wok.

Isn’t this THE cutest label?  I was persuaded to buy this jar of peanut sauce simply because I wanted to hug the Ginger cartoon character. Aw!

Crowded stovetop!  I had too much stir fry for my wok.  Because my stove only has 2 working burners, I had to make the stir fry in 2 batches while the rice was cooking.

The rice simmered while I stirred and fried.

The Ginger Peanut sauce had a great scent.  It contained a small amount of jalapenos.  Not enough to be overly spicy, but the perfect amount for a little bit of a kick.

Sizzling stir fry!

I had a small helping of stir fry and brown rice before going to a local running event.  When I got home from the 3 mile run and post-workout festivities, I had a 2nd small helping.  Yum! Stir fry is such an easy dinner to create.  Tofu is a great addition because the cubes absorb the delicious sauce.

I mixed some frozen berries and granola into my vanilla yogurt.  I think vanilla is my favorite flavor of regular yogurt.  It may not really contain less sugar, but to me, it tastes less sugary.  Just creamy and delicious!

Down to the wire…  I made it over to the Museum of Science on the final day of the Harry Potter exhibit.  Being a huge HP fan, I thought it was awesome.  There were lots of costumes and props from the movie.  I walked by the portrait of the Fat Lady to enter the Gryffindor dorm, pulled a mandrake, and wished that I could really attend Hogwarts.  I’ll have to settle for the theme park when it opens at Universal this spring. 

We wandered around the rest of the Museum of Science, crossing between Boston and Cambridge.  And even standing in 2 places at once!

We walked all of the way from the MoS back to our apartment in the South End, strolling down Charles Street and stopping for coffee.

Mmm, ice chai!  I was craving an ice chai and this one was PERFECT.  Plus the croissant wasn’t too shabby either.

As the final event for my Vegetarian Challenge, my parents, Auntie Pam, and cousin Becky came over for lunch.

It was great to spend the afternoon talking with Becky.  We discussed the Challenge and our stance on vegetarianism.  I need to collect my thoughts and I have a great reflection post in the works.  Plus, having the family gift for gab, we compared running stats, shared old memories, and planned another time to hang out in the near future.

And….  Becky and I started seriously discussing running a full marathon.  Yup, all 26.2 miles!  I’d love to run in the 2011 Disney Marathon, but nothing is set in stone.  Becky and I are going to look at races scheduled for the fall and see what works best.  We agreed that whichever marathon we run, we’re running for fun.  We’re looking for a race that will make 26.2 a truly memorable experience!

Jared took care of the appetizers:  2 types of hummus, chips, vegetables, fresh mozzarella, grapes tomatoes, French bread, and olive oil for dipping.  Quite the spread!

Becky brought BBQ sauce and was the chef, making BBQ tofu and chicken.  A special thanks to Nasoya for providing the tofu!

I’m actually such a fan of Nasoya that I contributed a video for their site.  Check it out!

After so many bits and bites of appetizers, my lunch was on the smallish size.  Squash fries, tofu, salad, and a corn bread muffin.

My mom was responsible for dessert.

Pound cake with fresh strawberries and blueberries, and a dollop of Cool Whip.

Miles was really excited to have company!  He was sad to see everyone go home.

and thank you Becky bringing me soap in the shape of a cupcake.  It’s vegan, smells amazing (like rosemary and mint), and if it wasn’t such a cute decoration, I’d put it in the shower right now.  Instead I’m going to be ordering a bar from the Stella Marie Soap Company and keeping the cupcake soap as part of my growing Cupcake Collection.

I love love love Nasoya’s cubed tofu when it’s mixed with pasta and vegetables.  I heated the tofu with a bit of sauce and green peppers while my gnocchetti pasta was boiling.

Hmm, I wonder why it seems like I’m always cleaning..  Jared emptied his junk drawer to find the receipt for the space heaters we bought last month.  Thankfully it was buried somewhere in this mess!  (Miles kept trying to steal papers from various piles.  Pain in the neck!)

