Flashback: Remember TVP?

Those of us of a certain age may remember  TVP, Textured Vegetable Protein, being sold mixed in with fresh ground meat as a budget stretcher. It is a soy product.
Well, lo and behold, was at grocery with hubby recently, and we were looking for a speciality flour for one of his bread machine recipes. I saw the bag of dehydrated TVP granules. "I didn't know they sold that to consumers".
It is used in a lot of the lower-end microwave "beef" dinners.
It is very high in protein, an excellent source of calcium and a bit of iron. Hubby was open to trying it once I explained what it was.
I hydrated some granules for my homemade meatballs this week. Like tofu, it takes on the flavor of what is mixed with. It is easy to work with - hydrate for a few minutes with boiling water, then cook in the microwave - 4 minutes did the trick for meatballs. Would also work well with meatloaf. I would suggest a 1/2 dry for each half-pound of ground meat.
Although I bought it for nutritional purposes, it is also a great budget stretcher. The meatballs were delicious.
And, like I said, flashback. TVP was used extensively in the 1970's during the time of stagflation, and a hard-hit coffee crop that drove coffee prices to $4 a pound. I never imagined seeing it again, but am glad we did. We don't eat a lot of beef as hubby prefers pork, but for meatballs and meatloaf, this will become my go-to stretcher.