249: Five Simple Steps That Make Meatless Meals Completely Satisfying So That Healthy Living Becomes Enjoyable 💃🏻

0:01 Sometimes, when we share with people that we're plant-based, you know, just say we're out and about on the town or we're on the beach and we bump into some new people and we just start talking. Somehow it always gets around to what we eat. I don't know how that happens Not sure I don't know but it always seems to happen. And people are so surprised when they find out we eat plant-based. I think they honestly think in their mind how can a meal without meat be satisfying? Or cheese or dairy In my case that's what I would have thought if somebody told me that back in the day. That is not happening, because nobody's going to take my cheese away or my sour cream away. I was seriously protective of my dairy. You get it If you like cheese. You know what I'm talking about. But I'm here to tell you that meatless meals and dairyless meals can be satisfying.

0:47 So today we're talking about the five ways you can make meatless meals more satisfying. I can't wait for you to hear this. Hey sister, welcome to the Power On Plants podcast. Are you tired of staring into the fridge wondering what to eat so you can just feel better? Do you want to avoid spending hours in the kitchen making complicated meals in the name of health. Would you love to leave fatigue behind and finally have the energy to do all the things you want to do? Hi, we're Sheridan and I need to resell Christ. Followers, healthcare professionals, parents of four and big fans of great tasting food. We, too, tried exercising more, eating natural and clean foods, but we still found ourselves struggling with what we thought were changes that come with age or bad genes, and we weren't finding answers to traditional routes.

1:35 So we dug into the research and created our secret nutritional weapon sustainable plant-based living. The truth is, you can eat more whole plant foods and it's not hard. You just need the way. That's realistic and delicious so you never feel deprived. If you're ready to enjoy your meals, no longer be held back by your health struggles and actively live your life, then you're in the right place. So grab your favorite plant-based cup of happy pop in those earbuds and let's get started. If you're like us, you've probably grown up hearing the message beef, it's what's for dinner. Now you could really substitute meat of any sort.

2:15 It could be chicken, fish, whatever but meat it's what's for dinner. Or is it really, or is it really not around here I could say but if you grew up with that message and again probably like us, back in the day, whenever we were children, when we were first married, we had meat at every meal. Every meal Breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was good marketing. Let's just put it that way it was fantastic marketing. I'll have to hand it to him. So again, when you come at it from that perspective, you would think how in the world could I ever really make a meal without the use of some type of meat and make it very satisfying, make it very filling? But you can.

2:56 You absolutely can, and I would even add in nutritious, because I make you question if you're going to be able to get your nutrition, where are you going to get your protein? I mean, if you're not eating meat, mind you, every plant has protein. If you've been around here long enough, you know that by now. And plants are the original source of protein. If you go back and look at, where are the amino acids that make the protein? Where are they created? In the plants, only in plants. Absolutely, and so we want to go to the original source to get our protein. So then the question is how do I make these meals satisfying If I don't have the meat? And I'm going to throw in the dairy too and all that like? How do I make these things satisfying? So this can apply to that Substitute, whatever it is for you oil and butter.

3:38 How am I ever going to cook without oil and butter? It's not hard, it's a thing. We do it all the time and it is delicious. We don't miss it at all. We don't miss the extra pounds. We don't miss the sluggishness that we felt when we were eating these foods. We don't miss the aches and pains, the low energy, we don't miss the clean up. No, I don't miss sitting in the doctor's office as often as I used to either. So the number one key is upgrading your all favorite ingredients and dishes. What do I mean by that? If you like tacos now, you've got to find a good taco replacement that you love. That means finding your new favorite shell that doesn't have a lot of oil in it, and what kind of filling are you going to use instead of meat? There's a ton of different options out there.