Here’s my bowl of gnocchetti, tofu, and peppers.  I added some feta cheese and enjoyed a delicious dinner.

I wasn’t feeling too great (think I have a cold coming on), but I wanted to get my blood flowing so I found a 20 minute yoga workout On Demand.  I did LessMore Yoga with Lizbeth Garcia.  This Exercise TV feature was fun, with lots of easy poses and constant movement so my heart rate stayed up the entire time.  Plus I love that Exercise TV workouts feature a countdown clock so I know how many minutes I have left.  After I finished, I did a few Downward and Upward Facing Dogs and Planks to get more stretching in.

I whined a little via Twitter and mentioned that I had a sore throat.  I took Erin and Julie‘s advice:  I drank a cup of tea and took Tylenol.  I didn’t sleep well at all and I felt lousy when I woke up this morning.

I made another bowl of berry oats and ate slowly, savoring each bite and hoping that it would help me perk up and get on with my day.  My oats included:

• 1 cup of water
• 1/2 cup of oatmeal
• 1 teaspoon of brown sugar
• 1/2 cup of frozen berries
• 1 tablespoon of Cinnamon Raisin Swirl peanut butter

I planned a week’s worth of workouts last night.  But I think I’m going to wait and see how I feel when I get to the gym.  Today was supposed to be a running day, but I might have to switch it to an easy walk on the treadmill.  I want to get rid of this icky feeling before I get full-out sick!

Long quote, but it’s a good one!

Today was all about lounging and relaxing.  Miles took a nap on my slippers.

I made a bowl of Pacific Natural Foods’ roasted red pepper and tomato soup for lunch.  I added ground turkey and cheddar cheese.  Another hit from Pacific!  This soup was thick and creamy.  It tasted similar to the tomato soup; the red peppers only created a tiny difference in flavor.  Mmm!

I watched football, cleaned and vacuumed, and dyed my hair to a slightly different shade of brown than it was before.

I had my last leftover ravioli made from Nasoya’s egg roll wrap as an appetizer.

Dinner involved a lot of Chiavetta’s marinade.  Both the chicken and the veggie mix (zucchini, green peppers, and onions) were marinated in the good stuff.

I mixed the vegetables with fettuccine and topped my chicken with a little bit of feta cheese.  This was a really tasty dinner.  I think I’ll buy another bottle of Chiavetta’s when we’re in Rochester.

After dinner, I started to get a little stir crazy.  I decided to try Cheryl Burke’s Disco Ab Workout that Melissa tested out this morning.  I had a lot of laughs and further proved to myself that I’m NOT a good dancer.  But my heart was pumping and I felt like I got an easy and fun cardio workout.

With renewed energy, I bundled up and took Miles for a walk.  Jared helped me clean off my car.  The parking lot was plowed really well so we just used our sleeves to brush the snow off of the windows, roof, and hood of my car.  Wow, Boston really did get some serious accumulations!  At least it was so cold that the snow was light and easy to clear off.  And thank God for those fleece liners in my Hunter wellies.  I was able to wade through the snow mounds without feeling a chill.

I snacked on an apple when I got back from the store.

And after reading Tweets about everyone’s chocolate cravings, I had to have some too!

As soon as I got home, I started working on my recipes.  I made raviolis using Nasoya Egg Roll Wraps.

I filled my raviolis with ground turkey.  I used a little bit of water to seal the edges, then threw the pan in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

I was too hungry to wait it out so I made a sandwich using ground turkey, cheddar cheese, sprouts, and pickles on an Arnold Thin.

Finally it was time for the taste test:  Mmm mmm good!

I moved on to my Candle Cookies.  I had a lot of work to do to get these ready for the Sweet Swap at work  tomorrow.

Ginger thin, shortbread cookie, Pirouette cookie.

Green icing around the base.

Added the marshmallow flames.

Candle cookies with dripping frosting wax!

