I have been tweaking recipes to get some for two friends that eat vegetarian and this one came out pretty decent. (Though you have to like TVP to get into it.)

Greenwater Lake Rice:

In a quart freezer bag put:

1 cup instant rice of choice
2 Tbl homemade low sodium bullion
2 Tbl dried crumbled spinach
1 Tbl dried onion
1/4 cup TVP (small size)
1-2 Tbl Parmesan cheese

In camp add 1 1/4 cups boiling water and stir well. Put in a cozy for 10 minutes. Stir well again.
Serves 1.

Note:
My recipe for homemade bullion is as follows:

Low Sodium Bullion Mix:


2 tsp dried vegetables
1/8 tsp granulated garlic
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp celery seed
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp sugar
2 Tbl nutritional yeast

Mix all ingredients in a blender or spice grinder till powdered. Makes 3 servings of 1 Tbl each. Store in a tightly sealed ziploc bag.
This is my favorite bullion. It has the smell of chicken soup!
Salt can be added if desired. If a recipe calls for 1 tsp of commercial, use 1 Tbl of the homemade.

Nutritional yeast is a nice power punch and adds B12 to your diet.

Edited by sarbar on 12/06/2006 09:06:29 MST.

Thank you so much for the recipes ... as soon as we get done with some work around here we're gonna start checking them out ... it is really discouraging to read the sodium stats on the food labels ... crazy ... like 1,000 mgs per serving of a lot of instant stuff. Salt is necessary and good, but give me break.

We use the lowest sodium soy sauce we can buy when making jerky ... easy marinade is 1/3 Wortchestershire [sp?], 1/3 soy, 1/3 Teryaki + rough ground pepper, ginger, ground coffee, cayenne, lemon rinds, orange, etc. ... whatever you like ... soak the thin cut meat (we buy cheap round roast on sale or cut out the fat of any chuck or cheaper roast), slice thin like 1/8 or so inch thick -- sometimes helps to semi freeze the roast so slices can be "shaved" off it)... soak the meatit over night or even for a day and a half ... then put in the dryer ... dry overnight or whatever to the density you want.

Also, getting rid of the artificial sweeteners is on our agenda ... (Laurie has mentioned that issue, I believe)

We've enjoyed the (Not!) tvp products from Dixie Diners' Club. Beef (Not!) is my favorite for backpacking where a recipe calls for ground beef, even though we're not vegan anymore. The ham flavor is pretty good, not nearly salty enough for my taste, which may be a bonus to some.

Nutritional yeast (not Brewer's yeast) is a great flavor boost once you get used to it.

I also discovered Bragg's Aminos instead of soy sauce, I especially like the spray bottle. Lots of nifty ingredients for backpacking food at the health food store. Not eating or using any animal-derived products sure opened my eyes and forced me to think in detail about what I give to my family. Like anything, there's a lot of false-scare information floating around out there, but enough of it is real to behoove us to pay attention.

the vegetable boullion recipe that Sarah has posted is good and can easily be adapted to suit different recipes by changing the seasoning/vegetable components

for many meals I use my own homemade stock providing it will be thickened with other ingredients and can be properly dehydrated

you should try that some time Sarah

Kevin --

Thanks ... I had completely forgotten about brewers yeast ... gotta add that to my food kit ... it is so SUL for the food value. Used to drink it when sailing as a main meal when in heavy weather with no time or to choppy to cook.

BD, definitely get the nutritional yeast over Brewers Yeast. It is more of a mellow taste. The flake style is also better than the fine powdered they sometimes sell.
And yes, the powder does indeed pass for chicken flavor. It can fool almost anyone!

Laurie/Sarah/Anyone can you please educate me.

In a previous life, so to speak, i was a clinical microbiologist. I have a pretty good handle on yeast, particularly Saccharomyces cerevisiae (aka Baker's Yeast aka Brewer's Yeast) and have cultured a lot of it and used it in a Food and Diary Microbiology class as well as at home. S. cerevisiae which has many strains used in the making of various of foods and drinks, but i'm pretty much a dunce when it comes to baking, etc. (though i do bake a very nice braided Challah bread).

This is just some background so you know how detailed you can choose to be in responding to me. I also didn't want anyone to think that i was trying to set anyone up by asking a "loaded" question so i can jump on them (i've seen this type of thing done before elsewhere by others).

