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Children are notorious picky eaters. Here are some ideas to get more soy into your diet.

Soy Milk: Flavored soy milk is best with kids, especially kids who are used to cow’s milk. Plain soy milk mixed with regular cocoa powder tastes great, too. You can use soy milk instead of cow’s milk in recipes calling for milk. For sweet recipes, like recipes for cakes, pies, cookies, etc., use vanilla-flavored soy milk. For non-sweet recipes, like recipes for biscuits and casseroles, use plain unflavored soy milk. Soy milk is also excellent for homemade milk shakes.

Tofu: Surprisingly tofu can be mixed into almost any recipe for baked goods. For cakes use 1/2 pound of tofu in the batter. Mash thoroughly with a fork or puree with electric blender until smooth.

For pies use 1/4 pound of tofu in the crust mix. For cookies use 1/4 pound of tofu in the batter.

In meat: for any recipe calling for ground meat, mix in 1/2 pound of tofu. This works well in chili, lasagna, and hamburger.

In casseroles: Excellent for vegetarians, vegans, and meat-eaters. If you are a meat-eater transitioning to the vegetarian lifestyle casserole dishes are an easy way to do so, and pleasant for other family members.

For vegetarians/vegans: Use a pound of tofu cut into cubes and then lightly fried in olive oil (or oil of your choice) in your favorite casserole recipe.

For meat-eaters: use 1/2 pound of tofu and mix in with favorite meat casserole recipe.

Pre-packaged Soy Foods: You can get lots of pre-made foods derived from soy. check at your local major supermarket and you’ll find veggie burgers in a variety of flavors. check some out this summer, they cook well on a grill. Other things to try are chicken substitutes and bacon substitutes.