Economic Food in a Bad Economy

As our current state of economic crisis continues Americans will continue to experience the choices that are dictated by it. Grocery budgets are one of the easiest to adjust, yet the adjustments might mean less or less healthy foods. TVP is an alternative that can be healthy and less expensive than traditional foods.

Several years ago I was preparing a boat for extended travels and I stumbled on TVP. TVP is a trademarked name of textured vegetable protein held by the Archer Daniels Midland corporation. Though there are other manufacturers the TVP name has stuck with products of this type much as the Xerox name stuck with copiers for many years.

I became aware of TVP because I enjoy eating meat and needed a meat source that was easy to store and didn't have refrigeration issues. Islands typically offer plentiful seafood but do not have the grazing area for cattle. With this pork and poultry are the main sources of meats. Good meat can be expensive in the islands often commanding premium prices of which most Americans would be used to paying for high quality seafood.

Wanting to expand my menu past chicken and seafood I began to look for something other than Spam, TVP provided a wonderful alternative. For the unacquainted TVP comes in an array of flavors including beef, bbq, taco, pepperoni, ham, sausage, bacon and jerky as well as many more. The TVP comes as dehydrated flakes looking like imitation bacon bits that water can be added to.

Imitation bacon bits are commonly TVP so you might have tried it already and not known it. The bacon bits do not need to be re hydrated so they are ready to sprinkle on that baked potato. The jerky is also ready to eat straight out of the can as I did commonly while driving my boat. Most of the others will have to be re hydrated by adding water to them.

The beef TVP and others can be reconstituted by adding water at a 1-1 or 1-2 mixture. The water expands the TVP as it hydrates it making a handful into an entire meal. I have not yet perfected hamburgers using TVP but I found it very useful for meat dishes especially those incorporating a sauce. I can tell a difference between it and regular beef, but it is very hard to detect the difference in a sauce or seasoned mixture.

TVP is used in school lunch programs as well as other government programs. You have probably eaten it and not even known it and liked it. So if you are looking for an food that has both healthy and economical, TVP can do both. This article has not even scratched the surface on TVP and it's uses, so I encourage you to investigate it further. I have provided a few links for you to get started with.