Step Down from Meat

Though you may not need or even want to become a vegetarian, you may have decided to eat less meat, especially beef and pork. Below are some tips to help you step away from meat while still having an enjoyable eating experience.

Committed carnivore? Double the recipe (for chili, for instance) without doubling the meat, and add 2 cans of beans in place of the second pound of beef.

Make your meat servings smaller. Three ounces of meat is a serving. That is the size of a deck of cards. Yes, a deck of cards. More than that is added saturated fat and calories that most of us do not need.
Replace meat with sautéed tofu. Recipe included. Yes, it’s really good. My son, who wants all green foods to disappear from the Earth and who is a MEAT eater, likes it.

Decide to eat meat only once per day. You’ll still be having meat, but this will cut your saturated fat by ½ to 2/3.

Replace all or part of the chicken called for in a recipe with white beans, such as navy or great northern.

Begin a habit of thinking of cheese as a meat. This is how the American Dietetic Association categorizes it. Because of the protein and saturated fat, cheese looks a lot more like meat to your body that it does like milk. Include cheese in your once-a-day meat commitment.

Add meat flavor to soups and vegetables by adding fat-free chicken or vegetable broth. I cook my collards in chicken broth, a little lemon juice, and sometimes a drop of liquid smoke. (It’s where the Tabasco sauce is in the grocery.)

Add nuts to your diet. They are tasty and rich, like meat, but the fats are healthy. They are high in protein and satisfying. Limit amounts as you would meat. One-fourth cup of mixed nuts with sunflower seeds on a salad and a few beans gives you all the protein you need at a meal.