Ahh Sundays..lazy lazy Sundays.  On this particular Sunday the only people home were my brother and myself. Naturally we both slept in and then inquired about our hunger once we arose.  I love hearty meals in the morning (or in this case early afternoon) and Sundays usually call for Brunch.  I decided I wanted to have a little fun in the kitchen so I made mint-chocolate chip pancakes and tofu scramble with peppers and onions.  Adding cheese to it made it yellow so it looked just like scrambled eggs. You don’t even miss the taste of real eggs. For the pancakes, syrup isn’t even required as the chocolate chips give it enough sweetness…

Mint-Chocolate Chip Pancakes
- 2 cup pancake mix
- 1/2 cup mint chocolate chips
- water

We had a large bag of Krusteez Pancake mix so I just used that. In a bowl add pancake mix and water and stir until you get a nice thick batter. If it’s too thick keep adding water, if it’s too thin then add more mix. Some people like to add chocolate chips while one side of the pancake is cooking, but I like to throw it in the batter. The decision though is up to you. Add chocolate chips to batter.

Heat a pan on medium-high heat. Spray with non-stick cooking spray. When the pan is nice and hot, ladle batter onto pan. Heat until batter has set and turned a nice golden butter color. Flip over to cook other side. Remove from heat and plate. Repeat process until all batter is used up.

Tofu Scramble
- 1 large block extra firm tofu
- 1/4 cup red peppers diced
- 1/4 cup green peppers diced
- 1/4 cup yellow peppers diced
- 1/4 cup onions diced
- 1/2-1 cup shredded cheddar cheese – optional (soy cheese)
- salt and pepper to taste
- avocado slices (optional)

Heat a pan on medium-high heat and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Remove block of tofu from water. There’s no need to dry the tofu because you’ll want it to be soft enough to break down. The water will evaporate as it cooks. Using a spatula, break tofu block up into chunks. Once you have a bunch of chunks, using the flat side of the spatula, press down on chunks to slightly flatten and break up to achieve a crumbly “scrambled” texture. Add peppers, onions, salt and pepper. Cook for 3-4 minutes until veggies are tender. Turn heat down to low. Add cheese straight onto tofu in the pan. With your spatula fold into tofu & veggies with the cheese. The cheese will melt within the hot tofu and give it a yellow color. One all cheese is melted remove from heat and plate. Add avocado slices on top.

- 1 round store bought pizza dough (I got mine from Trader Joe’s)
- 1 small can tomato paste (6 oz.)
- 1 cup water
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1/4 cup torn basil leaves
- 1 cup store bought pre-sliced pepperoni (you can have more or less depending on how much pepperoni you like
- 1/4 cup sliced bell peppers
- 1/4 cup sliced onions
- 2 cups shredded cheddar and mozzarella cheese
- salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. You can buy pizza dough at any grocery store, although I like Trader Joe’s the best. I always see on Food Network them saying how they just ask for dough at their local pizza place. Now I’ve never done this nor have I seen anyone do this and frankly I find it kind of awkward. So if you share the same sentiments just stick to going to the grocery store. Roll out the pizza dough into a circle on a floured surface so it doesn’t stick. Make sure it’s even all around. Spray a pan with non-stick spray and place pizza dough on it. I like to bake the dough for a few minutes before I put toppings on it in order to ensure that the crust isn’t too soft especially in the middle where sometimes it tends to get soft. Place in oven for 4-5 minutes just to get the dough cooking.

While dough is in the oven, heat a small pot on medium heat. Add olive oil and garlic. Saute garlic for 1-2 minutes. Then add tomato paste and water and stir until it’s not super thick. Keep adding water to make it thinner if you wish. Add basil, salt and pepper and stir altogether and remove from heat.

Remove dough from oven. Ladle sauce all over pizza leaving enough room on the edges so that you can hold it to eat once it’s done. Top generously with cheese. Add peppers, onions and pepperonis. Bake in oven for 12-15 minutes or until crust is crisp and all cheese has melted. Remove from oven, slice and serve

My dad recently started a new job, however it’s up in San Francisco and we live in Orange County. So these days it’s pretty much my mom and myself except for when he comes home on the weekends. I usually get home late during the week and I HATE having to think of something to whip up to eat, so I’m always racking my brain on what can be quick, hearty yet delicious for my mom and myself.  So one night I made these Lasagna Rollups. I LOVE lasagna but if you’ve ever made it before you know that it takes quite a bit of preparation and baking time before you get a chance to eat it. By using individual lasagna strips and ingredients that were already in my fridge, I cut down this time by over half and it was just as good as if it sat there baking for a half hour.

- 5 lasagna strips (Note: This recipe makes makes 4 ’cause that’s how many I made; It’s individual servings so if you want to make more for yourself or others just add an additional Lasagna strip — I have 5 because I cooked one extra in case one of my other ones tore)
- 2 cups tomato sauce
- 2 cups shredded cheese (I used Cheddar and Mozzarella)
- 1 cup ricotta cheese (we had full fat in our fridge but you can use skim or try it w/cottage cheese)
- 1/4 cup zucchini diced
- 1/4 cup broccoli chopped
- 1/2 cup mushrooms chopped
- 1/2 cup ground beef (optional – obv omit to make it veggie)
- 2 tbsp garlic minced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- handful of fresh basil chopped
- salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fill a pot with water and bring to a boil. Add 1 tbsp olive oil (this is so the lasagna won’t stick to each other in the pot — you can also spray a non-stick spray like PAM into the pot). Slowly add each strip to pot. In a separate pan heat on medium and add remaining olive oil and garlic. Allow the garlic to slightly cook for about a minute or so — you don’t want it to get brown or burnt. Add ground beef to pan and allow to cook until browned. While lasagna strips & beef are cooking in a separate bowl add ricotta, veggies, basil, salt and pepper. Fold all together until they are well combined. Once beef is done cooking add to ricotta and fold again.

Once lasagna strips are done cooking strain. Warm up sauce in the microwave. Spray a small casserole dish with non-stick spray. Lay down one lasagna strip. Take a scoop of the ricotta mixture and place at one end of the strip. leave enough room though at the end for when you. Roll it up and place the seam side down in the casserole dish. Repeat with remaining strips (including the extra cooked strip if you want). Ladle sauce across the top of each roll up and sprinkle generously with cheese. Place in oven for 10 minutes just to cook veggies and melt cheese.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving. Individual lasagnas voila!