Monday, January 25, 2010

BSI and Breakfast for Dinner!

Hello all! It's been a nutty day so I'm typing as I dine on a spicy oat bowl for dinner (totally addicted now). I grabbed a package of Morningstar Farms Maple Flavored Veggie Sausage Patties just so I could savor some sausagey goodness in this oat bowl. Also dumped in to ze bowl: arugula, mild chipotle salsa, sriracha, an egg microscrambled with a splash of Adobo seasoning, pepper and chili powder. So far, YUM...though maple fake sausage patty is a little too sweet for me.

Val (of Chicago Marathon Val) so graciously passed on the Blogger Secret Ingredient (BSI) torch to yours truly :) I'm super excited about hosting this week since BSI is one of my favorite things to follow! I think it's a great way for people to get creative in their kitchens and try new things.

For those of you not familiar with BSI, here's a quick rundown of the rules:
  • The host picks an ingredient, preferably one that is in season, readily available and not too expensive.
  • The host links back to all the other previous weekly hosts.
  • Participants create a unique recipe using the BSI and e-mail (or comment and link to) the host their recipes.
  • You do not need to have a food blog to participate, and you do not have to submit a photograph (though, it's preferred so I can show everyone your fabulous creations).
  • If you don't have a blog, you can e-mail the host (runbeansrun@gmail.com) directly and it will be posted on the blog.
  • The host reviews recipes Sunday evening of each week and picks a favorite.
  • The winner is posted Monday morning and receives a prize of the host's choice.
Your ingredient, should you choose to experiment with it, is...
TOFU!

Yep, that's right. Tofu. I've been a bit obsessed with it lately...as evidenced here, here, and here. ;p

Tofu is such a versatile ingredient and you can use it in tons of different forms - baked, pressed, fried (*drool*), and au natural! Each form has a totally different texture and I'm sure you guys will have awesome and creative recipes!

The winner of this week's BSI will get to choose a stylish Envirosax Reusable Bag:

Stuffed with the latest issue of this:
A sampler of Funky Chunky pretzels and popcorn (I came across these randomly one holiday season and think they're a super cute sweet treat):
The sampler contains: Caramel Corn, Chocolate Popcorn, Chocolate Pretzels, and Peanut Butter Pretzels.

Plus any other random fun foodie items I stumble upon.

Everyone has until 10pm EST Sunday (1/31 - WHERE DID JANUARY GO??) to submit your recipes. Happy cooking!!!

Thanks to Biz (who's blog I just stumbled upon) for having a whole page devoted to BSI Rules - fantastic resource!

Here are our previous hosts:

Week 64: Chicago Marathon Val - Mushrooms

Week 63: Biggest Diabetic Loser – Cheddar Cheese

Week 62: A Fit and Spicy Life – Balsamic Vinegar

Week 61: Peanut Butter Fingers - Nutmeg

Week 60: Jenn Eats Nutritiously Now - Garlic

Week 59: Home Cooked Em – Cinnamon

Week 58: The Balanced Broad – Flax

Week 57: Cookin Fanatic - Blue Cheese

Week 56: Foodie in the City - Ricotta Cheese

Week 55: Savvy Eats - Maple Syrup

Weel 54: Sound Eats - Dried Fruit

Week 53: Mega Nerd Runs - Acorn Squash

Week 52: Healthy Tipping Point - Pancake Mix

Week 51: Live, Laugh Eat - Almond Butter

Week 50: Balance, Joy and Delicias! – Cauliflower

Week 49: Healthy San Diego Living - Chickpeas

Week 48: Thought 4 Food - Yogurt

Week 47: London Foodie in New York - Chocolate

Week 46: Johnstone’s Vin Blanc - Oats

Week 45: Guilty Kitchen - Figs

Week 44: Ordinary Recipes Made Gourmet - Peanut Butter

Week 43: The Sophisticated Gourmet - Brown Sugar

Week 42: My Kitchen Addiction – Lime

Week 41: Nutmeg Nanny – Coffee

Week 40: Chaya’s Comfy Cook – Broccoli

Week 39: Healthy Delicious – Plums

Week 38: Zoe - Feta

Week 37: ChezWhat- Potatoes

Week 36: Cinnamon, Spice & Everything Nice – Blueberries

Week 35: Girlichef -Greens

Week 34: The Ungourmet – Watermelon

Week 33: Bread + Butter – Bell Pepper

Week 32: Burp and Slurp -Corn

Week 31: Say Yes to Salad – Kabocha

Week 31 1/2: Simply Fabulous Now – Cherries

Week 30: Thinspired – Bananas

Week 29: To Be The Whole Package – Almonds

Week 28: Kristas Kravings – Lemon

Week 27: From French Fries To Flax Seeds – Coconut

Week 26: Plentiful Plants – Avocado

Week 25: Training Fuel – Eggs

Week 24: Dinner at Christina’s – Cabbage

Week 23: Hey What’s for Dinner, Mom? – Strawberries

Week 22: One Bite at a Time – Basil

Week 21: Just Sweet Enough – Black Beans

Week 20: What I Ate Yesterday – Kale

Week 19: What’s for Dinner – Orange

Week 18: BranAppetit! –Spinach

Week 17: Tales of Expansion Dates

Week 16: Biggest Diabetic Loser – Zucchini

Week 15: Sweet & Natural –Peppermint

Week 14: bella eats [and runs] – Ginger

Week 13: Coffee Talk – Walnuts

Week 12: For the Love of Oats – Pumpkin

Week 11: Trying to Heal – Sweet Potatoes

Week 10: The Inner Workings of a College Graduate – Eggplant

Week 9: Itzy’s Kitchen – Pears

Week 8: The Fitnessista – Cranberries

Week 7: Tri to Cook – Lentils

Week 6: Rhodey Girl Tests – Polenta

Week 5: Eating Bender – Butternut Squash

Week 4: Care to Eat – Apples

Week 3: On a Lobster Placemat – Mushrooms

Week 2: Hangry Pants – Tomatoes

Week 1: sportsnutritionliving – Quinoa

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hooray for tofu! That ingredient I like - I don't like mushrooms, so I felt bad Val didn't have more entries.

I'll update my BSI page with a link to this and then mention your ingredient on my post tomorrow.

Yippee!

Travel Eat Love said...

Blogger secret ingredient is such a cool idea!

Anonymous said...

Wow, cool idea. But what'd be even cooler is if all the food was packaged and delivered to me =P

I am not able to participate right now, simply because i am average at best at cooking. But I will definitely check back in to see what people come up with.

Thanks!
bgirl875

Anonymous said...

I've seen this BSI here and there and never thought to actually follow it around! Um, and I NEVER cook with Tofu..maybe this will inspire me to be creative over the weekend ;)


p.s. I'm totally coming back to the store for more Honey Stingers. Delicious (even if I didn't finish it on the run...working on that!). Haven't tried the Jet Berry Gu yet though ;)

anna said...

Hi Karena- great choice! I will have to get thinking quickly! I was a past participant London Foodie in New York and I have recently changed my blog url to www.londonfoodieny.com I was wondering if you could update the link for me on the list as it gets past along? thanks so much! ps I will also be running chicago in october!

The Chef In My Head said...

Making my way through 72 BSI blogs(backwards, I've got a long way to go). I used to eat quite a bit of tofu and just kind of forgot about it. Great post! Stop on by if you get a chance I'm number 73-Goat cheese. Happy Monday ~LeslieMichele