Ideas to Cook TOFU for a 12 Month Old

Hi S.,

Use extra firm tofu, cut into small cubes, use a little cooking spray and "fry" it until golden brown on all sides. Add a splash of low sodium soy sauce and turn off heat and stir to coat. My babies loved this.

Also, use silken tofu, put in a blender and add fruit, ice and juice or milk to make a smoothie. This was a hit too.

Good luck!

M.

Edamame (sp?). They are the immature soy beans (tofu is made from soy). They usually come in the pod, but you don't want to eat the pod. I buy them at Costco - they come frozen in a box of microwaveable bowls. I poke holes in the plastic covering an microwabe for 2-3 minutes. Make sure you stir them afterward to even out the heat, and make sure they are cooled before you give them to your baby. I would only give baby one at a time. You can even break them in half, just like peanuts, to make it easier for him to eat. Watch him closely as he eats them to prevent choking. They are very tastey, kind of a nutty taste (soy is in the same family as peanuts).

Even if your baby is a boy, a small amount of soy won't hurt him. Just don't overload. The same goes for everyone in your family. It's good in moderation, but the phyto-estrogens in soy, in large amounts, can have an affect, especially on post-menopausal women on estrogen treatment. Moderation is the key!

Hi S. - I have boys and I tried to watch how much soy they ate only because of the way phytoestrogens could affect their development. (the same for those lavendar bath products and lotions btw) When I did cook it, I would cube it and saute' it in a little olive oil to brown it a little on all sides. I seasoned it with a little bit of tamari and served it with brown rice.

The actual recipe is one that used to be served at the old Harvest restaurant called scrambled tofu. Sauteed tofu with sauteed onions, cherry tomatoes, zucchini and wilted fresh spinach over brown rice and seasoned with Tamari.

I wonder how tofu might taste mixed with ricotta in italian dishes like lasagna or stuffed shells? I'll have to try that -

If your child is a boy I would discourage you from making tofu or other soy products a big part of his diet, the plant estrogens in soy are not good for boys and men. Studies have shown that they can cause "feminization" in boys and men by raing their estrogen levels to very high levels, even in some cases as high as a woman!

We love tofu at out house. With firm or extra-firm tofu, you can do this: Drain the block of tofu and put it between two plate with a can or something heavy on top to he;[ drain out extra water. (Leave it like that for 30 minutes or so, tipping out the water as needed.) Then, dice the tofu into bite-size pieces. Spread the pieces on a greased cookie sheet at put it into an oven preheated to about 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. You can turn (I sort of shake) the pieces over after 10 minutes or so. You're just trying to get them a bit golden all over.
When the tofu pices are baked, you can use them in any of 100 different ways. You can mix them into fried rice and everyone will compliment your chilcken fried rice. ;) I often stir them into teriyaki sauce (equal parts soy sauce, zesty Italian dressing and sugar, but I usually do half as much sugar at my house) and serve them over brown rice with veggies. You could serve them with a dipping sauce of almost any kind and they'd be tasty--kids love to dip.
Another great tofu recipe is "Tom Tofu" from the book 'Vegan Vittles." It's pretty much like making a Shake 'n Bake coating for triangle pieces of tofu and then baking it. You can Google that recipe and find it, I am sure. It's great with mashed potatoes--kind of like a Thanksgiving tofu recipe.
I have an awesome pot pie recipe from the book "The Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook." That's a great book I highly recommend--I can send you that recipe if you message me. The diced tofu just gets thrown in with the veggies and vegetarian gravy, with a yummy crust on top. My seven-year-old and I can pretty much split a 9x13 pan of it--we love it! The veggies would probably be small and tender enough for your baby to try.
Finally, with equal parts firm and silken tofu you can make a mock ricotta that my kids love as a dip for crackers and as a filling for lasagna. My recipe for it is from a book called "The Compassionate Cook," I think, but you could Google "vegan ricotta" or "tofu ricotta" and find it easily. It calls for basil and a bit of lemon juice in it, and everything gets blended in a food processor.
Hope this helps-- happy cooking!

Hi S.- I don't have any tofu suggestions myself, but I bet there are some suggestions on the Wee-licious site. Have you ever checked it out? It's such a fabulous site for healthy and low-sugar recipes for babies and toddlers. I'd check it to see what she recommends for tofu!

http://weelicious.com/

only way i've ever really liked tofu was as a cheese replacement on pizza

Firm tofu is such a great finger snack! I just cut off a slice, layer it between paper towels, and place a plate on top for a few minutes to get out the extra moisture. Then I sautee it in olive oil, and put a little salt on it. My kids eat it alone but you can add that to anything you make, mac and cheese, salad, whatever you might put the meats in.

I know it's been awhile since you posted your question, but I just came across it and wanted to give you a suggestion. I have used tofu as a base in Alfredo sauce and LOVED it! You actually just put it in the blender with sour cream and Parmesan cheese and then toss it with hot pasta....soooo good! I think you could probably do the same thing as a base for a macaroni and cheese sauce???? I would think if you just substituted the parm for extra cheddar or american it would work great! Hope this was some help and not a repeat. Good luck!

Lots of people mentioned things that we do with tofu, bake, stir-fry, etc. - my boys both LOVE IT! but no one has said yet - for a 12month old - just dice it and give it to him plain! It's bland for most adults but babies don't care and then you don't have to cook it and he's not getting oil etc.

When he is older - or for yourself . . . we like baking it like others have mentioned but with soy sauce on it vs. oil , my son calls them "golden nuggets"

also, although I have not done research on the "feminizing" effects, I know that millions of men in Asia eat soy all the time and are fine. We drink soy milk, have tofu once or twice a week and soy burgers about once a week too.