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"Sausage" Quinoa, Non-Stir-Fry Tofu Salad and Biofreeze

"Sausage" on Sunday
Last night we ended up just chilling on the couch watching a movie - Winter's Bone. We also decided to try a new product we picked up at Whole Foods the other day - Field Roast Smoked Apple Sage "Sausages." 

We have tried one of their roast loaves, but I have never seen the "sausages" until recently. Kristina @ Spabettie had done a post about them, highly recommending them. So I was excited to see Whole Foods finally carrying them.

Since the weather turned out to be fairly nice, we decided to grill the "sausages" with some veggies (onions, zucchini, squash). I made some quinoa that I flavored with thyme, salt, pepper, parsley, fresh garlic, and nutritional yeast flakes.

When the quinoa was done, I tossed in some halved cherry tomatoes then I added the grilled veggies and "sausages" over the top.

This was a really great, light summery dinner. The "sausages" would be perfect for a vegan stuffing for Thanksgiving as well. It was just the right amount of sage with bits of apple running throughout. Even better, they grilled up perfectly not drying out or becoming rubbery.


DOMS = Rest Day & Biofreeze
Today was supposed to be a typical Monday - meaning spin class. Jason had mentioned that he might join me again. However, he swam this morning and was pretty worn out. I had my bag packed up and was ready to go. However, I started questioning going to spin myself by mid-morning.

My weight workout was a killer apparently. Definitely feeling it in the shoulders, back, AND legs. I kept thinking that the soreness might ease up or that it would be one of those work-out-the kinks spin days. I had to be honest with myself though, there was no spinning out those kinks.

I had thought my leg workout was light enough that I wouldn't be in pain today. Um, not so much. Apparently those rear-leg elevated lunges got me. I must add those in more regularly.

Because I was so sore this morning, I decided to try out a new product that I recently received from Swanson Health Products: Biofreeze Pain Relieving Roll-On. I have heard really good things about it. So, today seemed like the perfect opportunity to test it out.

I liked that it was a roll on, didn't have to dip my fingers in it. It also wasn't overly pungent. It had a slight pain cream smell at first, but it quickly dissipated. It really did seem to help ease up some of the muscle soreness in my legs, but it wasn't a cure all (unfortunately). My legs are still sore/tight of course, but the Biofreeze did help relieve some of the pain. I'd definitely recommend it and will be using more this tonight.

Please note: I received this product free to review. All reviews are, and will always be, my honest opinion.

Are you interested in getting some free Swanson Health Products goodies to review on your own blog? Then check out the Swanson Health Blog for all the details.


Non-Stir-Fry Salad
Since I didn't hit spin at lunch, I was able to leave at my regular time (4 pm), which was the upside to the unplanned rest day actually. We're going to be heading out of town this weekend, so I have lots of prep to do (laundry, cleaning, and such).

This also gave me more time to spend in the kitchen. I made some more homemade seitan to freeze. I also got a little creative with dinner. I'll save the easier meals for later this week. I really wanted a salad of some sort tonight. Jason was suggesting stir fry. So, why not meld the two for a Non-Stir-Fry Style Tofu Salad?

Please note that the ingredients for the marinade/dressing are to desired consistency and flavor. I suggest making a slightly thicker sauce to marinade the tofu, then thinning it out a bit for the dressing. You will want to make enough to act as both the marinade and the dressing.


Non-Stir-Fry Tofu Salad
Ingredients:
Tofu
1 package tofu, frozen, thawed and squeezed dry, cubed
Low-sodium soy sauce
Rice wine vinegar
Orange juice
Miso paste (maybe 1/2 tsp)
Grated fresh ginger (to taste)
Sriracha chili (to taste)
Plum sauce
1 tbsp peanut butter
Sesame oil (just a few drops)

Salad
1/2 red bell pepper, very thinly sliced
1 small yellow squash or zucchini, shredded
1-2 carrots depending on size, shredded
Broccoli florets (as many as you like)
1/2 cup edamame, thawed
Leaf lettuce, shredded
Wakame, reconstituted (optional)
Rice noodles (just a small amount, optional)
To taste: salt, Chinese 5 spice
Few splashes of red wine vinegar

Directions:
Make the marinade/dressing by whisking all ingredients together. Pour over the tofu and allow to soak in. Bake the tofu at 400 degrees until firm, flipping once.

Using a mandoline or food processor, shred the carrots and squash.

Toss all veggies, wakame, and noodles into a large mixing bowl, splash on some red wine vinegar, salt, and Chinese 5 spice, mix well and set aside.
 

I was actually really happy with how this turned out. It was definitely different, but kind of fun. I liked the veggies not being cooked, but you could easily steam them very briefly if you wanted. I would love to have this again with sugar snap peas. I also wonder how well you could crisp up rice wraps to use those as a bowl....

Daily To-Enjoy List:
  • Spin (nixed for rest day)
  • Extra kitchen time
  • Catching up on Big Brother

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