My Second Veggie Review

I'm surprised that I already have another one of these. Maybe I need to make a certain night of the week the day to try new vegetarian products. Well, not necessarily new, but new to Pat and me. This whole thing has been quite an adventure. We are still not even two weeks into it. I still haven't lost any weight. I brought exercise back into it today so we will see how that goes.

Onto the review.

 

I picked up Smart Ground at the local grocery store the first week we were trying this vegetarian thing. I thought I had heard Pat's cousin talking about how it actually tasted like ground beef when it was mixed into a sauce. I was skeptical because the picture on the package looked a lot like ground beef. That had to be how they got people to buy this stuff right? From the little peep hole on the back of the box, the "meat" looked a little less appetizing than the picture on the front. 

Tonight, Pat and I decided to venture into the box. We were really craving tacos so we dug this out of the fridge along with some onion and bell pepper. We fried up the onion and pepper in a little bit of olive oil and then added the veggie crumbles. They looked really dry so we added extra water when we added the taco seasoning. To add a little extra kick to the mix, we added some Lawry's Seasoned Salt and a dash of fajita seasoning. Really the mix didn't look much different from the meat you get at Taco Bell. It was about the same consistency.  Maybe it would taste like Taco Bell once we got it wrapped into a taco shell?

Pat and I always joke when we are making a new food. It usually goes something like this, "If this is really bad, we're going out!" Tonight it was this, "If this is really bad, we're going out for chicken!" You know what? It wasn't all that bad! I only noticed a slight texture difference and a little bit of a taste difference but even that wasn't noticeable. I think if I hadn't known it wasn't meat, I wouldn't have thought any different. Pat and I each had seconds. This is definitely a product I would recommend if you are looking at meat alternatives. I don't know if I would recommend eating it plain though. I actually look forward to buying this in the future for spaghetti sauce or lasagna. 

If you are curious, here are the nutritional facts for Smart Ground Original. 

Serving Size - 1/3 cup

Calories/serving - 70 with no calories from fat

Total Fat - 0g

Cholesterol - 0 mg (my doctor would approve)

Sodium - 310 mg

Potassium - 360 mg

Total Carb - 6g

Fiber - 3g

Sugars - less than 1 g

Protein - 12g

I know there have been numerous articles about the downside of eating too much soy. I might touch on this later but I'm not really in the mood right now to do the research. Pat and I haven't been eating all that much soy since we have gone away from meat. Actually, I think the only times we eat are when we are looking for a meat substitute. Pat does like tofu but we haven't had the opportunity to try that yet. I think the first time I should try it, it should be prepared right and by someone that has done it before. I don't trust myself.

Please check out Smart Ground the next time you are in the grocery store. You might actually find that you like it.