Just type tvp or textured vegetable protein into google. It's made from defatted soy bean. It can be made from corn as well, but I've never run across corn tvp myself.
It's harder to find in some areas than others, but most health food stores sell it, if not in the bulk bins than in packages (usually Bob's Red Mill brand).
Even Walmart carries it (or at least the Walmarts in central Illinois and North Central Wisconsin). The Bob's Red Mill brand tends to run about $4 to $5 for 12 ounces (about $6 per pound which is still cheaper than beef, because it's equivalent to finding ground beef at $1.50 per pound).
I can find it in health food stores at $2.50 to $3.00 per pound
Again these are midwest prices, so you have do do your own comparison to see how it compares to beef prices in your area.
Also, dry tvp comes in different flavors and colors. I always by the unflavored granules or flakes. The granules look like grapenuts cereal or beige aquarium gravel. The flakes are have a more flattened/flake texture, but look more like meat when cooked.
TVP has almost no flavor of it's own, so it picks up the flavor of whatever you cook with it, or season it with.
Hubby doesn't care for it except when it's cooked with meat. At first he would only eat it when I used significantly more beef than tvp. Over time I kept adding more tvp and less beef, though I still use at most 3 cups of tvp per pound of meat, but you can stop wherever your own taste preferences end up.
I don't mind tvp (and no meat) in things like chili, soups, and spaghetti sauces, but for sloppy joes and tacos I want a meatier flavor.
When our budget was super-tight, we ate it almost every day, often at two meals. Some people say that soy shouldn't be eaten that often, and recommendations vary. I've heard everything from "none" for people with metabolic and hormonal issues, to up to one meal per day.
I even use it as a breakfast cereal. Even as a breakfast cereal it's pretty bland so I'll add a bit of Splenda and cinnamon, or some dried fruit. I don't drink fresh dairy (but do eat cheeses and yogurt - especially my homemade yogurt).
Speaking of which, yogurt is SUPER cheap and actually very easy to make at home. I don't like standing at the stove, so I make it in the crockpot. There's almost no work involved, but you do have to stick around while it's heating and cooling until you know how long your crockpot takes to get the milk up to and then down to the right temperature. It's about 5 minutes of total work, but about 11 to 18 hours of waiting. The first 6 hours are the ones you need to be around for. Though I've cut that down to about 3, because I heat the milk in the microwave before putting it in the crockpot.
It probably doesn't pay to make your own yogurt if you only eat a carton or two a week (which I used to), but once I learned how to make yogurt, I eat it almost every day (it's so unlike store yogurt, it's hard to even describe. Much less tart, almost like creme freche or barely sour sour cream). It will get tarter if you incubate it longer, but I like the milder yogurt.
Thank you for this information on TVP I will look for it as I live in WI too Also I would love to know how you do your yogurt in the crock pot. Sounds amazing!
Thank you for this information on TVP I will look for it as I live in WI too Also I would love to know how you do your yogurt in the crock pot. Sounds amazing!
I explain it in this thread. There are also tons of online tutorials and recipes. I don't mind the milk heating slowly so I was doing it only in the crockpot set on high (heat to 180-190 degrees, cool to around 100-115 degrees, then add yogurt culture and wrap the crock in towels on a heating pad between 95-115 degrees) until desired flavor/thickness (roughly 5 to 30 hours).
You can either check the temperature yourself frequently, or use a thermometer with an alarm.
For my last batch, I heated the milk in the microwave for a couple minutes per quart. It didn't bring the temp all the way to 180 degrees, but it did cut a couple hours off my yogurt-making time.
I explain it in this thread. There are also tons of online tutorials and recipes. I don't mind the milk heating slowly so I was doing it only in the crockpot set on high (heat to 180-190 degrees, cool to around 100-115 degrees, then add yogurt culture and wrap the crock in towels on a heating pad between 95-115 degrees) until desired flavor/thickness (roughly 5 to 30 hours).
You can either check the temperature yourself frequently, or use a thermometer with an alarm.
For my last batch, I heated the milk in the microwave for a couple minutes per quart. It didn't bring the temp all the way to 180 degrees, but it did cut a couple hours off my yogurt-making time.
Kaplods Thanks for the tvp suggestions. For years I have been buying yves just like ground. Even on sale this is much more expensive then tvp and has much more sodium. I saw Bob's tvp on sale for 2 something and got one pack. Now to make it and figure out how to get a similar texture to the just like ground. I will try on it's own as I do not eat much meat anyway.
Kaplods Thanks for the tvp suggestions. For years I have been buying yves just like ground. Even on sale this is much more expensive then tvp and has much more sodium. I saw Bob's tvp on sale for 2 something and got one pack. Now to make it and figure out how to get a similar texture to the just like ground. I will try on it's own as I do not eat much meat anyway.
Texture is the main reason that I usually do not use tvp on it's own. I brown the dry tvp with a bit of ground beef and seasoning veggies and only then add the hot water to reconstitute the tvp.
Personally I think that browning the tvp in a bit of healthy fat and then adding the water helps improve the texture. I usually do this with actual ground beef, because hubby prefers it that way. For myself, it doesn't matter as much, but I still find that sauteeing dry does seem to help texture.
I've sauteed onions, celery, bell pepper, and mushroom in a bit of butter, coconut oil or canola oil and added the tvp half-way through the sauteeing. Once the onions are soft and starting to carmelize a bit, then I add the hot water or broth.
If you're not going to use any meat, the sauteeing and the inclusion of mushrooms especially helps give a meatier texture.
In chili and spaghetti sauce and other very seasoned sauces, I will sompetimes just add dry tvp. I don't add any extra water until I find out how much the tvp absorbs from the sauce.
Adding the tvp to a sauce dry (instead of reconstituting it with water and then adding it to a sauce) really improves the tvp flavor, because flavor is absorbed with the liquid. If you reconstitute it with water first, it doesn't absorb as much flavor and the "soy" flavor remains more noticeable.
If you have an Aldi near you, try shopping there. They have cheap produce, seafood, dairy, and whole grain products. Tuna, milk, brown rice, eggs, and veggies are a good start. You can make a lot of foods just from those few staples.
I generally spend less than $100 a month on groceries for two people because I do most of my shopping at Aldi and cook most things from scratch.
I am surprised,as our farmers markets allows for food stamps,on most items,except prepared and I live in a small midwest town. I am also on a tight budget,and it does seem to cost quite a bit more,to eat healthy,organic food. I would look in your local grocery store,for sale items,especially fruit and vegies,and you can also go to groupons.com and look for coupons for the food you buy. I have saved a lot of money this way. Google your condition and see what foods are best for you,then start with that. If you cook,make up batches of soup,or other dishes,and freeze them in individual portions. I buy grapes,blueberries,etc., and freeze them. I cut up a small banana,freeze it,then blend it,and voila-ice cream. Do you like herbal teas? Peppermint tea is easy on the stomach,and also ginger tea. Makes water tasty.Good luck. There is so much good advice here. Keep on keepin on!
Also I would love to know how you do your yogurt in the crock pot. Sounds amazing!
