This HealthFULL Journey is about changes. Trying a variety of patterns and seeing what works, what sticks, and what can be forgotten. Tofu has became a staple in our house. I usually have a package or two in the freezer of Extra Firm. Now I know for many of you TOFU is a four letter word. Which is true but it doesn't have to sound like a curse upon your house. Do you eat hamburger out of the pack uncooked, unseasoned? Or chicken? No, so treat Tofu as the base. Yes you can eat Tofu straight out of the pack, but I wouldn't recommend it. Let's start with what is Tofu. It is a great source of protein without using any animal product. Because Tofu is pressed soybean curd. You have several different textures which play into the savory or sweet side of meals. Usually the silken tofu is used for dessert and the firm/extra firm sponge blocks are used for savory dishes. It is relatively cheap and fills you up if prepared with a little extra TLC. My hubby is a man who likes meat but has willingly tried and appreciated most of the dishes we have tried. I have mentioned our tofu challenge in the past and might have even mentioned one of our favorites. Which is what we ate for dinner tonight, Sloppy Tofu (think sloppy joes). Delicious. It is filling, it has lots of flavor, and a great introduction for those who haven't "really" tried tofu. If you freeze the extra firm all you have to do is take the block out at the beginning of the day (great if you work) and drop it in your sink. Again not animal byproduct so there isn't the contamination fear. After eight hours it is thawed and you can begin to rinse and squeeze. It holds quite a bit of liquid, it really does resemble a sponge. So remove it from the package and run some tepid/cool water and begin to rinse the liquid it has been soaking up in the package. From what I understand if you leave it in the fridge versus the freezer it gives a different texture. I really like the freezer approach. As we always have a block or two on hand and aren't tripping over it. Then choose any method how to prepare the tofu. Our household three favorites are spinach rolls (if you love Italian and stuffed shells - this is the way to go!), sloppy tofu (yum) and the all-time favorite tofu tacos (so easy, prepare exactly like you would your beef, pork, chicken, fish tacos but substitute tofu). Once you are done squeezing out the moisture. Place a paper towel around the tofu block and then place it between two plates and a heavy object to push down the tofu for about forty five minutes to an hour. (great time to veg in front of the tv, homework time, take a walk). And then you are ready to cook. This is when you can cut slabs, or crumble, or marinade a little. Your call. But for the tacos and the sloppy tofu you crumble. *Great kid activity*. They can crush until their hearts content with their hands. Because the sponge like texture will pick up all necessary flavor when cooking. I borrowed our sloppy tofu recipe from the site http://www.savvyvegetarian.com/vegetarian-recipes/tofu-sloppy-joes.php . So good and fairly easy.
So that is my soapbox speech how good tofu can be and is so simple to add to the menu rotation. Cheap, easy to prepare, and lots of nutritional benefits. Also tofu recipes tend to mean I'm cooking. Now hubby is a great sport but this is a win win for us. He'll try it if I cook it! Which is fair. So today my exercise and food victory was me slaving in the kitchen, I did rounds and rounds of dishes and I prepared lunch, dinner, and extras (snacks, lunches) for the week ahead. I don't know about you but delivery, fast food, and restaurants get more of our business than necessary. It just sounds so tempting to let someone prep, cook, serve, AND DO THE DISHES for our family. We tell ourselves it is okay the extra cost because it saves us time, energy/sanity, and tastes good. But is it really worth the cost. It takes us at least twenty minutes to decide on dinner, then usually 15 - 20 minutes to drive to dinner and another fifteen - 20 back. Then it takes 10 minutes for fast food or roughly an hour for dinner at a restaurant. So we are looking at least an hour to two hours. And delivery is usually an hour (between decision, order, and delivery). Our last five deliveries of dinner have either been disappointing in flavor, ridiculous time, or forgotten an item. Our last several restaurant experiences have been costly, bad service, or just okay food. Notice the trend? Either my cooking is getting better or quality is going down (at least at the establishments we have visited). Plus you don't know what it is in that food. At home with a little planning you pay easily less than 25% of what you pay at a food establishment. And most meals take under thirty minutes of active participation (when one can grab some uninterrupted time). We say it is great to eat around the supper table as a family but maybe it is just as important to put the family to work in the kitchen. With a little ingenuity everyone can have kitchen duty at the same time. Or spend a big day of prep for easy put togethers during the week. That's what I did. Made some egg salad for quick sandwiches, caramel corn for lunch treats or a dessert snack, prep /dice veggies for easy flavor fillers (pepper, onions, jalapeno) and steam some rice. Yes we still have a menu to cook the night of, but at least with a menu and some prep work done we are much more likely to raid our pantry then pick up the car keys.
May your HealthFULL Journey include some focus, preparation (as opportunity is 90 % preparation), and ingenuity. Not only will you be ready for surprises but hope for them. 'Til we meet again. . .
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