Beginner Vegetarian TVP?

[Guest guest]

I'm curious what is TVP?

Mari

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

[Guest guest]

[Default] On Tue, 26 Jan 2010 02:40:44 +0000, frowningangel

wrote:

 

>I'm curious what is TVP?

 

This may help:

 

>Texture vegetable protein, TVP for short, is a high-fiber, high-protein meat

substitute made from soy flour and available in a variety of flavored and

unflavored varieties, as well as different sizes, from large chunks to small

flakes.

>Scroll down for some easy TVP recipes to try.

>

>Because it is a dehydrated product, TVP needs to be reconstituted in hot water

for about ten minutes or in the cooking process before eaten.

>

>TVP has a similar texture to ground meat when cooked and TVP works well in

dishes such as casseroles, pasta sauces, vegetarian soups and chili. TVP absorbs

spices and flavorings well, much like tofu, so it is an extremely versatile

staple. Try adding a half cup dry TVP to your favorite soup, chili or pasta

sauce recipe while cooking, or sautee rehydrated TVP with diced tomatoes, diced

onion and chili powder for an easy taco filling.

>

http://vegetarian.about.com/od/glossary/g/TVP.htm

[Guest guest]

Thanks I've never used TVP I've only been a vegetarian for 6months and my main

meat sub is really tofu I love it and it works well in stir fry which is one of

my favorite quick go to meals

Mari

 

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

[Guest guest]

We r new vegatarians and r learning that being a vegatarian is more then just

tofu. Beans r a great source of protien and can be made a variety of ways. We

just made a bean salad. Recipe below and served it on tortillas that I baked

till crunchy. If u go to a health food store like whole foods they have a

variety of meatless " meats " that r very good.

 

1 can black beans

1 can pinto beans

1 can corn

Juice of 2 limes

2 Roma tomatos diced

1/4 cilantro minced

1 avacado diced

1/2 tsp cumin

Salt to taste

 

Drain and rinse beans. Put in med size bowl. Drain corn and add to beans along

with all other ingredients. Stir to combine then let marinate in fridge for at

least an hour. Serve on baked tostadas or chips with grated cheese, salsa and

sourcream

 

Angel Fajardo

Sent from my iPhone

 

On Jan 25, 2010, at 7:32 PM, frowningangel wrote:

 

Thanks I've never used TVP I've only been a vegetarian for 6months and my main

meat sub is really tofu I love it and it works well in stir fry which is one of

my favorite quick go to meals

Mari

 

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Oh I love beans I make several dishes with all types of beans I just mentioned

that as an actual meat substitute like instead of chicken in my stir fry I use

tofu and in a few other dishes. Does this make sense?

Mari

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

[Guest guest]

In order to truely become a vegetarian you need to get out of the mindset

that a meat dish or meat substitute dish is necessary for a whole meal.  I

haven't had a bite of meat in years and years and I use a meat substitute about

twice a year. 

My entrees are pastas and beans and vegetable casserole.

Katie

  

[Guest guest]

I'm sorry Katie but I don't think that is a fair statement. Yes everyone

vegetarian or not should eat more whole foods and meals for nutrition. Yet

everyone finds their own way and everyone's situation is different I for one I'm

married and have been for 3 years I recently became vegetarian but my husband

still eats meat. And I do have to think of substitutes sometimes I don't think

that would make me less vegetarian cause I make stir fry vegetables and make

some tofu for myself to add to the dish and some chicken for my husband. I have

to make a lot of meals that work for both us.

 

I personally don't like any of the fake meat stuff you find the freezer section

of the grocery store but I have a friend who is a vegetarian that loves them

that doesn't make either of us more vegetarian than the other.

 

Like I said though you are right for a balanced nutrition you have eat more

whole meals. Since I've gone vegetarian and have made a lot of changes in the

way we eat at my house even my husband is healthier and has lost weight even

though he still eats meat.

 

What works for one may not work for another.

