Whole Food Meat Alternatives

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For vegetarians, vegans, and those with meat allergies, a Whole Food lifestyle can be a bit more of a challenge. After all, we can’t just buy our “meats” in the grocery store and have them meet Get Real guidelines.  There are some great pre-packaged meat alternatives out there, some of which are all-natural, but not exactly what most would deem “minimally processed.”

In my personal journey to whole food eating, the “meat” has certainly been the biggest lifestyle change. For me personally, I could eat vegetables and quinoa Every. Single. Day. I don’t really NEED meat substitutes.  But I’m only one part of a larger family. And my family includes myself (a vegetarian), my husband (a meat-eater), and our two undecided kids (ages 2 and 3). So we’re what I call a blended-eater family. We’re much more likely to be able to eat the same meal using our meat alternative recipes.

So, I’ve developed a few recipes of my own and refined a few recipes from others to suit our family’s needs. These recipes are all of our “family favorites,” meaning that the meat-eaters, vegetarians, and undecided kids alike, all enjoy these meat substitutes. These are all also vegan and whole food-friendly and can make a great choice for meat-eaters trying to reduce their meat consumption a bit, too:

• Ground Beef: This is probably the most popular meat substitute for non-vegetarians. In a rich sauce, like a bolognese or in chili, it is disguised really well and often even fools meat-eaters into thinking it’s “real” meat.
• Steak Bites: Great for Chinese stir-fry dishes.
• Bacon Strips: Good for a mock BLT or anything calling for strips or chunks of ham or bacon.
• Bacon Bits: Excellent on salads and as a topping for soups and casseroles.
• Pepperoni: So incredible on pizza and on sandwiches!

A few other good, no muss no fuss substitutes include:

• Substitute grilled portabello mushrooms for steak strips.
• Substitute brown lentils for ground beef.
• Substitute avocado slices in recipes that call for ham.
• Use quinoa egg noodles (vegans can use quinoa non-egg noodles) or quinoa instead of regular noodles or rice under a recipe where you leave out the meat altogether. (Quinoa is a complete protein, so it allows you to leave out the protein in the entree.)

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