— Nancy Calkins

So there are a lot of them out there. Um, I use tofu quite a bit, um, to be able to kind of get that, um, you know, texture ish, if you freeze tofu, you'll actually be able to get like a, like a chicken like text, uh, texture out of it as well. Um, mushrooms are probably my go-to, to be able to have the taster feel of meat. Um, just yesterday I made tacos by taking my taki mushrooms and then seasoning them with, um, you know, chili powder and a little bit of cumin, uh, ground pepper, a little bit of salt and garlic, garlic powder. Um, and then basically pressed it between two pans, um, to be able to flatten it out so it becomes, um, a little bit more dense in that as well. And then use that for tacos. And it was a, you know, it's a fantastic replacer for meat. Um, you know, Derek Sarno, uh, who is Chad Sarno's brother who helped develop our plant-based pro course, um, has a great YouTube channel that you can checkout, and that's S-A-R-N-O. He does a great, uh, he shows that it's basically two skillets and you push them down together to be able to flatten up mushrooms to get that. Um, I'll actually do that with Lion's, Maine mushroom a lot too. Uh, just last week we had Lion's, Maine steaks, um, using one of his methods, uh, with, uh, beet juice and tamari and red wine. Um, you know, it was a, it was a really nice, uh, texture to it as well. And you know, you get the sear on it from the pans as well. Um, so it's, that was a really nice, um, kind of steak like thing too. Uh, just this, you know, for the 4th of July we'll be joining our family and they'll be doing, um, like a, like a barbecue, like a pulled pork kind of barbecue. And I'll be doing a jackfruit barbecue instead. So, uh, jackfruit is a great thing to be able to replace the texture of a pulled fork. Um, I also might shred mushrooms if you take, um, uh, like trumpet mushrooms and shred them with a fork. Um, it's a technique that I've, I think I've shown in one of my live events before too. Um, and then, you know, just saute it like with some onions or whatever else other seasons you want. And I usually just put a barbecue sauce on it, just, just store-bought, or you can make one from scratch. Um, but those are all great things. So mushrooms, um, Tempe is the one that I've left out, you know, as well, which is a great one that's kind of a meaty texture. Um, and tofu are probably my go-tos for those jackfruit I'll use for certain things to be able to, you know, look like and have the texture of that pulled pork as well. But, um, more often than jackfruit, I'm gonna go with like a, a mushroom instead of that as well, just because they're easier to find and they're a little bit more affordable than the jackfruit as well. Finding jackfruit, uh, in the grocery store can be pretty difficult. I'm fortunate to be able to find fresh jackfruit here, but, um, canned jackfruit is actually a great option as well. Just make sure if you're looking for that, you get the, uh, unsweetened brine in the canned, uh, jackfruit as well to be able to get that, that texture and taste you're looking for.