Try it, you may like it, or LOVE it! Veggie Chili
 

I've seen a lot of posts with questions about eating sausage or beef. I just wanted to suggest trying some of the vegetarian options out there! I was a mostly-vegetarian for several years (but I never gave up seafood entirely), now I eat chicken too. My DH and DS are still vegetarian.

A lot of the products by BOCA. Lightlife and Morningstar are great, and they are so much better in terms of fat and fiber. I have a co-worker who is definitely a meat eater, he loves his steak, but he also recognizes that he can't eat that way every day, every meal. So on weekends he has Vans waffles and the BOCA or morningstar sausage patties.


One of my favorite recipes, a slight variation from the makeover moms' website and cookbook is a veggie chili. One of the biggest benefits of using the ground beef substitue is that it keeps so much better than real ground beef, that you have to use or freeze in a few days. I swear it tastes so similar, even if you've tried veggie burgers and don't like them (though I highly recommend Spicy Black Bean burgers by morningstar, with salsa and a slice cheese, YUMMM) you may just love this.

Veggie Chili - dump in a pot and heat. It's that easy. It's very different in a chili because there are so many other flavors.

1 can of black beans, well drained
1 can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans), well drained
1 large can of crushed tomatoes (with chilis if you can find it)
1 package Yves or lightlife soy "ground beef substitute" - you can find it with the produce, I use what's on sale and buy a few at a time
1 diced onion- optional
1 can mushrooms- optional
Chili powder to taste

Heat through and serve with reduced fat shredded mexican cheese blend. You can have it with WW tortillas, like a burrito, or on top of brown rice if you are in phase 2.

MMMMMMMMmmmmmm! This is Yummy!

I made it using a small can of regular Rotel, a can of diced tomatoes with garlic and onions, 2 cans of black beans, 1 can chick peas, a can of mushrooms. I started it out by briefly sauteeing a couple of chopped cloves of garlic in about a TB of olive oil in the pan, then adding the other ingredients to it. I added an additional can of black beans cause I never picked up a soy protein for it.

Served it with a bit of shredded 50% fat Cabot cheddar, fat free sour cream, and some chopped green onions. It's wonderful!