Have you considered TVP?

Yikes, no LMAO I tried tofu not long ago because I needed more soy in my diet for the flavinods and plant estrogens.. OMG what yuk yuk... so now I stick to soy milk and soy beans themselves. This TVP looks and sounds too much like tofu.

Until today, I had never even heard of TVP before. There are not many health food stores in my area, so I don't know if it's something that could be easily found here. If someone prepared it, I might give it a taste, but I wouldn't buy it and try to make it myself. How exactly do you prepare yours and what kind of recipes do you use?

I eat meat,but sometimes when I was a student,I'd have checked out vegetarian options to save money! I still do this at times..a Vegetarian brand here in the UK is "Quorn" that uses TVP..they make various meat substitute items,such as burgers,sausages,"Chicken" fillets,etc..I like the burgers,as they're microwaveable and quick to prepare,and they taste ok!

Texured vegetable protein okay yes I use it quite often to make spaghetti sauce for my spaghetti and I really do like it although it does not taste like hamburger it does have a nice flavor. I have used in other pasta dishes too and everyonne thinks they are eating meat.lol

I've used TVP before, but I just can't get it to absorb enough flavour for it to be truly enjoyable. Perhaps I'm not doing it right when it comes to preparation, but I'd prefer to miss the meat part of a meal out completely than use a poor substitute.

Hi happythoughts! I wanted to not only thank you for making me aware of TVP, but for helping us find a great meat alternative. I had read your post a few days ago and since have been reading ALL about TVP. Well last night i went to the grocery store to pick up some things for my daughters renaissance cooking project and i found TVP. I went home opened two cans of store bought vegetable soup (put that on to heat), soaked 1 cup of TVP in some (hot) broth and tossed it in. Everyone really enjoyed it. We tried it before it went in the soup as well. My husband stood in the kitchen for 30 minutes looking over the pantry shelves trying to think what all he could use this for now. I am not a big 'health food' eater. we try and make sure we get our meats, fruits, veggies, and all that. but my kids are kids, and they eat like kids. (i think they would live on mac-n-cheese and hot dogs if i let them.) But for those who are having a hard time with such high food prices, like myself, this is a blessing to find. And everyone really enjoyed it! I have already found recipes for making granola with tvp. how to make patties, meatballs, meatloaf, etc. As i was finding a lot of soups, sauces and other things where it is used as a filler and not a lot of dishes where it is a 'main' ingredient. I soaked mine in boiling broth just removed from the stove, it wasnt overboard with flavor but it did have the flavor of the broth. I have read that if you use a little splash of vinegar it will help in soaking up more flavor, for those who are not getting a lot of flavor in their soaking. Also i have spent all of today looking for the best bulk price as i live out in the country and there are no bulk/health food stores near me. I found that the best price of $30 and some change (for 25 pounds) is at bobs red mill. Search the web for that brand and im sure you will find it. Thanks again, you have definitely clued in the clueless with me. :-)

No I have not considered this, actually I had not heard about it until I read this. I looked it up and the picture looked kind of gross. But if you like it that is wonderful. I have just been shopping a lot more carefully, the meat deals are not as easy to come by as they used to be, but occasionally I get lucky, and stock up.