Today was the day of TOFU. One package of extra firm tofu has 5 servings, according to the nutrition label. According to my husband and me, it has two servings. And today, with my husband out of town, it had just one – split between lunch and dinner. The Eat To Live plan says you can have an unlimited amount of tofu, so the fact that I ate an entire package shouldn’t be a problem. What is a problem was that I used oil (oh no you didn’t!!!) – in the tiniest amount possible – to crisp up the tofu. And I probably topped out my daily allotment of sodium. I’m sure I’ll pay for this tomorrow.
I’m not going to feel guilty about this because I haven’t had any oil in over 1 month, and I’d be surprised if the 1 tablespoon I had is going to throw a huge monkey wrench into my results for the week. I know I’m trying to set an example with this challenge, and I think for the most part I’ve done a pretty good job, with just a couple of missteps. I just really felt like having some crispy tofu today, so I made it. And this would be allowed on the maintenance program with the oil counting as your “daily cheat” of 150 calories. So enough of my tofu misadventures and on with the rest of the day.
Today’s Recipes
Breakfast: Banana Chocolate & Blueberry Smoothie with Chia Seeds
I actually had 2 bananas today – one when I first got up and another with this smoothie. In the past, eating 2 bananas in one day hasn’t been a problem for me. But with the tofu/sodium overload added in, I’ll just have to see how things go. I made this with 1 banana, 1 cup of frozen blueberries, 1/2 cup frozen raspberries, 1 tablespoon cacao powder, 1 tablespoon chia seeds, 1/2 cup almond milk and 1/2 cup water.
Lunch: Asian Tofu; Basic Salad with Artichoke Hearts
I heard that the best way to crisp up tofu was to use a tofu press to squeeze all of the water out of it. Since I don’t have one of those, I wrapped the tofu in a clean kitchen towel, set it on a plate with a small frying pan on top. Then I placed a 10-pound kettle bell inside the frying pan and let it sit for 20 minutes. That did the trick! The tofu was half its original size and pretty dried out. I cut it into 12 3-inch slices. For the flavor, I mixed 1 teaspoon of oil with 1 teaspoon of Bragg’s Amino Acids (or light soy sauce). Place half of that in a small non-stick skillet with 6 slices of tofu (store the rest in the tightly sealed container in the fridge). Reduce the heat to medium and place a splatter guard on top of the pan. Let cook for about 7 – 10 minutes, adjusting the heat as needed to prevent burning, until it has turned light brown. Flip the tofu and drizzle the remaining oil around the edges of the tofu. Cover with the splatter guard and let cook another 7 – 10 minutes until crisped up. I ate this along with a large Basic Salad topped with artichoke hearts (packed in water and drained) and dressed it with red wine vinegar.
Dinner: Fried Tofu with Smoked Paprika; Middle Eastern Salad
Disclaimer: If you’re going to prepare tofu this way or the way above, don’t have them both on the same day as the sodium/oil content is off limits on the weight loss plan. Try to save these for the maintenance plan.
This tastes a lot different than the tofu I had for lunch – more of a Mexican flavor as opposed to Asian. I used the other 6 slices of tofu and heated up a small non-stick skillet. I placed 1/2 teaspoon of oil in the skillet and turned the heat on high. When pan is fully heated, add the plain tofu – be care about splatters. Sprinkle the tofu with a couple pinches of salt, freshly ground black pepper, and as much smoked paprika as you like. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 7 – 10 minutes. Turn the tofu and add another 1/2 teaspoon of oil around the edges of the tofu, as well as sprinkles of salt, pepper and smoked paprika. Cook for another 7 – 10 minutes until tofu has crisped up. I ate this with the Middle Eastern Salad (find the recipe in this post) I previously made, but instead of using the Tahini Dressing, I just used red wine vinegar.
Check back tomorrow night for a recap of Week Five Day Four!
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