Truly Natural Meat Alternatives

[mama_kass]

Is there a such thing as truly natural meat alternative? I'm in search of something like a morning star product that isn't laden with extra stuff. Of course I can and do make tofu, seitan, bean, and tempeh at home. I was wondering if there is a truly natural meat alternative product that is a convenience food.

[mum21andtwins]

linda mccartney foods maybe?

[Thalia the Muse]

I'm with Mark Bittman on this -- if you can't make it at home, it's not a real food. Cheese, yogurt, tofu, seitan, and bread are real foods. Textured vegetable protein and other "convenience" products aren't.

Canned beans are easy to find that contain nothing but cooked beans and water -- that's pretty convenient if you need something fast.

[catnip]

My solution is to make large batches of steamed seitan sausages and baked veggie-lentil-grain patties and freeze them. For ground meat in things like stroganoff and shepherd's pie, I make a lentil-nut-barley combination seasoned with nutritional yeast and vegemite.

[mum21andtwins]

Originally Posted by catnip

For ground meat in things like stroganoff and shepherd's pie, I make a lentil-nut-barley combination seasoned with nutritional yeast and vegemite.

would you mind sharing? I do lentil rice wit soysauce but yours sounds lovely!

[mumkimum]

I think there's a Dr.Praeger's brand that is simply grains, veggies, seasonings and no TVP or anything like that (but honestly, I've never liked it when I've tried it, especially the burgers).
I've heard real tasty things about homemade 'veggie ground meat' made from lentils before. Please share!

[clovergirl]

in our house the closest we get to veg*n convenience foods is burgers. sunshine burgers are a great- they are made with rice, beans, and sunflower seeds. so no soy or any other fillers really. amy's brand has a few good veggie burgers that are pretty healthy as well.

[Keeta]

I'm a HUGE fan of Field Roast products - there are no weird "isolates" or chemicals in their products - they are whole foods based, and in fact, you could make things like them at home if you were so inclined. But for the convenience/flavor, they are hands-down my fave! I love the celebration roast and the apple-sage sausages. Here is a PDF of the ingredients of the sausages - there is nothing in there you couldn't use to make your own, kwim?

I know you said convenience food, but just to show that these can be made at home, here are a few recipes for Field Roast-like sausages and the like, if you want to try your hand at them. They're delicious!

Spicy Pinto Sausages - Isa also has several recipes for these kinds of sausages in Vegan Brunch.

Spicy Italian Vegan Sausages and on the same site, she has a recipe to make these into cutlets for Spicy Italian Cutlet Parmesan!

In terms of roasts, I've made this soy and seitan roast by Bryanna Clark Grogan, and though it's semi-labor intensive, it's AWESOME. Really. So juicy and flavorful and amazing. I kind of can't believe I can make something like this at home!

[catnip]

Originally Posted by mum21andtwins

would you mind sharing? I do lentil rice wit soysauce but yours sounds lovely!

This is the recipe I stole it from:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/vegetar...ii/detail.aspx

I add a couple of spoonfuls of nutritional yeast to the mixture. When I make stroganoff, I omit the carrots, and sub that in to the recipe from Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes.

[bremen]

i love, love, love twin oaks soysage
http://www.twinoakstofu.com/products.html

it has such a great sausage texture, and i have seen it made and knowit is fine and natural.
their tofu and tempeh is pretty awesome,too.

[mama_kass]

Originally Posted by Keeta

Here is a PDF of the ingredients of the sausages - there is nothing in there you couldn't use to make your own, kwim?

My ds will be so happy! This is right up his alley. I know where I can buy it too.

Thank you all! Very helpful as always.

[BeanyMama]

Do you do big portabella caps for burgers and sliced for fajitas, etc? They're a delish and healthy alternative to traditionally beefy meals.

Dried chipotle peppers are a great bacon sub. They have a similar texture and smoky flav.

Button mushrooms are our "meetballs".

Sliced eggplant is grrrreat marinated in bbq sauce or steak sauce and slapped on the grill.

[mama_kass]

Yes, I do veggies grilled, baked, all ways. I do tons of scratch cooking. I have lots of cookbooks and online resources. Cooking is one of my main hobbies.

I'm just looking for convenience teenage food for my son for occasions. So far, I've found an all natural ramen soup which he likes, but no meat alternatives.

Last night I made 2 potato pizzas and had plans to freeze some for convenience, but it was all eaten.

He's doing fine, and not complaining, but I'd still like to find some "fake" meat for him from time to time that is good for the body. I do not think that TVP is good for the body.

[Marlet]

We like Quorn products. It's been awhile since I've bought any but the website has the ingridients listed on everything. The couple I looked at just now though (wanted to make sure before I posted ) didn't have a ton of things in it I couldn't pronounce.

We would get the naked chik'n and really liked them. One "trick" I found to cooking them (whether fast in the microwave or on the stove top or in the oven) was to put some water on them. I think the box suggests a tablespoon or so but I'd do enough to coat the top and puddle a bit. HUGE difference in how they cook up I thought. DSS, who is very non-vegetarian and picky about fake meat, didn't realize it wasn't real meat (and asked DH more than once why he was eating chicken) until he read the box.

[mama_kass]

OOOOH that Quorn stuff scares me. Thanks for trying to make a suggestion. At this point I think DS is just getting use to life without the convenience soy products.

[amcal]

I have a question about the Quorn stuff too. What the heck is that fungus it's made out of?

[caitlinlea]

I'm also curious about the Quorn........DH came home with it one day and used it in chili (he's omni, I'm vegan, son is veg). I'm highly skeptical of it though - I haven't had time to research it yet but if anyone knows more about it I'd love to hear. BTW, many of the Quorn products, although soy-free, contain eggs.

Thanks for all of the great cooking suggestions! I'll definitely have to try out some of those.

[Owen'nZoe]

What about Isa's Chickpea Cutlets? They are homemade, fairly natural (contain vital wheat gluten, but no other wierd ingredients), make my omni dh and kids happy, and while they aren't quite as good as fresh, can be made up in batches, frozen, and then reheated.

http://www.veganpeace.com/recipe_pag...peaCutlets.htm

[Marlet]

Originally Posted by mama_kass

OOOOH that Quorn stuff scares me.

Why?

[livefood lover]

i guess the first question is... why do you want to substitute meat?

Protein? Fat? Texture?

If it's about nutrition there are plenty of alternatives