My questions to y'all is when you say nutritional yeast are you talking about S. cerevisiae? Is it the substrate on which the yeast is cultured that makes it a "nutritional" yeast? Is it a special strain developed specifically for nutritional purposes similar to how special strains of S. cerevisiae have been developed for making champangne? Is it merely yeast extract, and not spores, and not viable yeast in one of its two genetic forms (haploid and diploid)?

Many thanks in advance for your time and for educating me.

You are correct that these are special strains made for nutritional purposes. Most of the nutrional yeasts are strains of Saccaromyces cerevisiae. I am not completely positive but if I remember correctly these yeasts are extracts and don't contain live spores.

Flaked nutritional yeast such as Engevita is taken from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It is a high protein yeast with pale colored flakes. Lots of vitamins in this particular yeast.

The person that posted that Brewer's yeast is not a nutritional yeast was incorrect. Brewer's yeast can be used as a nutritional yeast because it is high in the B complex and chromium. It comes from Saccaromyces cerevisiae just like many of the other nutritional yeasts. Brewer's yeast is made from fresh ale yeast. That said, the person was correct in saying that other nutritional yeasts have better flavor. Brewer's yeast tends to be a little bitter.

Then there is Torula yeast which is grown on a wood by-product. It makes an excellent meat substitute because of the flavor from the fermentation process. This particular yeast is not as high in vitamins and minerals as the others but is high in amino acid and also contains Lysine.

Baker's yeast is a live yeast and will actually remove nutrients from the body such as your B vitamins. Many people confuse Baker's yeast with Brewer's yeast.

One note: If you are using any nutritional yeast you need to increase your calcium intake because of yeast's high phosphorous content.

I hope that helps - there isn't much more that I can tell you except that it seems the more I bake with yeast the better my proofing works out. I've often wondered if perhaps some of the spores become airborne and reside in my kitchen.

You probably know more about the science of yeast than I do though.

Edited by Laurie_Ann on 12/07/2006 17:16:19 MST.

L,

excellent info. glad to hear it's NOT viable yeast that's being ingested. even too much of a "good" yeast (cp. to a "bad" yeast like Candida albicans, which also is found in small numbers in certain parts of the human body, particularly in females), can cause problems when ingested (e.g. fungaemia, IIRC the proper generic term).

I had forgotten about the Torula sp. Many thanks for the reminder.

As far as Baker's vs. Brewer's yeasts go, they both are strains of the same organsim, viz. S. cerevisiae. It's whether the fermentation occurs aerobically (like in baking), or anaerobically (like in brewing) that determines which metabolic by products of the fermentation process are produced.

Thanks again for the informative, fact filled reply. I really appreciate such info.

take care,
pj

If a woman is subject to issues she should stay away from ingesting too much Torula.

I didn't know that it was a fermentation difference between the yeasts. Totally interesting stuff.

When I was a kid I used to do experiments with my Mom's baking yeast... lol... got me in a lot of trouble... especially the time I put it in a coke bottle (they were glass back then) and it exploded inside the closet.

From what I have read, nutritional yeast is grown on molasses. I know the brand I buy is grown that way (Red Star brand). And yes, it is safe for ladies to consume.
Though, I have also read that one should not consume more than 3 Tbls a day of it, due to concentrations of certain vitamins that can pile up in the kidneys.

You are mistaken Sarah. While Red Star is one of the nutritional yeasts grown on molasses there are nutritional yeasts that are not grown on molasses.

FYI Red Star is a very high quality product that has a slight cheese flavor to it and is not as bitter as some others. You are also right about it not being a problem with women but I do know women that have had problems with Torula.

Edited by Laurie_Ann on 12/07/2006 16:56:29 MST.

Brewers Yeast is the bitter one. Nutritional yeast can mimic chicken and cheese quite well, due to it having a sweeter taste.
As far as I can find from looking at brands in the US, all of them are molasses grown. There may be other brands though I am not seeing. Brewers Yeast though is grown differently quite often, and while cheaper, is not as good.

I agree and can't stand Brewer's Yeast and although it has nutritional properties it is not ideal in my opinion. I usually buy a product that was grown on molasses because of the higher nutritional value and flavor.

Another interesting and nutritional yeast product is the spread or yeast extract sold as Marmite or Vegemite. It takes a bit to get used to and the Marmite is a little less bitter than the Vegemite.

Also if a vegan were to use your rice recipe they could substitute the parmesean with a touch more of the nutritional yeast.

Edited by Laurie_Ann on 12/07/2006 17:21:54 MST.