Any Vegetarians here?

[arw]

Any vegetarians out there that want to share some of their favorite meals? I'm getting bored with the few things that I do eat. I eat dairy and eggs, just not meat of any kind.

I've been a vegetarian basically my entire life. I never liked eating meat. I haven't had any since I was 14 (15 years ago ) and I'm just tired of what I make everyday, which is usually something with red peppers or cheese. I feel like lately all I eat is peanut butter and jelly because I can't find anything else.

 

[Kariann]

I'm seriously thinking about giving up red meat. I hardly ever eat it anyway.

 

[therulz]

Try Italian sans meat>

eggs are great protein but too high in cholesterol..you get an equivalent of a total meat protein by combining a soy (like tofu) and a wheat product together.

You can make any soup base yummy with the vegetarian vegetable soup stock near the boullion or cook your own up in the oven until browned in a roaster (with cabbage, carrots, garlic, onions, and peppers) either send through a juiceman or blender for stock..tastes similar to french onion soup.

Or try a Sauce:
Olive oil
Diced tomatoes
tomato sauce
tomato paste
(you can use canned which is inexpensive or fresh tomatoes)
green pepper
onion
minced garlic
basil
oregano
(I am kind of a dump cook and spice to taste too..don't overdo salt as cheese can be really high in sodium!)

These you can either simmer low on the cooktop or toss in a crockpot for a few hours to make a multitude of dishes.

for a different taste sensation put in a teaspoon of cinnamon a little brown sugar or mollasses and rasins and simmer and toss with pasta. Snow the top with parmesian cheese.

You can alternate layers of lasagna noodles with: romano cheese (or cottage cheese mixed with 1/4 cup of parmesian), mozzarella, provolone and fresh vegies or artichoke hearts (or both) and bake for 30-45 minutes on 325.

Serve it with my fav!
top 4 heads of garlic and set into a low pan of water, bake until roasted a golden brown and squeeze the cloves of garlic out into a blender with 1/4 cup olive oil and a stick of butter and refrigerate to make a great garlic butter topper for french bread...or any toast you have in the next few days

 

[Jack In The Box]

how live without meat? I'm a meat addict

 

[HeartlandGirl]

I have only been a vegetarian for two years, but here are a few of the things that I like to eat.

bean burritos
Morningstar fake buffalo wings, corn dogs, etc.
beans and rice
pasta (with just some olive oil and spices)
vegetarian chili (I've got a good recipe if you want it)
cheese or veggie pizza
vegetarian soups
deli style sandwiches with muenster or provolone cheese, mayonnaise, dill mustard, and lettuce
nachos!
cheese quesadillas
baked potatoes
various veggie casseroles, when I'm in the mood to cook

I'm sure there are other things, like junk food (cookies, pop-tarts, cereal, etc.), but that's what I could think of off the top of my head.

 

[arw]

I have only been a vegetarian for two years, but here are a few of the things that I like to eat.


Morningstar fake buffalo wings, corn dogs, etc.

I refuse to eat anything that is supposed to taste like meat. It just seems creepy to me.

 

[arw]

I do eat a lot of the same stuff listed here. I guess I'm just looking for some different stuff to make for dinner.

 

[therulz]

lol...

I won't add my no fail rare herb crusted rib roast recipe with slivered garlic and .......(not a lactoovovegan)..meat should taste but not quite moo, but my brother and his wife are vetarians.

 

[HeartlandGirl]

I refuse to eat anything that is supposed to taste like meat. It just seems creepy to me.

I've had several vegetarians say that to me. Then again, I know quite a few people who like the fake stuff or who ask me about it because they'd like to be a vegetarian but are afraid they'll miss the meat component of their diets. I don't mind eating the fake meat stuff because it tastes good to me (without that dead animal funk to it) and it's a good source of protein. I can also convince my husband to eat the fake meat--that way, he eats a healthier diet than if he just ate real meat all the time. The fake stuff isn't for everyone, but I enjoy it.

 

[elevatedmole]

Fake meat My uncle's girlfriend, who's also a vegetarian, doesn't like fake meat either. She says it grosses her out.

I've been a vegetarian my whole life. I eat a lot of fake meat, but lately, I've cut a lot of it out of my diet, but not on purpose. I eat pretty much the same stuff as HeartlandGirl.

This is going to sound strange, but buy nutritional yeast -- not brewer's yeast -- and stir a few spoonfuls in spaghetti, or let it melt on the top. It's REALLY yummy and can also be used on pizza, like cheese. And it's good for you.

