Vegetarian "Meat"

[MaggieMae]

I have been entertaining the idea of at least cutting meat down in my diet. I LOVE hamburgers though. I really don't like a LOT of meat but something about a hamburger patty on a bun is like, my weak spot. I can't imagine life without a cheeseburger.

However, I used to work at a grocery store that sold morning star foods. What are those and how are they different from a normal hamburger patty? I think I had a vegetarian burger once and liked it but I don't really remember.

I am indifferent to steak, and only really enjoy breakfast sausage, hamburger patties and chicken breast. I can't eat anything off the bone. If it isn't well done I can't eat it. I absolutely WONT eat pork, ham, or bacon except I don't really notice the difference in pork or turkey breakfast sausage. Absolutely no fried, baked or broiled chicken if it has a bone, or even the appearance of once having a bone attached to it.

There are many specific reasons I will not eat certain meat. It started when I was little. My dad used to hunt deer and the moment I was able to connect deer with dinner I threw FITS about what I would and would not eat. The whole bone thing started two years ago when I had to do a life drawing of a dissected cadaver. I was mentally scarred from it I think. Ham is a whole different rant. I don't get why anyone eats bacon. Meat is really just gross to me in general... Except for those darn cheeseburgers. And the funny thing is, I don't really like ground beef.. It is kind of gross, but it doesn't feel the same at ALL in a burger.

My favorite food ever is a cheeseburger.

What are alternatives to cheeseburgers that might, feel similar? Isn't there something you can make with mushrooms that is similar to a burger? Or those Morning Star burgers?

I am not saying I will ever become vegetarian. I am still not decided. However, I might end up liking being vegetarian more if I knew there were tasty alternatives...?

[Tessa Bea]

My breakfast sausage favorite is Boca's Breakfast Links. They also make a mean chili.

Gardenburger makes my favorite veggie burger, but most veggie burgers are rather drastically different from dead animal burgers in my opinion and experience. They may take some getting used to.

I really like Morningstar's italian herb chik patties.

Their are many MANY other alternative delicious things, such as tempeh, textured vegetable protein, tofu, and whatnot- but they have to be cooked properly. I'm still mastering that and I've been some sort of veg most of my life.

[MaggieMae]

My breakfast sausage favorite is Boca's Breakfast Links. They also make a mean chili.

Gardenburger makes my favorite veggie burger, but most veggie burgers are rather drastically different from dead animal burgers in my opinion and experience. They may take some getting used to.

I really like Morningstar's italian herb chik patties.

Their are many MANY other alternative delicious things, such as tempeh, textured vegetable protein, tofu, and whatnot- but they have to be cooked properly. I'm still mastering that and I've been some sort of veg most of my life.

I know that gardenburger tastes different, or I've been told before. I think I ate one of THOSE once, because for some reason that rings a strong bell in my head, and I didn't really mind it, but that was a while back.

I don't like tofu but at the same time, I only had it once in something so maybe it makes a huge difference how it is cooked?

What is vegetarian meat? Like a blend of some kind of soy or tofuish thing and some veggies packed into a patty?

[Tessa Bea]

I don't like tofu but at the same time, I only had it once in something so maybe it makes a huge difference how it is cooked?

BIG difference. Even my husband, who is nearly full carnivorous, likes tofu when I cook it in Yakisoba.

What is vegetarian meat? Like a blend of some kind of soy or tofuish thing and some veggies packed into a patty?

It depends on what type of "Vegetarian meat" you are buying. The only sure way to tell is by looking at the ingredient panel. Hyuck hyuck.

[paperdragon]

The Morningstar Farms "grillers prime" are the only ones, in my opinion, that you can put on a bun with cheese and the works and actually have a reasonable approximation of a cheeseburger. The boca ones had an odd aftertaste, and Gardenburgers taste like vegetable mush to me.

