On The Big Bang Theory, Melissa Rauch‘s character Bernadette is the mother of two, and in real life Rauch is mom to 16-month-old daughter Sadie, so in both her roles, Rauch has become even more conscious of healthy eating habits than she was before.
“I’m just really passionate about cooking healthy for my family and advocating for healthy eating and healthy cooking for kids everywhere,” Rauch told Parade.com in this exclusive interview. “So, I was excited to figure out a fun way to introduce kids to a less familiar, but incredibly good-for-you-food that’s so versatile.”
Toward that goal, Rauch partnered with House Foods to create The Tales of Tofu, a children’s book filled with family-friendly tofu recipes that aims to introduce kids to a food they may not know but is a good-for-you food — and it is available for free. There’s so many different ways to cook with tofu and, for kids, it’s always a task to get them to expand their diet, so Melissa came up with this idea.
“So, what I’ve found is if something is in book form, if it’s illustrated, if it’s fun, then that becomes exciting,” Rauch continues. “You read it to the child, and then what’s great is you’ve actually put it into action and because they’ve seen it in the book and they were a part of the reading process, then they can be a part of the creating process for the recipes, then actually ingesting it becomes fun rather than a chore.”
It’s true. There’s chocolate pudding and broccoli mac and cheese. You wouldn’t necessarily know there is tofu in it, yet its jam packed with this great protein, so, it’s healthy for them. Then, also, there’s recipes where it’s front and center like the tacos. So they get familiar with, “Oh, I actually like this food, too.” Not only are they eating it when it’s hidden in something, but it’s great to let them know that it’s a food that they actually do like.
How did you pick the recipes? Are these ones that you make at home?
Yes. I make all of these and my family loves them. It’s so great when you find something that everyone will eat, and I always also look for food that if I’m having friends over, can this feed a group of people? All of these are really family friendly and group friendly, which is great. So, I make all of them. They quickly became favorites at my house. What’s great is that one package of tofu can feed so many people and it’s also quick and easy, which most parents can relate to. If something is easy and quick and healthy, it’s a no brainer.
What other healthy foods do you include in your diet besides tofu?
Lots of whole grains, lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Something that’s not in the book that I make a ton is stir-fries with tofu. That’s also quick and easy. It’s tofu-based, but not necessarily tofu. Have you heard of Shirataki noodles? House Foods also makes them. They’re so great and kids think that they are eating spaghetti. It’s also got protein and is healthy for them. I love that.
I also love making chips out of any vegetables that I possibly can. I started off with sweet potato fries, but now I do everything from parsnips to beets to tomatoes, because I think finger foods are really important with kids.
And even the tofu tacos that are in the book, when you cube the tofu and season it, that’s also good. You can even just put the seasoned tofu out as a finger food for kids. I make grazing stations at my house so that in between meals, there’s cut up fresh fruits and vegetables to take on the go when you’ve got a toddler and have a lot of things to do.
What do you eat on your cheat day?
I was excited to include chocolate pudding in the book. It feels like you’re eating something so decadent and it’s actually good for you, so that’s something that I love. I love chocolate, so anything chocolate-based, which is one of the reasons I wanted to include that pudding because I’m like, “I could eat this every day. I could eat it multiple times a day if I wanted to.”