Tree Hugging Family » tofu for kids

Vegetarian meals for meat eaters

Jennifer — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 22:45:30 +0000

We haven’t looked at veggie meals for a while, but you should always be considering vegetarian meals, at least a little, because it’s not only better for your health but super keen for the planet as well. While you don’t need to totally cut meat from your diet to reap health and earth-minded rewards, you should attempt to cut at least three meat-based meals per week.

If you’re looking for a way to get started on meatless meals more often, but are worried your family will freak, a good way to go is with some simple tweaks. You can make tons of mainstream meals meatless – you don’t even need to utter the words tofu or bean sprouts to be a good part-time vegetarian.

Some great veggie meal ideas for the typical meat eating family…

Vegetarian Meals for Meatlovers
Spaghetti and sauce sans meatballs
Veggie, cheese, or vegetarian Mexican taco pizza
Black Bean Chilaquile – so good!
Bean and rice burritos
7 Cheap and Easy Vegetarian Meals
A veggie soup, salad, and bread
Stir fry minus the meat – pack in lots of veggies and have rice and fruit on the side.
California Grilled Veggie Sandwich

To learn more read:

What are you waiting for? Try a meat-free meal tonight!

When was the last time you ate a great meatless meal?

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Great Summer Projects, Crafts, & Nature Activities for Kids…

Jennifer — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 01:39:29 +0000

With summer here, maybe you’re looking for something new to do. We’ve posted lots on fun kid activities, so I thought I’d round up a good bunch of stuff that you and more importantly, your kids, might enjoy. Don’t forget, if all else fails, there’s always a picnic at the park.

Nature based fun:

Messy & colorful fun:

Plant based fun:

Recycled fun:

Yummy fun:

Now you can’t say the kids are bored – there are enough projects here to get you going on the path to summer fun.

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in June 2008

[image via stock.xchng]

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Two Tofu Tips for Parents

Jennifer — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 03:42:49 +0000

In the previous post, we looked at tofu for kids. Here are two good points for parents:

1. Many tofu recipes that I come across contain honey. That smoothie above does. Don’t forget that babies under the age of one year, cannot have honey. It’s not safe.

2. I also don’t think that sites promoting tricky tofu ideas are a good deal. Part of respecting our kids is NOT tricking them. Plus, being sneaky is so weird. It makes tofu a “weird food” to kids if you act like hiding it in other food is normal. My suggestion is to be honest with kids right from the start. If they ask, say it’s tofu, and that’s what’s for dinner.

It’s better, of course if you start when they’re young. Cedar’s been a vegetarian his whole life. To him stuff like tofu and veggies is just food, not odd food. This kid asked for celery instead of cake at his birthday, eats tofu and brown rice happily, and wants whole red bell peppers for breakfast – so introducing kids to healthy foods at a young age works. No tricks necessary.

Don’t forget – you could get a pair of tickets for the First Eco Wedding & Lifestyle Show in Canada!

Click to learn more.

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Tofu Recipes for Kids

Jennifer — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 03:38:00 +0000

Tofu is jam packed with good nutrients kids need, is inexpensive, and is an earth-friendly food. Plus, kids love to play with tofu, and help to make dishes with it – more fun than mashed potatoes.

Later this week I know that Peggy has some cool meatless posts planned, so I figured I’d work that in to our kid day.

So, how come tofu is so green? The main point is that it’s not meat. Meat, unlike tofu, is extremely bad for the environment.

EarthWorks Press has noted that just one meat eater uses as much land to produce food as 20 vegetarians.
It can take more than 15 times the amount of energy to produce pork (per pound) than it does to produce grains, veggies, and fruits (per pound).
The Rainforest Action Network relates that producing one small hamburger is like chopping off about 55 square feet of a tropical rainforest.

There are more reasons to eat less meat – or no meat at all. But for this post, we’ll concentrate on tofu eating for the littles (and adults).

The Enchanted Broccoli Forest has one of the better kid tofu recipes – Tofu-Nut Balls. It’s a good intro for kids who haven’t been raised on tofu.

You gather:

1/2 cup brown rice – uncooked
1 cup water
dash of soy sauce (I’ve made it without soy sauce though, it was fine).
1/2 pound firm organic tofu – mashed up
1/2 cup ground almonds
1/2 cup fine whole wheat bread crumbs

To make:

Mix rice and water in saucepan, bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat, cook until mushy. Way mushier than normal rice should be.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Put soy sauce, 3/4 of the cooked rice, and 1/2 of the tofu in a blender and blend into a thick paste.
Mix the paste in a large bowl with every single ingredient you have left.
Form little balls with your hands (about 36) and bake for 30 minutes.

Cedar likes his with organic ketchup. The book suggests on top of pasta or veggies or as party appetizers.

Peanut, broccoli, tofu for babies.

When Cedar was little I made most of his baby food, and this one dish he loved. I’d steam broccoli until super soft, and cut that into small baby bites. Then, I’d mix a little organic peanut butter in a sauce pan with some apple juice or breast milk – until sauce-like. You toss the broccoli into a bowl with some heated medium-firm tofu squares (baby bites!). Then you drizzle the sauce over it.

For more kid-tofu fun try:

The In A Vegetarian Kitchen website – they have a great kid tofu section with items like…

“Chicken”-Style Tofu Fajitas
Baked Tofu Nuggets
Macaroni and Cheese with a Secret Silken Tofu Sauce
Creamy Corn Chowder
Miniature Chocolate Pudding Pies

Creamy tofu pumpkin pie

Fruity tofu smoothie

A great video of the making of tofu that kids will like. You can’t let them watch the making of a hamburger for fun, now can you?

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