Meat alternatives...

[The Charming Canuck]

I thought I'd start a thread for us who are vegetarians for meat alternatives that we like. So I will start off by listing my favorite substitutes for cooking et cetera,

Smartlife's hamburger and sausage meat alternative
And their barbeque sandwich stuff, its like bbqpork sandwhich only veggie and a lot less fat. (I'll post a link as soon as buy more, I couldn't find one via google, only other forum boards posting about it's greatness)

field roast grain co.'s roasts and smoked apple and Itallian sausage.
www.fieldroast.com/ (This company is based in Seattle ^_^ I live near Seattle and am down there a lot.)

These are two brands that I love, I need to try field roast's sanwhich meat alternatives.

For Milk I like Rice milk and Soy milk.
I love annies brand www.annies.com/
and Amy's kitchen brand as well
www.amyskitchen.com/
These are just some of my alternatives that are very tasty^_^

[adeliecp]

Well, I love Smartlife's hotdogs. They have 45 calories, no fat, and 9 grams of protein....mmmm...I might have one for lunch.

Milk, I recently got Silk light soymilk and it's really tasty, and not too thin at all. I also LOOOOOVOEEEOEOEVE chocolate almond milk, but I haven't gotten it in a while.

I try to limit what I buy premade cause I like to cook things myself.

I really love making taco "meat" with plain tvp and one of those "taco seasoning" packets of spices. I've made it for meat eating people and they were surprised that I'd made beef for them...well, until I corrected them. Hmm....actually, now I want some of that too....

I also make my own seitan. I had posted a recipe for it on another thread, but here it is again...it's delicious and it's kind of creepy how closely the texture is to meat. It's really good in a kind of gravy, or I'll cut slices of it and have it on sandwiches. Last time I make it with poultry seasoning, so it's kind of like turkey.

Seitan Recipe
from Vegan With A Vengeance: Over 150 Delicious, Cheap, Animal-Free Recipes That Rock
Isa Chandra Moskowitz
2005
Marlowe & Company New York, NY

2 cups vial wheat gluten flour
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup cold water or vegetable broth
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablesppon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, pressed or grated
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

Broth:
12 cupes water or vegetable broth
1/2 cup soy sauce

In a large bowl mix together vital wheat gluten flour, nutritional yeast, and all-purpose flour. In a separate bowl, mix together the wet ingredients through the lemon zest.

Pour the wet ingredient into the dry and combine with a firm spatula. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes until spongy and elastic. Let the dough rest for a couple of minutes. In the meantime, stir together the ingredients for the broth in a large saucepot (do not boil the broth at this point).

Roll the dough into a log shape about 10 inches long and cut it into 6 pieces of roughtly equal size. Place the pieces in the broth. It is important that the broth be very cold when you add the dough, which makes for a nicer texture and ensures that the seitan doesn't fall apart. Partially cover the pot (leave a little space for steam to escape) and bring the broth toa boil. When the broth has come to a boil, set the heat to low and gently simmer for an hour, turning the pieces every now and again.

Turn off the heat and let the broth and seitan cool for at least 30 minutes. This will produce a firmer seitan. It is best to let everything cool completely before removing the seitan from the broth.

If storing the seitan for later use, slice t into bite-size chunks, put it into a sealable container, and cover with broth. Seal the container and place it in the fridge for up to five days.

[xstatic]

meh.... I just grab whatever morningstar and boca products are avaliable.

[salsafy]

Watch out, though. Some morningstar farms and boca stuff as eggs in them, if you're worried about that kind of thing. I prefer Gardenburgers chicken patties - MMM so good. I sometimes crumble them into things rather than having "a burger". Like in pasta dishes and stuff.

[selr]

I used to eat a vegan diet for about 6 years. I never felt as good as I had hoped to but stuck to it until I developed stomach problems from it. During the time I was vegan I was just really certain it was the ideal way for everyone to eat but the truth is, everyone is different. I can't digest a lot of fiber.

There was something I learned however that I wanted to share. If you can find an all vegetarian Chinese restaurant that makes all their analog meats fresh, in-house then you will be amazed. Chinese cuisine has a whole art of imitation meat that you just can't get from a can, plastic package, or box. Nothing can compare to the anceint wisdom soy craft of chinese vegetarians.

Here's one page of reviews for a place in my town of Philadelphia called Cherry Street Chinese Restaurant. Meat eaters will be happy to dine with you at a place like this. There used to be a place in San Diego that was incredible as well but it went out of business.

www.pjvoice.com/v13/13900food.html

If you only ate canned corn, canned green beans, canned spinach, and canned asparagus your whole life and then you saw fresh vegetables for the first time as an adult you wouldn't believe the color, texture and flavors. You might even shed a tear to realize what you had been missing. Finding a place like the one above is similar to that experience if you've never had fresh vegetarian meats. Before I tried the real thing, I thought Yves and Smart Ground and Gimme Lean were the way all vegetarian meat substitutes were supposed to be.

A vegetarian diet can be rewarding, an exciting conversation topic, and a great adventure for a lot of people. I used to love taking people out to try authentic artisan meat substitutes. The restaurants that specialize in this art are hard to come by so I hope if there are none in your area that you can at least keep your eyes open for such a place if you travel.

One word of warning. Many vegetarian dishes are not low in calories or fat. You can gain a lot of weight by eating meat substitutes that are fried or prepared in high-fat sauces because most of the substitutes are like little sponges that can soak up a lot of fat and deliver it right to your body for storage just like meats and dairy.

[chad8589]

I've been contemplating this vegan thing for some time now. I've read so many articles with a lot of good things to say about becoming vegan, I'm really thinking about giving it a shot. I love animals, and I still have plenty weight to lose. Any words of advice before I take the plunge? How effective is it when comes to actually losing weight???

[rissakai007]

Try the brands called Boca and MorningStar
They have great meat alternatives.
You find them in the frozen food section though, not the vegetable section.
I suggest trying Soy meat rather than Veggie meat
Compacted vegetables? Frigen' gross.

[chad8589]

I hate "veggie meat." You're right, the soy meat products are MUCH better. This thread has been inactive for some time, and I've actually been vegan for over a month now. I've grown to love Silk Soy Milk...especially the chocolate. Morningstar Farms makes the best, well everything IMO...although I adore gardenburger riblets. I actually haven't lost any weight since making the switch, maybe a couple of pounds, but nothing noticeable.