tofu for kids

[Anonymous]

DS is 1 and he's not really into meat. I've never prepared tofu at home, but when we had Vietnamese food the other day, DS loved it. If you feed your kids tofu at home, how do you prepare it or how do you feed it to them? I love that it's a great source of protein and calcium. Please share any recipes.

[Anonymous]

My 14 month old likes it plain. Sometimes I put it in soup and then fish it out for her to eat. But mostly, she prefers it cubed and plain.

[Anonymous]

At that age we used to do small cubes and pan fry it a little til it's golden brown. (Buy the extra firm kind)

[Anonymous]

One of my kid eats it plain, too. Gotta love the ease of that!

[Anonymous]

We get the extra firm kind.

Drain it, wrap in several layers of paper towels and sit on a plate for an hour or so to soak up extra moisture.

Cut into cubes or 1/2 inch thick rectangle slices. Sprinkle with a bit of soy sauce if you like the flavor.

Coat cubes lightly with cornstarch.

Fry in about 1/4 inch of oil until golden brown, turning as necessary.

Serve with soy sauce, tossed into dishes, with veggies, or plain. Yum!

[Anonymous]

you can also put a plate on top of the block of tofu to help squeeze out extra moisture.

[Anonymous]

Buy Twin Oaks tofu...it isn't packed in water so no need to wring it out. I just skillet fry it. So yummy!

[Anonymous]

be careful about consuming too much soy-my kids all love tofu, edamame but I keep reading that it isn't great for kids, especially boys. We still serve it in moderation but reports are mixed and that makes me nervous.

[Anonymous]

We just do raw cubes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:be careful about consuming too much soy-my kids all love tofu, edamame but I keep reading that it isn't great for kids, especially boys. We still serve it in moderation but reports are mixed and that makes me nervous.

Someone always mentions this whenever tofu is mentioned as a good thing for kids to eat. Obviously your kids should eat a balanced diet. They should not be getting ALL protein from soy products. But it is very unlikely that the phytoestrogens in soy are going to cause your little boy problems unless he is eating nothing BUT tofu.

Google found this for me in about 2 seconds: http://www.divinecaroline.com/self/wellness/no-soy-boys-say-what

"Experiments showing that phytoestrogens wreak havoc on men’s hormones tend to use extremely large doses of soy—much larger than the average man would eat in a single day. Men in Asian countries where a moderate amount of soy is a common part of the national diet report no hormonal interferences or fertility problems; the Asian diet’s association with low incidence of heart disease and cancer was one of the first indications that soy could be beneficial in the first place. Also, many of the terrifying stories cited as “proof” of soy’s dangers involve men who were consuming much more soy than average—up to three quarts of soy milk per day, in one instance."

[Anonymous]

Low-sodium soy sauce, a little rice wine vinegar, a little minced ginger (I use the kind in the jar because it's super easy), a little hoisin sauce if you have it. Mix together. Cube the tofu and marinate it in the mixture for a little while, mixing it around every so often. You can either quickly pan-fry it or serve it raw; either way is delish.

[Anonymous]

Fermented soy foods like tofu are different from things like soymilk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fermented soy foods like tofu are different from things like soymilk.

Different how? And source, please?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fermented soy foods like tofu are different from things like soymilk.

Different how? And source, please?

Why are so many people here too lazy to use Google? You can find many, many pages that have information about this including:

http://drbenkim.com/soy-health.htm

Josh: What exactly is soy?

Dr. Kim: Soybeans are legumes - they look like peas in a pod, but they're larger. Soybeans are rich in protein, omega-3 fatty acids, tryptophan, fiber, iron, and a bunch of other minerals.

All of the soy products on the market today - soy milk, tofu, soy sauce, miso, tempeh - they're made using soybeans, and in most cases, additional ingredients are added.

Josh: What’s up with everything we hear about fermented and unfermented soy?

Dr. Kim: Foods made with fermented soy are thought to be healthier than those made with unfermented soy. Examples of foods made with fermented soy are miso, tempeh, and naturally brewed soy sauce.

Tofu and soy milk are examples of foods made with unfermented soy, although sometimes, tofu, once it’s made, is fermented to produce fermented tofu dishes in East Asian cooking – mostly Chinese.

[Anonymous]

Actually I've read about negative effects of soy on girls, not boys. We have at least two generations of hormonal imbalance (excess estrogen, low progesterone) in my family so I'm not adding to it with soy products. A great read on this and other nutrition -fertility links in Cycles Fertlity and Nutrition by Marlyn Shanon.