Make Your Ground Beef Stretch Farther

With beef prices at record highs, soy helps stretch your budget, without having to eliminate your favorite ground beef recipes. You can still enjoy meatloaf, meatballs, burgers, chili or tacos, without sacrificing flavor or texture. Soyfoods, such as soy crumbles and textured vegetable protein (TVP), also called textured soy protein (TSP), are ideal ways to stretch ground beef. TVP granules are fiber-rich, zero-fat, dry soy protein. The neutral flavor of TVP takes on the flavors of ingredients that are cooked along with it. You can make ground meat/TVP blends, using ground turkey or sausage, as well as ground beef. A 1/4 c. serving of TVP provides 11 to 13 grams of protein. Making your own ground beef blend will give you the flavor of beef, without adding fat, cholesterol or sodium. Simply replace a portion of the ground meat in a recipe – typically 25-50 percent – by mixing in rehydrated TVP. To hydrate it, use equal amounts of TVP, and boiling water or broth. TVP doubles in volume, when rehydrated. It is conveniently shelf stable, packaged dry in bags and can be found in most supermarkets. Frozen soy crumbles are another way to stretch ground beef and create more budgetconscious versions of family favorites, such as meatloaf and meatballs. Look for soy crumbles in the frozen food section of your grocery store. Your Favorite Meatloaf calls for rehydrating a 1/4 c. to a 1/2 c. TVP, using an equal amount of boiling water or broth. Combine the rehydrated TVP with a pound of ground beef and prepare your favorite meatloaf recipe. Classic recipes usually call for egg, seasoning and breadcrumbs. For five dozen Chafing Dish Meatballs, combine 8 oz. of frozen soy crumbles and 8 oz. ground beef, 2/3 c. dry breadcrumbs, 1/2 c. minced onion, 1/4 c. unsweetened soymilk, an egg, 1/2 tsp. black pepper, and a teaspoon each of salt and Worcestershire sauce. Brown the meatballs in soybean oil, in a skillet. For the sauce, add a 12-oz. bottle of chili sauce and a 10-oz. jar of grape jelly to the skillet, and stir until jelly is melted and meatballs are coated. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. For complete recipes, visit thesoyfoodscouncil. com.