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10 Tips for Eating Less Meat

Published on January 8, 2018 By Emily. Updated on June 23, 2018

Ever since the early days of this blog, I’ve written about maintaining a diet that doesn’t revolve around meat.  There are a lot of reasons you may be considering doing the same, especially with the start of 2018.

The approach I take to my diet is called flexitarianism – a largely plant-based diet that still includes meat occasionally.  You can see how this plays out in real life by looking at any one of my menu plans.  Some weeks contain more meat than others and I’m still working on returning to my mostly meat-free ways from pre-pregnancy, but that’s what I love about flexitarianism.  It’s flexible.

If your plans for the new year include reducing your meat intake, try some of these tips:

10 Tips for Eating Less Meat

1. Start with one day or one meal a week – Meatless Monday is an organization that aims to help people give up meat just one day a week, but you don’t have to stick with Monday.  Any day will do!  I started out by making all my lunches meat-free and it was a great way to dip my toes into a less meat-filled life.

2. Begin a recipe collection – I have over 4,000 recipes stored in my Evernote account and many of them are vegetarian.  Start your own collection by exploring websites like Oh My Veggies, Isa Chandra, Naturally Ella, and Minimalist Baker, or searching vegetarian recipes on Pinterest (here’s my meat-free Pinterest board!).  Finding ideas for things you’ll want to make will definitely make the transition easier.

3. Check a cookbook out of the library (or buy one!) – Want recipes that don’t exist online?  There is a wealth of great vegetarian cookbooks available.  Some that I enjoy include How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, The New Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, The Meat Lovers Meatless Cookbook and The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook from America’s Test Kitchen.

4. Use meat as a condiment or side – There are many recipes online labeled “meat-lite” which still use meat, but in much less quantity than you might otherwise.  Serious Eats has a whole category of these sorts of recipes.  Use these recipes as inspiration to help create meals that involve, but don’t star, meat.

5. Choose beans or soy products instead of meat at the supermarket – I used to be really afraid of tofu and tempeh, but now I look forward to eating them.  Often these items cost less per pound than meat and the packages often include recipe ideas.  There’s also a wealth of pre-made vegetarian meals and meat substitute products in the freezer and produce sections of most grocery stores.

6. Swap out the meat in recipes you already love – I’ve made many successful meals just by using beans instead of beef or chicken, and I’ve shared recipes here for Tofu Picatta and Eggplant Parmesan.  Dawn Jackson Blatner, the author of The Flexitarian Diet, has a great graphic of flexitarian swaps.

7. Enjoy some new sauces or toppings – There are those who would agree that meat-free is boring and doesn’t taste very good, but that doesn’t have to be the case! Explore new spices, seasonings, and sauces to increase your interest in the foods you’re eating.

8. Explore seasonal produce – Eating and cooking anything is better when you’re working with quality ingredients.  Even supermarket produce that’s in season is usually better (and cheaper!) than out of season items.  Choose seasonal items that you’re actually excited to eat and you’ll be more likely not to miss the meat.

9. Host a cookbook club – I’ve never done this, but I love the idea (as shared on The Kitchn and Serious Eats) is that a group of friends chooses a cookbook, then each person chooses a recipe from the book, makes it and participates in a gathering with the other group members.  It sounds like a great way to try out a variety of dishes from a single source – like a vegetarian or flexitarian cookbook!

10. Plan your meals – Meal planning, in general, keeps me sane, but it also helps me reduce the amount of meat I eat. For me, making meat the star is an easy way to make a meal – pick a meat, a grain and a vegetable and a meal is born! Intentional meal planning means that I have a plan that allows me to make sure all the ingredients on hand.  When it comes time for dinner, I don’t have any excuses.

Any tips I missed? Share them in the comments below!

Read more about flexitarianism on my Getting Started with Flexitarianism page and check out this feature on Flexitarianism on PopSugar that I contributed to.

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: flexitarian, goals, new years, resolution, vegetarian

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Emily
New year, new theme word! This year's word is "enr New year, new theme word!
This year's word is "enrich" and I'm really excited about it.

I've written more about this year's theme on the blog. Click in the link in my profile or follow the link below to read the post.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/my-2023-theme-word-enrich/
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#YearlyTheme #MyOneWord #2023 #enrich2023 #NewYearsResolution
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It's almost all #Berkshires content this year, which is great.
1. A pasta salad reel that took longer to create than the recipe took to make.
2. A reel from North Carolina where I could have watched birds all day.
3. The @thelazygenius book giveaway.
4.@plantconnector 
5. @berkshiremuseum 
6.@sculpture.now at @themountlenox 
7. @massmoca 
8. @mountainviewfarm413 
9. The #AshuwillticookRailTrail
New on the blog: My 2022 reflections on last year' New on the blog: My 2022 reflections on last year's theme word - resume. 

I was able to get back to many activities that were meaningful to me this year and I'm calling this theme a success. Follow the link below or click the link in my profile to read more.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/reflections-on-resuming-in-2022/
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#resume2022 #newyearsresolution #myoneword #yearlytheme
New on the blog: My Favorite Recipes of 2022. For New on the blog: My Favorite Recipes of 2022.

For the fourth year, I've recapped the best new (to me) recipes I made this year in the hope that they'll give you some new dishes to try. This year's list is short, but delicious. It includes @budgetbytes My Favorite Recipes of 2022
Published on December 30, 2022 By Emily. Updated on December 30, 2022

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Read the post by visiting the link in my profile or 
https://www.relishments.com/blog/my-favorite-recipes-of-2022/
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#RecipeRoundUp #BestRecipes2022 #FavoriteRecipes
@coastalmainebotanicalgardens continues to be one @coastalmainebotanicalgardens continues to be one of the highlights of all my return trips to Boothbay and their annual Gardens Aglow event continues to impress. It was great to be back to walking the gardens instead of the pandemic drive through and there seemed to be more lights than ever.  I'm already looking forward to next year.
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#Boothbay #BoothbayMaine #CoastalMaineBotanicalGardens #GardensAglow #BotanicalGarden #MidcoastMaine
It has been a while, but there is finally a new CS It has been a while, but there is finally a new CSA menu plan on the blog! Visit the link below or in my profile to see how I plan to make use of some of the @mightyfoodfarm produce seen here.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/welcome-to-winter-farm-share-csa-menu-plan-148/
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#igers413 #InTheBerkshires #WesternMA #WesternMass #Berkshires  #VisitTheBerkshires #NorthAdams #NAmazing #FreshGrass #FreshGrassFestival #MassMoCA #MusicFestival
A few more photos from our most recent trip to Mai A few more photos from our most recent trip to Maine:
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