 

Mari

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

[Guest guest]

We've only been vegetarian for a couple of weeks now and I have not used a

meat substitute yet I've made several pasta dishes and veggie soup, black

bean burgers and potato burgers but tonight I am not actually making a main

dish I am just making veggies (turnips, okra, baked sweat potatoes and

collards) there some of my kids favorites and it helps balance the budget

when I try a more expensive recipe

On another not I was wondering do any of you get sick to your stomach when

you smell meat cooked or raw and if so does this go away I can't stand the

smell of meat anymore its just disgusting

Heather

[Guest guest]

I am sorry Mari, I did not mean it as a judgement of your vegetarianism.  What

I meant was that being vewgetarian is easier if you don't think that your entree

has to be meat.  That was the way most of us were raised.  The entree was

meat, then there was a starch, usually potatoes, a green or yellow vegetable and

a salad.  That is the traditional " balanced " meal.  Many people become

vegetarians and try to translate the traditional balanced meal into vegetarian,

and get stuck because meat substitutes only go so far.  It becomes easier when

you just turn your back on the traditional balanced meal and serve healthy meals

in other ways.

I have an omnivore husband, too.  I told him I was going vegetarian and he

agreed that one meatless meal a week was OK.  I served him eggplant parmesan

and he loved it and said I could serve that any day.  So I said that since he

liked it so much, that did not count as my meatless meal.  He said OK.  The

next night I served him siesta pasta.  Again he loved it and said I could serve

that any day.  That went on until I had a whole seven night a week that I could

serve specifiic vegetarian meals. After two weeks he mentioned that he really

missed the variety of meals I used to serve.  I agreed that, since he asked, I

would fix other meals.  I served other vegetarian meals and he was perfectly

happy.  Now, I cook entirely vegetarian and he quite happily eats it.  When he

goes to lunch or when we go out in the evenings he can eat anything he likes,

but when I cook, he eats vegetarian.

  

I don't expect many men would fall into it as easily as my husband did, and kids

are even harder to deal with, but if you make the entree a meatless pasta or

bean dish or a casserole and serve meat as a side dish. they will get what they

want and you open up the whole rhelm of deliscious vegetarian dishes as

possibilities to serve your family.  

Your family may move closer to vegetarianism but if they won't, let them eat

meat.

Katie 

 

 

 

 --- On Tue, 1/26/10, frowningangel <frowningangel wrote:

 

 

frowningangel <frowningangel

Re: Beginner Vegetarian TVP?

 

Tuesday, January 26, 2010, 5:56 AM

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm sorry Katie but I don't think that is a fair statement. Yes everyone

vegetarian or not should eat more whole foods and meals for nutrition. Yet

everyone finds their own way and everyone's situation is different I for one I'm

married and have been for 3 years I recently became vegetarian but my husband

still eats meat. And I do have to think of substitutes sometimes I don't think

that would make me less vegetarian cause I make stir fry vegetables and make

some tofu for myself to add to the dish and some chicken for my husband. I have

to make a lot of meals that work for both us.

 

I personally don't like any of the fake meat stuff you find the freezer section

of the grocery store but I have a friend who is a vegetarian that loves them

that doesn't make either of us more vegetarian than the other.

 

Like I said though you are right for a balanced nutrition you have eat more

whole meals. Since I've gone vegetarian and have made a lot of changes in the

way we eat at my house even my husband is healthier and has lost weight even

though he still eats meat.

 

What works for one may not work for another.

 

Mari

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

I agree that since I became vegetarian, the focus of the meal has changed. 

Vegetables are now the centerpiece which makes me very happy.  I've always

really liked veggies but now I am enjoying them at a whole new level.  I have

completely fallen in love with greens, which may seem odd but kale is now one of

my very favorite foods.  I hated greens growing up.  Greens on polenta, or

with noodles, or on rice with mushrooms, beans or tofu on the side.  

 

Still there are a lot of traditional meat dishes that are easily converted to a

vegetarian experience as if they were vegetarian all along.  I almost never

use fake meats.  I occasionally use veggie sausage and veggie meatballs but for

the most part, things that resemble meat don't appeal to me.  I love tofu and I

eat that about once a week.  Otherwise my protein sources are grains and beans

and the vegetables are what I love about the meal.  I've started cooking with

vegetables that have never been in my house before and that's been a fun

adventure.  I've always loved vegetables but now they are even more

important.  I love that I can make a meal that I love with no meat.  It's

really rekindled my interest in cooking.

