Fried Tofu w Peanut Sauce

This is a quick lunch i made last night on the fly.  I don't really have a recipe because i didn't measure anything.  I will list the ingredients though.

served with two hardboiled eggs and a hotdogtopus.

First i patted dry the tofu then cut it into strips.  Then i dredged the strips in flour and fried them with about a tablespoon of sesame oil, over medium high heat until the tofu was a light golden brown.

For the peanut sauce, I sauteed a couple cloves of garlic in another tablespoon or two of sesame oil.  then i added about a half cup of peanut butter, a splash of soy sauce, ponzu, and rice vinegar. stir it up until its all combined and the peanut butter has melted.  then i added about a cup of water and stirred until combined, this way the sauce won't form a solid chunk when it's cold.

to make the hot dog octopus, first cut a hotdog in half.  then cut the legs by slicing quarters into the hotdog twice so you have 8 legs, but only go half way up the body so there's still a sold chunk at the top.  fry the hotdog in a little bit of oil, turning occasionally.  the legs should curl up on their own.  this doesn't really work with veggie dogs, so you'll have to use real hot dogs that are made of meat.

Dad Food

Long time no blog!  I've been in Tulsa without a kitchen so I haven't been able to cook anything outside of a microwave.  This is the second day I've made lunch for a parent... yesterday I made inarizushi, cold soba noodles, and a green salad for my mom and dad.  Nothing spectacular or worth blogging about, just a random assortment of things i found in the pantry/fridge.  Today's lunch is just for my dad, since my mom told me she had tuna salad to eat.  This is what I made:

Carrots and homegrown green beans sauteed in ponzu, sesame oil, and a splash of rice vinegar. 

 My dad told me he loves raw tofu with just ponzu sauce, so i made that and added some sesame seeds for garnish.

 this bottle was full when i left for Tulsa.. I guess people have been using it!!

 Bento was looking a little plain so I decorated with some leftover cupcake picks from a Peter Rabbit cupcake decorating kit.  In the top right corner is a couple slices of my dad's favorite bread.

 This is my dad's favorite bread.  It is from Kroger.

...And I made a special treat for me to enjoy while I do the dishes ;)

it's salted caramel flavored whiskey from a distillery in Gatlinburg, TN, mixed with plain almond milk.  It kind of tastes like a white russian but with caramel instead of coffee flavor.

Not sure what I'm going to be making tomorrow yet, but I'll have more time and i'll be cooking for both of my parents again, so I'll try to include something recipe-worthy.