Hello All:

I'm a semi-vegetarian, can't cut out meat entirely because of serious vitamin B-12 and anemia issues, but I'm still not too much of a fan.

That being said, I just got through with a lunch of spaghetti squash with arabiatta sauce and meatballs and I literally had to choke the meatballs down. It's not that they were awful tasting, I think it was something to do with the mouth feel and paranoia of finding gristle (I have a horrible gag reflex with that crap). Anyway, I ate as much of them as I could for protein reasons (I know there are other ways, but that's what I happened to bring for lunch today). The rest got tossed and it got me thinking maybe you guys have some good faux meatball suggestions (brands, recipes, etc.). I'm planning on feeding the rest of the freezer stash of meatballs to the DB, but I would like to have some of my own.

Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions!

I haven't tried them yet but I recently bought some at Whole Foods and they were the 365 brand.

Yesterday though I made a 'meaty' spaghetti sauce with gimme lean sausage. It is pretty good.

Gardenburger meatballs are delicious and Trader Joe's has thier own brand, which are less expensive and yummy! I have a vegetarian in my house who loves "meat". )

I really like the beanballs from Veganomicon. Very easy and you can make and freeze. For ease I prefer the Nate's Zesty Meatballs.

I'm also a non-vegetarian who doesn't feel the need for hunk o' meat eating, though mostly for economic reasons. I believe if more people realized how many wonderful non-meat proteins were there, there would be less resistance to a vegetarian or even just a less-meat lifestyle.

There aren't too many of the imitation meat products (soy based) that I don't like. Morningstar Farms is my favorite (though I've heard they do contain non-vegan ingredients).

I had a vegan curried sweet potato in a roti wrap (sort of an india inspired buritto) at our local health food grocery's deli. Next time I'm in, I'll have to ask what the protein was, but I think it was seitan (made from wheat gluten), which I'd never had before. It looked a bit like pressed chicken cut into cubes, and had a "meaty" (but gristle-free) texture. I couldn't really tell if it had much flavor of it's own, but it really picked up the flavor of indian spices.

Seitan is really easy to make too and has a good amount of protein.

LightLife/Gimmie Lean makes sausage ground-style that you can form into balls or patties. That's what I use to make meatballs, I am in love with the stuff.

Not sure of the brand name, but Costco sells REALLY yummy fake meatballs. I love them! When I ate meat, I didn't really like real meatballs, but I love these!

nate's zesty meatballs are my favorite convienence non-meat balls. =)