Ohhhhh Dairy!

I've never really realized what a huge role dairy played in my diet until now. I don't miss meat much at all. I recognize the wonderful smell of bacon but I don't have any desire to eat it. Dairy.....ouch! It's a tough one because everything I love has dairy in it.
For example:
Breakfast-
-Tea with half and half and agave-DAIRY
-Oatmeal with a little cream, blueberries and agave-DAIRY
Mid-Morning Snack-
-Rice cake with a slice of cheese-DAIRY
Lunch-
-Hummus and veggies-WOW! no dairy
Dinner-
-Tofu cesar-tons of DAIRY

This transition for me is more about changing all of my habits rather than just cutting out dairy. This process will challenge me because it means reading every label (even more than I already do) and cooking everything, rather than grabbing something on the go.
I will try to share a new, healthy and tasty recipe every day or every other day. Each recipe that I add will be found by me and tested first. Today I'm going to share a recipe that some of you already know but, I love it.

Wish me luck!


Thai (ish) Rice Noodle Dish (with tofu-you can use shrimp or chicken):
**very first, I saute up about 6 cloves of finely chopped garlic and about an inch of ginger (finely chopped) and sauteed until cooked-in light flavored oil**

This is for a double batch of sauce:

-1/4 cup of light oil
-1/4 cup of lime juice
-1.5 tablespoons of Chinese chili paste
-2 tablespoons of toasted, dark sesame oil
-the thick part of a can of coconut milk
-2-3 tablespoons peanut butter
-1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
-a few splashes of soy sauce
-teaspoon of brown sugar or agave
-add half of the ginger/garlic mixture from above to the sauce and save the rest for sauteing the tofu, shrimp or chicken
(heat all of this mixture in a pot on the stove-add things if it taste's off-a little more sweetness will cut the lime taste if you don't like it)

-In thin strips cut up carrots and green onions and cilantro (finely chopped)

-Use 8oz-16oz of rice noodles (however big your meal) take out of box and boil water in a kettle put the dry noodles in a large bowl and cover with boiling water. Let the noodles soak until soft (about 15-20 mins)

-Saute tofu (I pre-bake it in cubes at a high temp) with a tiny bit of oil and the other half of the garlic and ginger mixture (you can use tofu or chicken as well).

Add cooked noodles to the shrimp mixture along with sauce and veggies. At the end, I add ground peanuts and fresh cilantro.

Enjoy!