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meat vs veggi meat

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Adele21

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Type 2
Morning all,
sill trying to get my head around this, and i know a lot out there have been in my situation longer, looking at some of the food we eat, just wondering if lean mince steak is way better than veggi mince, ( carb & fat wise) and if i were to say make a shepherds pie your carrot n sweed mash be better that white potato ect x
sorry for all questions x
 
If you’re vegetarian, there’s no need to compromise your eating habits @Adele21 You can still eat a vegetarian diet. Quorn Mince, for example, is almost carb-free. Not only that, a good vegetarian diet can be very healthy. Very few meat substitutes have many carbs and they’re lower fat than most meat products.
 
Last edited:
Adele21 said:
Morning all,
sill trying to get my head around this, and i know a lot out there have been in my situation longer, looking at some of the food we eat, just wondering if lean mince steak is way better than veggi mince, ( carb & fat wise) and if i were to say make a shepherds pie your carrot n sweed mash be better that white potato ect x
sorry for all questions x
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If I make a Shepherd's Pie, cottage pie, corned beef hash I use any combination of butternut squash, celeriac, swede for the topping rather than potato.
If you not want to eat meat then look carefully at the carbs on the alternatives.
 
Inka said:
If you’re vegetarian, there’s no need to compromise your eating habits @Adele21 You can still eat a vegetarian diet. Quorn Mince, for example, is almost carb-free. Not only that, a good vegetarian diet can be very healthy. Very few meat substitutes have many carbs and they’re lower fat than most meat products.
Click to expand...

Quorn sausages are also tasty.
 
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nonethewiser said:
Quorn sausages are also tasty.
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Which ones do you have? The last time I tried them I found them bland and preferred Cauldron sausages. However that was some time ago.
I am awaiting results from a blood test for coeliac and noticed that Cauldron are not gluten free. So I may be on the hunt for an alternative.
I know the Richmond veggie sausages are tasteless. That makes them ideal candidates for spicing up. But I also need something that I can just eat as they are with chips when I cba.
 
@helli The Linda McCartney Lincolnshire ones are gluten-free if I remember correctly. The Heck veggie chipolatas are too. I can’t eat Quorn as I’m intolerant of it (apparently a surprising percentage of people are, the company told me).
 
helli said:
Which ones do you have? The last time I tried them I found them bland and preferred Cauldron sausages. However that was some time ago.
I am awaiting results from a blood test for coeliac and noticed that Cauldron are not gluten free. So I may be on the hunt for an alternative.
I know the Richmond veggie sausages are tasteless. That makes them ideal candidates for spicing up. But I also need something that I can just eat as they are with chips when I cba.
Click to expand...

It's while ago now, be 5 years or more when wife was on slimming world diet, can't recall which ones they were, could even have been Linda McCartney, just know they were veggie sausages.

Hope result of test come back fine, was tested myself while back but all was good.
 
thanks all, tried This isnt pork sausages and i quite like those, and i do love the quorn stuff, will check about for the lowest carb stuff x
On this has anyone tried zenbe pasta?
 
Adele21 said:
thanks all, tried This isnt pork sausages and i quite like those, and i do love the quorn stuff, will check about for the lowest carb stuff x
On this has anyone tried zenbe pasta?
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That appears to be a specific make of pasta not made from wheat and is lower carb than normal pasta. I haven't tried that particular one but use edamame bean or black bean pasta, Explore is one make. I find it fine, cooks very quickly so easy to over cook if you are not careful.
 
The problem with meat alternatives is that they are usually ultra processed foods, so whilst having them as an occasion treat is probably OK, eating them regularly/daily as a meat replacement may not be the healthy or environmentally sound option they are purported to be.
 
rebrascora said:
The problem with meat alternatives is that they are usually ultra processed foods, so whilst having them as an occasion treat is probably OK, eating them regularly/daily as a meat replacement may not be the healthy or environmentally sound option they are purported to be.
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Are they any worse than eating processed meats every day? There are plenty of people who eat chicken nuggets, bacon, (cheap) sausages and burgers most days because that is all they can afford.

