Baby Bok Choy and Tofu Stir Fry

So if you haven't discovered Groupon I urge you to check it out! Every day there is a local daily deal where you can get insane discounts! Most are 50% off the original price, but it varies. I snagged a deal for Glacier Valley Farm CSA, which is a community supported agriculture group based right here in Alaska!

I was pretty stoked to try this out. Alaskan grown products? Sweet! I'm trying to be more of a localite, although it's not easy (or cheap). Normally you get a box from them once a week for $35. Product varies depending on season and it's usually around 18lbs. of goodies.

Well, Groupon had a coupon for a discount so I'd only have to pay $17! Pretty sweet, right? I almost wish I would've bought a few as gifts! They sold out within a few hours. Anyway, I picked up my box today and inside I got Alaskan potatoes, sprouts, and tofu. Certified organic goods (non-Alaska): fuji apples, navel oranges, romaine lettuce, chard, baby bok choy, garlic, yellow onions, and zucchini squash. They also put in a newsletter filled with recipes so I was eager to try one! Now I've never had bok choy or tofu.

I was a bit nervous to be honest. More about the tofu than the bok choy. However after making this and trying it out I'm pretty happy with it. Bok choy isn't my favorite leafy vegetable (so far Spinach takes the lead), but it wasn't terrible! I let the tofu cook for awhile (a little too long on one side, oops!) so it got kind of crusty. Yum! The tofu was still different from say chicken. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't amazing either if that makes sense? I'd eat it again and plan on trying it grilled next. Kabobs perhaps? It's just different! It's less points on the WW program too :P

If you're a tofu lover I'm sure you'd enjoy this. I enjoyed it and it's PACKED full of good for you things! I plan on making this again!



Baby Bok Choy and Tofu Stir Fry
adapted from Glacier Grist (Glacier Valley Farm CSA), May 2011

2-3 tbsp. olive oil
1 yellow onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tsp. ground ginger (or 1 tbsp. fresh ginger, grated)
4oz. firm tofu, sliced into bite size pieces
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp. sugar, white (or honey)
2 tbsp. soy sauce 2 carrots, thinly sliced on the diagonal
1 zucchini squash, thinly sliced on the diagonal
2 baby bok choy, sliced and coarsely chopped


In a small sauce pan combine water, rice wine vinegar, sugar and soy sauce and bring to a simmer. Simmer until sauce thickens (add a little flour if needed). Set aside until ready to use.

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large skillet or wok. Stir in onions and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add garlic, red pepper flakes, and ginger and cook for 1 more minute.

Stir in tofu and cook until golden brown on all sides, about 5 minutes.

Add carrots to the tofu mixture and cook for another 2 minutes.

Add zucchini and bok choy to skillet and toss to coat.

Pour thickened sauce over vegetables and tofu. Serve over rice (optional).



This recipe can serve 4-6 people.

Weight Watchers Points (per serving, serving 4, does not include rice): 4

Pilgrim's Potato Chowder

I don't consider myself a soup person. Although I will eat it, it's definitely not something that I crave. My mother subscribes to Paula Deen's magazine so I always take the opportunity to browse through them. Pretty much anything the Queen of Butter cooks up looks and sounds delicious. I stumbled across this chowder and it seemed interesting. Something along the lines of a potato soup, and let me tell you I love potato soup! Especially with the little dumplings on the top!

This is an easy peasy recipe that's full of flavor. It's thick and warm and perfect for the cooler rainy days we've been having lately. Of course you can control the thickness with some water or broth, but I let the recipe lead me. It's stick to your ribs good, especially with some buttered bread!

Pilgrim's Potato Chowder

adapted from Cooking with Paula Deen Magazine, Jan/Feb 2007

1 pound of Yukon gold potatoes, cubed and divided (about 3 medium)

1 1/2 cups chicken broth, reduced sodium-fat free

1 cup carrot, sliced rounds

1 (11oz.) can corn, drained

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1/2 cup celery, sliced

1/2 tsp. thyme

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

2 tbsp. flour

1 cup half-n-half *

1/4 cup chopped parsley

2 cups grated Swiss or Monterey Jack cheese

* = if you don't have half-n-half melt 1 tbsp. butter in 1 cup of milk

Combine half of potatoes with broth in saucepan with tight fitting lid. Bring to boil and simmer about 10 minutes, or until tender.

Mash potatoes with a fork; stir in remaining potatoes, carrots, corn, celery, onions and next 3 ingredients. Cover, simmer until vegetables are tender.

Dissolve flour in 1/4 cup half-and-half; stir into chowder with remaining half-and-half and parsley. Cook, stirring over medium heat to thicken slightly. Serve topped with grated cheese.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 4-6.

Weight Watchers Points (per serving): 9 points

*I am in no way affiliated with the websites/companies linked. I was not paid to use or advertise their products. I am not earning profit from linking the items. These are items that I personally pay for (WW subscription and produce linked) and will not be reimbursed.

Shrimp with Zucchini and Tomatoes

Tell me, how can you not want to dig into this deliciously colorful dish? The best part? It's VERY quick! Okay that's not the BEST part, but it's close!

I haven't cooked anything recently that made me just go "Oh My --- Gosh!" when I take a bite. THIS is it. This made me excited to eat! This made me dribble a little on my chin while cooking...

I had to buy FROZEN shrimp here in Indiana. The only fresh seafood they had was fish (blargh!), crab, and some pre-made cake....patty things that disturbed me. After complaining to the boy about not getting fresh seafood I chucked two frozen bags in my cart and pouted awhile after coasting away to find the next items on my shopping list.

