OK all you non-vegetarians, many of you hear the word Tofurky and roll your eyes at this vegetarian attempt to recreate Tom the Turkey without, well, killing him. As a former vegetarian and as someone who has dined on many a Tofurky for Thanksgiving, I’m hear to tell you that Tofurky is, well – good. In fact, it’s pretty darn good.
So exactly what is this stuff? Tofurky is made from non-genetically modified tofu (soybeans protein) and wheat gluten. The stuffing (yes, there is stuffing) is made from whole grains, wild rice and mushrooms, and the stuffing rocks. In fact, Turtle Foods, the maker of the Tofurky and all other Tofurky products have created lone stuffing servings because the demand for their stuffing is so great. Meatless gravy tops out the meal making it look and taste eerily similar to a traditional turkey dinner.
In comparison to a 4 ounce serving of turkey, Tofurky packs in less calories (190 calories versus 240), less fat grams (five grams to nine grams) and less saturated fat (0 grams to 3 grams) than its live counterpart. It also doesn’t contain any cholesterol. Stacking up the stuffings side by side, Tofurky comes in at a mere 110 calories per half-cup and just 2 fat grams, while regular turkey stuffing can average about 200 calories per half-cup and about 8 grams of fat. Then again, who counts calories on Thanksgiving?
In my house, we’ve experienced non-vegetarians testing out a bite of Tofurky and were more than happily surprised to find how yummy it actually tasted.
I’m not trying to tell you to go run out and replace your turkey with a tofurky (not that you would anyway) but hopefully, if one shows up at your dinner table over the holidays, you won’t simply laugh it off and make fun of the animal-loving, tofu-eating vegetarian guest or relative. They are quite good and nutritionally-speaking, they are not nearly as weighty as a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.
Happy Turkey Day!
I’m also a former vegetarian (I started eating meat again when I was pregnant with my daughter, who is no four and a half months old.
I’ve been toying with the idea of going back, but to be honest, I really don’t have the time! To explain, I come from South Africa, and vegetarian options “off the shelf” are few and far between! You have to make just about everything yourself, and as a new mom and business owner, I just can’t face the PT.
But, when I was veggie, I did lose a lot of weight. It just dropped off, without much effort.
Since I have a few pounds to lose since Kyla arrived, I’ve been looking at self hypnosis as an option, and found a pretty good resource I’d like to share. If going veggie again isn’t an option, maybe a different natural option will!
Anyway, keep up the good work, and have some tofurkey for me. Sounds good!