When moving to a less-meat heavy diet, I have found the use of grains to be incredibly helpful. It is easy to ease into because it is not an all or nothing thing. Start out by replacing a little meat with a little grain, like ¼ cup or less in a whole recipe. As you and your family begin to adapt to the flavors and textures of grains, you will be able to accept more and more. This can get to the point where meat is no longer needed to make common meat dishes like sloppy joes or shepherd’s pie.
My favorite grains to stretch a pound of ground beef to two to three times its bulk are millet and red quinoa. When I have it cooked up in my fridge, I am more likely to actually use it and it is easy. When you are starting out and using a small amount, just add it into your regular recipes. Next; start cutting back on the meat little by little and replacing it with grains. 1lb of ground beef equals about 2 cups of cooked grains (about ¾ cup dry). If you go too far, just pull back a little next time and find a good place to settle.
For more ideas click on the “vegetarian-ish” link to the right and register for my class;
Vegetarian-ish
Meat’s role as a condiment.
Saturday, April 3 from 10 to 11 am
I have been trying to cut down significantly on the meat we eat at my house and I never thought of cutting down meat with millet, thanks for sharing I am going to try it this week.
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