Asian

Tofu Asparagus Spring Rolls

Congratulations to the winner of my ENLIGHTENED Ice cream giveaway: Valerie M!
Be sure to check your email! & Enjoy your cold ice cream during this crazy heat wave!

This week I have been giving my 100% and going to spin everyday. I am so in love with the endorphin rush that it gives me, and the calorie burn isn’t bad either! I hope that you guys have been scoping out some new workout classes to try this weekend. You may just find your new thangggg. I love motivating you guys with personal posts about my fitness progress and body/weight stuff, but I just can’t get myself to post it along with these gorgeous recipe photos! I feel like those kinds of posts need to be separate, so I’ve set some posts aside next week for updates on how everything is going in the workout world! Right now it’s time for some rabbit food!

I absolutely love all of these bright green veggies! Beautiful!

Tofu Asparagus Spring Rolls
Tofu Asparagus Spring Rolls
Tofu Asparagus Spring Rolls
Tofu Asparagus Spring Rolls
Tofu Asparagus Spring Rolls
Tofu Asparagus Spring Rolls
Tofu Asparagus Spring Rolls
Tofu Asparagus Spring Rolls
Tofu Asparagus Spring Rolls
Tofu Asparagus Spring Rolls
Tofu Asparagus Spring Rolls
Tofu Asparagus Spring Rolls
Tofu Asparagus Spring Rolls
Tofu Asparagus Spring Rolls
Serves 1

1 spring roll (rice paper) wrap
1 inch strip of firm tofu
6 spears of asparagus
1/2 cucumber, sliced
1/4 medium avocado
1/4 cup arugula
4-5 mint leafs

Sesame Miso Sauce
*Also pairs well with low sodium soy sauce, or tamari if you don’t feel like making sauce!

2 Tbsp tahini
1 Tbsp white miso paste
1 Tbsp agave nectar
1/2 Tbsp tamari or soy sauce
1 tsp grated ginger root

Refrigerate all ingredients beforehand. Wash and cut ingredients for inside the spring roll. Fill a bowl or saucepan with warm water. Begin dipping the spring roll wrap in the water and rotate. Continue gently dipping until the rice paper becomes transparent and limp. Lay the pliable wrap on a piece of cheese cloth or clean kitchen towel. Place the ingredients on the top center of the wrap. Fold the sides in over the filling. Then tightly push the ingredients together folding the top corner over, then roll until completely wrapped. Chop in half or into 6 pieces.
Note: I have found that wrapping the spring roll on a towel is the best way to prevent it from sticking and tearing.
Another Note: The spring rolls are much easier to handle if cut in half vs. small pieces!

The Rabbit Food Pyramid Breakdown
Produce: asparagus, cucumber, arugula, and mint
Whole Grain: complete this meal with 1/2 cup of cooked brown rice!
Protein: tofu
Plant Based Fat: avocado

Disney Magic of Healthy Living

I hope everyone is having a magical week!
Congratulations to the winner of my BeckleyByMelissa Scarf Giveaway: Celina!

Yesterdays delayed Monday Motivation: “To change your body, you must change your mind.”

Ahhh Disneyland. The worlds biggest human trap operated by a mouse!
A magical land of discovery, dreams, and really unhealthy food!
I’m quite spoiled, living only a short drive from the Disneyland resort in California. My best friends and I all have annual passes and love going as much as we can, even if it’s just for one ride a fireworks. See, I told you. Very spoiled living so close… I LOVE Disneyland. I’m a total kid at heart and am in awe of it’s magic every time I go. One small problem I’ve always had with Disneyland is that it’s not so easy to eat healthy there.

