Just had my first taste of Morningstar Farms riblets....Heaven!!! Just Heaven.

[Melissa G]

I was about to seriously consider a meat fix after 2 months of meat free dining... I was searching the net for an appealing alternative and stumbled upon a thread for riblets... Meat craving assuaged.
I only generally crave chili and barbecue anyway meat-wise. I have a good veggie chili solution. Now, I have a good barbecue fix. All is right with the world.:9

[flvegan]

1. They are good, aren't they.

We've had a couple threads about them in the Veggie forum here. Always good to find yet another faux meat alternative, eh?

[Melissa G]

3. Yes, I was inspired by that thread among others.

I don't usually do the faux meat thing 'cuz they rarely hit the spot for me except for the Morningstar Farms corn dogs. I also use the smart ground fake meat with McCormick Montreal steak seasoning. But those are just good. The riblets were divine. There is some soyrizo that is also divine. Divine for me means better than the original meat version.

[Catshrink]

7. Is soyrizo a veggie version of chorizo?

I love chorizo but not the fat.

[Melissa G]

8. Exactly. Same great flavor, less fat. I add lots of onion to either.

Once in a while I saute in some potato. Yummy!

[Catshrink]

9. Where do I find it?

I'm not a vegetarian but do try to limit fat and other nasty stuff. But I love my sausage and bacon.

[Melissa G]

11. I'm can't see where you live. I get mine at the grocery store 'cuz I live in Austin

and even the mainstream groceries carry it. I buy mine at the HEB. Whole Foods, Sun Harvest and The Newflower also carry it. At HEB, it is where they keep the refrigerated soy products. Just made some for my teenager and she scarfed it down quick! I forgot how good it is!

[XemaSab]

12. Soyrizo is SO GOOD...

I made a lasagna with soyrizo a few months ago... SO good.

[Melissa G]

15. I've never tried it in lasagna. I'm kinda a hispanic purist that way...

I may have to open up my mind to some new possibilities. I'm thinking it might make some tasty chili mac, though!

edit to say that if I am tired of eggs, I just do the potato and chorizo and onion in a taco. yummy!

:hi:

[gblady]

2. thanks....

will give them a try....
Love the Morningstar Prime Grillers "burger" pattie...
Tastes like a real hamburger...yummy.

[Melissa G]

4. OK, maybe I'll try them, too. n/t

[Rob H.]

23. Seconded

Those are by far my favorite of all the shamburger patties I've tried. :9

[Melissa G]

25. Shamburgers! I like that! I'll have to use that apellation

around my house. Beats my husband's frankenfoods. Just bought the prime grillers today. I'll have them later in the week.
I'm kinda happy to just grill large portabella mushrooms with some Montreal steak seasoning for my burger substitute. I occasionally get fancy and marinate them.

[HopeHoops]

31. Just stay away from the ShamWow patties!

Nasty things, those.

[HopeHoops]

5. I think they are a little sweet, but they are good on a bun with cole slaw

The maple flavored breakfast patties are too sweet for me also. I like the flavor of the Italian sausage, but not the consistency. The corn dogs are a little sweet too. Other than that, I like everything they make.

OOH! Speaking of which! They brought back the Chick-N Grillers!! Not the breaded chick patties, the thicker ones without breading. I'm pretty sure they used to be lemon flavored (years ago) but they are just plain now and very good! And yes, they are GREAT on a grill!

[Melissa G]

6. I fix the sweetness of the corndogs with brown spicy mustard...

I have the sausage patties in my freezer, but have not tried them yet. I'm in the mood for soyrizo and egg tacos with lots of onion and maybe some potatoes. If not that, I'm thinking of a veggie Reuben sandwich with avocado, sauerkraut and some delicious Russian dressing. Decisions...decisions...

[HopeHoops]

14. Fried tempeh makes for a great reuben

If you use tofu, make sure it is the extra firm sort. Maybe it is just me, but even if I have a good seeded rye, I still add caraway seeds to the sauerkraut.

[Melissa G]

16. I just bought some avocado and sauerkraut to make a Rueben

The local veggie place that makes them uses red pepper as well. Do you have a good Russian dressing recipe? I don't feel the need to add either tempeh or soy. I'm just happy with the grilled avocado, sauerkraut and swiss on rye with the yummy dressing!

[flvegan]

17. The Chik-n-grillers are from Gardenburger I think, but yes

they are awesome. It's an odd day that I don't have 3 or 4 boxes in my freezer.

[HopeHoops]

30. Gardenburger makes something similar, but these are Morning Star.

I haven't seen the ones from Gardenburger in a while.

I thought I read somewhere that the same mega-company bought both Gardenburger and Morning Star Farms.

