Making the Vegetarian Meat - Seitan

I have been working with a recipe I found on the internet about a year ago with mixed results. The last batch I made turned out like my very first batch of just using plain vital gluten to make seitan steaks. Very rubbery despite using unbleached flour in it as the recipe calls for.

The recipe is as follows:

2 cups vital gluten
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup nutritional yeast

wet ingredients:
1 tablespoon ketchup/tomato sauce/paste/soup
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup Bragg's amino acids

Mix all dry ingredients together throughly before adding wet ingredients. I use a kitchenaid mixer to mix all my ingredients together. Once the seitan has taken on a brainy look, I check to see if the mixer is too wet, if so I add 1-2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour, but also adding in my vital gluten flour.

Broth:

Distilled water
1 cup amino acids or 1 cup no-chicken chicken broth
spices

Add seitan cutlets into cold water broth, using low heat. Allow seitan to rise to top as water gradually heats up to prevent bubbles from forming in seitan steaks.

This time the recipe gave me a rather rubber consistency seitan. Normally, I get steaks that are tough in texture like meat, but have a pork-like consistency. Haven't been able to master making chicken or beef texture. Bought some store bought seitan and read the ingredients. I noticed inulin and chicory flour were used in the formula and helped give it a beef like consistency. I have also read recipes using spelt flour, but it is not a flour I normally keep, so I haven't tried my hand at it. I guess the experimentation will continue as I work hard to perfect my technique and the above recipe.

Transformation for Competition

This is the new site I will post my training leading up to the FAME Houston show in May. I have made changes to my training this past summer. Arms are coming up more with still putting emphasis on my shoulders and triceps. Working on bringing more balance in my structure with my hips and shoulder alignments. It is improving, but I am having a few more aches and pains with getting old muscles to carry my body weight like they haven't in years!!! Very exciting as I can feel a shift in my body and more even distribution in my weight placement.

Training getting on track from long holiday weekend and migraine recovery. It is a pain sometimes to be so sensitive to hormones or my sinuses giving me grief. I have been doing a yeast cleanse as well over the past two months. Finally getting relief in my digestive system with the elimination of the yeast and foods that cause a flare up. Skin is clearing up nicely. At this point, I have eliminated potatoes, oatmeal, and most cereals. Focusing on green leafy veggies, some fruits (berries mainly), dairy on occassion, and proteins. Can be a change with being vegetarian as some of my favorite carbohydrates are on the limit list for now.

This week will be me getting on track with my cardio in my usual routine. TV went on the fretz and hasn't been the same. Gotta go shopping for a new flat screen, going to the gym at 430 am doesn't have the same appeal as walking into my den for cardio.

Pictures will be added at the end of the week for my transition. I have always taken pics before my preps start and now I have three years of pictures to see how my body has changed with each show and starting this journey. I hope this blog is interesting and informative. I like keeping up with progress that others make and hope I am able to motivate others in changing their lives.

Cydney Walker, MS, RD, cpt

Dietitian and personal traininer in the D/FW area focusing on women's fitness, nutrition consulting and education, public speaking, elimination diets, vegetarianism and group personal training.