There's nothing complicated about it. It's simple flavors. I finally get what the foodies on the Food Network always go on and on about. You know what I'm talking about. That fake "oh my this is so good" remark they always make over and over again. Then they go on to describe each thing and I get annoyed (mainly because I can't enjoy it with them), but I get it now. As you eat all different components in this dish it's an explosion of flavor! A simple garlic sauce, nice golden zucchini, cherry tomatoes that sweeten as you cook them, and the shrimp? Amaziiiinnnnng! I'll be honest, I had my doubts about my shrimp as we're in a landlocked state.

Okay okay I'm going to start gushing, let's get on with it!

Shrimp with Zucchini and Tomatoes

adapted from Weightwatchers.com

1 tbsp. olive oil, extra-virgin, divided

2 medium-small zucchinis, cut 1/4" thick

12oz. medium sized shrimp (peeled and deveined, cut tails off if desired)

1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half (I love Nature Sweet)

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper, or to taste

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 cup water

Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.

Add zucchini in a single layer; increase heat to high and cook until bottoms are golden, about 2 minutes. Flip zucchini and cook until golden on other side, about 2 minutes more. Remove zucchini to a plate with a slotted spoon.

Heat remaining teaspoon oil in same skillet.

Add shrimp; sauté 1 to 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, oregano, salt and pepper; sauté until shrimp are almost just cooked through, about 1 minute.

Stir in garlic and water; sauté, stirring to loosen bits from bottom of pan, until shrimp are cooked through and tomatoes are softened, about 1 to 2 minutes more.

Return zucchini to skillet; toss and serve.

NOTE: If you have a lot of liquid in the bottom of your pan you can add a little flour, turn up the heat to a boil then reduce heat and let it simmer until thickened. Add thickened sauce before serving for more flavor.

Serves 4.

Weight Watchers Points (per serving): 3

By using the smaller shrimp you will get more and make your plate appear fuller.

*I am in no way affiliated with the websites/companies linked. I was not paid to use or advertise their products. I am not earning profit from linking the items. These are items that I personally pay for (WW subscription and produce linked) and will not be reimbursed.

Update & Monterey Bake!

So it's been about five months since my last post and my life has pretty much been an up and down roller coaster. I've said it before that I absolutely dislike cooking in another woman's kitchen so while being at my mother's for long periods of time I don't cook as often as I should. Or what I do cook it's nothing worth blogging about, I promise!

I've since joined Weight Watchers and I've been going since the middle of January and lost 10lbs. This is a pretty sweet accomplishment for me as I'm back to the size I was almost 2 years ago when I moved to Alaska. I think it's a great program and I like that I can plug in any recipe I want to try out and see how many points it's going to cost me. Not a bad deal, eh? That's about all I've been up to besides working my booty off (though really I'd like to keep that barely there area if you ask me) and trying to get healthier. I will try to add in the point value with every post too!

Mmmmm salsa, chicken, cheese, sour cream?! All my favorite things in a dish. I think I could go to Mexico and stay awhile as long as they feed me these staples. Some peppers and onions thrown in too and I'm a happy chica.

So this is my first recipe from my Crockpot cookbook. Oh, I'm sorry...SLOW COOKER as the title states. Whatever it is I was ready to take on anything in my ancient kitchen appliance and I knew I could trust her to do great things. My Crockpot is from probably the 1970's and is avocado green and the paint is peeling. She was found on a shelf at Goodwill after scouting the store on several occasions. She's trusty and does the job well! She doesn't BOIL the food on low like so many new cookers. She's perfect and until she retires, I'm keeping her!

I loved this dish. My only complaint is that the tortillas in the bottom got soggy and weird and the ones you're supposed to set aside didn't crisp up like a chip at the original 250 degrees as suggested. The book was pretty vague and didn't say the baked ones were SUPPOSED to be crispy, I just assumed? Ah well, everyone tweaks a recipe so here's my version!

Monterey Bake

adapted from Easy Slow Cooker Recipes (Cookbook Resources)

6 (6 inch corn tortillas)

3 cups cubed cooked chicken

1 (10 ounce) package frozen whole kernel corn (or 1 1/4 cup)

1 (15 ounce) can pinto beans with liquid

1 (16 ounce) jar of your favorite salsa

1/4 cup fat-free sour cream or "lite"

1 tablespoon flour

3 tablespoons FRESH cilantro

salt and pepper, to taste

1 (8 ounce) package shredded Mexican Blend cheese (WW cheese or a reduced fat if following points, you won't need the whole bag)

Olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut tortillas into 6 wedges. Place tortillas on a sprayed baking sheet. Lightly brush each wedge with olive oil. Season to taste (salt, pepper, ground cumin, seasoned salt, etc.) Bake for about 10 minutes or until golden and crisp. Set aside.

Spray inside of slow cooker and place 18 of the baked wedges in the bottom of cooker. Layer chicken, corn and beans over tortillas in cooker. Combine salsa, sour cream, flour and cilantro in a bowl and pour over corn and beans. Cover and cook on LOW for 3-4 hours.

When ready to serve, place remaining tortillas wedges and cheese on top of each serving (1/3c. cheese per serving if following points). Add additional sour cream and salsa as desired (extra points).

TIP: When cooking the chicken ahead of time sprinkle a little of McCormick's Fajita Seasoning on the breasts. Place them on a broiling pan (slits help remove excess fat) and cover with foil. Bake at 350 for about 30-40 minutes or until done. If not completely done (barely pink) it's OK, the time in the slow cooker will finish the cooking process.

Serves 4-6

(Points counted for 6 servings.)

Weight Watchers Points (per serving): 10

*I am in no way affiliated with the website/company linked. I was not paid to use or advertise their product. I am not earning profit from sales either. These are items that are personally mine that I like to use and want to share with you.