No. You. Didn’t.

I think I’ve mentioned how much I hate watching the news. I may have also mentioned I can’t read any sad stories about kids without it eating away at me. I know I’ve mentioned how much I can’t stand racism. It really gets my blood boiling. Crimes against children are the number one stories that just send me over the edge. Racism is a close second.

Oh dear God…how do I even explain what has gotten me all riled up without calling attention to the person who did it. Because truly, I don’t want to attack her. I don’t know this woman, but she commented on another friend’s post on Facebook. The comment was a racial slur against the president, but more importantly against Muslims as a whole. Her profile picture shows her with a boy, I’m assuming to be her son. And I couldn’t help but be sad. As parents we push our beliefs onto our children…that’s the way it works. Just like I will push my belief on Ava to love a person for their soul. It makes me sad because this little boy will grow up with her beliefs and I know that’s HER right as a parent. But nonetheless, it makes shake my head that humanity is inhumane to fellow humans.

Racism is pure ignorance and arrogance. This is my belief. To judge a group of people based on one person is just plain ignorant. To believe your “group” is better is just plain arrogant. I have and always will associate with people from all walks of life. People of color, people of different religious beliefs, people with no religous beliefs, people who swear, people who don’t, people who spank their children, people who believe in time-outs…you see, they bring diversity and perspective to my world. They bring culture and honestly, damn good food. And we all know, I’m in it for the food. But really, even if they didn’t bring all of these things, I’d still enjoy their company because I’m not ignorant enough to believe that what makes up a person is what “group” they fit into. What makes up a person is their soul. And quite frankly, when you put up a racist comment you give me a glimpse of your soul and it’s not a soul I’d ever want to know.

I’m going to end with this quote:

“Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph.” – Haile Selassie

Found my husband thanks to a newspaper ad…

I was 21 years old and needed a job. I was doing the online search thing, but having no luck. So I turned to the classifieds. I saw a job posted for an adminstrative assistant at a footwear company and thought, “This sounds awesome.” I interviewed and landed the job in April of 2001.

This is how I met Casie. Casie worked two cubicles away from me and I would visit her every single morning. I don’t think she knew what to think of me, but I didn’t care. I wanted to be friends with her. She was nice and funny and had no interest in being my friend. But I’m a persistant bitch and wouldn’t go away. After about 3 months of working there she said, “I have someone I want you to meet.” I said, “No. Not interested. I just got out of a serious relationship. I’m not ready.” Apparently she’s a persistant bitch too, because she wouldn’t let it go. A few times a week, she’d bring it up and I would always say no. Until one day, I asked for more details on this guy named Mike. Here’s how that went:

Casie: Well, he’s 30.
Janice: Oh. Yeah…that’s no good.
Casie: And he has an 11 year old son.
Janice: Ummm. Yeah…not sure I’m ready for that.
Casie: Here’s a picture of him
Janice: Ummm…he looks nice????

You see, Casie showed me the WORST picture of Mike EVER taken. I’m not joking. It was horrible. He looked bloated and drunk. So basically, Casie did the worst marketing for Mike ever! Apparently she was also working on him and this his how that went:

Casie: I have a girl I want you to meet.
Mike: Ok.
Casie: She’s 21.
Mike: Ummm. Yeah…don’t want a girl who wants to go to the club every night. She’s too young.
Casie: Just meet her.

So finally after about a month of her nagging both of us, I agreed as long as she and her husband came along. We would just meet for drinks. I had already decided I wasn’t interested. So the evening of introduction comes and I’m not joking when I say I didn’t even change my clothes. I didn’t put on more makeup. I really didn’t put any effort into myself at all because I had already made up my mind that I wasn’t interested.

So Casie and I arrived before Mike and Tuti (Casie’s husband) did. And we’re sitting on the top of this rooftop bar in Hermosa and I see this gorgeous guy walking up the stairs and then I see Tuti behind said gorgeous guy and I flip out. Oh shit…he’s hot!!! Wait…he’s hot????? So they sit down and I’m not joking it was instant for me. As soon as he said he liked Matchbox 20, Casie and Tuti might as well have not existed. I came home from that first night and told Sara (my best friend) I thought I had met someone really special.

