I've eaten some tofu before but am trying to eat more since I am really quite burned out on meat but still need protein.

So, how do you guys use tofu? And, do you have any good, pretty quick tofu recipes?

Oh! Oh!

I use tofu in my wraps that I eat for lunch! I get the medium-soft? or whatever it is that you use to cube for salads (I'm quite new to tofu). I just cut two slices like you do with SPAM and then fry them quickly after I've fried up two eggs. So, my wrap recipe is like this:

1 whole wheat/multi-grain tortilla
2 eggs, sunny-side up, steamed (so, there's a pink film over the eggs)
1tsp Horseradish spread on the tortilla
13 or so drops of Tapitio
2 slices of tofu
Spinach
Cheese (optional)

Put the horseradish on the tortilla followed by the tapitio, then a small handful of spinach, then the tofu, then the eggs, then cheese. And wrap! Healthy and delicious!

Thanks, Kryssie! What the heck is tapitio? I love horseradish so this sounds great. Although I'd probably over medium the eggs!

Tapitio is a mild hot sauce. We get the ginormous bottle because my husband really likes the stuff. The 12 or so drops I use melt my mouth, so it's good enough for me! And, I just realized I misspelled it...go me! It's Tapatio. :-)

If you're thinking about iron, here are some comparisons!

Sesame seeds (3.5oz) - 10mg
Cashew nuts (3.5oz) - 6.2mg
Almonds (3.5oz) - 3mg
Watercress (3.5oz) - 2.2mg
Lean beef (3.5oz) - 2.5mg
Hard boiled egg (1) - 1.1mg

Deb - I have Dannon Light & Fit yogurt, it's only 3g carbs per serving. It has 5g of protein per serving too.

I looked in the grocery & we don't have Tapitio. So, I will sub Louisianna or Tabasco. I do love hot sauce!

Lisa, it was some iron, but more so protein, since I can and do take iron supplements.

But, I really have to think to eat protein. I'll go look and there's nothing easy to make protein-wise in the fridge. So, I do keep tuna and salmon (canned) on hand, and of course, eggs, and I love ground turkey -- I use it a lot! Occasionally I'll buy deli turkey or ham, which is okay, I just seem to forget to buy it!

But, I really am tired of chicken breasts and except for maybe a nice perfectly cooked steak at a restaurant, I don't like much beef. I think I like the flavor, but not the texture. This is a fairly new thing, by the way, a change in preferences, I guess.

So, I tried a couple of tofu recipes and really liked it, and it's cheap and the recipes were good even reheated. So, I was just looking for more ways to use it.

Oh, I'll have to look at the Dannon Light & Fit. I've been getting Blue Bunny Light No Sugar Added. I love the Vanilla Creme and the Strawberry is good, too. I threw away the box and the cartons don't have nutritional info, but I think it had more than 3g carbs!

I make cassaroles with tofu, adding a little hamburger so it still has the flavor.

I put cooked noodles, spaghetti sause, and a little hamburger into a cassarole dish. Then I grate mozarella cheese and firm tofu into it and mix. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. This makes a great spaghetti cassarole that even my hubby will eat. It tastes meaty but is mostly tofu.

I read that you can replace half the meat in a dish with tofu and still retain the meat flavor for those who still want the meat taste.

Thanks, Green1. I actually soaked some Extra Firm tofu in beef consumme last week for a stir fry. It was really good!

when you soak tofu to add flavor, make sure you press it between some paper towels or on a rack lined with cheese cloth. This allows it to soak up more flavor.

I have used soft tofu in place of cream cheese after it's been strained in a coffee filter to get rid of more of the water.

Same thing with ricotta for lasagne and marscaponi or manicotti.

Hmm, good ideas Jase.

What I did (read about this online) was freeze the package of extra-firm tofu, then let it thaw out in the fridge (supposed to give it a "meatier" texture), then drained it & squeezed it a bit with my hands, then pressed it with paper-towels with a heavy bowl on top, then cubed it & poured the consomme on top straight from the can.

It was so yummy!

