Lowering meat consumption

[livinitup]

Are you including fish as meat?

I usually just cook with more beans or cheese when we go without meat. Sometimes I get inspiration from ethnic foods that traditionally don't use a lot of meat like Mexican or Indian.

[beantrees]

Milk, cottage cheese, yogurt, and cheese are great ways to get protein in. Yogurt is great in smoothies or just plain with fruit and homemade granola.

What about mixing beans and meat? For example, 1/2 pound hamburger meat and the rest beans for tacos, enchiladas, nachos etc.

Nuts? I also seem to remember Clif bars having a lot of protein in them, so that would be great for a snack. My kids love hard-boiled eggs for snacks and I try to keep those ready in the fridge.

HTH!

[sporky]

We eat lots of beans, spinach, nuts, and eggs. You can throw at least one of those things into almost any recipe.

[darkling_glory]

I'm a big fan of "the bowl".

Grains
Greens
Beans (protein)
Veggies
Sauce

This is so versatile. You can add cheese if you eat dairy, but even if you don't it's a quick, easy meal with tons of versatility

Example bowl - brown or white rice, steamed spinach or kale, garbanzo beans tossed in teriyaki sauce, and some mango salsa on top. Delicious and can be assembled ahead of time and brought for lunch.

[beantrees]

Mar 1, 2015 11:25:34 GMT -5 namasteak said:

Mar 1, 2015 11:15:47 GMT -5 beantrees said:

Milk, cottage cheese, yogurt, and cheese are great ways to get protein in. Yogurt is great in smoothies or just plain with fruit and homemade granola.

What about mixing beans and meat? For example, 1/2 pound hamburger meat and the rest beans for tacos, enchiladas, nachos etc.

Nuts? I also seem to remember Clif bars having a lot of protein in them, so that would be great for a snack. My kids love hard-boiled eggs for snacks and I try to keep those ready in the fridge.

HTH!

DH will take dinner leftovers to work so I have been struggling to think of lunches for DS & myself (I SAH). He loves smoothies so that is a great idea!

I have seen a few enchilada recipes that have meat & beans in them so I should look into that kind of thing further.

It takes a little bit of pre-planning, but using the freezer is so helpful in these instances. I SAH PT. You could make up a large batch of burritos and freeze them, then microwave for a quick and easy lunch. I like these, which are kind of simple and super kid friendly:
moneysavingmom.com/2013/03/freezer-friendly-bean-cheese-burritos.html

and these which are a little more sophisticated:
www.thekitchn.com/recipe-makeahead-roasted-vegetable-burritos-recipes-from-the-kitchn-200281

I do the same thing with soup. I will cook a big batch of soup and freeze two portions flat in a Ziploc bag. You can thaw it out on the stove-top.

Oh, and this is not exactly the healthiest thing in the world, but DS2 LOVES it and it takes less than 5 minutes to make: Ramen noodles with peas and carrots and an egg. I only use about 1/3 packet of the seasoning to cut down on the crap. At the end scramble and egg and pour it in. He gobbles it up. 

[tacosforlife]

You eat AN egg at breakfast? As in one? Eat 2-3. Fancy eggs (organic, cage free, etc.) are more expensive than conventional eggs but they are still much cheaper than meat.

[tacosforlife]

Mar 1, 2015 12:17:47 GMT -5 namasteak said:

Mar 1, 2015 12:09:13 GMT -5 tacosforlife said:

You eat AN egg at breakfast? As in one? Eat 2-3. Fancy eggs (organic, cage free, etc.) are more expensive than conventional eggs but they are still much cheaper than meat.

1 egg is an average since I make 2 breakfast casseroles each week. On egg casserole day s it's a little more than 2 eggs pp (dozen pastured eggs, cheese and hash browns baked together). And on baked oatmeal days (oats, milk, few eggs, berries & nuts) it's much less.

Maybe I could add a breakfast for dinner night into the rotation.