He promised to call on Saturday and he did. He called before noon, which I thought was so awesome. He was the first man to ever officially ask me out on a date. He took me to dinner at Jackson’s Bistro and from that moment on, we were inseparable. Except for the one time a week in when he got freaked out about my age and tried to walk. Thank God for his Grandma who said, “Do you like her?” To which he said, “Yes.” And grandma said, “Well, then who cares how old she is.” Four years later he proposed at that same restuarant and five years ago today, we stood up and said our vows in front of friends and family who promised to help us and support our marriage. And they have….more than I can ever say.

Happy Anniversary Husband! I just want to say:

5 years

Many ups

A few downs

2 job changes for me

Starting a company for you

A drive halfway across the US in the worst moving van EVER

Your mom passed

My grandmas passed

A baby girl was born

A son graduated

Ava started preschool

Drew started college

A move from a 1 bedroom apartment, to a 2 bedroom apartment, to a townhome

Countless miles ran

A half marathon completed

Desert trips

Guys trips

Girls trips

The Big Easy

Mexico x 3

Florida

Missouri

Countless trips to the desert

And a HUGE pile of great memories!!!!

We live a good life babe and I couldn’t have asked for a better partner on this journey. I love you simply doesn’t seem like enough. You are an amazing man and I’m looking forward to adding to the list of memories. I love you more than I say and more than you know.

My Little Girl

It seems like so often lately I walk through the door and I see Ava standing at the top of the stairs so excited to see me and I look at her and I see a little girl…no more baby. Someone hand me some tissues. So I say, “Hi baby girl.” And for awhile she would say, “I’m not a baby.” So I explained to her why I call her baby girl…that it’s an endearing term. So now she’s says, “I’m not a baby but you love me so you call me baby girl. Right mom?”

I see a little girl who is growing so fast I can’t stand it. It seems so unfair that time has sped up since she was born and doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Where is my Tivo for life? Where is my slow motion button?

I got a phone call from her yesterday and Mike was on the line first and he’s like, “Ava wants to tell you something and what she’s going to tell you is true.” Intriguing, huh. So she gets on the phone…

Ava: Hi Mama
Me: Hi baby girl. Daddy says you have something to tell me.
Ava: I did the monkey bars all by myself!
Me: That’s awesome! I’m so proud of you!

And I was. You see, she’s been going to the park every day and every day she practices learning how to do the monkey bars and yesterday she finally did it by herself. Among the many things I admire about my little girl is the fact that she is a determined child who wants to achieve. I see it in everything she does. If you tell her to try and color between the lines, she tries and tries and then when she masters it, she shows it to you and expects her praise. This makes me happy. This makes me feel like we are praising her in the right way.

A few weeks back we were having problems with putting her to bed at night. She was scared, truly scared of the dark and monsters and everything else. So before bed she was watching “Yo Gabba Gabba” and a song came on and the chorus went, “Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid. It’s going to be ok.” So Mike tells Ava, “When you’re scared just sing that song and it will make you feel better.” So about 20 minutes after we put her to bed, we hear her singing the song. And I actually teared up. I was so proud of her and I felt so sad for her scared little self. So I went downstairs and gave her a big hug and told her she was doing a great job and to just keep singing until she wasn’t scared anymore. And she did and she fell asleep…on her own.

Life is sometimes hard. I believe that our duty as parents is to prepare our children for that. I don’t believe that my job as Ava’s mommy is to do everything for her, to fight every battle for her, to not let her fail…that’s not preparing her for life. She has two feet that I’m supposed to help her learn how to stand on. My job is to teach her that not everything is easy. That sleeping alone is sometimes scary, but she has to face fears. That learning to stay between the lines is sometimes hard, but her picture will be prettier in the end. That sharing her toys is no fun, but it earns you friends. That sometimes she’ll fight with her friends and that’s ok, it teaches her to listen, to forgive and to solve problems. That sometimes she may not have the strength to make it to the other side of the monkey bars, but if she just keeps trying she’ll get there eventually.

And if I made everything so easy for her, she would never understand what it feels like to work hard for something and achieve it. Hearing the pride in her voice last night was one of the best feelings I’ve had in awhile. I was so damn proud…not just about her making it across the monkey bars, but the fact that she kept trying until she learned to do it and then took a great amount of pride in it.

Holy mother of God…how do I recall an email?

