Recipe of the Week - Smothered Tofu Steak and Onions

Ingredients
1 package extra firm tofu
2 tablespoon olive oil (divided)
1 lg. onion
2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon vegan Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 cup extra water
Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Slice Tofu into 6 even cutlets about 1/2 inch thick. Place on paper towel to drain. Heat non-stick pan. Slice Onion from root to stem. Add 1 tablespoon oil to pan. Add onions when oil is hot. Sauté onions until golden brown and caramelized (about 5-10 min.) remove onions, set aside. Add other tablespoon of oil to pan. Add Tofu and fry until golden brown on both sides (about 10 min.) Add onions back to pan. Add balsamic Vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and stir. When all combined add slurry of water and Cornstarch to pan. Stir until thick. Add water to thin out if too thick. Add salt and pepper to taste. Plate up this dish with the onions and sauce smothered over the Tofu Steaks. Serve with a side of Roasted Asparagus and a nice Rice Pilaf.

My Wish

I spent the last 2 weeks trying to cram in 2 years' worth of nursing knowledge, as I was scheduled to take my boards on Aug. 14. It was not without the occasional feeling of uncertainty, fear, and nausea! How does one memorize all of these diseases, their signs/symptoms, diagnostic testing, nursing interventions, and medications? Along with knowing the meds, one has to know what teaching goes along with it-do you take it with/without food, do you protect yourself from the sun, and the ever-present "rise slowly to prevent orthostatic hypotension!"

That's not so bad until you try memorizing the therapeutic/toxic ranges for the medications. Not to mention lab values-CBC's, CMP's, UA's, PT, PTT, INR, ABG's-I almost developed strabismus (which means cross-eyed, by the way).Now that it's all over, I wonder if it was worth all the trouble, and the answer is YES! I wouldn't have it any other way-except for perhaps an MD, but not right now! I find no greater satisfaction than helping a fellow human being and seeing how a little bit of attention and caring can make them flourish!

It reminds me of the words of one of my favorite songs:
Make me a servant
Humble and meek
Lord, let me lift up those who are weak
And may the prayer of my heart always be
Make me a servant today

My wish as I begin my career as an RN is to bring hope and that others may see our Lord through my actions.

By Maria Ramirez
Picture: Maria and her son Tristan

Recipe of the Week - Vegan General Tao's Tofu

1 box of firm tofu

egg substitute for 1 egg

3/4 cup cornstarch

vegetable oil for frying

3 chopped green onions

1 Tablespoon minced ginger

1 Tablespoon minced garlic

2/3 cup vegetable stock

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

4 Tablespoons sugar

red pepper to taste

1 Tablespoon white vinegar

steamed broccoli

Directions:Drain, dry and cut tofu into 1 inch chunks. You can freeze tofu the night before to get a more chicken-like consistency, but it isn't necessary. Mix the egg replacer as specified on the box and add an additional 3 tablespoons water. Dip tofu in egg replacer/water mixture and coat completely. Sprinkle 3/4 cup cornstarch over tofu and coat completely. Watch out that the cornstarch doesn't clump up at the bottom of the bowl. Heat oil in pan and fry tofu pieces until golden. Drain oil.

Heat 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil in pan on medium heat. Add green onions, ginger and garlic, cook for about 2 minutes. Be careful not to burn garlic. Add vegetable stock, soy sauce, sugar, red pepper and vinegar. Mix 2 Tablespoons water with 1 Tablespoon cornstarch and pour into mixture stirring well. Add fried tofu and coat evenly.Serve immediately with steamed broccoli over your choice of rice.

The Women's Crusade

I read this article a couple days ago in the New York Times and thought I would share it with you. It is especially important for us women to know what is happening in the world and how we can help bring true equality and dignity to women. Here is an excerpt:

"Amartya Sen, the ebullient Nobel Prize-winning economist, developed a gauge of gender inequality that is a striking reminder of the stakes involved. “More than 100 million women are missing,” Sen wrote in a classic essay in 1990 in The New York Review of Books, spurring a new field of research. Sen noted that in normal circumstances, women live longer than men, and so there are more females than males in much of the world. Yet in places where girls have a deeply unequal status, they vanish. China has 107 males for every 100 females in its overall population (and an even greater disproportion among newborns), and India has 108. The implication of the sex ratios, Sen later found, is that about 107 million females are missing from the globe today. Follow-up studies have calculated the number slightly differently, deriving alternative figures for “missing women” of between 60 million and 107 million."

