Adventures in eating meatless

I've tried a few alternatives to the breakfast ham sandwich (actually, these have been instead of the turkey sandwich at lunch). This is my review of what I tried.

There are some foods I can eat day after day (like ham sandwiches) and never tire of them. There are others (like Triscuit Original crackers) which I enjoy for a few months and grow tired of and stop buying. Most of the meatless products I tried seem like they are in this second category -- I'll soon grow tired with the flavor.

Boca Burgers. The flavor had a bit too much onion (and I don't like onion), so while I ate all four burgers in the box I think they have a flavor I would get tired of quickly. The other problem is that one burger was too small and two would have been too much.

Lightlife Smart Tex-Mex. This is an imitation ground beef product, spiced up and with corn and beans for filling tacos. It made a very nice sloppy joe. I may not want that level of spice every day, but it will work on occasion. Two small issues. (1) What they said would be 3 servings did quite well as one. (2) It came in a plastic envelope intended for the microwave and made me wonder if the environmental cost of making the plastic was more than that of not eating the comparable amount of meat. I have bought this a second time.

Lightlife Smart ground original. Not a whole lot of flavor so what goes with it is important, like lots of ketchup or other sauce. Again, the serving size seems to be off -- the package says there are six servings and it seems better with only 3 or 4. One package doesn't seem to be enough if I want to make my usual hamburger casserole (which can last more than a week).

MorningStar Farms Grillers Prime. Better tasting and a bit larger than the Boca Burgers, though I would still like them about half again as large. Since they are to remain frozen until cooked and served, trying to cut one in half doesn't get you very far. The disadvantage is they have twice the fat content of Boca Burgers. Again, I'll likely grow tired of the taste.

Sol Cuisine Original Vegetarian Burger. Better tasting (though still high in onion and garlic) than the Boca Burgers. Also quite low in fat. They are big enough that I don't wish they were larger. I may buy them again, though I bought them at a specialty store that isn't all that close to home.

Hummus. I checked the nutrition guide on a package when at the grocery. I like the stuff as part of a Middle-Eastern meal (which I eat on occasion), however hummus has about as much carbohydrate as it does protein so it might be hard to balance in my diet if I eat it regularly. It is also rather high in fat (even if it is good olive oil).

Food Life Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Whole Grain Cereal with Almonds. I can't describe this as a protein replacement because the amount of carbs is so high. I found it in the "health" section of the store and, since it was also high in fiber and low in sugar it sounded like a possible snack food. The scripture verse in the title is "Take also unto thee wheat and barley and beans and lentils and millet and spelt and put them in one vessel and make bread of it." The box will be glad to tell you why it is important the grain should be sprouted -- I hadn't heard about that before. The bits of cereal were so small I had to eat it with a spoon even straight out of the box. The flavor was good, but strange enough I doubt I'll buy it again.

Flax-Z-Snax Natural Hot Cereal, cinnamon and spice flavor. It is high enough in protein and low enough in carbs that I didn't get unduly hungry even with my low sugar problems. However, it needed a huge addition of jelly (made with Splenda) and Spenda itself to be palatable. It might be tough to finish all 10 servings in the package.

Fiber 1 original flavor cereal. This isn't intended as a protein replacement, just something to snack on when I get a bad case of the munchies. It is very high in fiber and has no sugar since it is sweetened with Aspartame. Is it possible to overdose on fiber? Alas, the last couple boxes have been less sweet.

Summary: Will I reduce my meat consumption? Yes, and I have. I find that a peanut butter meal before an evening event will last a lot longer than my burger casserole. Will I go vegetarian? No.

The USA Weekend supplement to the Sunday Detroit Free Press this past weekend had a Food column in the last issue that looked at foods that have been controversial. These foods had been tagged as taboo and are now considered good (or the reverse). In the list are eggs, pasta and bread (the new villains), chocolate (dark chocolate is best), bottled water (take water in your own reusable bottle), fish (depends on species populations), and soy. For that last one they recommend natural, not processed, soy. Miso, tempeh, tofu, and soybeans are good. Since the various vegetarian burgers are definitely processed soy have I lost all the benefits of soy? Is my only advantage that it isn't meat?