 

Both the meals you talked about could easily have been meat meals, chicken

Parmesan or pasta with chicken.  Instead the vegetable or grain becomes the

star and the protein source may be the side dish.  For me that is usually as

easy as adding some lentils, beans, quinoa, avocado etc.  When I'm thinking of

meals I can cook I approach it one of two ways. I look at recipes, usually ones

I loved when I ate meat and try to figure out how I can convert it.  Or I just

start with the vegetable or grain and try to figure out what I would like to do

with it.  An example for the former strategy, you can think of lasagne or

chicken tetrazini.  Both dishes are easily converted by substituting vegetables

and/or protein sources.  Which proten source you want to add depends on your

own taste.  There are fake chicken and beef meats you could use which some

people really like.  If you don't like them, you can use some of the

protein sources I already

mentioned.  Half the time you can simply leave the meat out and you still

have a very appealing meal.

 

Another really easy meal where I do actually use a meat substitute is the fields

apple/sage sausage.  I like that with roasted potatoes and brussel sprouts.  A

very easy and quick meal.

 

Your mindset does change but your previous menu repertoire might still be really

useful.  Start keeping a list of things you have tried and things you'd like to

try.  Quick easy meals and those that are more laborious.  Make a list of all

the your favorite meat dishes and think about how you might convert them.  Go

online and look for veggie versions of those meals.  Most times, somebody has

already tried converting it in multiple ways.  There are thousands of veggie

meatloaf recipes out there, for example.  I had the same troubles when I

started.  It's not hard to figure out though.  It just takes a little time and

thought but all in all it was much easier than I expected.  Your pantry will

change over time but it doesn't have to happen right away.   

[Guest guest]

The one meat substitute that I do use is Fields apple /sage sausage.  I just

peal it,  cook it and put it on a big bun and eat it with pickle relish, just

like a hotdog.  I use the hogie rolls that are like hotdog rolls but better and

bigger.

 Occasionally, like for the super bowl, my husband just has to eat a hotdog, so

I have the apple/sage sausage hot dog.  I think it is deliscious, but I

suggested it to my vegetarian granddaughter (18 years old) and she thought it

was gross.  No accounting for taste, I suppose, but I think it was too close to

meat for her.  She can't even sit at a table with people eating meat without

feeling sick. 

 

One other meat substitute I eat is tofu in one recipe.  It started out being a

recipe for sesame chicken and became sesame tofu.  It is super and with the

breading and sesame flavoring my husband couldn't even tell that he wasn't

eating chicken until he saw e eating the same thing he was. That was the only

thing that gave it away, though.

Katie

[Guest guest]

Can you share that sesame recipe sounds good and yeah my husband has often only

caught on to the fact he was eating a full vegetarian dish when he saw I was

eating the exact same thing

Mari

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

 

 

Katie <cozycate

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 12:41:52

 

Re: Beginner Vegetarian TVP?

 

The one meat substitute that I do use is Fields apple /sage sausage.  I just

peal it,  cook it and put it on a big bun and eat it with pickle relish, just

like a hotdog.  I use the hogie rolls that are like hotdog rolls but better and

bigger.

 Occasionally, like for the super bowl, my husband just has to eat a hotdog, so

I have the apple/sage sausage hot dog.  I think it is deliscious, but I

suggested it to my vegetarian granddaughter (18 years old) and she thought it

was gross.  No accounting for taste, I suppose, but I think it was too close to

meat for her.  She can't even sit at a table with people eating meat without

feeling sick. 

 

One other meat substitute I eat is tofu in one recipe.  It started out being a

recipe for sesame chicken and became sesame tofu.  It is super and with the

breading and sesame flavoring my husband couldn't even tell that he wasn't

eating chicken until he saw e eating the same thing he was. That was the only

thing that gave it away, though.

Katie

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

I would also love the sesame recipe.  Thanks!

[Guest guest]

Hi Heather!

Yes, I get sick to my stomach when I smell meat cooking or raw meat - and I've

been vegetarian for years, and am on my way to veganism. It hasn't gone away

from me. Now, even the sight of raw chicken makes me ill. I really have to

avoid the meat department at the back of the grocery store. Yuck!

Annie

 

-

Heather

Tuesday, January 26, 2010 11:02 AM

Re: Beginner Vegetarian TVP?

 

 

 

We've only been vegetarian for a couple of weeks now and I have not used a

meat substitute yet I've made several pasta dishes and veggie soup, black

bean burgers and potato burgers but tonight I am not actually making a main

dish I am just making veggies (turnips, okra, baked sweat potatoes and

collards) there some of my kids favorites and it helps balance the budget

when I try a more expensive recipe

On another not I was wondering do any of you get sick to your stomach when

you smell meat cooked or raw and if so does this go away I can't stand the

smell of meat anymore its just disgusting

Heather