4:20 I have a walnut one that I absolutely love. We use that one on a regular basis Walnut taco meat. It's delicious. Do we feel deprived? Do we miss anything? No, it would shock you. But we put the same spices and seasonings in that same mixture so we're still getting it. Ah, okay, I'm just thinking the taco meat so we're upgrading it to something without meats, but we're still making it with those same wonderful flavors. Absolutely. You got to have it because if you don't have the flavors, you're not going to like it. So the first thing is you're going to upgrade your old favorite ingredients. For me that would be like sour cream cheese chicken if you're a big meat eater, or something like that and you think you're eating the healthier white meat or whatever, yeah, so you find ways to replace that that you're going to love, and the dishes.

5:05 So then I immediately went to the dish, so I said taco. So you want to do that. Think about not just the dishes but the ingredients and replacing your favorites one at a time. Do you not get overwhelmed? It's not hard to do when you know how. And I think the light bulb moment here, the profound knowledge, is that you're taking a favorite, something that you love right now Already, and then you're upgrading it. So then what does that do? It prevents deprivation. It prevents you having a hole from where that favorite used to be, because you're not saying I can't have it. You've said how can I have it? And you found the way, and now you're still eating what you love and enjoy, just in a better way. Don't you think you can find success in any area of life when you decide to upgrade your life in that area?

5:49 I mean, you want to find a new way to do something that's going to work better. So let's say I'm disorganized. I'm disorganized, things are not flowing well for me during my day. I want to be able to get things done in a timely manner, just spend more time with my children. Right, I'm departing from what we're talking about. I mean I could talk about that in the kitchen. Like, I waste a lot of time in the kitchen. How could I stream on this? So I need more time in any of those areas. If you find ways to upgrade what you're doing to make it better, you're not going to miss the old way. I want you to think about that for a minute. Am I going to miss having my disorganized drawers? Am I going to miss doing things in old method? Like, let's say, it used to take me 10 minutes to chop an onion and now it takes me to?

6:30 Am I going to miss the old way? No, no, it's just the old way I used to do things. You're going to quickly forget the old way because you found a newer way that works so much better Right. And that is what we're all about. We're going to upgrade our life in every area. We want to do that. But we're specifically talking about how do you do that with the foods. So Jared kind of went into number two already. You mimic the flavors you love. You mimic the flavors you love. So if you love garlic, what are you going to put into your food? Now You're going to put garlic. Or if you love flavors from a certain cuisine, let's say Tex-Mex style foods. Or you love, you absolutely love, italian food, but you think you can't have it anymore because your doctor's asking you what you love the most and you've said pasta, and they've said you can't have that anymore.

7:17 And then they walk out the door and don't give you any options or anything to do. Right, what are you going to do with that? No, you can still have your pasta. You're just going to have it in the upgraded way. But if you like those Italian flavors, you want to get those into your food. Perfect example we have a Zuppa Tuscana recipe. Yes, no meat, no dairy, but we have all those flavors still in it. The Zuppa Tuscana soup was one of our favorites at Olive Garden. We used to love it, and do we still eat it now? Absolutely, we eat the upgraded version that we don't feel bad after we eat it. We enjoy it just as much when it's on our spoon, because it tastes delicious. So we never dream of the other one or feel like we're missing out because we quote can't have it, because, yes, we can.

7:59 Oh, yes, we can. But what we want you to think about now is if you like those same flavors and you're going to have a soup that's similar, then you want to get those same flavors or those same flavor profiles into the new upgraded dishes that you're eating. So you're going to be happy making meatless meals. You're going to feel satisfied. And tip number three is boost the flavors. This is adding in new to you herbs, spices, sauces, getting those flavors that you love in a new way. So now we're not talking about replicating the old flavors you love. Now we're talking about exploring different cuisines. Expanding the flavors, expanding your horizons and being happy about it, because there are a bazillion different types of foods out there that you have probably never tried, just types of foods.