And, I have some coffee filters I use just for cleaning now (I got a pod-style coffee maker & sold the old one) so I'm going to get some silken tofu & try that, too.

Deb - I really don't like yogurt in general but knew it was good for you so I kept trying every brand to find one I could enjoy. The Dannon Light & Fit yogurt is by far the lowest carb / sugar one and it really tastes great! It doesn't have the "sharp" taste that most yogurts have. Bob found a chocolate pudding yogurt with no sugar that he likes, he can't stand any yogurts at all. They have great bacteria in them, and high protein, so I'd definitely look for both of these to avoid the sugar that most yogurts seem to have.

Chocolate pudding yogurt? What's the brand?

I like the Blue Bunny but I'll try the Dannon. I used to like their other yogurt. Now, I look for "no sugar" or "carb control" on the label.

I cannot believe the difference in sugar in yogurts! It is just crazy. You know, some have like 40 plus sugar grams in one container.

Yes I was looking at yogurts in the store after we had this conversation and it is *scary* how much sugar they pump into many yogurts. Our world is really a strange one when even yogurt is dosed with gigantic amounts of sugar.

I'll grab Bob's pudding later on and type in the details!

Oh, I did love the Dannon Light & Fit! Thanks for the recommendation. I've been looking for "no sugar" or "carb control" or something on the labels. This totally works, too!

This is funny, because I cooked with tofu for the first time ever. I LOVE hot and sour soup, and never knew how to make it. I stumbled upon Stephanie O'Dae's Crockpot blog and she had a recipe for hot and sour soup. Stephanie is cooking in her Crock*Pot every single day in the year 2008, and she was on TV with Rachel Ray on July 9th.

(I'm paraphrasing her recipe because I like it a lot spicier than her family does)

2 C chicken broth
2 C water
1 pkg extra-firm tofu, cubed
1 can water chestnuts
1 can bamboo shoots
1 8-oz pkg of sliced mushrooms
2 Tbs soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1/4 C (?) rice wine vinegar
1 Tbsp (?) crushed red pepper
1 egg (optional)

Throw everything except the egg in the cooker and turn on high for a few hours until cooked. When the soup is hot, beat the egg and pour in slowly. There's question marks for the vinegar and pepper because Stephanie's recipe calls for 2 Tbsp of vinegar and 1/4 tsp of pepper, but I ended up adding that, and then just pouring quite a bit more in of each after two separate tastings.

Looking at the ingredients, I'm thinking this is pretty low carb, unless the gurus can surprise me.

Ooh, Trish, I'll have to try that. I love Hot & Sour soup!

OK Bob's Jello pudding - yogurt blend is called LiveActive and it has 13g of carbs in it. So my yogurt is less carby - but he won't eat mine. He will eat this stuff And it really does help with his digestion ...

I actually found the Light & Fit in the 32 oz container at Wal-mart today. It was 6.7 cents per ounce as opposed to like 11 cents for the 8-oz containers. ( I tried to tell myself that with the little ones, you don't have to wash a dish, but for five cents per ounce, I can wash a dish! LOL)

I have had LiveActive cheese, but not their yogurt or pudding-yogurt blend.

We eat a LOT of yogurt. I was lurking on a low-carb website, and someone mentioned pressing the yogurt like you do tofu. Anyone tried it? I can imagine that it's a little denser and creamier than straight-out-of-the-container yogurt.

I've never tried that - it sounds intriguing. Thanks for the idea!

yes. I do. I take plain low fat yogurt and put it in a strainer lined with an unbleached coffee filter and cheese cloth outside that so when I squeeze in the end the filter doesn't break.

You place the wire strainer on a bowl that will allow the excess water to drain. I usually do it overnight for at least 8 hours. Then you can squeeze it and form it in a ball. You can use it as a sprea dlike cream cheese, and more. I also do chopped herbs, garlic, fruit and more to create compound "butters" out of it for spread and such.

This is just such a cool idea. I have been training myself to eat more yogurt when I want a snack, so now I have a new idea of ways to eat it! I'm just not sure if I'd like it on a salad though. Your butter idea sounds much more like something I would enjoy Thanks!