So when I had Ava, I dropped most of the weight pretty quickly. I am not ashamed to admit I gained 45 pounds during pregnancy. I spent the pretty much all day of the first four months of pregnancy hugging the toilet. So the next 5 months I ate everything in sight. And I don’t mean fruit and salad…I ate nachos, cheeseburgers, cookies and I might have eaten an entire apple pie one night. Go ahead and judge me suckers…I was HUNGRY!!!!!

So I lost 10 pounds the first four months I was pregnant and gained 45 total so that left me with 35 to lose. The first 20 came off no problem. The last 15 would not budge. I breastfed, which didn’t magically make the weight disappear like it did for my lucky friends. So when Ava was 6 months old, I talked Mike into doing Nutrisystem with me.

We get our one month food supply in the mail and read all the directions about what to eat when…blah, blah, blah. In the directions they suggest taking a “BEFORE” picture. Me being the type A personality I am, I throw on a black bikini and tell Mike to take my picture. Let me tell you, it wasn’t pretty…it just wasn’t. I had this “bite me” look on my face…I wasn’t happy about taking this picture. It was a total blow to the self-esteem. But I thought whatever…I’m going to look good in 3 months…this weight is coming off.

Anyway…fast forward a few weeks. In my “I’m not getting enough sleep” haze, I downloaded all the pictures off of our camera and uploaded them to Shutterfly. I “share” Ava’s Month 6 album with everyone in my address book. A day or two goes by and by this point alot of people had written back commenting on how cute Ava is and how much she’s growing. AND THEN…my cousin-in-law sends me an email and is all, “Nice pic of you in your bikini!”

OH. MY. GOD.

Yes. I sent my “before” picture out to all my friends and family. It doesn’t get much more awesome than that. Can you imagine the people who I didn’t get a chance to explain the “before” picture too???? I bet they were thinking, “Why the hell did Janice send a picture of herself, in a bikini, standing in her house?” They had to know it was a “before” picture, right?

I Have Something to Admit

I’m a former smoker. I’ve been on the wagon and off the wagon so many times that I feel like I can’t even tell people when I quit because I’m going to hear, “Hear we go again.” But hey…at least I keep trying. I feel like everyone gets all judgy on smokers and I get it. It’s a disgusting habit, it smells, blah, blah, blah. I started smoking at 13…I can’t even fathom that now. I did it on a dare and I look back and think, “My God…I was just a child. What was I thinking?” I know all of us can go back to a point in our lives where we say, “If I knew then, what I know now…”

I’m angry. I’m angry that I ever picked up that first cigarette. I’m angry that no matter how long I go without smoking the thoughts always push themselves back up…at the most random times. I know this post sounds all self-loathing and whiny but whatever…it’s my blog. And I need to talk about this. I need to talk about how frustrated I am that I feel alone sometimes.

Here’s the thing…I have friends who smoked and just quit…just like that. No big deal. That didn’t happen to me. So I feel like I can’t talk to those friends about it because it’s that whole “Well, I did it. So can you. What’s the big deal attitude?” And then I feel like a big, fat failure because I can’t push thoughts of smoking out of my head. What’s wrong with me? Am I not strong enough? How is it so easy for them and so hard for me? I feel weak sometimes. So weak that I have to ask Mike to go with me to the store because I know if I don’t have someone to go with me, I might just stop. And that pisses me off. It pisses me off that I can’t trust myself. It’s so lame.

And I KNOW if I picked up a cigarette and started smoking again, I’d just wish I hadn’t and I’d be back at square one trying to quit again because I DON’T WANT TO DIE! That’s really what it amounts to. When I smoked I would panic as I fell asleep at night that one day, a doctor would tell me, “You have cancer.”

I know it’s addiction…I get that part. But it sucks. And an addict of anything can understand how it’s a daily battle. And that’s the most frustrating part. Some days I have to fight hard to keep my head above water. Fight hard to keep myself from stopping at the store because really, the only person standing in my way is me. It’s the fight I have with myself…just one…I’m just going to smoke one. And then the other side of me is like, “You don’t want one…you want them all.” Which is really the truth.

I have a support system…a website I go to and I don’t really *know* the people there which makes it easy for me to really be honest about how much I think about smoking….because sometimes I wonder if I told my friends…the ones who see me everyday…I just wonder if they’d think I was nuts? Which I totally am but it’s one thing for me to know that and a completely different thing for them to confirm it.

