Baked tofu with homemade pumpkin cardamom sauce:

Slice and blot (with paper towels) extra firm tofu and bake at 425 for 20-30 mintues depending on your oven, flipping half way throught. You can also “marinate” your tofu in oil or any yummy sauce you like. BBQ is delish. For this recipe, I bake it plain so that it may be dipped in this yummy pumpkin sauce.

Meanwhile, make pumpkin sauce:

1/4 cup pumpkin pecan butter (or TJ’s pumpkin butter)
cardamom and cumin seeds (about a tsp each)
one clove garlic
pinch of ginger powder (optional)
honey, agave or brown sugar to your taste
soy milk creamer to thicken
water to thin if needed

Begin by frying seeds until fragrent in a non stick skillet
Remove from heat and mix with crushed clove of garlic.
Add pumpkin to skillet and stir until warmed throughout, add other spices and seasonings, and then add the fryed seed mixture.
Stir in soy milk creamer and sweetener to taste.
Drizzle over baked tofu, or use as dipping sauce! Delicious on sweet potatoes too.

Sweet Potato Fries:

Peel potatoes if desired, otherwise slice sweet potatoes into wedges.
“Paint” them with olive oil using a pastry brush, you can be quite generous with oil here, as this is the main fat source of the meal and will help in the absorption of valuable nutrients. (you can see my technique for “painting” oil here)
Season with sea salt + garlic powder + red pepper flakes or chili powder

Bake at 500 degrees for 15-20 minutes, flipping half way through.
(Or, if you are baking your potatoes and tofu at the same time, put the oven to 450 and flip tofu when browned on the bottom. Baking time will vary, so keep a close watch!)

Last but not least, MYVERYFIRSTKITCHEN wouldn’t be what it is without a ginormous salad:

Spinach + mushrooms + broccoli + tomatoes + yellow bell pepper + favorite salad dressing (honey mustard for me.)

Perfectly satisfying deliciousness of protein + startch (with some healthy EVOO fat!) + vegggggies. There is even room for a cupcake!

Dinner last night was that amazing Kabocha squash from the farmer’s market(!!) which you can see in my previous post + spinach and red bell pepper. As well as a Whole Foods Wild Caught Alaskan Salmon burger for some protein and fat.

I piereced the squash and put it in a 400 degree preheated oven. After about 20 minutes I sliced the squash into quarters, added water to the oven tray and cooked flesh side up for another 20 to 30 minutes. I only added salt + pepper. It was DIVINE! How I love the autumn season and all the delicious squash it brings!!! It would of course be delicious with additions of coconut oil, cinnamon, coconut butter, ect! The sky is the limit! It is also very filling considering how low in calories it is.

Soo I just wanted to share my love of Kabocha, and squash in general with you all if you dont mind
Nutrition info per 1 cup of cooked squash:
Calories = 40
Fat/Sodium/Cholesterol = 0
Carbs = 7 grams
Fiber = 1 gram
Vitamin A = 70%
Vitamin C = 15%
There is also some iron, folic acid, calcium and trace B vitamins present in Kabocha.

As you can see however, Vitamin A is the PRIME nutrient in Kabocha. What is Vitamin A good for you ask?? Well…

Vitamin A promotes healthy:
vision, bone growth, reproduction, cell division, and cell differentiation.

Vitamin A helps regulate the immuse system and helps lymphocytes (a white blood cell) fight infections more effectively!

Not convinced???

Well, when Vitamin A is found in brightly colored orange veggies (carrots, KABOCHA, bell peppers, ect) it is called a provitamin A carotenoid. In the body, this type of vitamin A is made into retinol which helps fight free radical damage (wrinkles!)

So there you have it, eat your Kabocha today!

See you later for school eats + tonights dinner!

PS: Kabocha is probably one of the sweetest squashes out there. It is kind of a cross between a sweet potato and pumpkin!

Snacks for school:

This tortilla pizza contained mushrooms, zucchini, bell pepper, broccoli, 1/4 cup part skim mozzarella and spices! The veggies were literally piled a couple of inches high! The boy and I split this and each had a salmon burger + asparagus!! Delicious:)

He even took a picture of HIS plate for you all!

Here is my plate:

Those are Whole Foods Wild Caught Alaskan Salmon Burgers and they are TO DIE FOR!! We ate them with horseradish and doused our pizza in Tabasco!

While preparing dinner I snacked on this!

More seaweed salad!!! SOO good! If you haven’t tried it, I highly recommend that you do ASAP!

And here is some motivation to try it! I found these seaweed facts on this website

Health Benefits of Seaweeds :

Kelps correct mineral deficiencies.
A good protective food, valuable in overcoming poor digestion, preventing and overcoming goiter (because it is the richest source of iodine), and rebuilding and maintaining the proper function of all glands.
Reported to aid in brain development.
Offsets deficiencies of an inferior diet.
Kelp helps prevent osteoporosis.
Beneficial for those suffering from impotence, anemia and emaciation.
Helps to detoxify the body.
Helps to increase metabolism.
May help in controlling obesity because it dissolves fatty wastes through the skin.
Seaweed bath helps maintain hormone balance for a more youthful body.

Seaweed suddenly sounds quite delicious huh? Well, IT IS!!

Here is an amaazing dessert creation of mine, which is Raw and fabulous! Recipe to come soon if you wish!

Farmer’s Market loot:

6 bell peppers
1 kabocha squash (YUMMM!)
Carrots

I am off to bake my squash now! Later in the week I am hoping to have some product reviews + raw dessert and vegan dessert recipes for you all!

Enjoy the rest of you Sunday!

xo,
Dara