Last year after our federal income tax deposited hubby and I visited Niblack Foods @ the Genesee Regional Market in Henrietta, New York. I wanted to stock the pantry in bulk with a food items that we use along with several that were new to us. One of those items is Textured Vegetable Protein made from Soy. I bought the unflavored granular version but it also comes in beef, chicken, & pork, as well as chunk form.
Dinner was a pasta sauce melody of Green Bell Peppers & fresh mushrooms both past there prime (food bank cast offs) along with an onion (on sale from Aldis), Italian herbs grown in the backyard this past Summer, and olive oil bought a few years ago @ Big Lots. Oh a quart of home canned tomatoes. Whole Wheat pasta was a barter.
Sometimes it takes many different techniques to put food on the table when money is tight.
The TVP was easy to cook I just added it to the sauce pot along with everything else then let simmer til done. No taste either way but it did of course make the sauce thicker which was nice. If I had known it was this easy to use TVP would have been on the menu years ago.
Diffidently going on my Amazon grocery list
both as a pantry staple & as a long term prep item.~~ pelenaka ~~
Posts
I started using TVP last year and I think it's great. We purchase a steer every year and we were running out by the 10th month...using the TVP has reduced our meat consumption by about a third...wow! I add it to all of my ground meat recipes..it's amazing. I buy mine in bulk at WinCo...very inexpensive.
ReplyDeleteCome the "check" as we refer to the great income tax payout I'll do some comparison shopping and buy it in bulk. Lynda, do u break down the bulk package & just vacuum seal in jars or add O2 absorbers ?
ReplyDeleteHubby has warned me of the dangers (singing soprano)of soy so not to over do it ... one thing I have noticed about our 60% vegan diet is that when we do eat meat it tastes just soo damn good !
Hi there,
ReplyDeleteBiggest problem I have with the TVP is all the salt used in it. Most folks rarely ever look at their salt intake and Americans eat an astonishing amount.
So unless you are aware of what is in your normal diet, the salt in TVP can take you into excess.
Winston
Good point Winston, I rarely tend to salt my food but I will mention it to hubby. He's not a a big salter pepper or spicy is his game. In general we don't eat allot of processed foods in fact I can't think of any.
ReplyDeleteI love TVP, I use it in chili. I am definately a spicey, hot pepper kind of person. When we were growing up, we used hot sauce on everything. TVP is sort of like tofu in that it takes on the flavor of whatever you cook it in.
ReplyDeleteI'm starting to see how useful this product is. I'm really liking it shelf life and ease of storage. Have any good recipes ?
ReplyDeleteI break it down into 1/2 gallon canning jars with oxygen absorbers and then vacumme seal with the FoodSaver jar attachment. I'm not a salter either; so I don't worry too much about the salt. The men in my family have not been told about the *dangers* of soy in their diet and I'm not too worried about it. ;)
ReplyDeleteGottcha, was it a blustery day for Christopher Robin in you part of Cali ?
ReplyDeletePelenaka, I don't do anything special. TVP adds bulk to most any stew, soup type dish. I think it is at it's best in chili, I throw a handful or two in as it cooks. It takes on the flavor of the spices it is simmering in. I'd like to try it in veggie burgers...my guys are meat and potato guys...we'll see how that flys!
ReplyDelete