 

[FizzingWhizzbees]

I'm vegetarian. I usually eat stuff made from Quorn, which isn't actually fake meat because it's not designed to taste like meat, it's just to be used in dishes that you'd usually cook with meat. I like making stir fry with quorn pieces in, or spaghetti with sauce made with quorn pieces.

Yay for vegetarians.

 

[joyfulgirl]

I was a vegetarian, a good one, for about 15 years. When I say a good one, I mean I wasn't a vegetarian who just ate pasta everyday. I ate lots and lots of vegetables, beans, grains, tofu, etc. I just had a hair analysis done (to test trace minerals, proteins, etc) and a ton of bloodwork and I am seriously deficient in lots of things (B12 levels are practically nonexistent), stuff that's okay when you're younger but as you get older you start experiencing health difficulties. Right now I'm having joint problems that I should not be having at my age.

Anyway, my nutritionist says this is typical for someone who's been on a long-term vegetarian diet and so I'm back on fish, fish oil capsules, and a ton of other stuff. I have to get B12 injections now!!! I am now convinced that a strict vegetarian diet is not a healthy one, but most people eat too much meat. Balance is everything. If I could get chicken or turkey down my throat, I'd eat it but it's been too long and the two times I've tried to eat it in the last 2 years I've spit it out.

 

[HelloAngel]

I'm a vegetarian too!!

And my diet is exactly like HeartlandGirl's.

 

[Dorian Gray]

I find most Indian food is great for infusing taste and variety into a veggie diet.

If you can find a good Indian cookbook from the library or something you'll find there are countless possibilities.

 

[IWasBored]

pasta. i'm a big fan of throwing either tofu (or fake ground beef, but i know you don't like that, arw) into a pot, along with a jar of spaghetti sauce, a can of stewed tomatos, a carton of mushrooms, and about 6 cloves of garlic. just gonna warn you, that's a lot of sauce...oh, and don't sautee the mushrooms first, they get all mushy and they tend to dissapear in the sauce once you throw them in...

my mom made this really good curry thing the other day, no meat there. really tasty stuff. i don't know if you ike curry. i guess that goes in with dorian gray's indian food reccommendation. let's see...it was rice, mushrooms, apples, and i think there was some yogurt, so it ends up kind of looking like a big yellow blobby thing, but it's goood. trust me.

don't fall into the summer bbq veggie burger trap...that happened to me about 4 or 5 years ago and i STILL can't look at a garden burger without shuddering...grilled veggies fucking rule...and grilled tofu...marinate the tofu in something (soy sauce, garlic-y stuff, anything you'd think tofu would be good marinated in), put it on skewers and grill it...it's good if you throw in some mushrooms too...cna you tell i like mushrooms?

oh man...portabello mushrooms! those things are the shiznit.
arw, do you eat fish? i'm not a huge fish fan, but grilled or broiled scallops are tasty... or you can melt some butter and add a load of garlic and put them in a pan and stick them in the oven (hey, that's what i had for dinner last night...fucking house smelled like fish for hours afterwards though, blech)

the thing about fake meat...i like a lot of kinds of fake meat, things that i never liked the real version of, i never liked chicken nuggets, but i eat fake ones fairly frequently, and same with fake sausages (provided that we actually have them in the freezer...) . i hated real sausage. it's just textured soy protien, so the concept doesn't really freak me out too much. although the fact that they mimic the fat in the fake bacon by having parts of the strips white and other parts pink kind of bugs me (it all has the same taste).

 

[Bbug]

I'm not much of a cook except salads, pasta and rice stuff but here I go anyway...

Someone mentioned that soy+wheat=whole protein and I remember reading somewhere that beans and corn are kind of the same deal. I eat a lot of corn bread, oatmeal, tomato-based dishes...also, lentils are great. You can buy them dried and don't have to soak them overnight like beans...I like different greens, too. When I lived at home with my parents I used to plant turnips for the greens, kale, and spinach. If you can get to a co-op or farmer's market these are usually way more cheap and fresh than at regular stores. I eat a variety of fruit, much of it dried, and take a multiple vitamin with Iron. If you're looking for good veggie recipes you should check out some of the cookbooks by Mollie Katzen (I have the moosewood cookbook I think it's called?) They're kind of expensive but you can find them at used bookstores and stuff. *sigh* reading this thread made me all hungry. *runs off to eat*

 

[The_Sweetest_Thing]

MMm....I'm not a vegetarian, although my dad is. However, I don't eat a LOT of red meat...really only once a month or so, although I do eat chicken and fish (and I have to avoid milk because of lactose intolerance).

The thing is, as a vegetarian, you're missing out on many important vitamins and minerals mainly contained in meat (B12, B6, B5, B2 - well, all the 'b' vitamins). You have to be sure that you're still satisfying your nutritional requirements (sorry to lecture).