"WHY DO MICROFINANCE organizations usually focus their assistance on women?And why does everyone benefit when women enter the work force and bring home regular pay checks? One reason involves the dirty little secret of global poverty: some of the most wretched suffering is caused not just by low incomes but also by unwise spending by the poor — especially by men. Surprisingly frequently, we’ve come across a mother mourning a child who has just died of malaria for want of a $5 mosquito bed net; the mother says that the family couldn’t afford a bed net and she means it, but then we find the father at a nearby bar. He goes three evenings a week to the bar, spending $5 each week."

"Our interviews and perusal of the data available suggest that the poorest families in the world spend approximately 10 times as much (20 percent of their incomes on average) on a combination of alcohol, prostitution, candy, sugary drinks and lavish feasts as they do on educating their children (2 percent). If poor families spent only as much on educating their children as they do on beer and prostitutes, there would be a breakthrough in the prospects of poor countries. Girls, since they are the ones kept home from school now, would be the biggest beneficiaries. Moreover, one way to reallocate family expenditures in this way is to put more money in the hands of women. A series of studies has found that when women hold assets or gain incomes, family money is more likely to be spent on nutrition, medicine and housing, and consequently children are healthier."

Life and Death

I’ve been working in my garden this morning cleaning up my much neglected Stella D’Oro daylilies. They were full of old dead leaves and dried out stems. As I gently removed them, much to my surprise I found new growth – new life in August! Which got me thinking about life and death. In the past year our family has experienced so much of both. On August 22 our beautiful grandson, Eden, the joy of our lives, will celebrate his first birthday. But during this year we have also lost two people we loved, my father-in-law, Jack Baier, and my sister-in-law, Rosalind Baier.

Life and Death.

When I learned that Rosalind had stage 3 ovarian cancer I purchased the book “One Month to Live”. How would your perspective change if you knew that you had only one month to live? How would you live that month? You’d probably forgive those who have hurt you, love with abandon, focus on important issues of eternal value. You would put all your energy into being the person God wants you to be. If then, why not now? The reality is that none of us are even guaranteed one month to live.

A favorite song and prayer of mine is the one by St. Francis of Assisi.

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;where there is hatred, let me sow love;where there is injury, pardon;where there is doubt, faith;where there is despair, hope;where there is darkness, light;and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;to be understood, as to understand;to be loved, as to love;for it is in giving that we receive,it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

By Laurie Baier

Photo: Laurie is picture with her grandson Eden.

Recipe of the Week - Mango Riblet Wrap

Recipe by: Morningstar Farms®

Ingredients
3 tablespoon reduced-fat ranch salad dressing
1 tablespoon orange juice
1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
2 cups finely shredded cabbage or cole slaw mix
1 package (10 oz.) Hickory BBQ Riblets

2 (9-to 10-inch) spinach, red pepper or flour tortillas, warmed
1/2 medium mango, seeded, peeled and sliced lengthwise
1 tablespoon sliced green onion

Directions
1. In medium bowl stir together salad dressing, orange juice and pepper sauce. Add cabbage. Toss until cabbage is coated with dressing mixture. Set aside.

2. Cook MORNINGSTAR FARMS HICKORY BBQ RIBLETS according to package directions. Cut each portion into fourths, making 8 total pieces.

3. Spoon cabbage mixture onto the centers of tortillas. Top each with 4 riblet pieces, half of the mango slices and half of the green onion. Roll up. Serve immediately.

Being a Fan

"Football season is almost here! My husband and I are so excited about it we actually "high fived" last night in our anticipation. Every Sunday we look forward to sitting on our couch in our PJ's all day long watching the pre-game shows and eating lots of pizza during the games. I am a huge fan of the Cincinnati Bengals, and Lance is a fan of the Tennessee Titans, so the best is when our teams go head to head with each other.

While football is great, the truth is, I should be just as excited about Jesus. According to Wikipedia, a fan is someone who has an intense, occasionally overwhelming liking for a sporting club, person, etc. . . . According to Wikipedia I am a fan of Jesus. I need to remember to show it. It is ok to get excited about Jesus! He gave his life so all could be saved. Let's make sure we are all on the right team so we can all share in the prize . . . Heaven."

