Homemade Meatless Crumbles

I love Morningstar products but they are so so expensive. I don't mind paying for them for items like their black bean burgers (even though I have a great recipe for black bean burgers) or their sausage patties or even their ribs. I had a WW leader suggest switching to meatless crumbles or at least half and half to reduce points in recipes. I started buying them, made the switch and the husband never noticed.

I saw on a blog a while ago (I have tried finding it again with no luck, so sorry for no credit!) how to make your own. I went right out and bought the TVP (textured vegetable protein) and tossed it in my pantry. Well that's where it has been since about May. This morning while pulling out some beans to soak I came across it and decided to rehydrate and season it and try to put in in at least one meal this week. I still haven't decided what that meal will be but I am thinking shepherds pie.

Here is the package. I bought it at Whole Foods for around $2.00. I have since seen it at the commissary and the regular grocery store. I know you can also buy it fairly cheap in bulk and some people can it for food storage.



Nutritional info here. If you can't read it, it is: 80 cal, 0 fat, 4 fiber for 1/4 c dry. This is 1 pt per serving.



I seasoned with a diced onion and some minced garlic.



I added 3 c of hot water with 1 1/2 T of beef base dissolved in it. (This won't change the points.) I let it sit about 10 minutes and then mixed it around. All of the water was absorbed.



On the package it gives directions for cooking in the microwave but I wanted it to have a browned look and taste so I tossed it in a pan sprayed with Pam and lightly browned it.



I packaged it up in 3 packages about 3 cups each. This looked like an equivalent to a pound of ground beef browned. I figure that it is 4 servings, each about 2/3 c. (if you are building a recipe in recipe builder it is 6 pts for the 4 servings (320 cal, 0 fat, 16 fiber). Once re-hydrated, it has to be refrigerated. I tossed mine in the freezer.



I'll post the results when I add it to a meal. It will be later in the week because tonight we are having Easy Chicken Tetrazini, a WW recipe from the tracker. It is one that I am looking forward to so I hope it turns out!