Chili Sans Carne

My live-in girlfriend is a vegetarian…of sorts. She doesn’t eat beef, pork, or chicken but she eats seafood, fish mostly. As a result, I eat vegetarian meat a great deal of the time. For those who don’t know, vegetarian meat is essentially soy or tofu or something else of questionable comparability.

So, this past weekend we made chili with a meat substitute. The taste was acceptable. The texture less so. But the idea is that overall it is healthier and an animal didn’t have to die for us to eat. Both of these facts I like and it makes me feel better, if not physically, definitely mentally. There’s a problem however. I find that I crave meat. Am I protein deprived or is it all in my mind? Whatever the case, I continually want a big old steak or hamburger and find myself eating them whenever I’m not with by beloved. I completely undo any good I may have done for the animal kingdom or myself. I rationalize this by telling myself I would have eaten meat at EVERY meal. If I eat a meal that doesn’t include meat, maybe over time I have saved a cow or two.