So proud of myself!  I love my little holiday candles!

I attempted to film my Nasoya video but couldn’t get the lighting right.  Then my camera battery died.  Ugh.  In the meantime, I made a batch of Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Cookies for my department’s party on Thursday.  Very pleased with how they turned out, but because of the dead battery, I don’t have any photos.

I’m exhausted so I’ll add a quick post with both recipes in the morning.  After so much cooking and baking, I know I’ll have sweet dreams!

Jared shattered a wine glass on the kitchen floor this morning.  So instead of using my time to make a smoothie, I spent it vacuuming up shards of glass.  Now the dog and barefoot boyfriend can walk safely in the kitchen.  I only had a few minutes to spare so I just grabbed a quick bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats.

Just before I left for work, I got a nice Monday Surprise.  Someone buzzed our door and low and behold…it was the plumber!  The new part for our boiler was already in so he was there to fix our heat.  Yay, no more space heaters!  Though the 2 we bought worked really well and will definitely come in handy another day.

I snacked on a Clementine not long after I arrived at work.  I’m sad that I’m almost done with the box.  These are my favorite winter fruit!

I packed all of the ingredients to make another toaster oven quesadilla. This one contained:

• 2 tortillas
• Cheddar cheese
• Spinach
• Tiny tomatoes
• Random dip I found in the kitchen at work

This was amazingly delicious, especially with the addition of the mystery spread.  I have a feeling that quesadillas may be showing up on the blog a lot more often.  This was so easy to make and tasted so good.  I’m hooked!

My evening is going to be SO busy.  I’m making 2 types of cookies, Dark Chocolate Pumpkin cookies and Dark Chocolate Red Velvet cookies.  I’m also constructing cookie candles using a recipe my mom found.  I have a Sweet Swap at work tomorrow, plus parties on Wednesday and Thursday.

Nasoya contacted me to create a 1 minute video demonstrating how I use their wraps.  So I am also going to be filming the video tonight…because it’s due tomorrow.  Procrastinate much?  I’m using the wraps  to make shells that I will fill with my own ground turkey mix.  I’m also making Apple Cinnamon Rolls using a recipe I found online.  I’m really excited to make the video and can’t wait to see it on their new website in early 2010!

Oh yeah, and I also need to CLEAN the apartment.  It’s a mess, especially with the wet running clothes from last night spread all over the place to dry.

Pretty sure I don’t like today’s outfit.  The pants don’t fit quite right.

I actually didn’t read most of your comments til after I had come back from the gym.  But I’m glad you all were pro-sauna because that’s the only thing I did.  I sweated in the sauna for 25 minutes.  It was a challenge to stay in there that long.  It was HOT, but felt great once I got out and showered.

It was my first time trying the Maple Nut Clif Bar.  As soon as I opened the package, it smelled like breakfast syrup, and that’s exactly what it tasted like.  I loved this bar and I ate it so fast that I can’t even think of more ways to describe it.  Snack time success!

I made a bag of frozen Trader Joe’s Pasta Italiano with a package of Nasoya cubed tofu for to make it more filling.

I sprinkled feta cheese on my portion.  Delicious even though there was a lot more tofu than pasta/veggies.

Looks like Miles wanted a taste of Jared’s dinner.

I was feeling a little dehydrated, but before refilling my water glass, I snacked on a Clementine.  (I tried so hard to get a close up of Tom Brady on the TV in the background but I just missed him.  Sorry to all of my fellow Pats fans!)

After eating and drinking, I did some exercises to Whittle My Middle.  I can’t remember exactly what I did cuz it was mindless stuff while watching TV:  crunches, windmills, plank, superman, standing twists.

Right now New England is down 17-7.  I’m hoping they’ll turn things around before  I’m ready to head to bed.

Trader Joe’s vegetable sushi.  Not that good!

Leftover Nasoya noodles.  Much tastier than the sushi!

