Getting started with Meat-free dishes

Hopefully I've whetted your appetite a little towards going a little more meat-free. Where do you start? What should you make? Here's some quick ideas to start making meat-free dishes (see the link below for a large article with the original idea).

1. Think of three meat-free dishes you already like or eat. You know how to make them, so eat them up. Here's some ideas.
          Bean burritos
          Pasta/spaghetti
          7-bean soup
          Vegetable soup
          Grits and eggs
          Stir fry
          Peanut butter and jelly sandwich

2. Take three of your favorite meaty dishes and convert them to meat-free. There are lots of ways to get rid of the meat, but still get an enjoyable food. Here's some ideas.
   Hamburgers: try veggie burgers (such as. Boca burgers or bean burgers) or portobello mushrooms
   Hot dogs: Go with tofu dogs
   Pizza: eliminate the meat and load up on vegetables
   Chili: get rid of the meat and go with bean chili
   Biscuits and gravy: use TVP instead of sausage
   Deli sandwich: remove the meat and try hummus or avocado
   Lasagna: make a meat-free version, loaded up with vegetables

 

Photo courtesy of Flickr: chrisphoto

3. Try three totally new recipes. There are so many recipe sites out there.  Sparkpeople, Allrecipes, FoodNetwork, Food.com. Google "recipes" and you'll get many more sites. Or check out some vegetarian cookbooks from your local library for free. Find a recipe that looks interesting and try it!


You now have nine different recipes you can make. Did you know that most families only cook nine different recipes, but keep rotating them around? You should be set for a while.

Resources:
Vegetarian Starter Kit

Living a vegetarian lifestyle

I mentioned last week how a vegetarian lifestyle can be healthy. I know this works, since many years ago I was a complete vegetarian. My dear mom put up with this for a few months while I shunned all meat. I did lose weight, which was my goal. If you are really eating a balanced vegetarian diet, you can't help but eat healthy food.

      

 One of the big transitions towards vegetarianism is replacing meat with other protein sources. There are a number of non-meat protein sources, including legumes (beans, lentils, and peas), nuts, grains (like quinoa, brown rice, or barley), soy products (soy milk, tofu, TVP, or tempeh), or protein supplements (powders). With a little planning, you can turn many dishes into meat-free dishes. Bean burritos. Veggie burgers (I have been eating boca burgers for years and love them). Soup with beans. Peanut butter sandwich. Stir Fry with tofu. And on and on. You can still get the protein without all the negative consequences of excess meat consumption.

Now you may be saying to yourself, "I'm not ready or willing to become vegetarian." Honestly, neither am I. There is an alternative, called "flexitarian" which means being a flexible vegetarian, or mostly being vegetarian, but still eating some meat. I recently got a book from the library called "The Flexitarian Diet". It has a lot of good information and recipes for incorporating more meat-free dishes into your life, so you may want to check it out. You can also google "flexitarian" for other resources. What's a good way to start? Have some meat-free days. I'm aiming to be an expert flexitarian, which means five meatless days per week.

Other Resources:

Should you be a flexitarian?

The Flexitarian Diet Review

Eat those veggies

In July we visited Travis and Aymee. It was fun! While there we watched a documentary "Forks Over Knives" which was really interesting. You can see it on Netflix, so I suggest you check it out. It was a documentary about some doctors' research into vegetarian lifestyles. The movies is basically an attempt to convince you that vegetarian is the way to go.

Now when I see something like this, I'm naturally skeptical. I suppose it goes with my job. Just because someone tells me something, doesn't mean I believe. I want to see some proof. So I started looking at the scientific journals, where scientists and doctors publish their research findings. And you know what? Vegetarians do live healthier lives. Less heart problems, live longer, weigh less. All the good things we want.

So there must be something to eating your fruits and vegetables. Even Joseph Smith realized this back in D&C 89!