Skip to main content

Limited Options - Part 5 of the "I hate being trendy series"

     I'm done with this series after this.   I'm still trying to eat more plant based items and I do have a few more products stored in the fridge and freezer, but I find that I'm limited on what's available to me here in the country.   The only supermarket that sells vegan/vegetarian items near me regularly is Aldi's and the selection varies week to week. 

    While I enjoy Aldi's items I really don't want this series to turn into just being about the products of one store.   That being said, I've been able to find items from Beyond Meat, Impossible foods, the Jackfruit Company,  and other products at other stores, but not on a regular basis.

    So I'm trying to eat healthier and plant based where ever and when ever I can.   It's simply a matter of being able to do what I can do and when I can do it, for example the other night I stopped at Burger King and ordered their impossible burger not because I wanted it so much as it was the only choice I had.


    Last November, I picked up Aldi's Meatless Turkey Breast for under $5.00 US and it got pushed to the back of the freezer till I found it while on a arctic exploration.  The box stated that their were two" breasts per box and offered a few ways to cook them; including pan frying, the microwave and in the oven.  I "oven roasted" the turkey.

    Now that being said, there is no gravy included so other side dishes would fill out this item nicely.  It also cooks quickly in that it only took 10 minutes or so to make.  The "breast" itself is rather thin and is coated with a "breading"which sort of reminded me more of a fish fillet rather than a turkey breast.

    Taste wise it's not that bad, it's not "turkey" and frankly it is not even a close approximation to turkey.   I also found it a bit dry.   Of course, some gravy would of helped.  They also held up well as I ate them.   There were no "mushy" bits.

    Honestly with some potato's and stuffing, I think this wouldn't be bad at all.   In fact, I think I could eat this on Thanksgiving or Christmas and be perfectly happy with that choice.  Maybe a little more herb, a little more spice would only help the flavor.

    One "breast" piece was enough to satisfy me and the second piece would be enough to serve as "leftovers" for a sandwich the next day. 


    I actually liked the taste, it's tofu...make no mistake about that and it reminded me of chicken more than turkey...but I actually liked this product a lot.  Hell, I be happy to buy this product anytime and cut it up with some Bombay Potato's and make a burrito out of it!

    That being said, the nutritional part of this equation is a mixed bag.   Again, we are talking about a highly processed food and those tend to be high in salt.  In this case that's 510 milligrams, or about 22% of our recommend daily intake of Sodium.  It's still not bad but generally speaking anything below 20% is considered "healthy"

    With 4 grams of saturated fat (or bad fat) it's not a serious issue, but that makes up 19% of your recommend daily intake.   Since saturated fats can lead to heart disease, this is a bit of a concern.  There is zero trans fat.

    One "breast" however does have 13 grams of protein so that's wonderful.  It's also high in Iron and contains no trans fats or cholesterol.  So comparing this to the nutritional value of an actual turkey, it holds up pretty well but without some of the environmental and ethical issues that surround eating meat.

    The question becomes...would I have this again?   Yes, Yes I would. I can't think of a better way to end the series (for now) than on a high point. 

Labels:
Location: Stoneboro, PA 16153, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

What all the cool kids are reading.

Unplanned and Unprepared. Life Happened.

 It's been a bit.   When I started this blog I was in a stable place and a stable condition.   I thought that I was done with moves and surprises.   I would have been perfectly happy to just work for another five or ten years till I retired.    If I'm being completely honest with you but since moving back to Western PA just about six years ago, things have been odd at best and difficult at worst.   I've questioned why we moved but for better or for worse, this is home. Then I lost Facebook and that was one of the drivers, if not the main driver that drove people to this site.   Then my job situation changed drastically.   At first it was fine but it was clear that the company really didn't have a spot for me, and as they transitioned from "work from home" to "return to the office" it became hard for me to justify a commute of over 100 miles each way.   The jobs that I worked after that were temporary in...
Post a Comment
Read more

Acting in our best interest.

** The majority of this column was written nearly two years ago, however for a lot of reasons, has been updated and ready for publication now.** Recently a friend of mine and I were talking about some changes in our area.  We have had three solar farms built recently and there is talk about a wind farm. She brought up how wind turbines are responsible for killing birds.  That's a known fact that everyone can agree to, however exactly how many birds and what to do about the bird strikes is up for debate.   This conversation tells us a bit about the type of people we want to be.  We are going to have to make trade offs in the future and we need to determine what those tradeoffs will be.   Wind turbine's are constructed in a location that meets certain criteria to meet it's full effectiveness.   What happens if location X is also the breeding ground of a nearly extinct bird?  Can they still breed if the tower, or solar panel or geothermal ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Honoring the past - Thinking more about "invasive" plant species.

 Recently I've been giving some thought to invasive species.  I had received both positive and negative feedback on the blog post concerning kudzu and recently I came across a very well hidden, and very small, wild cherry tree while doing some yard work.  Since it's against the house it would have to be removed since the root systems could damage my foundation.   A buddy of mine at work was asking if I was going to transfer it, his logic being that it was a fruiting tree that would not only attract a variety of pollinator's but that the deer would eat the bark and cherries, keeping them away from the garden (which Sue and I swore we were not going to do this year).  It occurred to me that I was going to have to do a slightly better job of identification, since black cherries are native to America , where as other types of cherries are not.  Being able to make a precise identification would be helpful.   I used to be able to identify all these tre...
Post a Comment
Read more