Up to this point I mostly just are the traditional versions of whatever it is I really wanted to eat. For example, if I wanted bacon I'd eat bacon, but I recently got to taste turkey bacon and turkey sausage and I found it to be alright. I was expecting it to be much worse, honestly, but aside from being far away from the food it's substituting in terms of taste, I have to say that it's still pretty good in it's own right, and the fact that it's healthier than actual bacon or sausage is also a huge plus of course. Now I'm curious about other types of substitutes like tofurkey, and I wonder if they are as awful as u imagine them to be. Anyone here who has hd experience with these substitutes? What did you think of them?
I'm in the some situation in terms of turkey bacon/turkey sausage, all beef hotdogs, etc. but I don't do tofu and fake meat, I've just never enjoyed any of the ones that I've tried. I have substituted almond milk for cow's milk and am very happy with that switch.
Search for wholegrain variants for most of the carbs that you take in, be it in the form of biscuits/noodles/rice. They're a much healthier alternative with loads of fiber. Besides that, try for natural sausage casing instead of the artifical one.
I actually prefer turkey sausage over traditional pork sausage since it's not so greasy. Especially the pre-cooked stuff that you just need to warm up a bit and brown a little. Yes it's processed food but it's leaner and it's not much more processed than regular sausage already is. Pork sausage is kind of a pain because you need to make sure you cook it all the way through, and often times I find it to be way too fatty and greasy in the morning, that it upsets my stomach throughout the day. Turkey bacon on the other hand, I don't really bother with. If you buy the pre-cooked regular pork bacon, it's just as lean as the turkey ones are, and it's less processed considering it's real bacon. The turkey variety is even more processed, doesn't really resemble bacon that much, and is much too dry and crumbly when cooked. My problem with a lot of vegetarian meat substitutes - especially when they all come from the same brand - is they all have a similar flavor to them which I dislike. I'm assuming it's the processed soy, but it's kind of like a chemical smell/taste, slightly chalky flavor that annoys me. It's particularly noticeable in the vegetarian "sausage" to the point where I can barely finish a box. I prefer to try and stick with the real stuff as much as possible before leaning on substitutes. For example. just use half a slice of real cheese on a burger or sandwich instead of buying 50% less fat cheese which tastes awful. Or use half a serving size of mayo instead of reduced fat mayo. All the flavor, half the fat and calories - that's easy enough. Even with eggs, if you are making omelettes or scrambled eggs, leave out a yolk or two if you are really concerned about cholesterol (though the yolks have a lot of nutrients otherwise!).
I use tofuturkey and other substitutes, some are good and others taste and look plastic. I like Morning Star fake bacon rashers and tofuturkey is good with hummus and relish. It's about the seasoning. I have found some good vegetarian sausages made with spices and herbs, but I would steer clear of corn dog ones or hot dog substitutes as they don't taste good or look good to be honest.
I have struggled with my weight off and on my whole life, so I have used substitutions a lot. Just because you are eating something other than your favorite foods to cut fat or salt, or whatever reason, doesn't mean that it has to be tasteless. You do have to adjust your ability to eat and enjoy it, though. For example, I ate butter all my life until I started dieting in my teens. I made myself stay away from it, and actually missed it. In my 20's I still wanted it, so I used low versions. Then I want to Mrs. Dash type sprinkes. In my thirties I didn't crave it at all, and used other seasonings instead of butter. I am now 40, and I literally can't stand the taste of it.
I bought this meat substitute once. It's just tofu shaped and cut in such a way as to resemble real meat. The taste wasn't so bad. Except for the consistency and texture, it's nowhere near real meat in so far as taste is concerned. Other meat substitutes aside from tofu are tempeh and seitan. When cooked the right way, they taste great. I just think meat's taste is entirely its own.
I found it really hard to look for healthier substitutes for the foods that I used to it. So what I did is I completely avoided them. There were points that I feel like I want to eat them, but eventually I have learned to forget them. In fact, I don't even know how they taste. Also another reason why I had rather avoided them is that it's common that healthier alternatives are far more expensive. Either I would have to spend more of my limited money or trim down my consumption. Since I am already eating just enough to make my body at its normal weight, I don't think that it's an option at all to trim down my diet. But I can't just also spend much more with it. So the best solution I have found is to stick with the natural healthy foods that I am already eating, those ones that don't come expensive because they are intended to be substitutes like fruits and vegetables.
There will never be a true substitute for meat. The best option would be to just try and fix foods to "taste" similar to how the meat would usually taste. There are veggie versions out there but they can be expensive and a waste of time to try to replicate.