Someone once said, “If you really wanted to quit, it wouldn’t be so hard.” And that kind of stings because I really do want to quit. I want to stay quit but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. And it’s comments like those that keep me from sharing how hard the battle is sometimes. Because really…if I didn’t want to quit, it would be a hell of alot easier to just give up. To just pick it back up again and say, “Screw it.”

I See A Future…

Bet you people are thinking this is going to be an inspirational post…nope. Not even close. I DO have something I want to tell all you lovelies about but I can’t. Yet. Because I’m superstitious and think it’s best to wait. Now all of you are thinking I’m pregant. I’m not. I promise.

Okay, so we’ve had some sleep issues with Ava. I wouldn’t even call them issues. She’s been sneaking into our bed around 2 am every night. And I do love it. It’s nice to wake up to her sweet little face. What I don’t love is being kicked to hell and back between 2 and 6am. She’s killing me and Mike. So we decide no more sneaking in. We explain it to her and her first response to me is, “That’s really not fair mom. You get to sleep with Daddy EVERY night and I have to sleep ALL BY MYSELF!” She’s got a point. But that’s besides the point.

So I try my next plan and this is how the conversation goes:

Me: Okay. If you quit sneaking into our room at night, I’ll tell Santa how good your being and maybe he’ll bring you a scooter for Christmas.
Ava: How far away is Christmas?
Me: 6 months
Ava: Hmmmm. Well, how about a scooter AND a pogo stick? (don’t know why she wants a pogo stick or where she saw one)
Me: How about just a scooter and I tell Santa to bring it a little early?
Ava: Done.

That’s right folks, not only did I bribe my child but she negotiated the terms of the bribery. Was this effective? She has been in her bed, all night, for 5 straight nights!!! I’m a freaking genious! I’ve created my “bribe list” below for future reference.

Bribe List

1. Disney Princess Scooter
2. Slip ‘n’ slide
3. Bicycle with training wheels
4. Sandbox
5. Her own tv
6. New clothes
7. Free color with markers day (because I’m a neat freak and won’t let her have them)
8. Play-do playtime (again with the neat freak thing)
9. A real bed (she has a toddler bed now)

Am I a bad parent if I give her a new bed and then hold out on the sheets and use them as a bribe too?

O.M.G.

Every single time I glance at the headlines of CNN, I can find at least one article that irritates me. I don’t know why I do this to myself…why I even look. But here’s the headline that got me going this morning:

Latest airline fee? Early boarding

I thought, “OMG…they CAN’T be serious!!” So I had to read the article to find out how they packaged this concept up nicely so that somehow it’s a lovely gesture on part of the airlines…you know…a nice “service” they are offering. Because surely it’s thoughtful on their part, right? And sure enough, three sentences into the article:

American Airlines has introduced the “Boarding and Flexibility Package,” which allows passengers who buy tickets on the carrier’s website also to purchase perks that include being among the first to board a flight.

The word “perk” is mentioned twice in the article and it’s not so much that American Airlines is introducing the service, it’s the insulting way in which they deliver it. As if customers (you and me) aren’t smart enough to figure out that it’s a ploy for them to increase revenue. Right? I’m certainly not the only one who sees it this way, right???? They deliver it like they are “offering” you a perk. I think there was also the phrase “introductory price” in the article too! I get that businesses need to make money…hell, I like money too. But here’s my biggest piece of marketing advice, “DON’T THINK YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE IDIOTS!!!”

Is there anything airlines don’t charge for nowadays? I mean what’s next…are we going to have to pay to use the restroom in flight? Pay for our seatbelts? Here’s an idea, since I have to pay for my food now, you should remove the fold-down food trays and make me purchase one if I’d like to be comfortable while I eat.

I’m really not as angry as I sound…I just don’t get who’s in charge over at American but I’m guessing it’s the guy yelling, “Hey Stupid” at the press conference.

Saturday was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day!

It started out fine. Mike was working in San Diego and Ava and I got up to get ready for Mimis ballet recital. Ava was SOOOOO excited to see her best friend on stage. I suggested we stop and get Mimis flowers and Ava thought that was a great idea. She picked out red roses and was adamant about them being red. I asked her if she wanted flowers for herself and she picked out red gerbera daisies. I thought I had my bases covered with getting her some too. BOY WAS I WRONG!!!!