A quick flashback story: When I was trying to lose weight, I never wanted to go to disneyland with my friends. I basically cut one of my favorite things to do out of my life because I had a fear of the sugary fatty temptations that were at the park. I thought that if I went to Disneyland, I wouldn’t be strong enough to avoid the temptation and go on a crazy sugar binge of churros and Mickey Mouse Ice Cream Sandwiches and gain 20 lbs overnight. We all know that isn’t true… but at the time, my disordered mind told me that it would happen. So ya, you read that right. I was basically scared of Disneyland! Who is scared of Disneyland? Speaking of wanting to stay “healthy” and only eat “healthy foods” I should’ve known how unhealthy I actually was at that point. After I was able to get back on my feet and recover from my eating disorder, I started going to Disneyland with friends again. I was in a much better place where I didn’t fear food or the house of mouse, and allowed myself to have fun and enjoy a churro. It’s all about balance!

RFFMBT DisneylandToning my arms on the Teacups! haha just kidding!

 

For a company who promotes the “Disney Magic of Healthy living,” there are not many healthy options for us at Disneyland. Or at least not advertised around the park! I did some super detective work to find the best options to stay healthy while having fun at Disneyland. Call me Catherine: Mouse Detective! During my exploration at Disneyland for healthier foods, I discovered some excellent options!

Disney Magic of Healthy Living
Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy.” – Walt Disney
Enter Tomorrowland: bringing inspiration, ingenuity, and ideas of building a better tomorrow.

Did you know that Tomorrowland is home of the only all-healthy-food cart at Disneyland, CA?
The Tomorrowland Fruit Cart is the only cart that strictly sells healthy foods. You won’t find any tempting chips or sodas at this cart! Just 100% healthy, wholesome foods to nourish your body during a long day at the happiest place on earth. Here’s what the Tomorrowland Fruit Cart has to offer!

Red and green apples, bananas, oranges, sliced pineapple, sliced mango, grapes, apple slices, strawberries & blueberries, pickles, veggie sticks with ranch dip, Sabra Hummus & Pretzel Pods, Disney Freeze Dried Fuji Apple Crisps, OceanSpray Craisins, and OceanSpray Craisin Trail Mix! They also sell Vitamin Water Zero, Powerade Zero, Honest Tea, Smart Water, and Dasani.

Disney Magic of Healthy Living
Disney Magic of Healthy Living
Disney Magic of Healthy Living
Disney Magic of Healthy Living
Disney Magic of Healthy Living
Disney Magic of Healthy Living
Disney Magic of Healthy Living
Did you know that all of the plants in Tomorrowland are edible?
The visionary landscaping doubles as a potential farm, projecting an ecologically astute future, where humanity makes the most of its resources. It’s a great big beautiful tomorrow, in Tomorrowland! I absolutely love this idea of an agrifuture. I never noticed the gorgeous display of veggies until now.Look how gorg that red kale & rainbow chard is? Umm inspiration for my future house’s landscaping! I would take a kale bouquet over flowers any day!
* I wouldn’t recommend eating the Kale landscaping at Disneyland! haha

Disney Magic of Healthy Living
Disney Magic of Healthy Living
At Frontierland in Disneyland, CA there is a pretty good Mexican restaurant by Thunder Mountain called Rancho de Zocalo. The restaurant has different stations for tacos, burritos, and tostadas. There is a great vegetarian option for tacos called Soft Tacos Monterrey which contains two tacos with sautéed vegetables, rice, and beans in a flour tortilla along with a side of spanish rice and beans, guacamole, salsa and shredded lettuce. This huge plate of deliciousness is $10 (annual pass discounts available here, score!)
*You can make these tacos vegan by requesting no cheese and no sour cream.

My order: Soft Tacos Monterey without cheese or sour cream.
* This meal is big enough to split with someone!

The Rabbit Food Pyramid Breakdown
Produce: sautéed vegetables
Whole Grain: flour tortillas & rice (two servings of grains, but very filling)
Protein: beans
Plant Based Fat: oil that the veggies are sautéed in

Soft Tacos Monterey
I’ve also found a pretty healthy vegetarian option at California Adventure. The Lucky Fortune Cookery in the Pacific Wharf area at Disney’s California Adventure Park has a variety of Asian Rice Bowls with your choice of protein and sauce over sautéed Asian vegetables and steamed rice for about $9 (annual pass discounts available here too, wooo!).
*All of the sauces are vegan except for the Thai Coconut Curry sauce!

