Happy Mother's Day to all you Moms out there!

This video has been around for a long time, I know. I still think it's funny and it seems fitting to watch it on Mother's Day.

I hope everyone has a stress-free, peaceful, no cooking, no cleaning, no laundry, ‘no talkin' back  from the kids kind of day. (Surely, that's not asking too much for just one day out of the year!)

~LilSis

Posted under Holidays

If you've been vegetarian for a while, you're probably like me. You've eaten a lot of tofu scrambles; some good and some less than great. Ok, some are downright horrible.

The worst ones are boring, bland, mushy, and total dullsville. Since tofu has essentially no flavor of it's own – that's why we can easily transform it into Kung Pao or chocolate cream pie with a flick of the wrist – you have to ADD goodies to it to get awesomeness.

In my opinion, the best tofu scrambles are spicy and flavorful with a little veg thrown in and a nice firm texture with some crispy bits. That's what I was going for with this recipe, and I think I made myself pretty happy.

I should probably call this a tofu saute rather than a scramble since I kept the cubes pretty chunky and didn't break them up much. I'm mostly calling this delicious though. It's not only the best tofu scramble/saute I've ever made, it's the best one I've eaten. Here's how you make it.

Hatch Chile Tofu Scramble with Spinach and Avocado

1/2 cup mild hatch chiles, roasted, cleaned, and chopped
3 large cloves garlic, pressed
1 package firm tofu, diced chunky
3 Tblsp water
1 tsp Braggs Liquid Aminos
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp Penzeys Forward Seasoning
1 Tblsp Frank's Red Hot Sauce
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 cup baby spinach, very firmly packed and roughly chopped
2 Tblsp chives
1 large avocado, diced
Olive oil as needed for sauteing

In a large non-stick skillet, saute the chiles and garlic in 2 tblsp of olive oil for about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper while they're softening. Remove from the skillet and set aside while you prepare the tofu.

Add another bit of olive oil to the same pan, and add the chunky cubes of tofu. Arrange them in one layer so that all of the cubes are in contact with the pan. Toss them around every few minutes to get a golden color on all sides. This may take 10 to 15 minutes.

While the tofu is browning, mix your wet sauce ingredients together in a small bowl: the water, Braggs, onion powder, Forward Seasoning and Frank's Red Hot Sauce.

Once the tofu is evenly browned to your liking, add the chiles and garlic back in, sprinkle in the sauce, and stir to distribute evenly. Add in the nutritional yeast and the spinach, and mix together.

Cook over medium low heat until the spinach is wilted and the sauce is absorbed into the tofu. The sauce, yeast and chiles meld together to make the most incredible coating that I wish I had more of.

Add the chives and serve immediately with the diced avocado and a tiny touch of salt on top. Serves 3 or 4.

Notes: 

• Hatch chiles are available for a short period of time at the end of the summer, so if you don't have a stash in your freezer, don't despair. The Hatch flavor is amazing, but there are acceptable substitutes. I would probably add in a jar of diced green chiles from the mexican aisle in the grocery store, along with a finely diced jalapeno or two. Just add any chile you like. Chipotles would be good too, and you can find them on the same aisle packed in a jar with adobo sauce. Just be careful and start with a tiny amount, since these dudes can be super hot.

• I used Trader Joe's super firm tofu, and froze it and defrosted it to get a firmer texture. If you like more of a scramble, just skip the freezing/defrosting step and use a firm tofu. Break it up a little bit as it's cooking.

• I like the flavor of Braggs, but you can easily substitute tamari, soy sauce or plain ol' sea salt.

• Add in any other veggies that you like. I think that onion, asparagus, broccoli, kale and mushrooms are all super happy in a tofu scramble.

• Penzeys Forward Seasoning is amazing (and salt-free), but don't fret if you don't have it. It's a spicy little blend of black pepper, onion, paprika, garlic, turmeric, thyme, basil and rosemary. Just substitute what you like. Pepper, paprika, turmeric and thyme would be a good start. Cumin is also found in lots of tofu scrambles; I'm just not a huge fan, but you use what you like. It's your dish! Make it delicious and make it your own!

