vegan in this culture and hydrogenated oils...

[SleepingBean]

My family is partial vegan and many vegetarians, so for years we've been eating products like gimmie lean, morning star etc.

Well, over the past year, I have realized how many of the products we ate contained hydrogenated oils!

I stopped buying all of those products adn now I find it much more difficult to eat vegan foods.
All the meat alternatives we were using are now out for us.

Any ideas? Suggestions?
Is this changing?

Or do I just need to start making more from scratch? (I am terrible at that...I lack energy by the time supper comes with a 1 and 3 year old running me wild all day!)

[vegma]

We eliminated all trans fats over the last couple of years. Yes, I cook from scratch a lot, but we do still use some fake meats. I haven't had a problem in the variety of fake meats without hydrogenated oils. Whole Foods and Wild Oats are supposed to be trans-fat-free now. One of those stores might be a good starting place to find a selection of pre-packaged foods you can still eat (although I occasionally find something containing trans fats and call their attention to it). Good luck!

[duckie1978]

Maybe you could determine an acceptable amount of hydrogenated oils. Limit the amount that you eat on a daily or weekly basis. I don't stress out too much about it but have started to replace certain products like the margarine I ate and a few other products. I stock up when the HFS has a good sale. My husband and I are on a very limited budget (we can only spend about $50-75 a week) so we don't really buy a lot of the prepared meats. I often buy the tvp flakes and chunks, season the heck out of them and they can pass for the prepared ones. It is all about the seasonings really.

[SleepingBean]

thanks for the ideas. I am not familar with the flakes you were referring to, so I'll look into that!
We don't have stores like htat here, but we are lucky in that our local grocery store chain just added a natural/coop section and it's really well stocked!
I have been quite pleased. They don't have everything, but they have a lot of the items we buy.

We try to avoid gluten as much as possible for my daughter, so it really helps to have a co-op nearbye for that.

[duckie1978]

TVP is short for Textured Vegetable Protein. I think it usually has partially hydrogenated oils in it though. The Gimme Lean soy crumbles are basically TVP flakes with soy sauce and other spices. TVP also comes in chunks that can be used like the Light Life Smart Strips. It can be bought at HFS's and co-ops; I have seen it at regular stores but not in bulk. It is not that expensive because it is light. You can take about a cup of it for the equivalent of 1 pound of meat or so. We use it to make instant tacos and sloppy joes. I can make shepard's pie and other dishes that called for crumbled hamburg. It cooks very quickly because you are rehydrating and heating it.

[SleepingBean]

hmm..I really do want to avoid the hydrog. oils.
Does anyone know about tempeh?
I love it, but it isn't sold locally so I would have to order bulk online, most likely. Not sure if it is H.O. free?

Oh, and for those of you who like the nut grain tempeh, I have a recipe for a cashew coconut tempeh stir fry that is just amazing!
Happy to share it!
--
Laura

[Christa]

The Gimme Lean Sausage in a roll doesn't have any hydrogenated oils that I can find - I just looked at a package in my fridge.

Also, re TVP, I have never seen the dried stuff contain hydrogenated oils. The package that I have in my cupboard contains nothing but soy flour. It makes really awesome chewy bacon bit things for salads & baked potatoes. I got the recipe for those out of the Nutritional Yeast Cookbook.

I am not sure how easy it would be to find dried TVP at a regular grocery store. I usually buy it at Vitamin Cottage.

I don't have any tempeh around right now, but don't recollect it containing hydrogenated oils, either. I would guess that seitan is out if you are trying to limit gluten, but you can make that at home with just gluten flour & water.

[vegma]

I just checked the ingredients list on Gimme Lean "sausage" at the store to confirm it doesn't contain hydrog. oils! Plus it is sold at both of the local HFS that claim to be trans-fat-free. Ditto for the tempeh. And yes, SleepingBean, I would love your recipe!!!

[Jenica]

Tempeh *should* be free of hydrogenated oils if it's just straight tempeh, uncooked. If you can't find it in stores you can make it yourself at home. There are sites that sell tempeh culture but I'm not on my home computer so I don't have access to my links to find one for you atm, I'm afraid.

[SleepingBean]

that is good to know!
Here is my cashew coconut curry recipe!
:)

Now I'll have to go dig up that recipe!
mmm...that sounds REALLY good for supper!