My order: Asian Rice Bowl with tofu and sautéed veggies and some teriyaki sauce on the side.

The Rabbit Food Pyramid Breakdown
Produce: sautéed vegetables
Whole Grain: rice
Protein: tofu
Plant Based Fat: avocado (guacamole), and oil (that the veggies are sautéed in)

Asian rice bowl
With a little bit of faith trust, and pixie dust, you can stay on track with your healthy eating while visiting Disneyland! Balance is key. Healthy produce for snacks all day, a well balanced meal, and a little something special like a churro to indulge in!

RFFMBT DisneylandWith my main squeezes Boo & Kitty a.k.a. Sully!

Health & Happiness xo

Spicy Korean Tacos

RFFMBT was down for about an hour today due to extremely high traffic! I was so worried that I would lose some of my content or even contest entries for the DOLE Salad Circle Party Giveaway! All is good and no content was lost! I took care of the server issue and am back up and running and hit 2.3 million views OMG! No wonder my server was freaking out! Thank you so much to everyone who reads, shares, likes, follows, tweets, pins, or comments on my blog. You are AMAZING!

I really wanted to recreate a dish that I once had from a food truck called Calbi. The Calbi truck is always driving around different areas of LA serving up some amazing Korean BBQ and Asian fusion treats. They serve up tons of delicious Korean style dishes with an awesome twist: filled into tortillas making Korean burritos and tacos! Ummm can you say brilliant? Burritos and tacos are awesome, and next up, I really want to try the Jogasaki truck which makes sushi burritos! I’m drooling now. I want sushi for din!


Here is my take on the Calbi truck’s Tofu Tacos! Made with my favorite Asian hot sauce: Sriracha. Sriracha, originally from Thailand is very popular among Asian cuisines such as Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean. If you’re like me Sriracha is not limited to Asian foods, and goes on practically anything and everything!  Made from chili, sugar, salt, garlic, and distilled vinegar, Huy Fong Foods’ Sriracha (also knows as “Rooster Sauce” in the US – due to it’s iconic label) sauce adds a nice fiery kick of spice and flavor to your dish.

Any other Sriracha fans out there?!



Spicy Korean Tacos
Serves 1

2 soft taco sized whole corn tortillas
1 cup shredded cabbage
1 cup shredded carrot
1/2 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
1/5 package extra firm tofu
1 Tbsp Sriracha
1 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce or Tamari
1/2 Tbsp sesame oil
1/2 Tbsp sesame seeds

Remove tofu from packaging. Remove as much water as possible by pressing/squeezing firmly with paper towel to absorb excess liquid. Cut the tofu into 1 inch cubes. Pour the sesame oil, soy sauce, and Sriracha into a pan/skillet and mix together. Set stove to medium/high heat. Add the cubed tofu into the pan and cook on each side for about 3 minutes until edges become firm and center is warmed through. Once the tofu has finished cooking, remove it from the pan and set aside. In the same pan, add the low sodium vegetable broth, cabbage, and carrots. The vegetables will pick up the flavoring from the broth and extra sauces left in the pan. Cook the vegetables over the stove for about 2-3 minutes or until they have reached your desired firmness. Strain any excess vegetable broth from the pan. Heat the corn tortillas with a damp paper towel (to avoid cracking) for 20 seconds. Place the tofu and vegetable mixture onto the tortillas and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Note: If sesame oil is unavailable, olive oil will still give great results.


The Rabbit Food Pyramid Breakdown
Produce: cabbage & carrots
Whole Grain: whole corn tortillas
Protein: tofu
Plant Based Fat: sesame oil & sesame seeds
Free Extras: vegetable broth, Sriracha, and tamari