C&K
Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
- Joined
- Sep 26, 2005
- Posts
- 2,419
- Joined
- Sep 26, 2005
- Messages
- 2,419
Yes, Tofu, that funny, 4 letter word that most people seem to react to with gagging sounds or laughter!
Well, today, I made my first real Tofu meal, and the family seemed pretty happy with it!
I have tried, and failed (misserably) before!
Most of my creations end up binned, and the cereal boxes pulled out and served!
Not tonight. I think it might be the start of a good thing.
After a week of eating on his mothers diet, Carbs, Carbs, Carbs, with a side of meat, my husband is screaming for veggies! I have been talking and talking to him about reasons to go veggie, and he was willing to do anything to see a meal that contained plant matter again! Including giving this funny stuff called Tofu one more shot.
Early this afternoon, I took one package of extra firm Tofu out of the fridge, cut it up into tiny cubes, and mixed up a sauce to let it marinade in.
Couple tablespoons of Honey; Some soy sauce; several cloves of garlic crushed; a piece of ginger about as big as my pinky finger shredded; a bit of olive oil; 1/2 an onion chopped; a can of baby corn, a can of pinapple; and a little bit of hot pepper sauce. (Next time I think it would be good to add some sesame seed oil, and perhaps some sunflower seeds)
5 hours later, upon returning home with a hungry hoard behind me, I took it out of the fridge, threw it into a pan, and cooked it up with 1 green pepper, and maybe 1/2? A bag of frozen mixed veggies (broccoli, carrots and onion mix).
My 11 year old looked at it, and panicked! "IS THIS TOFU?!" Flashbacks roaring through his head! My husband told him to try it, if he did not like it, to eat around it. He questioned the texture, was told to pretend it was cheese, and then ATE IT! We where in shock, but he ate the whole meal. Generally, he hates stirfrys, I have fought with him all his life to "eat his meat" but here this strange forbidden substance was... consumed! Very strange.
My 2 year old did not eat much, but considering he was scarfing back pieces of tofu fresh out of the package right off my cutting board earlier, I don't think it was because of the tofu! My husband said he was very impressed and set the leftovers aside for his lunch at work.
He works with a lot of vegatarian men at work, and is no stranger to Indian cooking, which is largely vegatarian, but he his hoping the tofu will pass for chicken on appearance, as his co managment team is about as redneck or white bread as you can get, and he would NEVER hear the end of it! (They think he is strange enough for joining in on the Indian potlucks!)
So, basically, I think I can make this work. I believe I can wean my family off of animal flesh! 7 years ago my husband would have dumped me for even suggesting it, but well, over time, things change I suppose.
The biggest thing with Tofu I think, is to give it a fair chance. You need to know how to cook it, you can't just throw it into a pan and ask it to perform magic! But, more importantly, people are like guinea pigs. We don't always accept new foods very easily, and need to try something a few times before we are willing to recognize it as being food! Afterall, how many people really enjoyed coffee or alcohol after their first sip? Meat was the same with all of my kids, most new foods where when they where really young, unless something had a ton of sugar in it, they wanted no part of it until some level of familiarity was built!
So, what else can I do with this strange new food substance? What other tricks do people have for using it effectively as a meat alternate?
Well, today, I made my first real Tofu meal, and the family seemed pretty happy with it!
I have tried, and failed (misserably) before!
Most of my creations end up binned, and the cereal boxes pulled out and served!
Not tonight. I think it might be the start of a good thing.
After a week of eating on his mothers diet, Carbs, Carbs, Carbs, with a side of meat, my husband is screaming for veggies! I have been talking and talking to him about reasons to go veggie, and he was willing to do anything to see a meal that contained plant matter again! Including giving this funny stuff called Tofu one more shot.
Early this afternoon, I took one package of extra firm Tofu out of the fridge, cut it up into tiny cubes, and mixed up a sauce to let it marinade in.
Couple tablespoons of Honey; Some soy sauce; several cloves of garlic crushed; a piece of ginger about as big as my pinky finger shredded; a bit of olive oil; 1/2 an onion chopped; a can of baby corn, a can of pinapple; and a little bit of hot pepper sauce. (Next time I think it would be good to add some sesame seed oil, and perhaps some sunflower seeds)
5 hours later, upon returning home with a hungry hoard behind me, I took it out of the fridge, threw it into a pan, and cooked it up with 1 green pepper, and maybe 1/2? A bag of frozen mixed veggies (broccoli, carrots and onion mix).
My 11 year old looked at it, and panicked! "IS THIS TOFU?!" Flashbacks roaring through his head! My husband told him to try it, if he did not like it, to eat around it. He questioned the texture, was told to pretend it was cheese, and then ATE IT! We where in shock, but he ate the whole meal. Generally, he hates stirfrys, I have fought with him all his life to "eat his meat" but here this strange forbidden substance was... consumed! Very strange.
My 2 year old did not eat much, but considering he was scarfing back pieces of tofu fresh out of the package right off my cutting board earlier, I don't think it was because of the tofu! My husband said he was very impressed and set the leftovers aside for his lunch at work.
He works with a lot of vegatarian men at work, and is no stranger to Indian cooking, which is largely vegatarian, but he his hoping the tofu will pass for chicken on appearance, as his co managment team is about as redneck or white bread as you can get, and he would NEVER hear the end of it! (They think he is strange enough for joining in on the Indian potlucks!)
So, basically, I think I can make this work. I believe I can wean my family off of animal flesh! 7 years ago my husband would have dumped me for even suggesting it, but well, over time, things change I suppose.
The biggest thing with Tofu I think, is to give it a fair chance. You need to know how to cook it, you can't just throw it into a pan and ask it to perform magic! But, more importantly, people are like guinea pigs. We don't always accept new foods very easily, and need to try something a few times before we are willing to recognize it as being food! Afterall, how many people really enjoyed coffee or alcohol after their first sip? Meat was the same with all of my kids, most new foods where when they where really young, unless something had a ton of sugar in it, they wanted no part of it until some level of familiarity was built!
So, what else can I do with this strange new food substance? What other tricks do people have for using it effectively as a meat alternate?
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