Thursday, September 27, 2007

Tales of a beef-eating vegan

Sometimes I worry that too many of my posts center on food. Everyone must think that I live only to stock my cupboards and fill my mouth. On the other hand, humans (and only select members of our population) are probably the only members of the animal kingdom that do not spend the majority of their time in pursuit of nourishment. You can just call me the organic Rachael Ray because here comes yet another food-related post. The world would be a cleaner, healthier place if more of us spent our lives foraging for organic and local food instead of buying whatever's cheap at Super Walmart.

We have two food-related developments in the 24 hours or so since I posted last. First, a relative called and asked if I wanted to buy a quarter of a beef cow (butchered and wrapped of course) for $75. It's not USDA certified organic, but it was raised locally and allowed to graze, so it's clean and chemical-free meat. And what a price! I'll be paying less than a dollar a pound.

Second, I found two sources of vegan meal ideas to indulge my growing love of seitan and tempeh. As much as I enjoy experimenting with the new flavors and textures, I have a hard time incorporating them into meals. Life in an Organic Vegan Food Co-op is a blog with enough easy but satisfying dinners to keep me busy for months. Everything is simple (no recipes needed for most of the dishes) and frugal, with ingredients that can be found locally in almost any area. Great Change Recipes features more complicated recipes with things like canned artichokes that are yummy but definitely out-of-area for Washingtonians. In some cases you can substitute ingredients, so it's worth a read. The corn and soy bacon cakes are going to become my new comfort food!

I am very interested in TVP because I have a cheap and local source, but I'm not sure exactly what to do with it. Any ideas?

2 comments:

Burbanmom said...

I used to use TVP a lot to cut down on red meat. It will work really well to stretch your half co2. Basically, the TVP has a "ground beef" texture and it picks up the flavor of whatever it's cooked with. So if you're making tacos or something, use 1/2 lb ground beef and 1/2 lb TVP.

Thanks for the recipe sites!

Amy Skyhouse said...

TVP can be used to make lots of things like "meatballs", to add some texture to chili, and as the main protein in sloppy joes. You can find recipes to any of these online. Joanne Stepianak's "Vegan Vittles" cookbook includes some TVP recipes as well.

Personally, I try to use TVP infrequently because it's very processed and not that digestible (check out http://dgmgv.blogspot.com/2007/06/to-tvp-or-not-to-tvp.html). However, I still use them to make "hickory bits" using the "Vegan Vittles" recipe. :)

Thanks for the rave review of our blog! It's nice to know that people are enjoying it. If you see something you like, but don't know how to make, let me know and I'll post the recipe. Enjoy!