I am not disagreeing with you about avoiding processed food but let's not forget, in some cultures, lentils and chickpeas are seen as meat alternatives and they are as processed as a filet of steak. I have never researched it but would expect tofu to be no more processed (possibly less) than ham.

I suppose I am sensitive to some of the "plant-based" diet bashing I read in the media and forums and appreciate that is not what you were doing.
 
helli said:
Are they any worse than eating processed meats every day? There are plenty of people who eat chicken nuggets, bacon, (cheap) sausages and burgers most days because that is all they can afford.

I am not disagreeing with you about avoiding processed food but let's not forget, in some cultures, lentils and chickpeas are seen as meat alternatives and they are as processed as a filet of steak. I have never researched it but would expect tofu to be no more processed (possibly less) than ham.

I suppose I am sensitive to some of the "plant-based" diet bashing I read in the media and forums and appreciate that is not what you were doing.
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I would not include tofu as "veggie meat", though. "Veggie protein", yes.

My daughter has been vegan for a few years. Last time we stayed with them we had plant-based "meatballs". I had to look at the packet to get the carb value, and the number of ingredients was at least 15, maybe over 20. If I make meatballs they are just ground beef or pork plus pepper, dried mixed herbs. The vegan ones were only 7g carb a portion (meat ones 0) and quite tasty, but not something I would want to eat more than occasionally.
 
@silentsquirrel carbs and number of ingredients (although it would be interesting to see how many ingredients are in a pre-prepared meatballs) are not the only indication of healthiness.
I make veggie meatballs with aubergine. Roasted aubergine, herbs, egg and some crumbled feta lightly tossed in breadcrumbs.
The breadcrumbs are the only carbs and I am sure they could be omitted but, as I do not have type 2 diabetes, I do not reduce my carbs.
I tend to eat these with homemade tomato sauce and zoodles.

silentsquirrel said:
I would not include tofu as "veggie meat", though. "Veggie protein", yes.
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I think I called it "meat alternative"
 
helli said:
@silentsquirrel carbs and number of ingredients (although it would be interesting to see how many ingredients are in a pre-prepared meatballs) are not the only indication of healthiness.
I make veggie meatballs with aubergine. Roasted aubergine, herbs, egg and some crumbled feta lightly tossed in breadcrumbs.
The breadcrumbs are the only carbs and I am sure they could be omitted but, as I do not have type 2 diabetes, I do not reduce my carbs.
I tend to eat these with homemade tomato sauce and zoodles.


I think I called it "meat alternative"
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"veggi meat" was the thread title.
I agree a fairer comparison would be commercial meatballs rather than home made - I would avoid buying those as well!
 
The problem I have with the meat alternatives is that they are often made to look like meat and have the texture of meat which is often what people who don't like meat don't like so making these alternatives to look like that is off putting.
I like the idea of the aubergine not meat balls.
 
I don’t like many of the meat-like veggie options. I prefer to use tofu or make my own ‘meatballs’ and sausages with lentils and nuts. There are some lovely recipes out there, some just pulses and veg, others with the addition of cheese and/or peanut butter. The great thing is that they freeze very easily so you can make a big batch and defrost them as needed.
 
I find that 'seed oils' make me queasy if I eat them these days, and they upset my digestion all the way down too. They are regarded as healthy and used a lot, so I try to avoid anything manufactured and packaged up by industry.
 
We sometimes use those Quorn ‘fillets’ which are a great substitute if a dish feels lacking without that sort of element (eg we have a Delia not-Chicken Basque which is a lovely slow cooked brown rice thing and they just float nicely on the top).

We‘ve defaulted to Linda McC sausages too, I particularly like the rosemary and red onion ones.

But for ‘mince’ I prefer diced mushrooms and lentils.
 
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