Note from LilSis:

I think this looks scrumptious and I would definitely make it for myself, but unfortunately, if I tried to serve this to my meat and potato lovin' guys as a meal; they would probably laugh, thinking it was a practical joke!

~BigSis

Posted under Food

Posted under

I think that if you looked at my genetic makeup under a microscope or DNA viewer or whatever the heck you would use for such a purpose, you would see that I'm 1/8 Choctaw and 7/8 Chickpea!  I eat SO many chickpeas, I'm sure I'm close to turning into one!  I honestly eat a chickpea in some form or another at least 4 times a week.  If it's not hummus, then it's one of these other two go-to lazy vegetarian girl dishes:

• Marinated Chickpeas – Ok, pay close attention because this is super-duper complicated.  Take a can or two of chickpeas.  I actually wouldn't even bother with just one can because I'm such a chickpea piggie.  Dump the chickpeas into a colander.  Rinse them with cool water to get rid of all the slimy gross liquid they've been swimming around in since they were canned.  Drain them well and pour into a bowl.  Add fresh lemon or lime juice, extra virgin olive oil or your favorite delicious healthy oil (could be macadamia or walnut or whatever), sea salt, fresh pepper, and voila!  You're done!  If you want to get fancy, add other seasonings, like Frank's Red Hot Sauce, lemon pepper (Penzey's is my choice), fresh herbs, or even parmigiano reggiano shreds.  Eat it up asap or let it sit for a while.  I'm addicted to this as much as I am to hummus.  You can crush the peas a little bit if you want, or leave them whole.  I like this at room temperature.

• Not-Tuna Chickpea Salad – Here's another high-difficulty gourmet recipe.  Rinse and drain the chickpeas, and then whir them around in a little food processor or chopper til they're crushed up some but still have some texture.  I don't like them completely pureed.   You may need a little olive oil or lemon juice if the mixture is too dry, but usually they mush up fine.  Then, basically make your usual  tuna salad recipe with whatever you like, substituting the chickpeas for the tuna, of course.  I like a dab of mustard, some mayo (dairy-free would be fine), dill pickle relish, a little lemon juice, Frank's Red Hot, lemon pepper, and sea salt.  Pile it onto whole grain bread or crackers, fill a pita, or just gobble it up with a spoon.  It would also be good wrapped up in some lettuce leaves or piled into a hollowed out tomato for lunch.  You may say “weird” right now, but try it and you'll say “hmmm, BigSis was right.  This is yummy!”

That's it guys and girls…two of my easy, healthy, vegetarian staple chickpea dishes.  Certainly not on the menu at LilSis' house, but at Casa BigSis, it's a scrumptious meal!  You know, I like to eat healthy but I don't usually have much time for cooking in the evening so I need fast food that isn't junk food.  I'll have more easy meatless recipes for you later.  Have a tasty day!

~BigSis

Posted under Food

I had to respond to your post yesterday, LilSis.  Being 3.4 years older more mature than you, my essential list needs to be 30 instead of 3, but I'll try to limit it.  😀

First off, mascara has to be one of the 3, since my face feels bare and featureless without it.  I've tried the cult-favorite Maybelline Great Lash, and I just don't like it.  I need more oomph than that.  My favorite is Loreal's Voluminous.  It gives me volume and thickness, and doesn't flake, smudge or smear.

My number 2 pick would have to be a good lip balm.  I can't STAND dry lips, in fact I'm a little obsessive about it!  My current inexpensive go-to is Aquaphor in a tube.  I apply it in the morning and at night after brushing my teeth.  It does a good job of keeping my lips chap-free and prepped for lipstick or lip gloss.

