Absolutely it is a good natural substance to use. Especially compared to say Crisco or Canola oil. Olive oil is probably the best oil to use whenever possible.
Just make sure any lard you use is not hydrogenated - again undergoing industrial style processing makes it unhealthy.
Cook in olive oil, finish in butter 
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Indeed! Putting aside what we do and don’t know it is very much a personal choice but is it a weakness or another problem when people are knowingly making poor choices?
Speaking from my own perspective I’m in this annoying space of not knowing enough to cook quick and easy vegan meals, wanting convenience and having issues with sugar / refined carb addiction.
With the former I’m learning but it is a real struggle. Boredom becomes a real problem with it, because I end up with so much of the same thing.
Convenience is a cliff edge. Easy to buy something from the vegan freezer and chuck it in the oven with some veg/salad. They taste decent too but I doubt they’re actually that healthy.
I’m very wary of meat free veggie or vegan meals.
Why do people want them to taste just like meat?
My missus stopped eating meat about 3 years ago, to the detriment of her health IMO.
She’s constantly tired, and very often just snacks as opposed to preparing a substantial meal.
Christmas dinner last year was interesting. I had roast chicken with all the usual Christmas trimmings, she had a nut roast.
Last time I saw something like that was when I was about 10, it was at the bottom of my budgies cage
Rightly so. Some of them are meat alternatives, some aren’t. It’s a growth industry that’s for sure. I’ll have some fake sausages sometimes if I fancy a more traditional “dinner” of meat and two veg type thing. Also handy to have something in the freezer if we do a chippy run one night.
Cooking vegan is easy but damn hard to do it well and do it differently. Vegan curries, despite having different names all taste very similar imo (probably the way I’m cooking them). Mushroom dishes quickly get overpowered, and everything else has tomatoes in it in some form. I’m finding it tough going. Also when I cook a stew or something I end up with so much of the bloody stuff it quickly puts you off it.
I sympathise with your partner, I’m in that exact same boat. Snacking is a real issue and leads to some bad choices, choices that have become habits.
Dr Mike on sugar. Much better source than the carnivore weirdos, and much funnier too.
Not really. You’ve got quite a lot of options of prepping Indian curries especially. Usage of Sesame , Coconut , Mustard etc produce different flavour profiles.
This curry’s base can probably be adapted to quite a lot of vegetables and is pretty much vegan.
I bow to your superior knowledge on this.
From my limited experience I tried those meal box thingies and despite all the different names they were all very similar sadly.
I ate a Shepherd’s Pie once made with Quorn instead of red meat mince… Tasted okay as well
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Yeah the bases in those will be quite similar especially if they are more of restaurant food.
Look up south indian recipes like the ones I’ve posted above. You’ll have it much easier finding vegan options for south indian food as opposed to north indian food
I did a Saturday job at a local food production factory. Granted this is 30 years ago but I wouldn’t rush to buy any frozen “veggie” product from any of the main supermarkets. Made them for all the big boys and the named brands. The standards were beyond atrocious. They employed me for openers! Full tray of burgers dropped on the floor (which wasn’t cleaned at the end of every shift) no problem, just chuck them back in. Can’t lose product.
Some of the new burgers and faux meat products are just chemical cocktails. No thanks.
Quite right - those bloody carnivore weirdos.
They were the ones in the past responsible for our brains growing due to the increased nutrient density of consuming meat.
Then those bastards with the bigger brains made tools and then civilisations.
And look where that has gotten us. Bloody weirdos should have stayed eating insects and berries.
No, I meant the internet grifters whose every word you hang on, leading to you being scared of fruit amongst other things.
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Oh those carnivores - not the original carnivores - I see now.
As the internet grifter you posted above said - its fat causing health problems not sugar . Has he contacted the NHS because that information is a game changer.
Excess sugar consumption by having fruit available all year (especially when consumed in juice form) is a direct contributor to the Diabetes epidemic.
“An eight-ounce serving of juice and cola both contain about 30 grams of sugar on average — that’s almost eight teaspoons.”
Would you like orange juice or Pepsi with your cornflakes?
Extract from those weirdo internet grifters at Diabetes UK.
Once regarded as a healthy drink, recent research indicates that that regular consumption of fruit juice may increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
There’s quite the difference between not recommending fruit juice and telling people not to eat fruit.
You don’t seem to understand that nuance, you’ve gone full cult. Never go full cult.
Please show me where I have advocated not eating fruit - this is what I said.
Thanks for the discussion but I have to get to cult HQ now - there is an interesting presentation today on tin foil hat design.
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I’m sure Shawn Baker will be happy to have you there.
So we have gone from -
Sugar is actually good for you
All carnivores are bad / weirdos
Just some carnivores are bad / weirdos
Fruit is good
Fruit Juice is bad
You are in a cult
All backed up with definitive evidence.
Have you thought about a job in the Humanities department of a University?
I’ve been trying to get through that video. Hard work if I’m honest because he reminds me of someone else. Another story.
Anyway, besides that, does he discuss the inflammatory affects of sugar?
The reason I ask is that there is a line of thinking that inflammation is one cause of weight gain, or I should say there may be links. I can’t say myself but it is something I’m interested in.