Claudia's Tofu Orzo Dish

Getting your kids involved in cooking can be fun, if they are old enough to clean up their messes. I gave my 15 year old daughter the other night full access to the kitchen to make dinner for our family, if she cleaned up her mess. She came up with, Claudia's Tofu Orzo. This dish is simple, yummy and becoming a family favorite.

Ingredients

1 container of firm tofu, cut into small chunks.

1 1/2 cups of feta cheese

2 cups of baby spinach

1 cup of uncooked Orzo pasta

Low sodium soy sauce

Dried Italian seasoning blend

1 Tlbs. Olive oil

Directions

Cook your Orzo according to the package, drain and set aside. In a non stick skillet heat up your olive oil on medium high heat. Add your tofu, let the tofu cook for 3 minutes stirring occasionally. Add a couple of dashes of soy sauce to your tofu and let cook another 3 minutes. Repeat this process with the soy sauce. Add a generous amount of your dried Italian seasoning to your tofu, mix well. Add your orzo pasta and cooked tofu into a large bowl, mixing in your feta and spinach. Serve warm or cold.

Enjoy!

All American Cherry Pie

Cherry pie is my all time favorite. I love the tartness of this pie, and a good buttery flaky crust. This pie is perfect served with vanilla ice cream on a warm summers day. Happy 4th of July!

Ingredients

2 pre made Pillsbury pie crust

1 cup of sugar

3 Tlbs cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt

4 cups canned pitted sour cherries plus 1/3 cup cherry liquid

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 Tlbs cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Directions

Place one of your pre made pie crusts into a pie plate. Pat the pie crust so it is firmly in the pie plate. In a bowl stir together the sugar, cornstarch and salt. Mix in your cherries add your cherry juice and vanilla, mix well. Pour your cherry pie filling into your dough lined pie plate. Dot with your cold butter.

Using your second pie crust dough, make a lattice top. Making a lattice top: Using a pastry wheel, cut your dough into 16 strips about 3/4 inch wide. Lay about 8 of the strips across the pie filled shell horizontally. Fold every other strip halfway back. Lay a vertical strip down the center and lay the folded strips back down. Repeat this process until you have the whole pie filled with a lattice top. Cut the excess dough from the edges and pinch the edges down.

Refrigerate your pie until the dough is firm for 20 minutes. Bake your pie for 15 minutes at 425˙. Reduce the oven temperature to 350˙, continue to bake until your crust is golden brown, 40 to 50 minutes. Serve at room temperature with vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy!