Do I miss meat?
Oh, yeah. I do from time to time...in fact, I had tacos WITH BEEF on Friday night. I fully intended to substitute sauteed mushrooms and black beans for it but when provided the chance to use that extra cooking time for a training run (did I mention I am so nervous about my race?), I chose that instead. And let me tell you. I can tell when I have eaten meat. I get tired, grouchy, and my stomach hates me. Like seriously. It's not like indigestion hate...its like bloating, stabbing pain hate. Which makes me think, Ripp (from Engine 2) is so right. Our bodies weren't made to handle lots of animal protein and by products. Especially four tacos plus a few fork-fulls of taco meat.
Do I plan to ever eat meat again?
Yeah. For sure. There are just times when you have to let yourself be lax. If you are super strict all of the time, it can develop into an obsession which can then develop into an eating disorder. And none of us wants that. So, yes. I will eat meat every now and then but try to limit it to once every other week or once a month if I can.
Is the vegetarian food really THAT good?
Let me tell you. I dreaded it for a while. I was wondering how in the world I would 1) find GOOD recipes and 2) find a big variety of recipes. But people, the resources are out there. Chocolate Covered Katie's website introduced me to some pretty good Lentil Sloppy Joes (recipe at the end of the post). And I have found myself experimenting. And the good news is, taste buds adapt. Before, a piece of wheat or multigrain bread was just...bread. But now I taste it and I taste the earthiness and the different flavors to it and OH is it so good. In fact, I ate just toasted multigrain/wheat bread every day for a week because I enjoyed it so much. So, while it may be difficult at first, once you are adjusted it is easy and tasty!
And now, for a recipe. I LOVE sloppy joes. I see Pinterest pins for recipes and I see that can of sloppy joe sauce at the grocery and I drool. But knowing how my body reacts when I re-introduce meat to it, I have not caved in. Besides, if I am going to have meat, I am going to go all out--I am talking steaks, or a fancy chicken dinner, ya know? Well, ONE pin caught my eye and I clicked on over to see I had all of the ingredients except lentils. So, I planned to make it this week. And boy, it did not disappoint. Even the husband liked it...although he did ask that we start making new names for things so he doesn't get his hopes up. So, we call these Sloppy Jeffs. :)
Note: I could not find canned lentils, so I bought a bag of them and cooked them per the instructions on the package. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did!
Sloppy Jeffs (or Joes)
- 2 15-oz cans lentils, drained and rinsed (about 3 cups cooked lentils)
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 1/4 tsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1-2 stevia packets, or 3-5 tsp sugar or sweetener of choice, or to taste
- 14 oz tomato sauce (I used no-salt-added)
- up to 1 cup water
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp soy sauce (or soy-free alternative)
- optional: 1/2 an onion (diced) and 2 tsp oil
If making these on the stovetop: sauté the onion and garlic in the oil until onion is translucent. Add lentils and spices, stir, then add all other ingredients and cook uncovered (stirring occasionally) until thick like sloppy joe filling. If making this in the microwave: add all ingredients to a large microwave-safe dish (minus the onion and oil, which you won’t use with this method). Microwave until it boils, stir, then repeat the process until it is thick like sloppy joe filling. Makes about 5 cups.
Per her website, a 1/2 cup of the filling is about 81 calories.
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