BREAKFAST TACOS!

I've been doing 2 eggs, cheese, and half an avocado per person. NOM NOM.

But if you're wanting to up your protein without meat, I'd ditch oatmeal (which is gross and horrible and nobody should ever eat anyway, LOL) and just eat ALL THE EGGS for breakfast.

Breakfast for dinner is also good. Eggs with runny yolks over potatoes is pretty much the greatest food combo ever. Besides tacos, of course.

[cajunmom]

Hard boiled eggs. Eat one with whatever else you're having for lunch.

[Deleted]

We eat vegetarian or meat-light probably 3 nights a week, in part b/c we also eat local free-range meat which is $$$. Some of our meatless meals:

Paneer (firm Indian cheese) sautéed with peppers & onions and bottle Indian cooking sauce (like Tikka Masala). Quick, easy, and DS loves it too.

Breakfast for dinner. A little meat goes a lot farther when mixed with eggs. Omelets & bacon or sausage, burritos with egg & chorizo, bacon egg & cheese on bagels.

Frittata (quiche with no crust) and crusty bread. 1 greens (kale, chard, dandelion leaves, spinach, etc) and 1 cheese (goat, feta, blue, Parmesan).

Huevos Rancheros

What I call "cous cous with stuff in it." Cous cups mixed with a little protein (a little cubed chicken or beans), veggies (sundried tomatoes, green onions, peppers, whatever), cheese (feta, goat, blue) and nuts (walnuts, slivered almonds, or pistachios).

[orval]

There are plenty of things you can make with meat, just use less. Like chili, as said above, use more beans/veggies. Same with chicken, beef or pork tacos, pastas with more veg than meat. I like unstuffed cabbage rolls and I never use 1 lb of meat, just maybe 1/2 lb for 2 + leftovers for lunch.

[gardengal]

I'd start using more protein-rich starch sources, like quinoa.

I have also started diluting meat w/ beans. For example, tonight we're having a lamb curry w/ red lentils to bulk it up. I do this with Mexican easily (enchiladas, tacos, burritos). Like aforementioned breakfast tacos, I have used 1 chorizo link in a larger batch of eggs. It gives flavor! Later this week we are going to have a veggie quinoa "fried rice" with edamame & assorted veggies. I also do nuts like cashews in veggie stir-fries.

While some veggies are relatively high in protein (like, spinach with a pp mentioned), you are really basically looking at eggs, beans, some starches, dairy, nuts & soy for your non-meat protein. I don't love tofu or seitan, so I mostly stick to teh edamame.

[gardengal]

Mar 1, 2015 14:15:53 GMT -5 orval said:

There are plenty of things you can make with meat, just use less. Like chili, as said above, use more beans/veggies. Same with chicken, beef or pork tacos, pastas with more veg than meat. I like unstuffed cabbage rolls and I never use 1 lb of meat, just maybe 1/2 lb for 2 + leftovers for lunch.

Yes! I've also made these veggie by using epic amounts of mushrooms. I buy at costco.

[msmerymac]

In addition to beans, lentils are great for soup, chili, tacos and burgers.

I like plain greek yogurt, mixed with 1 scoop vanilla protein powder and some defrosted berries for a hearty afternoon snack or breakfast.

[dcn]

We only eat meat at dinner 1-2 times a week. Frittata (throw in whatever veggies need to be used up with goat cheese) and sweet potato hash topped with eggs are in our regular rotation. Quinoa, lentils, beans are some of our staples. We do have fish (salmon, halibut, or cod) at least once a week bc we have a freezer full from my h fishing over the summer.

We eat peanut butter and hummus almost everyday.

[ewall]

Forks Over Knives cookbook has some great vegan recipes. White bean chili with jalapeño, lime, cilantro is a favorite of ours.

Thug Kitchen's roasted chickpea and broccoli burritos.