So the recital was wonderful and I was very proud of Mimis and how great she did. For a little girl who was very shy out of the gates, she really did awesome up there on that stage! Ava did great watching her and sitting still for an hour and half while everyone performed. Then came time to give Mimis her roses…

Ava has a meltdown of epic proportions. She starts crying and keeps saying she wants the roses and wants to give Mimis the daisies. And I told her no…she had already told Mimis she was giving her the roses before the show so that’s what she had to give her. Ava got so upset…hiccup crying, snot running down her face and that high-pitched squeal kids get when they aren’t getting their way. I tried to calm her down. I offered to get her roses later. Nothing was working.

We were supposed to go to lunch with the whole group and I told Casie, I didn’t think we were going to make it. I couldn’t get her to calm down and thought it best if I take her home at this point. I have never seen Ava act this way. We breezed through the terrible 2’s. So I was so thrown off by it. I get her in the car and she is still screaming. I start driving and she starts kicking the back of the seat and squealing again. So I slam my hand down on the center console and yell, “ENOUGH!” Hmmm…well…things went from bad to worse at this point. She sobbing and in between sobs this is what she says, “You’re. (sob) You’re. (sob, sob) A. (sob) Mon (sob, sob) MONSTER!!!”

I’m not lying when I say she broke my heart. For. Real. I started sobbing. Like hiccup crying, snot running down my face sobbing. And I know she’s 3 and I know she doesn’t mean it. I know she’s mad but you guys…that hurt. I know hitting the center console in the car isn’t one of my finer moments as a parent but man…I was just maxed out.

We get home and I put her in her room…she’s still screaming bloody murder. I tell her she can come out when she’s ready to talk about how she’s behaving. She screamed for twenty minutes before she finally comes out. What does she do? She looks at me and starts crying and says, “I want my roses.”

Oh Lord! I try talking to her but she can’t talk…she’s too upset and she’s being completely bratty. So I send her back to her room. She screams for another 20 minutes and comes out calm. I think, “Great…we’re on the right track.” She tells me, “I’m ready to go to lunch now.” I explain to her we can’t go to lunch because of how she behaved earlier. I explain that I asked her to calm down earlier and told her if she didn’t, we wouldn’t be able to go to lunch. So now, we can’t go to lunch…lunch is over. Meltdown: Take 457!

She starts screaming at me, “I WANT FRENCH FRIES!!!! I WANT TO GO TO LUNCH NOW!!! YOU TAKE ME TO LUNCH RIGHT NOW!!!” I said, “Well, I’m sorry but we can’t go to lunch. I can make you lunch here but we aren’t going out for lunch.” She picks up an ink pen and throws it and hits me right in the face!” Then she looks at me like, “Now what are you gonna do???” As soon as I got up off the couch, she took off running like “Oh crap…I’ve really done it now!” I told her what she did was wrong, why it was wrong, swatted her on her bottom and sent her to her room where she screamed for another twenty minutes. She comes out of her room and says, “I don’t want to talk about the roses anymore.” We made up and she was awesome the rest of the day.

That was one of my most trying times as a parent. She didn’t just push my buttons, she found my buttons and jumped up and down on them. She did a crazy lady dance on them! I really don’t know how I’m going to handle the teenage years…when she actually means it when she calls me a monster. Sometimes I wish there was a manual to parenting but there so isn’t and it’s hard sometimes to know how to handle a situation. This was so out of character for her and I was caught so off-guard by the way she acted. I felt like some bratty 3-year-old had taken over my sweet little girl and IT SUCKED!

I Like Big Butts and I Cannot Lie…

I really hope I got the song stuck in your head suckers! It is one of my favorite songs to dance to…it’s just a true booty shakin song and one of the songs we played at our wedding. Someone told me later that my grandma just kept saying, “I don’t get this song.” I thought that was awesome.

