Adventures of a healthy-ish pseudo-foodie

Not pictured: drooling husband. One of the great mysteries of life is why Eugene STILL does not have a Panera. I feel confident that it's only a matter of time. But in the meantime, I decided to fulfill my craving for a Turkey Bacon Bravo without necessitating a road trip. And turning it into a panini just seemed like a good idea, because why have gouda cold when you can melt it? I've been obsessed with the Turkey Bacon Bravo since before Panera was called Panera. (It'll always be St. Louis Bread Company in my heart.) Even through my various periods of vegetarianism, any time I found myself at a Panera, I made the exception and had turkey and bacon.  One concern I had in the recreation process was the bread. It's supposed to be on this deliciously sweet tomato basil bread, and I couldn't find anything like that at the store. So I decided to put the tomato-basil flavor inside the sandwich instead, by sprinkling basil (and sea salt) on my tomato slices ...

I like the look of vegetables in cornstarch-enhanced sauce. UPDATED 9/12/15 with improvements! The recipe went from a B+ to an A-. The picture is of the old recipe; disregard the carrots and imagine smaller chunks of tofu. Mu Shu was my favorite Chinese take-out dish growing up. And then I moved to Oregon, where if a restaurant even HAS mu shu on its menu, it's generally terrible (with the notable exception of  Lotus Garden , where it is delicious). So I've experimented with making it myself, and this recipe is the best of the fast-and-easy versions I've tried. It's not authentic - I haven't had tortillas in a Chinese restaurant, even in Oregon - but it comes together in minutes, it's healthy, and it's close enough to fulfill this New Yorker's mu shu cravings. I took cues from  this recipe , though I changed the cooking method to cook the cabbage with the mixture, because I've never had mu shu with uncooked cabbage. I also added rice vineg...