PRODUCT REVIEW: HARMONY VALLEY VEGETARIAN BREAKFAST SAUSAGE MIX

First, I am working on getting a camera as ours broke.  Hopefully pictures to follow.

Having heard a horror story about how horrible TVP was, and how much money this person had wasted by stocking up on it before realizing they would never eat it, we knew we wanted to start small.

When shopping together at our nearby Henrys/Sprouts store, we came upon a packet of this breakfast sausage mix and thought it would be the perfect opportunity to try TVP without spending a fortune (or opening a #10 can of something we would never eat again.  Goes along with the whole "eat what you store and store what you eat" motto.

First thought, upon opening the packet was that it smelled okay.  Not exactly like sausage, but no real off-putting odor.

The directions were super simple.  Blend the packet ingredients with 1-1/4 cups water, let sit for 15 minutes, then cook (they had microwave, oven and pan-frying directions.  I chose to pan fry (too hot to turn on the oven, and thought it would probably taste better than microwaving).  The mixture formed very easily into perfect round patties.  No nasty fatty yuck left on my hands as there would have been with pork sausage.  The patties smelled good while cooking, browned beautifully, and were easy to flip over and also to take out of the pan.

Taste test:
Floyd says:  It doesn't taste like sausage, but it isn't bad.  Probably would be better on an egg sandwich or in a scramble (we had ours as a side with pumpkin waffles).

I say:  Taste pretty good (I absolutely will not eat something I really dislike).  Texture was good.  No real off-putting taste.  Not sausage, but not bad.  I agree with Floyd that they would be better mixed into something.

I will probably try this again.  There is a recipe on the package for a green chili and sausage quiche.  I may try that.

We liked it well enough that we will try some of the flavored TVP products made for food storage.

Review: Chef Tess 7-in-1 Holiday Cookie Mix/Honeyville Dehydrated Butter

It pains me to give a poor review to anyone or anything.  I like to post (or say) the positive, and just ignore the negative.  I mean, just because I don't like something doesn't mean that someone else won't enjoy it.  However, as we started working diligently to become prepared, I wished so much that there were more reviews and comparisons to be found.  I did not want to have to try every powdered milk, dehydrated/freeze dried apple, grain mill, etc. in order to find the best tasting, best working, etc.  Surely those who went before had already done the trial and error, and I could save time and money by gleaning information from them.  I found fewer reviews and comparisons that I would have liked, so decided I would post my own results so others would have the benefit of my experience.

I found the recipe on the Honeyville website, and have seen links to it on Pinterest, etc.

We want to use and rotate our storage items so it seemed a good place to incorporate some of our lesser-used items.

I followed the recipe/directions exactly.  It was super simple, with a short list of ingredients.  The mix went together well, blended super easily.  I actually whisked it together in a huge bowl, then poured it into a large storage container.  I shook to mix the ingredients before each use.  It looked much like a commercially prepared cookie mix and seemed very consistent and well mixed.

The recipe does work.  It does turn out cookies.  Simply add water to the mix, and with very little muss or fuss you get pretty cookies.    

I first made a batch of the master cookie, the moist buttermilk.  It looked good, had good consistency, but we did not care for the taste.  At all.  Threw them away.  In this family, cookies do not go in the trash.  Ever. (okay, unless I don't hear the timer and they burn, then they do get trashed....it happens)  Out of the four people home at the time, no one would eat them.

I decided perhaps a hit of chocolate would help, so I made the Raspberry Coated Cocoa Crinkles.  I did have to use slightly more water than the recipe called for, but that was not a problem.  The cookies looked gorgeous.  But taste - not so much.  Not one of the four testers would eat them after the first bite.

Sorry I forgot to take pictures (I didn't realize at the time I would be blogging).  They were very pretty cookies, especially the chocolate ones.

I think it is the dehydrated butter we don't care for.  If you use it regularly and like it, you may very well like these cookies.

Does anyone have a brand of dehydrated butter that they like better than another?  What about dehydrated margarine or shortening?  Sounds like some taste testing and comparisons are in order.