Good morning! I have a question for the vegetarian chicks...

My DH just got a pretty shockingly high cholesterol report back from his physical so we have been researching low cholesterol protein sources. Soy came up the most often. I have found a few things about TVP, but no real experience stories yet. Can you guys who use it tell me anything about it? Where to get it? Is it okay from a health standpoint? I've read a few things about it causing an increased risk in estrogen cancers in women and decreasing testosterone in men?

For a man who doesn't eat beans is there any other protein substitute I could try?

Thanks for any ideas!

I have just recently heard about the soy health issues. You can find the Morningstar brand at most grocery stores in the freezer section. They also come "uncooked" and you just soak them in water, broth, or whatever you like and you can find that at Whole Foods.
I don't use it alot but it does the trick in chocolate chili and spaghetti etc...

Just start him small, sudden quantities of TVP can have untoward effects

Thanks guys! And thanks for the warning, Julie! I used to eat a lot of Genisoy bars and drank vanilla soy in place of milk, I remember the effects it used to have on me.

Shannon - I'm eating hummus a fair bit at present (though for morning or afternoon snack with an apple). It doesn't look like beans at all!

There are eggs in all their different guises. OK, perhaps not so good on the cholesterol front.

Nutloaf? Can be pretty yummy.

ETA ... Low fat cottage cheese! You know the homage to cc page on stumptuous.com, I'm sure.

What do you mean in that he 'doesn't eat beans', like will he eat hummus?

I'd recommend looking at the Engine 2 diet as it is a cholesterol lowering diet with some recipes although I'm sure there are beans.

I love tvp, although I use it as a meat extender more often than on it's own. The secret to good tvp is to remember that it picks up the flavor of what it's cooked with. It has so little flavor of it's own, that if you don't season it well, you'll be very disappointed in the flavor (or more precisely, lack thereof).

You can buy processed meat substitutes using tvp (brands such as Morningstar and Boca) or you can dry tvp (which comes in various flavors and shapes). My favorite is the plain tvp granules (looks like grape nuts cereal or beige gravel).

To reconstitute a cup of tvp, you add about 1 cup of hot liquid. More if you want it moist, and less if you want it to be dryer. You can also add it into liquid or semi-liquid sauces. Which is nice for making chili, spaghetti sauce... you can just throw in the dry tvp into the sauce as it cooks.

I've bought and borrowed from the library "ground beef" cookbooks, and in place of 1 lb of browned ground beef, I'll add tvp (either dry into the cooking sauce and add a bit of extra liquid, or I'll reconstitute the tvp in the hot water and then add it to the recipe).

Hubby doesn't like plain tvp, so usually I make a mixture of ground beef and tvp browned together with onions, bell pepper, celery, and sometimes mushroom. Then I freeze it in ziploc freezer bags and squish it around every 20 minutes while freezing so that it freezes in crumbles. I then use the crumbles in place of browned ground beef.

You could do this just as easily with only tvp. Brown the seasoning veggies with the dry tvp (I think the tvp picks up more flavor that way) and then add hot broth or water or tomato juice or any liquid or combination of liquids that sounds good to you (say a bit of wine)...

Freezing it in the crumbles makes it very fast and easy to use.

When you say non-animal proteins, are you meaning non-flesh, or vegan (no eggs or dairy)?

I've recently been using (dairy) whey protein powders to add to breakfast smoothies. I think it tastes much better than soy protein powders.

When you say a man that doesn't eat beans, do you mean no beans or not many beans. My husband will not eat beans as the main protein, but will eat them as a side dish or as an incidental ingredient (in chili, for example).

I've also hidden beans in dishes. For example, I'll add refried beans or pureed cooked beans (from canned or dry) into soups and sauces as a thickener.

My husband loves my spaghetti, but probably wouldn't have tasted it if he knew there was tvp and pureed beans in the sauce (I also add chopped mushrooms). It's also one of the fastest spaghetti sauces to make, becauswe I start with a jar of Mama Cozi's spaghetti sauce (Aldi's store brand for 99 cents), stir in the tvp (or my tvp/meat mixture) and about half a can of beans pureed in the food processor - and a can of sliced mushrooms (or I thrown them into the food processer, with a bit of onion and/or bell pepper) after the beans have been pureed and process just until the veggies and mushrooms are coursely chopped). Simmer until it's thick and tastey (5 minutes to an hour - it's very forgiving so I can make it ahead or at the last minute).


BTW Here's some tvp cookbooks. I own the first one (and love it, even though it's rather simple, and a bit outdated, but buying it used on amazon for only a penny more than s/h it was well worth the price), and the others are on my wish list, but I can't tell you if they're any good or not.

The TVP Cookbook: Using the Quick-Cooking Meat Substitute by Dorothy R. Bates (Paperback - Aug. 1991)
Buy new: $9.95
16 new from $4.87 26 used from $0.01


Just Add Water How to Use Dehydrated Food and TVP by Barbara G. Salsbury (Paperback - Nov. 1, 2008)
Buy new: $10.99 $9.39
12 new from $7.65 24 used from $2.73

I Can't Believe It's Not Meat! by Roger Kilburn, Diana Kilburn, and Monty Kilburn (Paperback - Jan. 2000)
Buy new: $9.95
12 new from $6.86 10 used from $4.93


Tasty Imitations: A Practical Recipe Guide to Tvp and Meat Substitutes by Barbara G. Salsbury (Paperback - Feb. 1999)
7 new from $9.9 85 used from $3.98


My Favorite TVP Recipes (Paperback - 1994)
1 new from $12.007 used from $3.97

I love TVP and agree with Kaplods. It's cheap, easy, and healthy. I'm actually cooking venison chili right now and I'm adding TVP to stretch out the meat, since I'm making a big bath to freeze for lunches.
Edited: Kaplods I just bought the TVP cookbook on amazon-- I can't wait to try it!

This may sound like a stupid question, but how much does this stuff cost and where can I get it? This sounds like something I would really like to use.

Price varies. I used to be able to buy it in bulk for about $2.25 per pound. When the bulk store closed, I was getting it for about $4 for 12 ounces (still a decent bargain since a pound of tvp is equivalent to 4 lbs of ground beef).

I noticed that Walmart is now carrying it, but I don't remember the price or quantity, If I remember correctly, it was around $3.00 for what I thought was a one pound bag.

I second Nelie's opinion on Engine 2. http://engine2diet.com/ - It's a vegan Texan firefighter's plan he came up with while helping a co-worker drop his 343 point cholesterol. There's a short all-male video (ooh that sounds fun!) with 28 day results on their site that might be encouraging for him.

I know this is kinda late on reply, how is he doing?

This is a great recipe, http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/entr...casserole.html , and can easily be made using veggie crumbles or just well seasoned vegetables or thick chili. The beans are completely invisible in this one.

what are the calories in tvp???

According to CalorieKing.com, 1/4 cup of TVP is 80 calories, 0 fat, 4g of fiber and 12g of protein.

It also kind of expands so 1/4 cup of TVP is a bit more than that rehydrated.

My favorite meat substitute and good source of protein is tempeh. In my town, we have a local supplier who distributes to all the restaurants, so I'm spoiled, but I'm sure you could get it somewhere.