Why not go down to your local library/bookstore/internet and look take out a vegtarian cookbook? I know they have some wonderful things in there that you can make/are easy so that you don't feel like you're eating veggies and carbs all day long.

 

[arw]

MMm....I'm not a vegetarian, although my dad is. However, I don't eat a LOT of red meat...really only once a month or so, although I do eat chicken and fish (and I have to avoid milk because of lactose intolerance).

The thing is, as a vegetarian, you're missing out on many important vitamins and minerals mainly contained in meat (B12, B6, B5, B2 - well, all the 'b' vitamins). You have to be sure that you're still satisfying your nutritional requirements (sorry to lecture).

Why not go down to your local library/bookstore/internet and look take out a vegtarian cookbook? I know they have some wonderful things in there that you can make/are easy so that you don't feel like you're eating veggies and carbs all day long.

My parents were very concerned when I stopped eating meat so they took me to the Dr. for blood tests and everything came back ok that I was getting the vitamins I needed. I had some blood work done about a year ago too and I'm fine in that department.

I actually have several vegetarian cookbooks but I just wanted to know what everyone else eats because I'm bored with the stuff I make.

 

[~fairy_girl~]

im a vegetarian too

i eat alot of pasta and salads, also veggie burgers and stuff, spicy beanburgers etc..

i also eat fish aswell tho.

omelettes are also good, and baked potatoes yummy.

 

[DiGi]

Anyway, my nutritionist says this is typical for someone who's been on a long-term vegetarian diet and so I'm back on fish, fish oil capsules, and a ton of other stuff. I have to get B12 injections now!!! I am now convinced that a strict vegetarian diet is not a healthy one, but most people eat too much meat. Balance is everything. If I could get chicken or turkey down my throat, I'd eat it but it's been too long and the two times I've tried to eat it in the last 2 years I've spit it out.

I just started taking fish oil capsules as well - After I finish the bottle I have, I think I will change to the liquid version. There are a higher concentration of both EPA and DHA in the liquid format. EPA is the fatty acid that among other things has anti-inflammatory properties. Anyway if you want to try and use fish oil to treat a joint issue you may look into a higher concentration via the liquid format. Look into the concentrations of these two acids on the labels.

Also have you thought about trying Glucosamine Chondroitin to help with the joint issues? I have not read up much on this yet - but it is supposed to be beneficial (I think you have to take it for about a month or so to recognize any benefits).

A vegetarian diet can / should work as long as you obtain from food the eight essential amino acids that the body cannot produce on its own. Most plant proteins are incomplete (meaning they do not have all eight of these amino acids), hence why many vegetarians eat soy or beans and multiple types of plants, so they can obtain these proteins.

Anyway I still eat meat (mainly chicken and turkey) but a lot less than I use to. I have been moving to a more vegetarian diet over the last couple of months. Really just a healthy diet is the way I look at it. I have more or less given up all junk food and packaged food that does nothing for you.

 

[Angela Harlem]

I'm fascinated by the food vegetarians eat. I've never been one, but have never been a fan of red meat. I'd rarely eat it and after getting food poisoning after eating a steak at a restaurant a few weeks ago, I doubt I can ever eat it again. I'm not sure if ti was the steak that caused it but psychologically I can never look at red meat and think 'yum'.
I have a stock standard combination diet of the Diabetic and Coeliac diet. That in itself is fairly limiting. What I mainly eat consists of fruit and vegetables, and whatever is cooked is either steamed or grilled to cut out fat. Fish is very good for you in many ways and understandably you cant necessarily chow down no a nice smoked cod or anything, but you say your vitamin levels are doing well so you prolly dont have to worry.
I discovered the joys of stir frys a few years ago and since buying a good wok have not looked back. I cant ever recall a time ever stuffing up what I put in it. There's a huge range of veges available, have you looked into more exotic or less tried ones yet? I love experimenting with different types of veges. Although I am able to throw in some chicken breast or something, I know with most sauces a lack of meat would hardly be noticed. With a bed of either rice, noodles, pasta, potatoes or even some greens like snow peas or those odd looking yellow beans, you can really build on creating the most amazing dishes. Also, if you're anything like me, whatever you do cook will never be the same again next time you cook it. I dont use recipes and have found it doesn't matter. Check out your Asian section of the supermarket, or go to a genuine Asian store and try different sauce bases. Invest in a rice steamer and steam up about 4-5 cups at once to use throughout the week to save on cooking time and experiment with that maybe. I know veges can be boring, but sauces can make a huge difference!
Tonight's dinner was:
Black bean sauce
Yellow beans
Snow peas
Red capsicum
Broccoli
Carrot
+ chicken

Take out the chicken and add/remove whatever veges take your fancy, and that pretty much makes up my staple diet Add things like ramen noodles, rice or a larger variety of greens and you really cant go wrong!

