Sweat it Out:
Elliptical 60 Minutes

A couple weeks ago I was at our local health foods store and ventured into the “Alternative Meat” section.  Fake meat, say what?  I am not oblivious that there is fake meat out there, although I was skeptical about how “meat like” it would be.  I picked the best looking package of Tofurky Italian Sausage and went on my merry way.

There it sat, my tofu “sausage”, starring at me from the dairy drawer in my fridge every time I opened the refrigerator.  What was I going to make with this stuff?  Should I tell the hub’s that it is Tofurky, or hide it in sauce and not tell him?

I have no problem handling raw meat.  I could prove that with how many times I have stirred the meatloaf with my hands, and having chicken almost every night (until a month ago) since the beginning of my marriage.  Raw meat and me? We are totally BFF’s.  So why is it when I was taking out one of these Tofurky Sausages, I treated it like I was scraping roadkill off of the highway? (mind over matter, stupid!)

Very careful to not get any of the juices on me, I sliced it thin and threw it in a frying pan with a little Pam (since I’m trying to cut back on those oils!).  I cooked it up for a few minutes (following directions, it told me to make sure and NOT over cook it!), stirring occasionally.  Then I put some Classico Spicy Red Pepper tomato sauce in the pan.

Once it was hot (and I’m assuming it was done?) I put it over spaghetti squash and had myself a little taste of Italy.  What was the verdict on this meatless wonder?  Thumbs up!  It was a great “meat alternative”.  I will say that I chewed ever bite pretty slow so that there wouldn’t be any surprises that I wasn’t expecting.

I’ve really got to figure out how to use my camera correctly, these pictures are ridiculous!

This has opened up a door for me into the fake meat world.  I could totally see eating something like this once a week, and check out the nutrition facts:
Serving Size: One Sausage

Calories: 270 (not bad considering all I ate with it was spaghetti squash and tomato sauce)

Fat: 13 grams

Cholesterol: 0 mg

Carbohydrate: 12 grams

Dietary Fiber: 8 grams (Um, normal meat has NO fiber last time I checked)

Protein: 29 GRAMS!!! (who says that vegan’s have a hard time getting in their protein?!)

All in all I thought this experiment with meatless sausages would be a flop, but I have discovered one more ingredient to help add a rainbow of flavors to my diet!  Think what would happen if we opened ourselves up to ideas that at first didn’t seem that great?  Apparently, you could be missing out!

Have you tried any Alternative Meats? Like? Dislike?

What is one thing you opened yourself up to that you thought you would not like?