Six Small Meals a Day, 250 cals each

[szsz]

Hey Roxy,
I actually prefer tempeh over tofu and what I do is cut it into cubes or strips and then marinate it (again with the white wine, but you could use soy sauce, or whatever flavors you like.) If cubed you can grill it on skewers and it is nice and "meaty." In strips I add it to a pasta dish or just some sort of sauce. Tempeh is also a soy product but it is fermented and less processed.

Garbanzo beans (canned, no salt, organic) are also a great easy meal, just heat up with some sort of tomato sauce.

As for tofu, there is a great brand made here locally in SD (named something like San Diego Tofu). I like to crumble it up and toss it in a pan with scallions, tomato -- whatever -- for a tofu scramble. The trick to tofu in this manner is to press the water out of it; wrap it in a couple of clean dishtowels and lean on it. Then it will crumble or slice nicely.

Whole foods has a sort of tofu scramble that they sell in the deli -- try a bit there to see if you like it.

[tangentgirl]

Man, for a carnivore, I sure know a lot about meat substitutes.

Roxy, the farmer's markets in the LA area have this Korean vegetarian food booth. It's as close to a chain as you'll get at a farmer's market - McTofu? They are at most markets I see, so I wonder if they have them over by you. Might be a SoCal thing?

Anyways, they have a few varieties of both tofu and tempeh, among other things. Dang good stuff. Probably nice if you need to mix it up.

Ok, off to microwave some veggie corndogs. Would it be wrong to dip them in leftover TG gravy?

[alexis_the_tiny]

I eat multiple little meals a day. My way of doing it is to nibble a little here and there. Some granola and yogurt here, a fruit there, some veggies, some pieces of chicken or fish somewhere in the day. At some point, I manage to cover all the major food groups in the entire day, usually eating one or two food groups at a time. If there's a meal, I usually eat about a third or half of it and save the rest for another day.

My mom does this thing where she crumbles firm tofu, mixes it with chopped water chestnuts, shitake mushrooms, carrots, spring onions, soy and some kind of binding agent, shapes them into little patties and deep fries them. You could probably do something similar, but pan fried in very little oil or baked, those things are real tasty. You can blitz silken tofu into a cream real easy, just drain all the water out and dump it in the blender. I like to add cocoa and honey in the blender for a chocolate pudding.

[OakLeaf]

Those sound similar to the spinach and tofu burgers I make. I use frozen chopped spinach just to save some of the hassle of prepping - cook it according to the package directions, then cool, drain, and squeeze the water out by hand or in a cheesecloth - mix it with the crumbled tofu and seasonings (I like marjoram, dry mustard, minced garlic, salt and pepper) - for a binding agent I like Ener-G egg substitute - shape into patties and pan fry about five minutes a side, smashing them flat with the spatula once or twice. I do eat real eggs and you can use an egg in this recipe, but to me, the egg flavor overwhelms the spinach and tofu, so I prefer the powder.

[smittykitty]

Roxy, glad to hear you're back home and getting better!

Check out the American Heart Assoc. They are really into low fat. You might find something helpful there. We bought one of their cookbooks several years ago when our cholesterol levels went through the roof. They have some good recipes.

For spreads, we use Smart Balance products: spread, mayo. We use light or fat free everything: dressings, spreads, yogurt, cottage cheese, sour cream, milk. Also, Egg beaters and I Can't Believe Its Not Butter spray (made from buttermilk). And really, a little goes a long way. Spread lightly.

This stuff won't taste the same at first and yes the texture is a bit different, but you are so committed that you are going to do just fine. Soon you will be like us and you will soon prefer the taste/texture of the healthier foods you are now eating. I now don't care for the taste of ground beef.

Keep us informed on your progress and hope your feeling better every day.

[ny biker]

Yes, Egg Beaters, I thought about that the other night while I was out taking a walk. I used to make Egg Beaters omelettes for dinner all the time. IIRC, 1 small container is the equivalent of 3 large eggs and it has surprisingly few calories, like 120 I think.