SoyMilk Crossroads

Here’s a great Sweet and Sour Recipe you can try from scratch and be a master of tofu in your own kitchen.  It’s not difficult and doesn’t take very long to throw together.

Ingredients

• 1 block extra firm tofu
• ¼ cup Flour
• Black pepper
• Pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon Paprika
• 1 cup cooking oil (olive oil is my favorite)
• 1 small carrot sliced
• ¼ cup Sugar
• ¼ cup Vinegar
• ½ cup Ketchup
• 1 small onion 
• 1 small Green pepper                                                                                   
• A few slices of pineapple

Method

1. Dice tofu into bite size pieces
2. Roll gently in flour to lightly coat
3. Place frying pan on stove and get oil hot
4. Gently fry tofu pieces until lightly brown
5. Remove all pieces from pan when brown, and drain on paper towels
6. Remove oil from pan and put in mixture of vinegar, sugar, ketchup and water
7. Put in carrots and stir for a few minutes
8. Place tofu pieces into pan and cover
9. Stir gently for a few minutes to allow tofu to absorb some of the sauce
10. Add pineapple slices and green pepper, stir for another minute and remove from heat

The Sauce

• Mix sugar, ketchup and vinegar together
• Add paprika for color
• ½ cup water

Note: Use more vinegar or sugar depending on whether you want more sweet or sour.

Serve with brown rice or fried rice for a tasty dish.  Enjoy!
 

(photo source)

Change can be hard, especially for children. Any parent will know that getting children to try new foods can be a chore beyond belief.

Ooo… Healthy Food

Once the word ’soy’ is mentioned the connection to ‘healthy food’ is made.  That can be the killer.  Some children will be even more resistant to trying it because they associate ‘good for them’ with ‘not being tasty’.
 

So how do you introduce soy into the family diet? One of the easiest ways I found was to start with flavored soy milk.  Very flavored. 
 

If you have young children it will be easier to do, well, maybe. But if they start on it when they are at the formula stage, in all likelihood you will not have much difficulty as they grow older.

Switch Milks for Baking

However, in addition to introducing soy into the family meal when children are young, there are other creative ways to incorporate it into the family diet.   One tried and successful method that worked for me was to introduce it in small and attractive ways. Start by substituting soy for cow’s milk in some recipes that normally call for milk.
 

So if you are baking bread pudding, instead of milk try using soy milk.  Most of the time, no one will notice any difference.   If you are afraid that it will be too noticeable, go half and half the first few times.   If you are making French toast, try substituting with soymilk and you may find it’s just as tasty or maybe even more so.

Simply Substitute Meat with Soy

Remember that some, if not all soy products can be prepared in the same way as meat products, so why not make some sweet and sour tofu? Or just add bits of tofu into the sweet and sour you are making with chicken or beef. Replace about 25 percent of flour with soy flour in your recipes or use soft tofu in your salad dressing instead of sour cream.
 

So give some of these tips a try and even come up with your own creative ways to make the family meal, fun, tasty and best of all, nutritious.  You’ll have your family hooked in no time.

One of the reasons that many people put off buying a soy milk maker is their fear of the cleaning process. They think that cleaning a soy milk maker is complicated and takes a long time.

Take a Few Minutes

Fortunately for those of us who love making soy milk at home, this just isn’t true. Making your own soy milk is a rewarding experience that also happens to be very simple. After you’re done making a batch of soy milk, it’s important to start cleaning the equipment right away. If you let the screen and other components dry before you clean them, it will be much more difficult to get the pieces clean.

Keep it Clean for Delicious Soy Milk

After your Soyabella Soymilk Maker runs its course and makes you a batch of delicious soy milk, empty the pulp (okara) and immediately clean the screen in hot, soapy water. You’ll have a clean soy milk maker in less than 10 minutes with no stress. Keeping all washable parts of your soy milk maker clean will ensure that your soy milk tastes terrific time after time.

Looking for something new for dinner? Try this simple recipe for delicious okara curry, made with the soybean pulp that’s left over after you make a batch of soy milk.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons oil

1 sprig curry leaves or 1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon chopped onion

1 clove garlic, minced

1-inch piece stick cinnamon

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon curry powder

¼ teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon salt

1 green chili pepper, chopped

1 ripe tomato, chopped

1 ¼ cups blanched and cooked okara

½ cup boiling water

Directions

Heat the oil in a saucepan. Fry the curry leaves (or bay leaf), onion, garlic, cinnamon, chili powder, curry powder, turmeric, salt, and green chili pepper.
 

Add the chopped tomato and stir well.
 

Add the okara and mix well.
 

Stir in the water. Bring the mixture to a simmer and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Add more water if necessary to get the desired consistency.
 

Serve the curry hot with rice, bread, pasta, or any cooked grain.
 
For more variety and to increase the health benefits of this great dish even more, add some steamed vegetables such as bell peppers, broccoli, peas, cauliflower, and potatoes.

You know that soy yogurt is delicious and nutritious. But did you know that it can also be part of your regular skin care routine? The formula below will leave your skin feeling soft, smooth, and nourished.

The Formula

Combine two tablespoons plain, unsweetened soy yogurt, one tablespoon oatmeal, and one tablespoon honey. Massage the mixture into your skin and let it sit for two to three minutes. Rinse off with warm water.
 

Use this treatment once a week to keep your skin smooth and youthful-looking. And keep eating soy yogurt to improve your health from the inside out.

One of the biggest reasons that people resist making their own soy milk is the taste. Since homemade soy milk is not as sweet as the commercially prepared kind, a lot of soy milk drinkers don’t think that the homemade variety would be good for drinking.

