Living Without Meat

1. When hungry for a snack and lacking in energy, turn to trail mix. The dried fruit has natural sugars that will give you an instant energy boost while the nuts create a lasting, longer boost through protein. But remember these important nutritional notes: trail mix doesn’t have to include chocolate. There are so many delicious blends out there … or make your own and then you’ll only get what you like!

2. Ask a veg head for suggestions! Go to online resources, a vegetarian cookbook, or a vegetarian friend for great ways to turn aspects of your favorite meals into healthy, meat-free alternatives.

3. Take your mind off of meat by thinking of the animals that you are saving. The average American meat eater eats nearly 100 chickens per years, and chickens face the worst torture in factory farms before they reach your plate.

4. Get your share of fruit. Fruit has natural ingredients that fill you up, warding off hunger. The apple is especially good at filling you up with its supply of pectin.

5. A great way to get a variety of vitamins and minerals, and plenty of food for your belly, is to make it a stir-fry. Chop up 2 or 12 different kinds of veggies; sauté them in oil, garlic and onions; mix in your favorite spices or sauce; and serve alone or over brown rice, couscous or pasta. With such a healthy mix, you don’t have to feel guilty about having seconds or thirds.

6. Branch out and try new veggies. Frozen kale? Toss it with pasta. Acorn squash? Follow the baking directions that it comes with, and try stuffing it (half-way through baking) with pre-cooked couscous or rice with raisins, apples, curry powder, chickpeas, and whatever else you have in the cupboard. Spaghetti squash also comes with direction for cooking and tastes great any way that you like pasta.

7. Try that hated food in a new way. I hated cauliflower. I don’t like it raw; I don’t like it steamed. However, I love it mashed! Steam it up, then mash it just like potatoes adding margarine, salt, garlic, milk (or soy milk, or water), and if you’d like you can give it a creamier texture by adding some real or dehydrated potatoes.

8. Drink plenty of water throughout the day. Quench your thirst, ward off dehydration, and help keep you from feeling falsely hungry.

9. Fellowship! Get your friends together for a night of meat-free, covered dish food and fun. You’ll get a great meal, variety, and new ideas for future personal cooking.

10. If all else fails, try a meat substitute. Most vegetarians don’t subsist on these, but there are definitely good ones and bad ones. Morning Star Farms meal starters; Gimme Lean sausage; Veggie Patch chick’n nuggets, BBQ ribs, and spinach nuggets; and all of Amy’s meals make my list!

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