 

[Salome]

I almost ate a vegetarian yesterday

 

[HeartlandGirl]

Everyone makes good points about getting all of the vitamins, amino acids, and other good things that our bodies need. Last year I was having nasty recurrent sinus infections, so my doctor ran some blood work to make sure that my vegetarian diet wasn't causing me my problems. It turns out I was not deficient in anything--I just have crappy sinuses! Anyway, I'm glad that people seem to be mindful of getting all the necessary nutrients.

And whoever said Indian food is the way to go, I couldn't agree more! I've got a few Indian cookbooks, and the recipes in them are exciting and wonderful. Plus, they freak my family out, which is a good thing.

It's cool that there are quite a few vegetarians here. Last night at Chili's I had their veggie quesadillas (spinach, mushrooms, and artichoke hearts). I eat much more interesting things now that I don't have meat in my diet.

 

[foray]

May I ask, how does one bake a vegan cake? Dyou just take out the egg, or replace it with something else??

foray

 

[elevatedmole]

May I ask, how does one bake a vegan cake? Dyou just take out the egg, or replace it with something else??

foray

There's different products, but my family uses a powder called Egg Replacer. In some recipes I think you can also use peanut butter as a substitute.

 

[flylover]

I make a mean sourdough chocolate vegan cake!

I'm a vegetarian (for 3 years this week), and hardly ever eat dairy or eggs. I've never felt better in my life. I eat a lot of pasta, soy, rice, potatoes, and sandwiches, but I'm a runner so I really *need* the carbs. I have a couple of great cookbooks that I dive into when I have the time, money, and inclination, but mostly just eat the same old same old. (ah, the life of a grad student...!) so I understand the boredom that comes with eating peanut butter all the time.

 

[Kristie]

no, but my boyfriend is, does that count?
we had burritos last night... uh... he eats a lot of PBJs and spaghetti...
and vitamins
this post was helpful, I know

 

[joyfulgirl]

I just started taking fish oil capsules as well - After I finish the bottle I have, I think I will change to the liquid version. There are a higher concentration of both EPA and DHA in the liquid format. EPA is the fatty acid that among other things has anti-inflammatory properties. Anyway if you want to try and use fish oil to treat a joint issue you may look into a higher concentration via the liquid format. Look into the concentrations of these two acids on the labels.

Also have you thought about trying Glucosamine Chondroitin to help with the joint issues? I have not read up much on this yet - but it is supposed to be beneficial (I think you have to take it for about a month or so to recognize any benefits).

A vegetarian diet can / should work as long as you obtain from food the eight essential amino acids that the body cannot produce on its own. Most plant proteins are incomplete (meaning they do not have all eight of these amino acids), hence why many vegetarians eat soy or beans and multiple types of plants, so they can obtain these proteins.

Anyway I still eat meat (mainly chicken and turkey) but a lot less than I use to. I have been moving to a more vegetarian diet over the last couple of months. Really just a healthy diet is the way I look at it. I have more or less given up all junk food and packaged food that does nothing for you.

Thanks, DiGi. My deficiencies are rather complicated but I am working with an incredible nutritionist who also happens to be one of my best friends. I've had bloodwork done several times over the past 15 years that I was on a vegetarian diet and it wasn't until I entered my 40's that anything of concern showed up. It was particularly surprising because I've always been such a health geek and way more conscientious about nutrients than just about anyone I know! And yet, here I am with all these problems--all of it absolutely reversable but requiring a lot of time, energy and money. The fish oil capsules supplement the flaxseed oil I've been taking for years, which wasn't working because I lack the enzyme to process flaxseed oil. Even though the liquid is better, I just can't bear it! So I'll see how the capsules work out for now.

The joint problems I'm having are directly related (according to the nutritionist and osteopath) to protein deficiencies, despite the massive amounts of tofu, beans/rice and protein drinks that I have consumed over the years, which apparently my body did not process as protein. Or something like that.

The thing is, it doesn't really matter so much how many vitamins and minerals you take--it's all about whether or not your body is absorbing them, and everything works together. You need this to process that and so on. God, it's so complicated and I really don't have a head for this stuff.

I really recommend that vegetarians get a vegetable juicer and use it everyday and also take ENZYMES.

Amino acid supplements have recently changed my life, too. A lifetime of insomnia has been cured with amino acids.

 

[HeartlandGirl]

All good information to know, joyful. Thanks for sharing!

 

[EPandAmerica]

I almost ate a vegetarian yesterday