I went to see a dietician today on doctor's orders. My cholesterol is high (and has been for a while), and I was hoping that my Weight Watcher eating plan and exercise would help, but it's actually gone up a bit. Go figure! One of the things I used to do was take flaxseed oil so I'm going to start that up again, although counting flaxseed oil on Weight Watchers will be interesting.

Anyway, the dietician told me to eat walnuts every day. I got a copy of a study that basically gave the thumbs up to walnuts as helping reduce cholesterol the most, although all nuts helped. For anyone on Weight Watchers, walnuts take up a heck of a lot of points! I'm also supposed to eat more soy, which would include tofu. I don't mind tofu, but my DH won't eat the stuff. I figure if he wants me around to celebrate 22 more years of marriage, he will either eat it, cook himself something else, or go to Taco Bell after dinner.

So I'm wondering if anyone has any good tofu recipes?

Oh, and I found out an interesting acid reflux fact. She said not to drink water with meals--drink one hour before and one hour after eating. I always drink with meals so I thought I'd see if that helps at all.

Hi Sheila,

I've never been able to get tofu to taste like anything but...well, tasteless! It came out like a wet sponge when I tried to cook with it.

There are other items with soy you can try. Have you ever used texturized vegetable protein? I have a really good vegetarian chili recipe made with it. You can find it in a health food store. They sell it by the bag, and it's cheap It's dehydrated-you rehydrate it with boiling water before adding to the chili.

I can post the recipe if you like.

There are also soy crumbles -kind of like a ground beef substitute, but they are REALLY high in salt. I never use them for that reason.

Morningstar farms has some good veggie burgers, and their veggie soy hot dogs are good too. I think they'd be low in weight watchers points, too.

Hope this helps!

My husbands cholesterol dropped forty points after we started eating more soy.

Take care,
Sherry

40 points--wow! Good for him. I'd love to have the recipe. I do eat Morningstar Veggie breakfast sausage, and I eat their veggie burgers, too. I'd love to have any soy recipes you have. What other soy products do you eat?

I also bought vanilla soy milk, thinking I'd try making a smoothy with blueberries and ff blueberry yogurt. We'll see how that goes. I'm a little leery of soy milk.

I need to drop my LDL by 105 points, I think it is, and I have four months to do it. I really hope I can do it with diet.

Silken Tofu can be used to make dips and spreads for vegetables, crackers, sandwiches, etc. Just use it in place of sour cream/cream cheese, etc. Also, soy ice cream is delicious, and the brand I get is much lower in fat than ANY dairy ice cream I've ever found. Unfortunately, it's a bit pricey! Good luck! -Apryl

I am with Suzie tofu doesn't taste like anything, it's all texture. Buy it prepared and then it takes the stress out of trying to make it good.

Miss Chris

I have high cholesteral too. I am being rechecked in August. I don't know ladies, I have a hard enough time getting hubby to eat ground turkey much less Tofu. I just buy the ground beef that is 7% fat (same % as the turkey). It's the same then, right??

I love tofu. I eat it all the time. You might assume it's because I'm a SoCal girl but I'm from Ohio!!!

Tofu Triangles are probably my favorite, mostly because it doesn't pretend to be something it is not!

Prepare your tofu:
Okay, this sounds like a chore, but you're going to love your tofu afterwards. Take firm tofu and squeeze it for a day in your fridge (a cookie sheet, two plates inverted to "sandwich" the tofu and a big can of something for weight on top), then wrap it in saran wrap and freeze it for a day (or leave it in there until you need to use it). Freezing causes it to turn a different color and provides a better texture (IMO). Remove it from the freezer and let it defrost in your fridge and then you're ready for a marinade!

My favorite marinade:
Soy sauce
Rice vinegar
garlic
chili oil
red pepper flakes
a little bit of almond butter

Marinade for a day, your tofu will soak it up like a sponge.

I usually make tofu triangles out of this because they're great on their own (without any side dishes). Sometimes it's easier to cut the tofu before marinading it. Place the tofu cake on its side and cut into 3 thin slabs. Cut the slabs diagonally into triangles, the triangles in half to make smaller triangles. Bake the tofu for 40 or 45 minutes or until the tofu is golden brown at 350 degrees. Or cut into cubes and heat in a skillet.

Try it once! It's something new, something strange but it rocks.

Hi Sheila...THere are sooo many cool things to do with Tofu! Here are some of my favorites...

-----------------------------These two I invented--------------------------
Tofu and Mushroom Wrap

-Sauteed some Muchrooms in Olive Oil or Smart Balance Butter (dairy free and cholesterol reducing butter) for about 3 minutes until they are limp.

-Squeeze out the tofu (Firm) and soak as much water up as possible with a towel. Add it to the mushrroms.

-Season with Veggie Salt and Pepper

-Fry all of it up on high until the tofu is lightly brown and a bit crispy.

