Monday, March 14, 2011

Tofutti-less dessert and (almost) rice-less Fried Rice

Let’s start with the good stuff. Oh, it’s all good tonight. Sometimes, I eat dessert first. Especially if I have a lot of cooking to do and need a snack.

These peanut butter cups have big chunks of graham crackers in them, and they’re topped with rich dark chocolate. I didn’t have nuts to add in, but as much as I liked the graham cracker crunch, I know I’ll add nuts (or pretzels!) next time. Oh yes, there will be a next time.

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I saw these peanut butter cups via The Shenandoah Vegan and the recipe looked like something I could try. I’ve been enjoying these cups for the past week or so, all the while amazing myself that both Alex and I have exercised enough self-control that we even still have some left.

Yes, I made more than are pictured. I had about 30. Still impressed? Those are mini-cups. I’m also proud of myself for making a dessert that didn’t center on Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese.

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I have a tendency to let my stir-fries get out of hand. I throw in a little of this, a little of that, and the next thing I know, my wok is overflowing and I have leftovers for days.

This wasn’t so bad. In fact, it was delicious. But I don’t know whether it’s the pineapple fried rice I intended it to be. I had what I thought was a lot of leftover cooked rice, and I added broccoli, red bell pepper, green peas, mushrooms, baby corn, scallions, cashews, tofu, and pineapple. I used canned pineapple after a bad experience with my most recent fresh pineapple, and the juice along with red pepper flakes and curry powder made for a wonderful sauce.

The rice? Who needs it?—not me!

10 comments:

  1. There's nothing wrong with lots of veggies in fried rice! I think I would love your stir fries!

    Pretzels in peanut butter cups sound amazing.You should definitely do that.

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  2. Great job getting the chocolate to entirely cover the peanut butter. Pretzels do sound like a good addition.

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  3. Those PB cups rock! I'm going to have to make them again soon if everyone keeps posting about them. :o)
    Your fried "rice" looks great. I made some last night myself. It doesn't look near as good as yours though!

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  4. Peanut butter and graham crackers is one of my favorite combos; it would be great with pretzels too!

    All the goodies in the fried rice sound excellent; you're right, you only need a little rice with all that to add a bit of texture, the really good stuff are the veggies etc.

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  5. yay, yay, YAY for peanut buttah cuppies!!!! i totally wanna get my peanut buttah cuppies on and i shall 'cause yours look ridiculously fantasical. i'm taking your advice and making mine with some xgfx pretzels.

    i love your veggierific stir-fry, Jessica! i ALWAYS forget to add pineapple to ours, and you and me both on the bad fresh pineapple experience. eep! ((((shudder))))

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  6. What happened with the pineapple?? That's all I can obsess about right now - who cares about peanut butter cups??

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  7. Okay, so the reason for the plentiful chocolate covering the peanut butter is that I used lots of chocolate. And I ran out, my last 4 mini-cups are all peanut butter.

    FF, the pineapple experience is probably much more interesting in your imagination. Basically, I tried to select a good pineapple (yellow, not green along the bottom, firm with no soft spots, etc.). Then I risked life and limb using a large knife to cut it, and it simply wasn't that good. Plus -- did you know? -- Chiquita is headquartered in Cincinnati, where I live, and I hear about the pineapple farms and farmers from a friend who works there and sells the goods to businesses. It doesn't sound good. But canned, I can come to terms with. Quality guaranteed.

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  8. Tell more about the pineapple farms and what isn't good! I really am impressed with your self control. I was so excited when I saw that our WF was selling the Justin's PB cups that I bought about 12 packs...and ate a pack a day...sometimes two a day. Like an addict, I went straight to that section next trip to WF and fortunately they were sold out.

    Have you ever used a pineapple core-er (sp?)? I use my Mom's, and it works great.

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  9. Jenny, my problem with the pineapple has more to do with getting the prickly skin off than the core. Sometimes I'll just bite down to the core, like an (not-pine)apple ;) I would be interested in seeing a corer, though.

    The problem with pineapple farms from my friend has told me has to do with deforestation and the pay the workers get. This is in Costa Rica, she says her company tries to be responsible but it's difficult. I figure, any time a product is offered as fair trade (coffee, chocolate, quinoa, bananas, pineapple) I start to wonder about what's going on with the products that aren't fair trade.

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  10. there isnt much that can top home made pb cups!!i love that you left chunks of graham, i might do that too next time!

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