Peanut Sauce from peanut flour

When I was entering my calories into Sparkpeople, and as I was waiting for something to come to a boil on the stove, I clicked on a link to Healthy Peanut Sauce and Tofu Marinade. I really enjoy peanut sauces and am always on the search for the perfect bottle. I have tried the one from Trader Joe's, Target and from Taste of Thai. I add to the peanut sauce with peanut butter and even a sweet chili sauce. And I have made my own peanut sauce - mostly using peanut butter.

The recipe seemed really easy and healthy too!! Luckily for me, friends and I were doing a trip to Trader Joe's the next day. I was not sure if I would find the peanut flour, but I did. I tried the recipe that night.



As you can tell from the (really bad) photo, I added veggies to the Tofu to make it a full meal of a stiry fry with some brown rice on the side. I had to increase the recipe by 50% to account for the veggies. I also added some sweet chili sauce and some Sriracha sauce. While the peanut sauce was tasty, it was lacking in sweet and spice. So, that was my fix.

As the stir fry stayed on the stove longer, it changed the texture of the peanut sauce and made it slightly thick. The taste was great and it was very filling, without too many extra calories that come from coconut milk and other additives in the pre-made sauces.

Now, I am on a kick to try to find other ways to use this flour. All the recipes that I have found so far tend to use vegan butter (1/2 cup to a cup) in the baking recipe. I don't want to cut out flour from my baking completely either. So, I am going to have to play with other recipes that I have liked in the past (banana peanut butter cookies, chocolate chip cookies, banana bread, burgers, pancakes etc). If you have any other ideas, I am open to them!!

Asparagus Stir Fry

I have been busy in the kitchen this morning. I made the trail mix bars that both Em and I tried before. Mine was sweeter today, but also goo-eier (is that a word). I made some as cookies that stayed together better. The rest I poured in a pan to turn into bars. They are mushy, but yummy.

I also made the vegan cupcakes. They are in the oven, we'll see how it turns out. I also am planning to try the glaze and take it over to a friend's for dinner. I am seriously in trouble with all the baking that I am doing. Need to be careful about what I eat.


For lunch, I made Asparagus Stir Fry from 101cookbooks.
It turned out very yummy. I did not have basil/mint, so I used cilantro instead. I also added some Seitan because we had extra. I ate mine over some white rice and when V eats lunch, he plans to use noodles! I liked the bright green of the vegetables and red pepper flakes in the wok, so I added a photo of the preparation too, although the photo does not do it justice!!

Stir Fry Noodles

I made a generic stir fry for dinner tonight. Not going to be eating at home much during the week, so won't be too many posts. It is inspired by the whole wheat linguini stir fry that Em mentioned in her last post (on the Vegetarian Times cover).

Ingredients
1/2 package of cooked noodles (I used Thai Rice noodles)
Extra firm Tofu
2 Eggs
Garlic - 2 cloves
Ginger - to taste
Green Onions - 5
Carrots - 3
Red Pepper -1
Green Pepper -1
Mushrooms -8 oz
Celery - 2 stalks
Peanuts - handful
Soy Sauce - 5 T
Brown Sugar - 2 T
Sriracha sauce - 3 T (or you can use any chili powder)
Sesame sticks




I added eggs to Velu's portion. Scrambled eggs (whites only) and set aside.
Saute tofu in warm oil till light brown and set aside.

Add 1 tsp oil in a warm wok.
Add ginger and garlic pieces and let cook for less than 1 minute.
Add all the vegetables and saute till the vegetables are cooked, but still crunchy.

Add soy sauce, sriracha sauce, brown sugar.
(At this point, you can also add some tomato paste and/or 1T of coconut milk)
Add Tofu and cooked noodles.
Let all the flavors mix together.
Add peanuts.
Serve with Sesame sticks on top..

Variations: Use a variety of noodles
Can use any vegetables (broccoli, peas, snow peas, onion)
Add hoisin sauce or black bean sauce instead of soy sauce and srirach sauce.
Play with the flavors and enjoy!!

PS: I put up a photo with the ingredients rather than the finished dish - this looks better!!