8:45 And then, within those types of foods, let's just say Indian food or a Mediterranean type food that you've never tried before. There's different categories, there's different recipes, there are different flavors and ways that you can make those. You can bring those flavors into your dishes, but these are the new flavors that you're not used to eating. You know one way to do that is there are flavor mixes too. There are different blends of spices that you can buy Off the shelf, straight off the shelf. I'm specifically thinking of the Asian spice that we have Five spice. Maybe you never used five spice before. That's a great place to start. There's the Cajun one that we absolutely love that Frontier makes. But when you're trying these things, whether it's a mix of seasonings or it's just a single seasoning, always do what.

9:30 What am I gonna say? Susan knows. What am I gonna say Flip? that puppy over. Flip that puppy over. I'm gonna read those ingredients. Read the ingredients, because many times in your dried spices they're sneaky, sneaky, sneaky and they're gonna put in their oils and anti-caking agents and salt. Salt so many times. The salt's hidden there. If you wanna know where else salt's hiding, make sure to go back and listen to the amazing episode that we just put out, episode number 243, how to Eat Low Sodium for Health and Still Enjoy Delicious Tasting Meals you Love. We are huge on this. You're gonna hear us talk about over and over how do you make it delicious, because if you want plant-based to be sustainable for you, it's got to taste good.

10:18 So get those new-to-you herbs and spices and sauces in there. And if you don't know where to start, start with these two mixes that we've just recommended for you, these seasoning mixes. Or go for inspiration online and just start looking at different cuisines with the idea of super sleuthing out. What spices are they using in these foods and which ones am I not getting on a regular basis? This is another way to start feeling amazing. You're not just getting new flavors in there that you're gonna love, you're gonna start feeling great because you'll get nutrients that your body needs that you've not been getting any other way. Step number four to make meatless meals more satisfying, you need to try new dishes.

10:59 We talked about that a little bit there in super sleuthing out the different herbs and spices and other types of cuisines, but I want you to start looking for new types of meals that you've never tried before and use the full meal as inspiration. Like oligoby, maybe you've never tried that dish before. That's something that you can try. It's not hard to make and it's just really good. It's just a different flavor if you're not used to eating it. That's a recipe that you can find inside the Power On Plants Cookbook Bundle. It's not hard to make. It's really tasty, but it's different. It may be a flavor profile you're not used to and it gets you into trying something new.

11:40 So you can start discovering hey, there are different things that I might actually like out there. Or maybe you'll try it and you'll go. Those spices were a little different for me. Smell the spices before you put them in. Taste the spices. If you think that might be a little much, because I'm not used to that, just add a little less or leave one of the new ones out. That's a way you can start branching out and trying new things and finding your new favorites that didn't replace old favorites. We're not just talking about replacing your old favorites here. Like I ate chili before now, I'm gonna eat chili Now I ate pizza before now I'm gonna eat pizza. You need to do that, don't get me wrong. But why stop there? Why stop there? There's so many exciting things out there waiting to be discovered by you.

12:23 Discover them one at a time and build your treasure trove of new go-to favorites. Step number five you make me less meals more satisfying by making them stick to your ribs. This is literally satisfying. That we're talking about here. How do you feel satisfied when you get up from the table and you're not hungry an hour later? You need to be adding in the foods that are a little bit more calorie dense, because it's not that they're gonna make you fat. Okay, we've talked about this before. Dr Greger has even talked about studies where women ate a handful more nuts, and I forgot how many calories that added. I don't remember exactly, but it was a lot, and over the course of time you'd have expected them to gain pounds and pounds and pounds, but instead what happened was they maintained or even lost weight doing that.

13:12 So where did all those extra calories go If a calorie's just a calorie and you're worried about gaining weight and because you're gonna add a few nuts to your meals? No, that's crazy. You gotta let that stuff go. And what they actually found, too, is that by adding nuts and seeds that it actually added longevity. Then add pounds, added years. Right, oh, that's huge. What a game changer. I want you to think about that for a minute. And we wanna add years to our life, not just fit into smaller clothes. The reason we wanna lose weight is because we wanna feel better. I mean, that's what that boils down to. It's not like oh, I'm just so worried about the pounds. Yeah, you wanna get rid of the pounds, you wanna look better, you wanna feel better, though, so you can have more opportunities, and this is how you do it naturally.

