Vegetarian-Like Tips for Meat Eaters.

I am a meat eater.

I love steaks.

MMMMMMM carnitas.

Chicken? Gobble gobble.

I can not imagine a Vegetarian Christmas, without the seasoned dead animals.

Yum.

I grew up eating meat with ALL of my meals EVERY single day. Vegetarians? Do they eat goat?

But sometime between having kids, learning about GMO's, learning about water quality, learning about earth's resources and how other people eat I started becoming more conscious ... and then there was that stroke that took my grandmother's life, and the cancer scare my grandfather had. LESS MEAT was the Medical recommendation. But how?

Here are some tips for eating less meat - from a meat eater

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I still eat meat, but A LOT less often then I did before. I don't even eat meat daily, and if I have a vegetarian meal, I don't "miss" it or feel like i'll be hungry in a few hours.

Find the unnecessary meat, and get rid of it

Sometimes, I would put a big ole pork leg bone in my beans to make them that much more delicious. My mom added bacon to the lentils (why?). Shredded chicken or beef mixes in great with scrambled eggs, mmmm. A side of bacon with breakfast? Sure! Appetizer chicken wings? The spicy ones please?

That's the first thing I did. I found all the "extra" meat we were eating, and didn't replace it with anything, I just slowly phased it out.

I took the pepperoni from our home-made pizzas. If we order out, we still meat-it-up. The home ones are veggie.

I took the meat from breakfast Mon-Sat. That was easier than I thought.

I stopped making stuff "special" by adding bacon to it.

Salads don't need bacon, or cubed ham, or shredded chicken.

My family didn't notice too much because I did it slowly.

Stop buying certain meats for your home

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I stopped buying "sandwich meat" its kind of gross to me now. If I buy and cook a chicken breast, I better eat it within days or it will go bad. But we have have cooked chicken breast slices in a plastic package and they won't go bad? How?

I didn't let myself figure it out. I just stopped buying it.

Take inventory of the meat items you do buy. Do you love them and need them? Or do you purchase them out of habit?

My parents kept breakfast meats in our fridge and freezer growing up. If the item was on sale, they stocked up. I don't do that anymore. What happens now that I don't have a stock of well, priced meats available to me? I don't eat them. Sure breakfast is more boring without the xyzzy meat product, but our arteries and hearts are healthier for it.

"But its cheap to eat hot dogs." Its cheaper to eat split pea soup.

Don't use meat substitutes

If you're going to eat a "vegan burger that bleeds" you're going to notice that it does NOT taste like the real thing. None of those meat substitutes are going to taste like anything less than meat substitutes to people who eat lots of meat.

You might be able to fool yourself once or twice. But "simply" replacing your meat patties with bean patties won't work (it didn't for me).

Instead, don't even TRY to replace meat, simply eat dishes that naturally DO NOT have meat.

I would rather eat a bean and potato burrito, then a bean, potato, and SOYRIZO burrito.

And instead of "vegetarian burgers" I have a "warm sandwich on a hamburger bun."

Don't fool your palate into vegetarianism. Develop a taste for vegetable-filled meals instead.

Stick to foods you like and know

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Burritos, tacos, quesadillas, pasta dishes, soups. Those are the foods I eat as a meat eater, those are the foods I eat when making vegetarian meals.

Switching it up too much might make your stomach hurt.

If you're used to eating steak and potatoes. Switching to green curry might hurt your tummy. Why? Because of all the extra spices. Keep your meals similar, just meatless. Of course, venture out and eat whatever you want, just don't make drastic changes in the name of eating more vegetarian. You'll just get a tummy ache.

Eat meat, but eat less

There is no replacement for steak.

So don't replace it. Just eat less of it. Make the portions smaller. Then space out the days between the meals.

I still love steak.

I just don't eat steak sandwiches for lunch on any given day. Maybe on a special occasion.

You can either have a nice chicken breast for yourself. Or you can shred it and share it with a few people.

Find vegetables you like

Vegetarians eat vegetables. One can argue that someone who eats cheese sandwiches for breakfast lunch and dinner is vegetarian... but the term is vegetarian, you gotta eat some vegetables.

Its easier to forgo the meat, when there are veggies to replace it.

Potatoes, carrots, yams, eggplant, tomatoes, avocados, greens, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, green beans. Which do you like? If you don't like any of them. Try again.

Maybe you do like carrots. Steamed carrots are yucky for me. Shredded carrots, caramelized carrots, slow roasted carrots, (carrots in cake), are all delicious to me.

Start playing with veggies one at a time, find ones you like, and start eating them... often. It will be easier to say good-bye to meat, if there is a new love to replace it with.

Avoid hard-core vegans

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Just the ones who taut "guilt free eating" (completely forgetting that crop-pickers live and work in horrid conditions), and scoff at your small progress.

Avoid, anyone who doesn't appreciate your progress or criticizes your efforts.

Its hard for some of us meat-eaters to make more conscious choices. We only need people around us who are going to help us along. Someone reminding us that the cheese we are putting on our pizza is still "a water waster" are no help and will only derail us.

Try to be around vegans like my sister, she wants us to eat more delicious veggies, so she buys cooks, and prepares them for us, then shares the recipe.

Someone showing up at your doorstep (pre-arranged of course, I don't like drop-in visitors) with a vegan cheesecake is more helpful than someone who emails you vegan propaganda.

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Those are some of the slow changes I made to getting my family to eat more vegetarian-like. We still eat meat, but a lot less of it.

Some vegetarian meals my kids like: Chilaquiles and beans, potato tacos, bean and cheese burritos, bean soup, calabazitas, veggie enchiladas, roasted veggies with rice, roasted veggie pasta, split pea soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, soup and salad combo.

Tacos and sandwiches are very versatile and easy to make meat-less, along with pasta and soups...

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog today. Do you enjoy vegetarian meals?