Ditto all of the frittata recommendations. Eggs, onion, spinach, feta.

Chickpeas with a store-bought curry/simmer sauce is a quick go-to meal for us. Served with rice.

Spinach fettuccine and Swiss chard in balsamic reduction. Picked this idea up from Daily Garnish blog. I'm not sure how much protein it would offer, but lots of leafy green goodness.

[gardengal]

Mar 1, 2015 17:23:18 GMT -5 namasteak said:

For those of you that often use eggs for frittata or breakfast for dinner what do you eat for breakfast?

I did whole30 & have changed my thinking to breakfast is Meal 1, not some special meal w limited food options

[holly116]

I substitute a lot of beans. If I make tacos for example, I use 1/2 lb of beef and a can of black or pinto beans. Spaghetti, same thing with white beans. I rarely use more than 1/2 lb in any single meal for five of us.

We eat fish once a week and vegetarian once a week. I roast A LOT of vegetables in general. Everything tastes better roasted at a high temp for 30 minutes with olive oil and garlic. Broccoli, root vegetables, cabbage etc.

Also, I will agree with brinner being a huge hit. My kids love breakfast more than anything so it's an easy win at dinner time. Quiche can be made ahead of time and heated up after work. We usually have a 1/2 lb of breakfast meat, eggs to order, toast, and oatmeal, yogurt. Sometimes pancakes or French toast.

[heliocentric]

We eat similarly and find it's easier to just eat mostly veg than try to stretch meat. Then when we do have meat it's a treat and tastes fantastic!

We sub lentils and beans for meat in "bolognese" and tacos. Eatingwell has a surprisingly tasty portobella "cheesesteak" (and I lived in Philly so I realize that's practically a sacrilege).

We also discovered chicken thighs. I never ate them before, but I noticed that in the organic / ethically raised meat world thighs are fairly cheap. Epicurious has a ton of recipes for them (as I'm sure do other places) so we eat them almost once a week.

If you eat fish, you can get cans of wild Alaska salmon at Costco and elsewhere. This obviously has limitations, but it's great for fish cakes.

How do you feel about tempeh and tofu? They can also be good sources of protein.

[thumper55]

Ack! I would have had a bunch of suggestions for soy

[isabel]

Mar 1, 2015 12:09:13 GMT -5 tacosforlife said:

You eat AN egg at breakfast? As in one? Eat 2-3. Fancy eggs (organic, cage free, etc.) are more expensive than conventional eggs but they are still much cheaper than meat.

lol thank you. I was like "AN egg!? As in one?"

Eggs are a major source of inexpensive protein, even when you buy organic. CostCo has a pack of 2 dozen organic, cage-free for something like $7. I bought them all the time before we got our chickens. Consider adding them to stir fries or fried rice for dinners, hard-boiling them to go on salads.

Also, consider other cuts than what you may typically buy. Organic chicken is relatively inexpensive (CostCo again) compared to beef. Also, check sales where you shop. Often times, one kind of fish will be less expensive than others. Roasts and other cuts can be cheaper as well. Canned fish is generally inexpensive as well. I make salmon cakes pretty often with canned salmon (line-caught, wild from CostCo). They have an egg binder and the fish, so pretty protein heavy.

It doesn't help you right now, but we're coming up on the typical time to reserve a grass-fed cow. DH and I purchased a quarter cow last April and got it in October. It worked out to a little less than $6 a pound for 100 pounds of various cuts. We got tons of ground beef, but also lots of stew meat, various steaks (rib-eyes, filets, round, etc.). It's a pretty economical option if you eat a decent amount of beef.

[emilyinchile]

Honestly, I would struggle to get 120 g of protein without eating much meat, but as others have said more eggs will help for sure. I know some people who add egg whites to oatmeal - I haven't tried it, but apparently it doesn't change the taste. I eat overnight oats with chia seeds for breakfast pretty much every day, and it's about 20 g of protein.