13:54 So I don't want you to worry about adding these stick to your ribs delicious whole plant foods, so you can add some avocado, add potatoes. Think about your salads or your sandwiches or different things you're eating that just are very low calorie, and that's okay. I mean, plant foods are naturally low calorie, but you don't wanna be hungry in an hour, so if you're making a salad, consider throwing on some potatoes or some nuts or seeds or avocados, whole grains, things like that. This doesn't just apply to salads, it applies to any meal you're eating. Make sure you have the beans and things in there that are gonna give you a meal that will stick to your ribs. With some of these ingredients that we add to make it stick to your ribs like potatoes, we'll add beans.

14:39 Chickpeas is a favorite for things like salad. The key is that they have starch in them. They do have carbohydrates, but carbohydrates are your friend, but they have starch, and what we know is that a diet that is rich in starches actually helps to release GLP-1, which is a hormone that's released in the gut, which slows down how quickly food moves through your gut, which means you stay full or longer, but it also triggers a decrease in your appetite, so you don't eat it and then still stay hungry. You eat it your hunger goes away and you feel satisfied, and it's just Isn't that interesting? Yeah, it's a win all around. Yeah, these are the foods that naturally do that for you, so get more of them into your life.

15:24 They stick to your ribs starchy foods. So five ways to make meatless meals more satisfying. Number one upgrade your old favorite ingredients and dishes. Number two mimic the flavors you already love. And point number three is boost the flavor in your foods, so add in new to you herbs and spice mixes. We gave you a couple of different examples of things that you can add in here. And point number four is try new dishes. Branch out, because there's so many options here, it's almost endless. Step number five is make your meals stick to your ribs delicious, and I have a bonus for you. If you've stayed on this long, you're gonna get a bonus. Find the methods and the meals that work best with your life.

16:06 This is gonna make meatless meals over the top satisfying. What I mean by that is are you busy? Then you've got to be able to make it fast. Don't wanna be stopped by feeling overwhelmed? Then it's got to be a simple process for you in the kitchen. What if you don't want to hate the lifestyle you're living? Right, people go into diets. This still blows my mind to this day and I feel so sorry for the people who are stuck in this pattern, because there's freedom. You can find freedom in the foods you were naturally created to eat. You don't have to build a lifestyle that you're gonna try to push through or just try to make it one more day. Or, oh, I fill off the wagon again because I hate what I'm eating, but I'm gonna get back on because it's gonna get me to my end goal.

16:53 And even if it does get you to your end goal, are you ever going to want to maintain that for a life? Nobody wants to live that way. We wanna be able to enjoy our food, enjoy the experience of eating it together, right? So focusing on relationships, not on counting carbs and keeping up with macros and all that crazy stuff that we get into in our mind when we're sitting at a restaurant with family and friends. That's so distracting and you don't have to live that way. It's just not necessary, and that's the great news. So, friend, what is the one new tip that you're gonna take today? You can do one thing under any of these categories to make meatless mains more satisfying.

17:34 We want to hear about it. Get inside the community and tell us what did you try this week. If you've already tried it, snap a picture and let us know, and if this just inspired you to try something new, just type it in. Hey, I listened to this episode and it inspired me to try this and let us know. Share with each other what you're doing. You're going to get ideas, encouragement, inspiration inside the community and it's going to propel you forward. This is what Jarron and I see a hundred percent of the time. Everyone who successfully goes whole feet plant based, enjoys it and gets the results thereafter. They are all inside community with like minded people sharing ideas, gaining ideas and inspiration, gaining encouragement, asking their questions.

18:21 This makes all the difference. Go right now to poweronplantscom forward, slash pie that's P-I-E and join us on the inside of podcast insiders experience. We look forward to seeing you there. Have a great week, sunshine, and we'll see you on the next episode of Power On Plants.