-Wrap it up in an organic or a wheat flower tortilla. If you want more flavor, add a spot of Eggless, dairly free mayo (tastes just like the real stuff) or some honey mustard.

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Veggie Polenta and Tofu

-Crumble some organic polenta (I usually use Sundried tomatoe or wild mushroom) Firm Tofu into a pan of Olive Oil or mealted Smart Balance Butter (enough to cover the bottom of the pan).

-Cut up cubbed pices of Zucchini and add it to the Polenta and Tofu. You can aso add any other veggie...I really like Zucchini and Mushroom together.

-Season mixture with veggie salt and pepper.

Fry it up until all the Polenta and tofu are super crisp. You can eat it like it is, or add it to rice noodles or even a tortilla.

-------------------I found this one on Martha Stewart--------------------
Tofu Fries

-Cut Extra Firm block of tofu into thin french fry size strips.

-Grease a cookie or use baking paper to line the bottom. Place stips on pan and season with veggie salt and pepper or use some cyan to make it have a KICK!

-Place under broiler for 30 minute or until crispy and golden brown...turning the tofu strips every 5 minutes.

-Tofu fries will be crispy on the outside, but chewy on the inside just like frie without the fat!!!! Dip in your favorite sauce or eat plain.

--------------------I got these online...there are TONS of recipies online...just type tofu in search!-------------------------------------------

Tofu chili

2 cups firm tofu
1 clove garlic
1 tbs. chili powder
2 tbs. oil
2 tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1 cup each chopped onion, green pepper, carrot
1 cup tomatoes
1 can each tomato sauce, kidney or black beans
1 tsp. each basil, cumin, cayenne
1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
4 cups cooked brown rice
Green onion, cheddar cheese, avocado, sour cream, and/or crackers as garnish. Also good with a can of sweet corn.

Combine tofu, garlic, chili powder and Worcestershire sauce in a mixing bowl. Sauté the onion, green pepper and carrot in oil. Add tofu mixture and stir 3 minutes over medium heat. Add remaining ingredients except rice and simmer 30 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve over rice, topping with garnishes as desired.

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Pasta With Tofu

Ingredients:

1-lb firm tofu, drained and mashed
1/2-1 cup frozen chopped spinach, cooked as directed by package(drain well)
3-4 sun-dried tomatoes, rehydrated and chopped
1/4 tsp. tumeric(color)
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
2 Tbsp dried parsley(or 1/4 cup fresh,chopped)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 cup vegan parmasean cheese( I use the Parmasano from the "Uncheese Cookbook")
2-3 Tbsp vegan margarine
salt and pepper to taste
1lb pasta of choice -cooked al dente (shapes such as penne etc. work best)
Directions:
In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. heat the margarine in a large pan over med heat. Cook ingredients for a few minutes, until everything is incorporated well. Mix cooked ingredients with pasta in a large bowl.

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I don't know if it will help any, but I love to use the soy milk (vanilla) on my cereal in the morning. I think the choc. tastes good to drink on it's own.

I also love the soy nuts that you can get a Wal-mart. They come in flavors and are great!

Bella23

In Shape Mag this month:

Faux Egg Salad Sandwich
serves 4; prep time: 5 minutes
Silken tofu stands in for eggs here. Grating the tofu with a large-hole grater (just as you would Cheddar cheese) helps get the texture right.

In a medium-size bowl, place a 16-oz package extra-firm silken tofu that you have patted dry with paper towels and then grated (like cheese). Add 2 Tablespoons diced celery (1 small rib), 3 Tablespoons thinly sliced scallion (green parts only), 2 tablespoons light mayo, 1 teaspoon plain whole-milk yogurt, 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard, a pinch or turmeric and salt and cracked pepper to taste. Stir until all ingredients are combined. Serve on multigrain bread with 3-4 slices of tomato.

Nutrition Score per serving (1/2 cup "egg" salad spread on 2 slices multigrain bread):

250 calories, 20% fat (6g), 53% carbs (33g), 27% protein (17g), 8g fiber, 250 mg calcium, 3 mg iron, 288 mg sodium

I am vegetarian and I can't handle tofu. I do use tvp products, tempeh, and my favorite - beans. A dietician I was sent to years ago to lower my triglycerides (cholesterol was great but triglycerides were so high all my ratios were skewed) told me to eat at least 4 cups beans a day. THAT is a lot of beans!!! But, in 30 days, numbers went from over 1000 to under 200. It was a miracle to me. And guess what? When you eat that much, your body gets used to them I guess because I didn't have any, uuummmm, shall I say flatulence problems after about 3 days. LOL. I still eat a lot of them, to me they are a wonder food. Very high in protein, cheap, and good for the old body. And as I'm also diabetic, I love it that they are a carb that does not raise my blood sugar.