Leave the Sugar Out

Many commercial soy milks use the kind of unhealthy sweeteners that health-conscious people try to avoid. If only it were possible to make soy milk at home that tastes like the kind you get in the stores.
 

Don’t worry! There’s a simple way to make your homemade soy milk sweeter, naturally and without the use of refined sugar.

An Easy, Sweeter Soy Milk

After you’ve made a fresh batch of soy milk, let it cool for a few minutes. Then drop in 6-8 pitted, unsulfured dates. Let it sit for around 30 minutes. Then pour the soy milk and dates into a blender and whir it all together until smooth. Chill in the refrigerator until cold, then shake well before serving.

Naturally Sweet is Great for Drinking

The dates add a delicious sweetness to homemade soy milk while also making it thicker. While this naturally sweetened soy milk is great for drinking, it may be too sweet for cooking or baking with. To get around this problem, keep a jug of plain soy milk and a jug of sweetened soy milk in your fridge. That way you’ll always have the perfect soy milk whenever you need it!

I’m a burger lover from way back, so giving up red meat put a real dent in my meal schedule.  Therefore, I’m constantly on the lookout for a good non-meat burger.  This is one my favorites.
 

If you’re not already, start saving the soybean curd (okara) from the milk screen of your soymilk maker.  It’s a great source of fiber and it’s loaded with protein.  You’ll get around 1/2 cup of okara from each pot of soymilk that you make.  So, two pots will give you enough for this recipe.

Ingredients:

1 cup okara
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup gated carrot
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 clove minced garlic
1/4 tsp curry powder
1 Tbsp soy sauce
Sprinkle of pepper
Oil for deep-frying

For those of you who are strict vegans, sorry about the egg.  You can make this without the egg, I like it for the texture factor of holding it together.  But a touch of liquid of any kind will do the trick.
 

I don’t always have whole-wheat flour in the house, but oatmeal make a great substitute.  I just mill some old fashion oats into a flour.  And for the pepper, I like the added zip that cayenne gives.
 

Combine the ingredients, mix well and shape into patties.  You should 4 or 5 out this depending on how big you make them.  You can deep-fry these in a wok.  Heat the oil to 350 degrees, drop the patties in until golden brown.  This will give you a crisp burger.  You can also fry them in a skillet or put them under the broiler. Give this recipe a try, I think you’ll enjoy the flavor.

Dieting can be a boring thing.  So adding some zip to salads is always a must.  If you enjoyed the Tofu Italian dressing, I’m sure you’ll really like this one.  And it’s even faster and easier to make.  And you’ll add around 3 grams of protein to your salad, but less than 70 calories. 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb soft tofu
• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 2 Tbsp oil
• 2 Tbsp vinegar
• 1 Tbsp mustard
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

Blend everything together in a blender until it’s smooth and creamy.
 

Once again, I’m pretty loose with these ingredients.  I vary the type of vinegar.  I generally use olive oil, but would use something else if the olive was gone.  The mustard, I’ve used yellow, but think I prefer dijon.  I didn’t have any onion powder the last time I made this, so I just minced up some onion and threw it in the blender.
 

If you’re making soymilk but haven’t taken the next step to making tofu, save the bean curd (okara).  You can use it in place of the tofu.  It won’t be quite as creamy, but it’ll have a lot more fiber and even higher protein.
 

So, play with this recipe, find your own special formula.  Enjoy!

After you make a batch of soymilk, you’ll notice that some wet soybean pulp has collected in your soymilk maker. You may simply throw it away when you’re done - but if you do, you’re missing out on a unique and nutritious food.

A Fiberlicious Food

That pulp is known as okara, and it is a rich source of protein. It also offers an amazing 32 times the amount of fiber in tofu!  Okara can be used in many ways when cooking, similar to tofu.

Be Creative with Okara

Also similar to tofu, okara has little to no taste on its own. To experience the nutrition benefits of okara, use it in a recipe with other ingredients. You can make delicious soups or soy patties, or use okara as a substitute for scrambled eggs. You can even stir in some okara when making baked goods to add some protein and fluffiness. Japanese cooking commonly uses okara, and there are some truly creative ways out there to use this valuable food.

More than Just a Byproduct

Okara is not simply a byproduct of soymilk production. It’s a highly nutritious food that lends itself easily to many uses. The next time you make a batch of soymilk, hold onto that mushy pulp and enjoy its health benefits by adding it to some of your favorite recipes.

When you’re cooking or baking without dairy, it’s not always easy to find suitable substitutions. Even if the grocery store has the dairy free alternative you need, you don’t always want to buy a whole container for just one serving. So what do you do when you want just a little of something?

Use What You Have

You can get creative in the kitchen and substitute things you already have on hand. If you’re making tacos or baked potatoes and want a non-dairy sour cream, mix a spoonful of plain soy yogurt with a drop or two of lemon juice.
 

When you want to make pudding from a mix, using soy milk will prevent the pudding from setting properly. Use less soy milk and add 1/4 cup of cornstarch to make the pudding set correctly.
 

Want a creamy salad dressing that’s free of dairy? Blend a block of tofu with an envelope of onion soup mix (make sure the soup is non-dairy) and enjoy on your favorite veggies. And when you’re making a dip that calls for cream cheese, tofu is a great substitute.
 

Blended tofu, added to vegetable broth, makes a delicious non-dairy cream soup base. Plain, unsweetened soymilk makes excellent creamy mashed potatoes.

Be Brave and Discover New Soy Substitutes

Experimenting with tofu, soy milk, and soy yogurt in recipes is the best way to figure out what works and what doesn’t. Don’t be afraid to try new things and discover how great dairy-free tastes!