Random outfit.  Not sure if I should’ve left the house looking like that, but whatev

Super snack food

Chocolate Amazing Grass bar sans wrapper

Wine from the Finger Lakes area of NY

Pesto chicken with pasta tossed in flavored olive oil and basil

Mr. Dooley’s Boston Tavern, a really cute Irish pub

Drink up!

“Sippin on Coke and Rum.  I’m like so what I’m drunk.  It’s the freakin’ weekend baby.  I’m about to have me some fun.” -The Remix of Ignition

And this was before we headed to Revolution Rock Bar

I’m just going to end by saying that yes, I did wake up with a headache this morning.  But I still met Ali at Body Pump at 10 am!

I was supposed to do strength training but I was in the mood to move around.  I decided to use the stair master as a leg workout and a way to get my heart pumping.  I saved my upper body workout for later.  Before I finished my workout, I used the foam roller for a few minutes.  Heaven!

When I got back to the office, it was time to simplify my life.  I snacked on a Mojo bar, crunchy and peanuty!  I also worked on cleaning out some papers that have been building up in my file cabinet.  One day I’ll simplify my life so much that I’ll be able to turn off my mind during meditation sessions.  For now I’m glad I recycled a few piles of paperwork!

Tonight’s creativity didn’t yield great results.  I made Nasoya’s Chinese style noodles.  I didn’t want to mix the noodles and broccoli with soy sauce so I tried tossing them in olive oil and then adding a little Blue Cheese and some salad dressing.  I think I overdid it on the Blue Cheese crumbles, otherwise it wasn’t bad.

My dinner portion was pretty small so I had plenty of room for dessert.  I got to enjoy some of the Newman’s Own Organics goodies that I got in the mail last week.  I had two Hermits old fashioned soft Cinnamon cookies.  Sorry to report that the serving size is only 1 cookie.  At first I thought the cinnamon flavor was really strong but then I realized I was actually tasting the molasses.

Miles was really interested, but he didn’t get to partake in the sampling.

I also had 2 Newman O’s cream filled chocolate cookies.  I can’t tell you how these compared to Oreos because I’ve never been really into those.  But these Newman O’s were really good.  I’m out of milk so I couldn’t dunk this time, but I still have a lot of cookies left for another day.

I’ve spent my evening vacuuming the couch (dog hair everywhere), doing an upper body strength circuit, and watching the Biggest Loser.  As the Losers go into the Weigh-In, I want to pay attention.  Good night!

More info about Newman’s Own Organics

Newman’s Own Organics was started in 1993 when the market for organic snack foods was beginning to grow.  The line started with pretzels and has expanded from there.  It would take MUCH too long to go into detail about each and every new development so just be aware that lots of snacks and drinks to choose from.  In 2003, Newman’s released the book The Newman’s Own Organics Guide to the Good Life: Simple Measures that Benefit You and the Place You Live.  It has advice for small steps to improve your life and your environment.

I read this quote on the blog Hop, Skip, and a Giant Leap.  I thought it would be great to keep it on my desk at work as a constant reminder never to give up on myself.

When I got home from work, I started on dinner right away.  I made a frozen Pasta Medley from Trader Joe’s and added fresh cherry tomatoes.  I decided to add some of Nasoya’s extra firm tofu cubes for protein.  I also added pasta seasoning and fresh ground black pepper.

I added some feta cheese crumbles to my portion.  I am SO happy with how this meal turned out.  The tofu cubes tasted great, much better than the BBQ tofu I attempted.  I think I did a better job of pressing the moisture out, plus extra firm has a better texture.

Jared chose a bottle of Zinfandel to go with our dinner.

We went to the 9:45 showing of Brief Interviews with Hideous Men at the Kendall Square Cinema.  John Krasinski introduced the film and even answered a few questions before it started.

J.K. Photo Shoot

Does he see me?  Nope, just some people wearing t-shirts from the summer camp he worked at.

So proud of his directing debut.

John had a real appreciation for David Foster Wallace and recommended we all read Wallace’s books asap.