A suggestion for those concerned about/experiencing meat shortages

Good afternoon ATS,

I do hope anyone reading this is in good health and is able to find some form of enjoyment of life during all this.

I’ve been reading a lot of posts, on and off ATS, about shortages of meat in grocery stores and wanted to offer up a suggestion on maintaining your protein intake. I’m certainly FAR from a preachy vegan, so you won’t find any of that in this thread, merely a suggestion that might help some of you out who are short on cash and finding empty shelves in grocery stores. Nothing more.

Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP) is an excellent source of protein and can be bought for dirt cheap (in some cases, a pound for $6). It can be flavored easily with bouillon cubes or whatever seasonings you would cook ground beef with. My wife and I use it for any kind of Mexican food we make, as well as bolognese sauce, shepherds pie, really, anything you normally make with ground beef, you can make it with TVP.

A 1/4 cup of TVP (measured from the package, before being reconstituted) contains 80 calories, 0 grams of fat, 7 grams of carbohydrates (4 grams of fiber and 3 grams of sugars), and 12 grams of protein. It is also a good source of iron, delivering 15 percent of the recommended daily value.

It comes dried and needs to be hydrated, which is generally where I mix in the bullion cubes (for those wondering, yes, vegan bouillon cubes exist). I recommend going heavy on the seasonings as I’m not a fan of it unless it’s heavily seasoned. It doesn’t taste horrible, I just don’t dig the taste. My wife doesn’t seem to have a problem with it. A 1/4 cup of dry TVP will turn into around 3/4’-1 cup hydrated, depending on the actual TVP sizes.
You can buy pre-flavored off Amazon all day long. Generally, I’ll hydrate it, strain it for a while, throw it in the oven at 400 to cook a lot of the moisture out then cook it as I would anything I used to make with ground beef.

There also seems to be no shortage of vegetables and I saw a news story about produce going to waste in the stores. Now is definitely not a good time to ignore your vegetable intake. Alfalfa sprouts, broccoli, bok choy, spinach, asparagus, watercress and collard greens are all high in protein.

Chickpeas are another good source for protein and there are TONS of Indian dishes that utilize them. I often take a can of them, mash them up with some mayo, celery, onion and seasonings to make a faux chicken salad with. Some vegan joints will use them for faux tuna salad as well.

That’s all. I just wanted to give people some options who are feeling pressed right now to find something efficient. While I have zero interest in discussing vegans as a whole or animal agriculture, or lecturing people about anything vegan related, if anyone is interested in recipes or cooking tips I’m more than happy to offer them, just ask in the thread and I’ll do my best to answer them.

Be safe and take care, everyone.

a reply to: Drucifer

Maybe we should be glad of meat shortages. The virus was zoonotic. along with many others that have plauged us through history. ie infuenza / aids , tb / bird flu / swine flu / mad cows.

" I gotta shotgun, rifle and a 4 wheel drive "

…..and 200 acres full of deer, squirrel, rabbit, doves, turkey..….

originally posted by: DAVID64
" I gotta shotgun, rifle and a 4 wheel drive "

…..and 200 acres full of deer, squirrel, rabbit, doves, turkey..….

Yep, got all of Oregon and NorCal to pop an Elk, or any of a number of meaty goods...dont even start with Salmon, steelhead ...

a reply to: Drucifer

The lord shall provide.

Gold Standard 100% Whey Protein, multi vitamin from Thorn, bags and bags of frozen spinach and broccoli...

Good to go...

Huh.

Maybe this is the real reason they now allow us Michiganders to shoot Sandhill cranes. LOL they are supposedly good eating.

Thankfully, I have a bunch of beef I canned up, and more in the freezer. No crane for me.

a reply to: Drucifer

Personally, I don't eat anything that is heavily processed.

TVP is a soy-based heavily processed product...

So just no.

If you want something that tastes like meat that has the texture of meat, either go shoot something and process it yourself or raise it yourself.

If you are buying meat in a store you are doing it wrong.

a reply to: Drucifer

I really dont know about some super processed food cubes, honestly. I put it in the same category as processed white sugar.

Now.. Chickpeas on the other hand.. Love 'em! Quinoa is great too, alongside stuff like Chia seeds and just good ol fashioned beans.

a reply to: Drucifer

I am a butcher on an Island in remote Southeast Alaska.
Our big worry here is a breakdown in shipping but there has been no meat shortage other than people buying more than they need and that clears the shelves to be restocked and more cut and ground for the next day.

If you are hearing of shortages, I would love to have those links so I can read up on what might be coming my way.

Just eat some dry or canned beans or even peanuts. Plenty of protein. I love meats but have really cutback in recent years. Most of the time when I eat out I order seafood. Seafood is a better deal because they raise prices on the cheap stuff like pasta dishes to keep the seafood price point.

I agree though with Hank. Food is only a problem in big cities. I know during the Great Depression it had almost no impact on my relatives from what I was told. They lived off the land. Now go buy some crawfish and squirrel traps and stop your crying.

a reply to: Stupidsecrets

Dried lentils are great you can sprout them in a matter of days too then you have living food.

a reply to: Drucifer

Something good to do with TVP is for further seasoning add malt (a deep sweetner and oil to the pan) Add the rest of your seasoning and boil down you need to do this more than once to get it all in and remove the bland flavour of the chunks

Its worth it.

a reply to: Darkblade71

Just look at Italy now where peeps simply worried about where their food will come from.

Its coming.

a reply to: purplemer

That is exactly what I told my boss 3 weeks ago about the Pandemic.
Watch Italy because that is what is coming to the US.

a reply to: Serdgiam

Chickpeas.. The holy mother of falafel.

Chickpea salad is great. I blend in sunflower seeds which helps mimic that tuna salad flavir.

Have a stock pot full of lovely bone broth in the works right now. Plenty of marrow bones and hocks. Would have liked some trotters for it, but they didn't have any.

And I'm not sure why, but no one touches chitterlins and chicken hearts. Learn how to cook and appreciate either one, and you have meat. I went the chicken heart route myself -- they can stand in on any recipe that uses thigh meat.

Truthfully, our meat case has meat if you look for the less traditional proteins, and it even has the more traditional proteins, just less variety.

There has been no shortage of quality cuts of beef in Cincinnati. I can go in and buy filet mignon in nearly any grocery store in the area and I am perfectly content.

Veggie meat substitutes? GTFO. No. I want beef or port or chicken or fish. Not a lot, but I will not eat meat substitutes claiming to be healthy when most of them aren't and the ones that are don't have the texture or flavor of real meat. We have teeth made for ripping meat apart for a reason and it's not to eat some fake tofu crap.