Last but most importantly, I have to have an excellent facial cleanser.  The key to keeping my skin out of the weeds (ie: broken out) is to cleanse deeply and faithfully.  I can't get by with those little wipes you use, LilSis.  I need something serious to keep my skin clean and my pores clear.  My current favorite is Serious Skin Care's Glycolic Cleanser.  It's serious, for sure!

That's my top 3 list.  If I could add a few more, I'd include Relastin Eye Silk, Tazorac Retin-A,and Urban Decay 24-7 Eyeliner in Underground and 1999.  And MAC eye shadow, powder and blush.  And Prescriptives foundation.  And Borba Shimmer Contour Cream.  And L'Occitane Almond Supple Skin Oil.  And Essie Nail Polish for pedis.  But I'm really not high maintenance.  Really!  You don't think that's a lot, do you??

~BigSis

Posted under Beauty and Skin Care

We've talked a lot about Las Vegas this past week, but we're not quite finished yet!  We have more to tell you!

On our last night in Vegas, we had free tickets to see “Zumanity; The Sensual Side of Cirque du Soleil”.  And, sensual it was! Wowee!  We'll be reviewing the show shortly, but here's a little sneak peek at the real BigSis and LilSis playing around in the Zumanity gift shop.

This shop was full of fun items: t-shirts, masks, sunglasses, and also lots of sketchy stuff that we WON'T show you!

Don't forget to come back for the Zumanity review in our next post.  Pssst…here's a secret.  It's going to be a video!  Our first video ever! 😀

PS: Just a reminder that BigSisLilSis is still PINK for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Don't forget to support your local breast cancer charities!

~LilSis

Posted under Travel

In our last post, you were able to catch a little glimpse of us sisters playing around in the Zumanity gift shop. Well, after a lot of thought and many discussions on the subject, plus some expert advice, BigSis and I have decided to bust out from behind the caricatures and expose our real faces!

LilSis and BigSis at Elton's Red Piano

What better time to reveal ourselves than when we're talking about Zumanity!  You can't get much any more revealing than that!

This photo was taken at the Elton John Red Piano Concert a few years ago. This was a very special occasion for us as SisMama treated us to the concert and then it ended up being the last trip with were able to take with our Dad.  This is the actual photo we sent to the awesome artist, India Kalff, who designed our header and spent oodles of time helping us with the design of BigSisLilSis.

So, now that you know what we really look like, we thought we'd just go for it and make our very first EVER videos. Why the heck not!  We're brave girls, huh?  Be kind!  😀  We're just winging it and having fun!

In this first video, we were on our way to see Zumanity and were really, really excited, and a little nervous/worried, so we forgot to introduce ourselves. In case you hadn't figured it out, BigSis is brunette and LilSis is blonde.  (No makin' fun of the accents, okay??  You already know we're from Texas!)

If we were asked to sum up our thoughts about the Zumanity show in one word, it would be WOW!  In all reality, we were a little stunned after the show and could barely even get one word out. Check it out! (Oh, and notice the creepy lurking guy peaking through the show poster behind us.)  🙂

When we finally snapped out of our Zumanity-induced trances, we did a second “after the show” video with a few more words!

We both really enjoyed and appreciated some aspects of the show.  It is unlike anything either one of us has ever seen, or will see again. The production was incredible and beyond stunning; including the costumes (designed by Thierry Mugler), choreography, contortionism, acrobatics, music, and staging.  It was all truly superb.

One of our favorite performances was the Waterbowl. These two young women swam around in that bowl and performed out of it like they were dolphins.  It was absolutely mesmerizing.  (We added the red heart to the photo so you wouldn't have to see everything that we saw.  BTW, they do have on itty-bitty undies.)

Zumanity Waterbowl

In all seriousness, to say that Zumanity took this show as far as they could possibly push the envelope – even for Vegas – is an understatement. It's definitely NOT for everyone. There is a LOT of nudity, plus a drag diva emcee, a kiss between two men, suggestions of lesbianism, and simulations of sex acts that will pretty much curl your hair.  Plus other stuff that we won't even mention!  We're still not sure what the scary little horned goat/man creature was about; maybe we don't want to know!