Here's the ingredients listed on their site:

TEXTURED VEGETABLE PROTEIN (WHEAT GLUTEN, SOY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE, WATER FOR HYDRATION), CORN OIL, SUNFLOWER OIL, EGG WHITES, CONTAINS TWO PERCENT OR LESS OF CORNSTARCH, NATURAL FLAVORS FROM NON-MEAT SOURCES, SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE, AUTOLYZED YEAST EXTRACT, SALT, CARAMEL COLOR, ONION POWDER, SPICES, HYDROLYZED VEGETABLE PROTEIN (CORN, WHEAT, AND SOY), GARLIC POWDER, POTATO STARCH, MALTODEXTRIN, DISODIUM GUANYLATE, DISODIUM INOSINATE, SUCCINIC ACID, SUGAR, NONFAT DRY MILK, SOYBEAN OIL, WHEAT FIBER.

[MaggieMae]

The Morningstar Farms "grillers prime" are the only ones, in my opinion, that you can put on a bun with cheese and the works and actually have a reasonable approximation of a cheeseburger. The boca ones had an odd aftertaste, and Gardenburgers taste like vegetable mush to me.

Here's the ingredients listed on their site:

TEXTURED VEGETABLE PROTEIN (WHEAT GLUTEN, SOY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE, WATER FOR HYDRATION), CORN OIL, SUNFLOWER OIL, EGG WHITES, CONTAINS TWO PERCENT OR LESS OF CORNSTARCH, NATURAL FLAVORS FROM NON-MEAT SOURCES, SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE, AUTOLYZED YEAST EXTRACT, SALT, CARAMEL COLOR, ONION POWDER, SPICES, HYDROLYZED VEGETABLE PROTEIN (CORN, WHEAT, AND SOY), GARLIC POWDER, POTATO STARCH, MALTODEXTRIN, DISODIUM GUANYLATE, DISODIUM INOSINATE, SUCCINIC ACID, SUGAR, NONFAT DRY MILK, SOYBEAN OIL, WHEAT FIBER.

Thanks, I'll have to try the grillers prime kind when I buy some!

[Mvibes]

"Fake meats" dont taste like meat at all (some come kind of close but you can usually tell the difference). Also they are processed, so they are bad for your health.

I would recomend eating bean burgers, rice burgers, tofu or temph burgers, or any other "meat" made from tofu or temph. I prefer tofu to temph though.
Being vegetarian dosnt meat replacing meats with things that taste like meat. There are TONS of delicious vegetarian food (vegweb.com is the best recipie (veg friendly) site on EARTH).

[Mvibes]

Oh and there are different types of tofu. Silken, soft, firm, extra-firm. Each used for something different. Tofu has NO TASTE. It all depends on how you cook it, how long you let it marinade, and what spices/marinade you use on it.

[PiggieMamaKelly]

Do you have a Red Robin close by? They can make any burger with a boca patty. Since everything else about the burger is so good (bun, toppings, sauce) it might be a good way to see if you can tolerate a veggie burger.

[MaggieMae]

Do you have a Red Robin close by? They can make any burger with a boca patty. Since everything else about the burger is so good (bun, toppings, sauce) it might be a good way to see if you can tolerate a veggie burger.

That is a really good idea! Thanks! I love Red Robin because I LOVE burgers but I didn't know they had alternatives (I've never probably paid attention)! I will be sure to check that out next time I plan on going out to eat.

[MaggieMae]

"Fake meats" dont taste like meat at all (some come kind of close but you can usually tell the difference). Also they are processed, so they are bad for your health.

I would recomend eating bean burgers, rice burgers, tofu or temph burgers, or any other "meat" made from tofu or temph. I prefer tofu to temph though.
Being vegetarian dosnt meat replacing meats with things that taste like meat. There are TONS of delicious vegetarian food (vegweb.com is the best recipie (veg friendly) site on EARTH).

I understand that being vegetarian is not about replacing meat with things that taste like meat.. However, if you have eaten meat for 23 years you are going to have some type of want for meat-like products. If that were not the case, these products wouldn't exist.

Basically I was looking for something to curve my desire to eat a burger and see how I did with it. Even though it is processed I doubt that cheeseburger is good for me either.

For the most part, I do not even like meat. It is just, what I DO like, I REALLY like.

Thanks for the advice though! I will have to check out that website.

[Cogni]

The closest thing I ever had to a hamburger was made of something called quorn. It is a kind of clean-cultured mushroom product). It seemed to have the same exact same texture as a hamburger, and it was grilled so that helped fool my tastebuds. This was in Britain where that product seems to be more widespread.