[elleng]

34. I agree about the Italian sausage;

thinking of how to use them now. Hungry!

[hippywife]

10. I tried them out on the hubband

and he agrees with your assessment. Saves me cooking at least one meal in the middle of the work week. :hi:

[Melissa G]

13. Always good to keep the Hubby happy

My husband generally eats meat. When he goes veggie, he pretends to be a purist. He scorns the fake meat. He calls them frankenfoods. To each their own in my house. He gets to do his own cooking when he gets disdainful, which is a lot of the time. Works for me! :hi:

[LeftyMom]

18. The best thing is to learn to make your own and control what's in it.

With a pound of wheat gluten powder (it should run you about $5,) some spices you probably have on hand and water, you can make many dinners worth of much better stuff than you can get at the store.

This one is good and fairly easy: http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2007/05/barbecued-seitan-ribz.html

[Melissa G]

20. Thanks for the link! It looks Very Tasty! n/t

[hippywife]

19. Mine went veggie for about four years

and now eats meat now that I can get it safe and clean, fresh from the farm from our coop. We still only eat it on the weekends, tho. And having the riblets and other analogs around once in awhile means he can fix his own if I'm not going to be home for a bit, which really is rare.

The only other analogs I buy are MSF Chik'n nuggets, Amy's California Burgers and Quorn Naked Cutlets. We both like all of those.

[Melissa G]

21. One of my teenagers is also going veggie.

I will buy your analog suggestions for her since she frequently comes home starving and often does not want to wait on the rest of us.

She writes veg on her hand to remind herself not to eat meat. She forgets a lot.:rofl:

[HopeHoops]

32. All three of our daughters are life-long vegetarians - 14, 16, & 18 now.

They've always been healthy, lean, muscular, and high achievers. All the "they won't get enough protein and be sickly" bullshit stopped pretty early on. The biggest problem we had was keeping my wife's iron up during pregnancy. She's always been anemic. I did it entirely with a vegetarian diet and she was well within the safe range for all there births.

[Melissa G]

35. My Daughters are 14 and 16 also.

They have both faded in and out of being vegetarian their whole lives. Even eating meat, they don't eat that much compared to their friends. Unfortunately, a couple of us are pasta fiends.
Not very healthy but we Love it!

[TK421]

22. I had their garden burgers once....I liked them, but found the price a bit high

guess I'll have to look for sales. The Boca burgers weren't that good, in my opinion

[Melissa G]

24. I have not been a fan of the Boca anything

except their sausage links were passable when doctored. I like morning star and Litelife products best so far. I ate some quorn stuff that was okay today.

[TK421]

26. I'm not sure, but I thought that the Morningstar Farms burgers were only

four burgers in a box...and last I checked they were about 5-$6.00. Not even beefy burgers, too...

The boca burgers were horrendous...I should have used that word in the above post, sorry! :-)

[Captain Hilts]

33. The prices are high because they know only rich folks buy them. I don't think Boca burgers

are all that good either.

I have enjoyed some brands of vegetarian hot dogs.

[old mark]

27. I am a meat eater, but I have tried Morningstar stuff and actually ate it!!!

Boca burgers are not so good.

Lately, I have discovered Puerto Rican cooking, so all that is on hold for a while.....

(Made some great black beans with orange and garlic and coconut rice.....)

mark

[RebelOne]

28. I think Morningstar products are far superior to Garden Burger.

My favorite is the Moringstar sausage patties. I'm addicted and must have them every morning.

[elleng]

29. Morningstar's pretty good.

Asian vege patties good, and their burgers are ok.

[flvegan]

36. It's all the same now.

HopeHoops' post sent me researching. Kelloggs has bought both companies and is doing some switching around of products, probably to reinforce the inroads they've made successfully with MF products. Example: Riblets and Chik'n Grillers.

[Melissa G]

37. Check out Food Inc...

The movie shows quite a bit about the corporate takeover of natural foods. Some corporations have taken over the lion's share of the industry, I distribute for. It depends on the corp, how much they mess with the existing businesses. Some are smart enough to not mess with the goose that laid the golden egg, others not so much.

Food Inc. shows why if you are going to eat meat, you need to know how it was processed.
A long time ago, in my teens, I visited slaughterhouses and saw how meat was processed. That experience bears no resemblance to today. I was astounded at the differences which move towards the detriment of both humans and animals. There is progress in the wrong direction. Corporate profit is king, not health or well being of either humans or animals.

[kwassa]

38. Morningstar Fakin', er, fake Bacon.

My wife's fave, along with the sausage links and patties (Fauxsage?)

She liked the grilled chicken thing, too, which I think was from Gardenburger.

and meatless meatballs from Trader Joes.

I've eaten them all, but still prefer meat.