While Zumanity features incredibly talented people and unbelievable performances, make no mistake about it – this is a very sexually-explicit show. If you choose to see it, be prepared to be shocked at the sexuality and amazed at the performances at the same time.

One last word of advice. Do. Not. Sit. On. The. Front. Row. And don't make eye contact with any of the characters that roam around. Unless of course, you would enjoy being dragged on stage to have strange men and/or women take your clothes off and perform very suggestive things on you (or to you).

All in all…we guess the final question should be, “would we see it again?”  LilSis says “yes”. BigSis says “nope, once is more than plenty”.  If you're thinking about seeing this show, we suggest you go to YouTube and investigate some of the videos there so you can make an informed decision.  As for us, we'd really like to see some other Cirque shows since we have a huge appreciation for the athleticism and talent we saw in Zumanity.

*Disclosure: BigSis and LilSis received free press tickets from Cirque du Soleil, with the understanding that we would tweet or post about the show. As you can see, we were very honest about our opinions!

Posted under Travel

Woo Hoo! It's Friday! It's Friday! I love Fridays!

I know you can't tell, but I'm doing a little happy dance! 🙂

If you've been reading BigSisLilSis for any period of time, you already know that Friday is my favorite day of the week and today is not only a Fantastic Friday, it's a Fantabulous Friday!

SirHoney and I got some fantastic news this week, plus BigSis and SisMama are here in Southern California visiting us, and today, we're heading to the casino! BigSis says she enjoys gambling at online casinos at the moment because you can learn all you need to know about online bonuses and take better advantage of them. I told her we won't be benefiting from many bonuses in this casino, but she was happy enough that we were getting to play some slots. Since we're probably going to be playing penny slots, were not really expecting to hit it big, but we're going to have fun trying! Perhaps we may have to follow this link or find another online casino similar so we can play something a little more thrilling than penny slots, this way we'll have a better chance of hitting it big as well, wish us luck!

On another note, since we were just talking about Man vs. Food, did anyone happen to catch the season premier episode on Wednesday night that was filmed here in San Diego? It was awesome! Our favorite part of the show was when Adam tackled the legendary Ironman Challenge at the infamous Broken Yolk Cafe.

Broken Yolk Cafà© Special (For the Iron man or woman)
A dozen-egg omelet filled with mushrooms, onions, American cheese and smothered with chili and more cheese. On the other half of a 15-inch pizza pan is a generous pile of homefries and two biscuits. The Broken Yolk Special is free if you eat it all within an hour.

Here's a peek at just a couple of their giant four egg omelets. Can you imagine what that 12 egg omelet looks like close-up?

We're trying to talk HayHay into letting us take him to Broken Yolk Cafe to attempt the challenge, so if we make our own Young Man vs. Food video, we'll be back to share it with you. Otherwise, we're in Vay Cay mode here in So Cal and we'll check back in if we have something fun to report.

Have a great weekend! 🙂

~LilSis

Posted under This & That

Chili isn't very photogenic, but at least you can see the yummy tomatoes, corn and different color beans.

A couple of weeks ago I made a Cowboy Beans recipe from “Rick Bayless' Mexican Everyday” Cookbook for a big potluck birthday party. It was my first time making the recipe and even though it was pretty simple, the beans were a big hit! I'll have to make them again soon and share the recipe.