So really here’s the deal…my husband likes my butt. I don’t get it. I look in the mirror and I see all sorts of unsightly things. I think my butt is good in jeans, but bare…ummm…well, excuse me while I do a few squats. So when I was pregnant I was a little worried. My hips aren’t big…but they aren’t tiny either. I’m a little curvy and I like that about me. I truly embrace that part of my body. So anyway I was worried my butt was getting wide but I couldn’t really tell what was going on back there. Have you ever tried to check out your butt in the mirror? It’s a weird angle and you can’t get a great view. Bonus points if you got up from reading this to go check out your butt in the mirror! You also can’t lick your own elbow. I’ll wait while you try….didn’t work, did it?

So I asked Mike at 21 weeks pregant, “Baby, is my butt getting big?” Loaded question, right? He’s like, “It’s bigger but it’s not big.” Dude should’ve just gone with no but I appreciate his honesty but wasn’t sure what that meant exactly. Was he being nice with the “bigger but not big” comment? So I pulled out the camera and made him take a picture of my butt.

As I look at this picture now I think, “Crap my butt looks so small compared to how it looks today.” But I guess it’s all relative right? So he shows me the picture and I’m like, “Holy mother of God…does my butt really look like that?” And he answered in the best possible way in order to continue living. He said, “Honey…just look at the picture. Pictures don’t lie.”

If It Weren’t for Bacon…

If it weren’t for bacon, I would be a few things. Namely, a hell of alot thinner than I am. Yesterday we had catered lunches here at work and the most fantastic cobb salad with gobbs of bacon in it. If you haven’t figured it out yet…I have a thing for bacon, which I’ve talked about here. I’m ashamed to admit how many pieces I pulled out of the salad…it’s atrocious.

Also, if it weren’t for bacon I’d be a vegetarian. 100%. Not because I’m an animal rights activist, although I believe in animal rights. I’d be a vegetarian because I really just don’t like meat. I don’t. If I’m eating meat and I start thinking it about having been a living thing at one point, I literally can’t swallow another bite. There is a part of my brain that says, “You are eating something else’s flesh…spit it out. Now.” My brain doesn’t work that way with bacon…I guess it’s cool if I’m just eating something else’s fat. It’ all like, “Mmmm fat…we’re totally diggin this!”

Now I’m not some new age, tree-hugging hippie that eats organic and sits in drum circles…that will never be me. Although I’m cool with people who are. However, I’m now addicted to tofu. For.Real. I love it…can’t get enought of it. I’ll admit the first few times I had it, I wasn’t so sure about it. The texture was off but then my brain was like, “Awesome…we’re not eating flesh. Continue!” And truly I started eating tofu because there’s not a whole lot of choices when you don’t eat meat and I can’t eat pasta for every meal. Wow…I can’t believe I just said that…I love pasta. But I needed protein and thought I’d give it a shot.

And I know…you’re all thinking, “TOFU!!! YUCK!!!” I think Mike was totally thinking that too, but when I cook dinner, you get what I make. I grew up in a house where there was only one dinner made and if you were hungry enough, you ate it. If not…tough shit…you went to bed hungry. So now that I’ve forced tofu on Mike, he’s actually diggin it too, which I’m completely shocked by. Anyway…I wanted to share my super yummy recipe I made last night in case any of you decide to give it a whirl. I know…I know…good luck, right? 296 calories per serving…does that help?

Chili-Glazed Tofu over Asparagus and Rice

Ingredients
4 cups water
1 (3 1/2-ounce) bag boil-in-bag long-grain rice
2 1/4 cups chopped asparagus (about 1 pound)
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon bottled minced ginger
1 teaspoon hot chili sauce with garlic (such as KA·ME)
1 pound extrafirm tofu, drained and cut lengthwise into 9 pieces
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup preshredded carrot
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil

Preparation

Bring 4 cups water to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan. Add bag of rice, submerging bag completely in water. Boil 10 minutes. Carefully remove bag from pan, leaving boiling water in pan. Add asparagus to pan; cook 1 minute. Drain.
While rice cooks, heat peanut oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Combine sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, and chili sauce in a small bowl. Sprinkle tofu with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Add tofu to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Add soy sauce mixture; cook 20 seconds, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Combine rice, asparagus, 1/2 teaspoon salt, carrot, and sesame oil. Serve tofu over rice.
Nutritional Information
Calories:296 (26% from fat)
Fat:8.4g (sat 1.1g,mono 2.8g,poly 2.3g)
Protein:15.7g
Carbohydrate:41g
Fiber:4.9g