In the U.S. at least, hamburgers don't taste the way they used to because the meat is much leaner now, and they use a lot of what used to be 'waste cuts' of the animal--parts that 30 or 40 years ago would be made into dogfood in the U.S. are now in the burger meat, as companies sought to make the meat cheaper and cheaper.

I have been served, at people's houses, burgers made from home-ground meat from good fresh cuts, and they taste like the hamburgers I remember from childhood cookouts and picnics. But I will not eat many of those in the course of a year. It is so much healthier to eat little or no meat, and your sweat does not get so full of animal waste products. At the risk of sounding gross, I can tell the difference in the smell of my running clothes after a run, if I have eaten some meat in the course of the week.

To wean yourself off cheeseburgers, find out more of what is in the hamburger meat in supermarkets.

[MaggieMae]

To wean yourself off cheeseburgers, find out more of what is in the hamburger meat in supermarkets.

Unfortunately I know this.. It is gross!! I also like hot dogs.... Haha I guess though, it would be like eating chocolate covered insects before you were old enough to understand and if you REALLY REALLY liked them, you might actually do it again. Which I guess is not uncommon but it isn't really common here.

However, I totally understand! People really should get like, a fourth of the serving of meat they are eating, sometimes even less, as a daily max. And at that, you don't even need that much meat. It is very unhealthy and very abused to cut costs most of the time. Chicken my dad grew up on just by farmer evolution is nothing like the Chicken I am growing up on. The fat content of the animal genetically has completely changed in itself.

I have had sandwiches that were like, portabella mushroom mixes that I LOVED but they weren't supposed to be imitating anything. They were kind of like a sandwich spread like egg salad or something. This makes me hungry. I have to stop talking about food!

[Mvibes]

I understand that being vegetarian is not about replacing meat with things that taste like meat.. However, if you have eaten meat for 23 years you are going to have some type of want for meat-like products. If that were not the case, these products wouldn't exist.

Basically I was looking for something to curve my desire to eat a burger and see how I did with it. Even though it is processed I doubt that cheeseburger is good for me either.

For the most part, I do not even like meat. It is just, what I DO like, I REALLY like.

Thanks for the advice though! I will have to check out that website.

Sorry I didnt mean to come off rude. Its just that ALOT of people have NO idea what there is to eat if you dont eat meat. They think that vegetarians just live off of meat alternatives and lettuce.
I just wanted to make sure that if you did ever go vegetarian that you cant survive off of meat alternatives. As you said, they are really only good for curving an occasional craving. (Some of my friends that are vegetarian only ate meat alternatives while they were transitioning to vegetarianism. So I guess they are good for that too)

[MaggieMae]

Sorry I didnt mean to come off rude. Its just that ALOT of people have NO idea what there is to eat if you dont eat meat. They think that vegetarians just live off of meat alternatives and lettuce.
I just wanted to make sure that if you did ever go vegetarian that you cant survive off of meat alternatives. As you said, they are really only good for curving an occasional craving. (Some of my friends that are vegetarian only ate meat alternatives while they were transitioning to vegetarianism. So I guess they are good for that too)

Thanks! You didn't come off as rude, I just wanted to make sure you knew I didn't think that also! And I really appreciate the advice!

I have had some friends over time who have been vegetarian, some made it, some gave in. I've gone out to eat with them at vegetarian restaurants and had some really good food, but none of it was like, imitation meat type things, so I have never tried it.

I am going to try something this weekend I think..

[Mvibes]

Oh ok, its a little hard to know how someone is intending somthing to sound over the internet.

Good luck finding a brand you like. The only meat alternative I ever liked was morning star bacon and "chicken" patties (which I think may have been a boca product?). The bacon didnt really taste like bacon, but it was yummy!

[MaggieMae]

Well... Morning Star burgers do not totally taste like a burger patty, nor do the feel really or look really like it... But it is a pretty good trick! It doesn't taste bad.. Maybe I could trick myself?!?! I have two patties and around the edge of my plate all kinds of different condiments to dip in. Not bad... I wish I had a hamburger bun!

Oddly, they smell like frozen chicken patties when you cook them! :X My mom was kind of disturbed. Haha! They are eating roast tonight which is amazingly gross.

Thanks for the suggestions!