Air-Fried Tofu & Shiitakes + an Exercise Routine

Coming out of this pandemic, I wouldn’t want to be friends with the woman I’ve become.

Quarantine Toy #1

My new best bud, for example, is a squirrel named Rachel who stops by daily for granola. Our relationship is grounding. She understands me, gets me more than my pre-apocalypse friends.

Quarantine Toy #2

In my uniform of near-blacks and grays, my swishing bushy ponytail and my beady eyes––darting, always on alert––I’m beginning to resemble her. I wanted to post a pic of Rachel, but, like me, she scuttles away from cameras. We’ve a sisterhood, Rachel and me.

These days, I get my giggles sharing memes—where have they been all my life? They can be so freaking funny—I laugh so hard I cry.

Drain tofu and cut into desired sizes.

And then there’s the news—I cry so hard I laugh. I mean, you can’t make this stuff up. No novelist has this much talent. I’ve got to get a grip. This nonsensical hysteria won’t bode well in the civilized world, unless civilized world is now an oxymoron.

As for hygiene, it’s tooth brushing, a quick shower, comb through and done. It’s liberating wearing the same sweats for weeks on end. This newly embraced slobdom has saved me so much time.

With that time, I’ve taken on new projects. Some purchased puppies in 2020, I purchased an Instapot and an Air Fryer. We’ve been having a rocking good time getting to know one another. The resulting spare tire around my midriff, I imagine, makes me look invigorated, robust.

Pat in cornstarch and desired seasonings.

Which brings me to today’s recipe and exercise routine. Down the tunnel, the light is burning and every day it brightens. Soon, I’ll be emerging from my bunker and rubbing my eyes in the glare. In fact, I don’t look robust, unless robust translates to slovenly in this topsy-turvy world.

I need to use my air fryer for more than making olive oil sponge cake and fried chicken. Believe me, even if I’m not frying in fat with the air fryer, when I include all that chicken skin in the recipe (which makes it so good) I’m spackling it into my hips. I’m overdue to give that chicken fat back to the chickens, as the seventies workout song goes.

Into the air fryer!

Last week on FB, I  posted a pic of fried chicken I’d just made in my air fryer. A FB friend then messaged me a recipe for air-fried tofu. God speaks in mysterious ways.

I’m not using Denise’s recipe to the letter, but it gave me the idea about the cornstarch and seasonings. I’ve baked and fried tofu and this is sort of an in-between—a hybrid of the two techniques. So, here’s a recipe and workout routine designed to whip me in shape.

I’ll leave you with this Chicken Fat U-Tube that I’ve begun working out with. I wish I’d remembered it back when my gym shut down.  Be well, friends. I always LOVE hearing how you’re coping (or not)!