FEAR IT NOT! (Unless you're vegan)
I’m not a sausage fan in general. Even before I stopped eating meat I avoided any meat that you could put quotation marks around – as in, sausage contains “meat”, and by “meat” we really mean: entrails. However, Greg just made some Morningstar Farms Veggie Sausage Patties, and while I usually think fake meat is terrifying, these little sausage patties are actually quite delicious.
Be aware that these aren’t vegan! I just checked the ingredients, and they have allergy warnings for eggs and milk. This would be a good transition item for vegetarians who miss breakfast sausage, but vegans will want to take a pass.
This is good to know, even as a meat-eater, because breakfast sausage is one of those things I’ve stopped eating for health reasons – too much fat, etc – and if there’s a meat-free version that tastes really good, I might switch over to that.
I might try Evie on these. She loves sausage, and I hate her eating it. While I will likely always be a meat eater, I’m trying to avoid ground meat products. (Unless ground directly at my butcher, or by me at home.)
Angie – Yay! I bet you’ll like them!
Lisa – Yeah, Beth loves them! I was so surprised. She’s a big carnivore, and like you I don’t mind the good meat so much, but I cringe when I see her eating ground-stuff “meats” when we’re out. I realize there are a million other better things to worry about, but I can’t help picturing that healthy little body sputtering along as it tries to cope with the stuff they put in sausages and hot dogs. Ugh. So when she said she loved these, I was very happy.
Oh yes, I’ve been eating those for years now — they’re the only packaged ‘fake meat’ I eat. Sparingly, because they’re pretty expensive. However, Costco carries them in large boxes that works out to just under $5 per pound, which is much cheaper than regular groceries.
I’ve had a problem for years with ‘ground meat substitutes’, not just the often odd taste but the cost! However, last year I discovered that you can buy dried ‘textured vegetable protein’ (TVP) in the bulk section at Fred Meyer at a reasonable price. It’s little soy crumbles, basically, and it works great as a base for things like meat-style chili, tacos, sloppy joes — anything that provides strong flavor, as the TVP itself is pretty tasteless.
Yeah, we got ours at Costco too! I was so pleased they carried them.
I’ve tried TVP before and didn’t like it. So far, the really highly processed soy stuff makes me feel pretty awful.
(I’m imagining vegetable entrails.) snicker.
Makes you feel awful in which way? Ill? Or is it a taste thing? …If it’s a taste thing, remind me to invite you over for vegetarian chili sometime. ;)
By the way, I checked ‘notify me of followup comments by email’ when I replied before, but … didn’t receive any email.
It’s an “ill” thing. Even after the tofu last night, I had cramps. I’m not sure if it was that or something else, but based on past research, I’m strongly suspecting the tofu. :\
I’ll check the email settings! They should be working, but maybe I turned something off by accident.