Netflix’s “What the Health”

Hello my friends, sorry I’ve been MIA! I’m consumed with Poshmark. Anyway, my husband texted me this week and said he was going to curb his meat intake drastically, all kinds of it and I should watch this documentary. Well, I love meat, even processed meats. But, he asked me to watch it and I did. I think I’m going to give it up, also. It had that much of an impact on me. Some parts grossed me out so much, that did it.

But the hard part is that I’m the cook of the family and we mostly eat chicken for dinners. Casseroles, baked, chicken tacos…just tons of recipes with chicken. So, if anyone wants to share a delicious vegan dinner recipe with me, I’m all ears. I guess I’ll try tofu. But if I’m going to do this, I need a nice variety of yummy dinners.

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Thanks for the heads up; I will be sure not to watch.Sometimes it is best to NOT KNOW how the sausage is being made.

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Or the fecal matter in your Tyson packaged chicken and hamburger. It’s amazing what eating meat is doing to our health, and what we’ve been sold for decades to eat.

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Will you include fish of any sort in your diet? Eggs or dairy?

Follow minimalist baker on instagram, she has mostly plant based meals with some meat. Also forks over knives is a huge plant based lifestyle source that has thousands and thousands of recipes and ideas. This is a very exciting thing to do but very difficult. There are healthy and non healthy meat substitutes and ways to do this.

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Write down your top ten recipes you like to make. If you take the meat out, can the recipe still stand or take a chicken substitution?

Tacos: use sweet potatoes, chickpeas, or tofu (or fish if it’s part of your diet) in place of chicken.

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I subscribe to Purple Carrot - specifically because I went vegan just before Covid days hit and needed more ideas - they send the ingredients and a large recipe book (every 2 weeks for me) which has opened my food intake substantially. You can access their recipes online on their website but if it’s “only” 2 of you I recommend subscribing even for a short period to get a well rounded view of what and how delicious vegan cooking is.

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We changed to 100% plant-based a couple years ago, right after watching Netflix’s Forks over Knives. My H has always followed a very healthy diet, exercise, etc (and good cholesterol numbers) but still had a heart attack a few years ago–some family history there. He just had bloodwork done, 1.5 years after changing to vegan, and the cholesterol changes were truly dramatic, even after starting out in a good range. And I would say, we really don’t miss meat in the least. Dairy was harder to give up, but we don’t miss that anymore either, and you can get vegan versions of almost any dairy product, so I use those in recipes.

There are so many great vegan recipes that I’ve found. Got an instant pot and I make a lot of soups, chilis, quinoa recipes, etc.

I second that sweet potato tacos are great! Also crispy cauliflower Tinga tacos. Also try loaded baked sweet potatoes. Roasted veggie farro bowls.

I do make bowls pretty often with rice and what we have–ex black beans, vegan cheese, other vegetables.

There are just so many great vegan recipes online. Or subscribe to one of the vegan meal-prep delivery plans.

You can also find some reasonable (but processed) vegan meat alternatives. We don’t eat them very often anymore but they may help you with some easy meals to start.

Plant-based milks have also come a long way and there are so many alternatives. I used to make almond milk at home (don’t like the carrageenan) but almonds are really bad for the environment. So we have changed to pea milk and (after we stopped laughing) it’s really good. I love Not Milk.

Overall I’d say that even in the last 2 years, there are lots more recipes that I see online, many more vegan options at all grocery stores and restaurants. There is a real shift to plant-based.

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Thank you so much! I’d like to start with 10 recipes. Of course I have a few things without meeting, but not a lot. I will check out all those websites. I wish I wasn’t the cook of the family, as I dislike cooking. But maybe I’ll find it’s easier and quicker without the meat to deal with.

Is it terribly expensive? There are 3 of us.

Do you use the taco powder with it all? I think it would be fairly easy to stuff tacos with many things, hadn’t thought of chickpeas!

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Yes to fish, although I mostly just eat it when we go out. Eggs and cheese will be the hardest. I think I’ll cut back on cheese and just try to eat it as a treat , I won’t give up pizza. Or once in awhile when we have Caprese. But I think I’ll eliminate it elsewhere. It’s hard as many of the casseroles I made have chicken, cheese. I’m thankful that my son, who lives with us still, is a very healthy eater, much more so than DH and I. I know he will have no issues with the dinners I make.

Maybe your son will help you along the way!

Two taco examples that I love

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Oh thank you, abasket! My DH is away this week, so one goal is to put together a recipe list while he’s away. Oh wait, I need to est this week, too!

@conmama - I spend about $75 for 3 meals for 2 - I can stretch each by adding additional ingredients (more veggies, more starch, etc) and have easily fed 3 adults - try it for a month or 2, hang on to the recipe books and you can easily fly solo from there - it really is a great jumping off point - I think I have a free box to share, if you PM your email - I promise I won’t spam you…ps, one of my favorite vegan taco fillings is cottage fried potatoes - chunky potatoes cooked with onions & green pepper - all the usual taco fixings, avo, tomato, salsa, I use corn tortilla - don’t even miss cheese or sour cream.

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This sounds super good, though I’m not opposed to the cheese and sour cream part. Thanks for the idea of using potatoes!

We haven’t cut out meat, but we do eat far less of it before and I tend to look for farm raised vs factory farmed. We also eat the deer we hunt as we know how that has been handled. And fish is too good for our health to give up. Eggs supply our protein needs. We have our own chickens and I buy certified humane when we need more than we have.

My pizzas and pasta dishes are now totally meat free.

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I love her recipes. We are vegetarian/vegan and I didn’t even realize she had any recipes with meat in them because I guess I go right for the plant-based ones.

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We use beans in tacos or burritos, seasoned with cumin and chili powder. Sometimes we add sweet potatoes. And sometimes we add frozen veggie crumbles or make our own with TVP.

Haven’t read all the responses, but another option is to buy your meat locally. For the most part the only meat/poultry we eat is local and grass fed. We purchase a 1/4 or 1/8 of a cow and pig and can get pastured lamb and chickens locally in smaller quantities. I buy only grass fed dairy products, usually from Whole Foods. Pastured poultry is expensive, so we are considering raising our own (already have a flock of hens for eggs). That said, we also eat a lot of plant-based meals. I do not like any meat substitutes and don’t think they’re healthy necessarily so I stay away from those.

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A few of our favorite veggie meals:

https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/zesty-black-bean-corn-salad

https://www.finecooking.com/recipe/rice-noodle-salad-avocado-mango-chile

Vegetable Fajitas
1 sliced onion
3 bell peppers (variety of colors)
1 crushed garlic clove
8 oz sliced mushrooms
6 tbs oil
2 tbs chili powder
1 tbs cumin
s&p
Mix all veggies with oil & spices. Saute until desired tenderness. Serve in warmed flour tortillas with guac and whatever else you like

Roasted veggies w/pasta (just roast a bunch; we like zucc, onions, bells, mushrooms, tomatoes) and add to cooked pasta with a bit of pasta liquid or veg broth) and fresh basil.

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