By Stephanie Doll
Picture: Stephanie and her husband Lance.

Recipe of the Week - Sesame Peanut Noodles

Another recipe from Cook Yourself Thin.
Serves 6

Calories per serving: 308

For the noodles

8 ounces whole-wheat spaghetti

For the dressing

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce

1/4 cup peanut butter

2 tablespoons grated ginger

1 tablespoon dark sesame oil

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 lime

1/2 cup hot water

For assembling

1/2 bag store-bought coleslaw mix

1/2 cup red pepper
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

1/2 lime, squeezed
1/2 cup apple

1/2 cup jicama

1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

2 scallions, julienne

1/2 cup dry-roasted peanuts,

For garnish

Cilantro, chopped

Lime wedges

1.Bring a pot of water to a boil for the pasta, and cook the pasta according to package instructions. Drain and run under cold water.

2. To make the dressing, combine all the ingredients into a small mixing bowl and stir together with a whisk. Add the dressing to the pasta and toss. Stir in the coleslaw mix, red pepper and cilantro. Squeeze a half of a lime over the mixture, and toss.

3. Add the remaining ingredients, toss and refrigerate for one hour. Garnish with peanuts, cilantro and lime wedges. Serve.

A Minor Celebrity Teaches a Major Lesson

Trevan got me into tennis when we first got married and I have been a huge fan ever since. For our five-year anniversary this past weekend, Trevan got us tickets to attend a couple days of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic.

We were walking around checking out all these awesome players do their warm ups on Sunday. As I turned to walk away from a court I almost bumped into Ernests Gulbis, one of my favorite players. I have been a fan of his for a year now, and although he has not had his big breakthrough yet, he has tons of potential.

A huge grin broke out on my face and I felt like a fool for being so excited. We watched him warm up with other players, and as he started to leave the court I gathered up all my courage and asked him if he would take a picture with me . . . he said YES!!

This took a lot of courage for me because I am usually very self-conscious and very aware of my lack of a claim to fame. There were many other top ten players that walked right by me and Trevan was so disappointed that I never asked any of them for a picture. It was just too much pressure.

Many times I feel like that is what it will be like in heaven. I cannot wait to meet Jesus, but somehow I know that I am not as important as other great heroes of faith, so it is too much pressure to try to ask Jesus to spend a day with me. Just as I felt it would be an inconvenience for a tennis player to have to take a picture with little me, I feel like Jesus has better people to spend His time with than little me.

Yet, I am reminded in the Bible that He knew me before I was born, and that He loved me enough to give His life for me. So, even if I have to wait millions of years in heaven before my date with Jesus, He will spend a day with me, because He loves me and I am special to Him even if I don't always feel special.

By Shari Osborn

Picture 1 - Shari and Trevan Osborn

Picture 2 - Shari and Ernests Gulbis

Recipe of the Week - Portobello Benedict

Did any of you watch that show Cook Yourself Thin on Lifetime? I absolutely loved the show because the recipes seemed so simple. Here is one I think you would like.

Serves 4

Calories per serving, portobello Benedict: 183

Calories per serving, roasted red pepper sauce: 70

For the portobello Benedict

4 portobello mushrooms, gills removed

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 garlic clove

2 10-ounce bags of baby spinach

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon lemon zest

Pinch nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

4 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

For the roasted red pepper sauce

1 4-ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained and finely chopped
3/4 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise

1 ounce capers, drained

1 tablespoon parsley, chopped

1. For the portobello Benedict: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Lightly oil a baking sheet.

2. Using an ordinary spoon, remove the gills from each mushroom cap and place the caps on the oiled baking sheet. Bake the mushrooms for 10 to 12 minutes or until tender. Remove from the oven and set aside.

3. In a small saute pan over medium heat, add the olive oil, garlic and spinach. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, tossing occasionally until wilted. Add the lemon juice, lemon zest and nutmeg.

4. In a blender or small food processor combine the sauce ingredients and pulse until creamy.

5. Using a spoon, evenly distribute the spinach onto the 4 portobello caps. Top each one with a poached egg, some roasted red pepper sauce and some grated Parmesan cheese. Serve.