BBQ Baked Tofu

Yet another week is upon us!  I can hardly believe February will be here at the end of this week.  2013 is already flying past!  After a fun and rejuvenating weekend, I'm ready to tackle this week head-on. 

Friday, I spent the evening hanging out with my best girl.  This past week was a rough one for Bailey between surgery and being stuck inside most of the time for recovery, so I wanted to spend as much quality time as I could with her over the weekend.

Saturday morning, I attended a really interested extracurricular course for my MBA program on Emotional Intelligence that I can't wait to tell y'all more about!  After I got home from the class, Bails and I went on a nice long walk and then we met Laura for frozen yogurt.

She surprised Bailey with a new toy!!

What an awesome friend, right?! Bailey is obsessed with it.  The ears have some kind of crinkly material in them that makes a noise that she adores, there is a squeaker inside AND he had a rope tail (yes, had... she already ate it off).

The frozen yogurt was delicious and Laura and I both got a little bit of the best topping ever: oatmeal creme pie.

Yum...

And Bailey got to lick my yogurt cup clean. :]



After indulging in fro yo, I went to meet up with some friends for dinner (normal order- dessert then dinner) and a few adult beverages.  The special margarita at the restaurant was grapefruit flavored, so I indulged and it was fantastic.  All margaritas should be grapefruit flavored if you ask me!

It was wonderful to spend some time out with my friends.  We don't go out too often- usually we have girls' nights at someone's house or one-on-one dinner dates, so it was fun to be out on the town with everyone for an evening! 

Sunday, I got up early to take Bailey on a walk and then went to church and the grocery store.  The rest of my day was spent playing with Bails and doing food prep for the week so that I would be less stressed about eating healthy and time management.

 

Roasted Brussels sprouts, roasted sweet potato rounds, barley and shaved Brussels sprout salad, BBQ baked tofu (oh my gosh, yum; recipe below), sun-dried tomato chicken sausage pasta, and a few cups of mixed beans for easy salads and lunches.  Yum!

All that prep took me about three hours, but it was well worth it.  I've already eaten about half of the sweet potato rounds, a good bit of the barley and Brussels salad, some of the pasta and tofu! Everything is delicious, clean and healthy (well, the pasta isn't as healthy as the rest, but it isn't terrible.)

BBQ Baked Tofu

adapted from Oh She Glows' Easy BBQ Tofu

Prep time: 45 mins (hands off)

Cook time: 40 mins (hands off)

Serves: 2

Ingredients

1 block firm or extra firm tofu 

2 tbsp of your favorite BBQ sauce

Instructions

1. Press tofu for 45 mins
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F 
3. Cube tofu into small pieces (I cut mine into about 64 pieces. The smaller your pieces, the crispier and chewier the tofu will be when it is done, so cube according to your texture preferences.)
4. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray. 
5. Place tofu cubes onto greased baking sheet in a single layer, not touching each other. 
6. Bake tofu at 400 degrees F for 40 minutes. 
7. After 40 minutes, it should be golden brown and crispy on the outside. If you like your tofu less crunchy and chewy, cook for a shorter period of time. (Again, adjust for texture preferences.)
8. When tofu is done, remove from baking sheet and toss with 2 tbsp of your favorite BBQ sauce.  Enjoy!

I love crunchy, chewy tofu, but hate frying it.  I feel like it takes forever and it is so hands on and I get impatient and tired of being attacked by flying oil.  #firstworldproblems 

So, I decided to try baking my tofu and see how it turned out.  Baking gave it the same texture as frying, but used less oil and was so much easier.  I was even able to go do something else while the tofu took care of itself!  Credit for the BBQ flavor goes to Angela from Oh She Glows.  Genius idea.  Delicious as a main meal or just a tasty snack.  It also does great if you refrigerate and eat over the next day or two, so don't hesitate to make a few servings- it stays nice and crispy and chewy.  Delicious! 

Now, I can look forward to having a little extra time to study, time to spend with friends, time to spend with Bailey and time to spend working out without stressing about ruining all my fitness goals with unhealthy, rushed meals this week.  Hallelujah!

Since Bailey still isn't cleared for daycare, my sister agreed to help me out with her while I'm in class this week.  Best. Sister. Ever.  Other than class, I've got a few activities with friends planned and hopefully a blogger meetup on the agenda.  It's going to be a good week! 

Before you go, tell me: 

Do you prep your food for the week or make your meals each day? Sometimes I prep, sometimes I make things on the spot.  It just depends on how much time I know I'll have!