A couple of ingredients in the bean recipe gave me an idea to try something different with my chili recipe for our annual chili cook-off, which was held this past weekend. The past two years my recipe has come in 3rd place but this year I wanted to kick it up a notch to see if I could beat out my rival 2nd place winner. And I'm happy to announce that out of 15 entries and 51 ballots, this chili recipe did bring home the 2nd place prize. 🙂

Smoky, Fire-Roasted Chili with Bacon

12 oz. pkg apple-smoked thick cut bacon, chopped into pieces
2 shallots, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
(2) 14.5 oz cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
4 lbs. lean ground beef
14.5 oz can regular diced tomatoes
2 roasted and chopped Serrano peppers (with seeds)
1 roasted jalapeno pepper, chopped (with seeds)
16 oz. bottle dark beer
14.5 oz can tomato sauce
14.5 oz can dark kidney beans
14.5 oz can white kidney beans (or cannellini beans)
1 c. sweet corn (frozen or canned)
6 t. Penzeys Chili Con Carne Seasoning
2 t. Penzeys Smoky 4S Special Seasoned Sea Salt
2 t. Penzeys salt-free Arizona Seasoning
1 t. cayenne
1 t. cumin

In a large heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat, cook bacon, stirring until it begins to brown, about 4-5 minutes. Drain off fat, add the chopped shallots, reduce heat to medium and cook for another 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic, reduce heat to medium low and stir for another 2-3 minutes. Add the fire-roasted tomatoes with their juices and simmer another 10 minutes or so to blend the flavors.

(Note: Even though I use a lean beef, I brown the beef in a separate pot so I can drain the fat, instead of just adding the beef right into bacon and tomato mixture.)

In a separate large heavy-bottomed soup pan over a medium high heat, begin to brown the beef. Once the beef is almost browned, add the chopped onion and continue to cook until onions soften and beef is completely browned. Drain the fat. Add diced tomatoes and cook for 5-10 minutes over medium-high heat then add tomato sauce, beer and Serrano peppers. Simmer for about an hour and then add the bacon and fire-roasted tomato mixture, beans, corn and spices. Adjust seasonings to taste.

I made mine the day before and chilled in the crockpot overnight. When I reheated it, it was a little thick for my taste so instead of water, I added another bottle of beer. Voila!

(The extra bottle of beer is not listed in the recipe because you could use water to thin the chili, if desired.)

This chili definitely has a bit more heat to it than my normal Chili Con Carne recipe, but it wasn't overwhelming. You could use less peppers or none at all if you like a milder taste. Serve with warm cornbread for a complete meal or put out a selection of toppings such as grated cheese, sour cream, jalapenos, and Fritos.

(Note: Even though most of my spices are Penzeys brand, it's not absolutely necessary. The 4S spice contains Smoky Paprika and Seasoned Salt so those could easily be substituted for the 4S; and the Chili con Carne spice is a mixture of chili powder, cumin, garlic, and oregano.)

Half the fun of making your own chili is adjusting the spices to your own taste, right?

We had a great time with great friends at our annual chili cook-off!

Just for the fun of it, I'd thought I'd share a photo of me having a toast with my teeny, tiny, trophy! 🙂

~LilSis

Posted under Food

Our bake sale for In-Sync Exotics is only a week away, so our ovens are in turbo mode and there's lots to do!  Here's a quick update:

• These glittery cookie boxes are finished and waiting to be filled with goodies.  I'll give you a quick little how-to on making them as soon as I can get the chocolate and sugar off my hands.

• Remember these painted cross magnets I made around Easter? They make great Christmas gifts and stocking stuffers, so I'm getting them dressed up in Christmasy boxes for the sale.

• SisMama has already baked oodles of pound cakes in vanilla, chocolate, lemon and brown sugar/caramel flavors. Go, SisMama!

• K & L have baked breads in apple cinnamon, spice, cranberry and blueberry flavors.  They're also working on doggie treats and bunches of cookies this weekend.

• I have pumpkin walnut and banana chocolate chip gluten-free breads done, plus 3 varieties of biscotti (gingerbread, chocolate/chocolate chip and dried cherry orange), and 3 kinds of brownies so far.

• We have some nibbles on matching our sales, and continue to market the event as well as more baking this week.

• CityVet is graciously sponsoring our event for the second year in a row.  They have donated items for the sale, and are considering doing more for this worthy charity.  A huge thanks to CityVet for their support!

That's it for now, I have cookies to check on!  Stay tuned for more!

~BigSis

Posted under Animals