Becoming a Vegetarian

[Kittiebot]

So the husband and I decided to become vegetarians just last week because of the health benefits and the ethical issues. We never ate a ton of meat in the first place so it's not a huge change. Ever since getting my bunbun I've been struggling with the fact that animals have such unique personalities, even in animals considered "stupid". I've decided I shouldn't be eating our furry and feathered friends.

Anyone here a vegetarian? Do you have any good tips and tricks for me or any good recipies? Also, is there a good natural meat substitute on the market? I've looked at some of the soy patties, but I don't want to spend the money on them if they are going to be super icky!:bunnybutt:

 

[lyndym]

I've been a vegetarian for just about a year now! I started last summer as a sort of summer challenge to continue my healthy eating habits after the school year. School started up again, and I didn't feel like going back to meat, so I'm still going!

I'm not really much of a cook, with or without meat, but my biggest tip would be to buy things that are higher in protein. Trader Joe's sells high protein bread, and I switched to their European style yogurt because it has more protein. I also try and make quinoa instead of rice. Quinoa is also a great addition to salads, I love throwing it in a bowl with some avocado, bell peppers, onion, tomatoes! (Black beans, too, if I have some around.) I also made these great quinoa-egg muffins, they're great to re-heat on the go. Lots of variations of that recipe are floating around.

I actually don't eat the imitation meat products very often. I've always thought if I get something that is trying hard to taste like meat, I might want the real thing! A few weeks ago I went to this burger place with my friends and had my first official veggie burger. It was DELICIOUS, buttt the toppings I chose would've gone great on some cow, and the whole time I kind of wished it was a real burger. So for me, I'll typically whip up my own tofu substitute instead of buying something "fake." I made tacos once and just treated some tofu like it was ground meat - seasoned it up in a pan and threw it in with the taco fixings! I have, however, tried these excellent black bean patties from Costco, they're in the frozen section.

Congratulations on your decision! I really do feel a lot healthier and cleaner since I've been eating this way. I've also been gradually cycling out home and beauty products for things that are cruelty-free, I'm finding lots of great stuff. Can't wait to see recipes others post, maybe it'll inspire me to cook something instead of just throwing the contents of my fridge together at random.

 

[Kittiebot]

I have never eaten or cooked tofu before! I really should give it a try, but I'm not sure how to do it. So for your tacos you just kinda choppped it up and seasoned it in a pan and cooked it until it was browned?

 

[MiserySmith]

I'm a vegetarian and the only kind of fake meats I'll eat is Yves brand. It's the only stuff that tastes close and it curbed my meat cravings perfectly when I was startng out. They have nuggets, ground round etc. and yep thats all it takes for tofu. It's easy. I just made sloppy joes with tofu the other day.

 

[whitelop]

I didn't eat meat for like 2 years when I was a teenager. My mom had a Vietnamese friend who would make tofu and tofu filled rice blocks for me. I ate a lot of that. I also ate a lot of yogurt and cheese and all the veggies and normal things, just minus the meat.
But here is a website that has 85 vegetarian recipes and I suggest you look on pinterest for all kinds of different things. I always see vegetarian stuff when I'm looking through one of my boards.
http://www.marthastewart.com/274485/quick-meatless-recipes/@center/276948/dinner-tonight#285423


CHEESY ZUCCHINI RICE
-Mix shredded zucchini(2 medium) and 1 cup shredded part skim cheddar cheese into just cooked brown rice. The heat will steam the squash and melt the cheese.

ZUCCHINI OVEN FRIES
-Slice zucchini into 3in x 1/2 in sticks. Dip into beaten egg then into seasoned breadcrumbs. Place on baking sheet, spritz with cooking spray and bake at 425* for 30 minute, turning the zucchini at the 15 minute mark.

MAC & CHEESE ZUCCHINI
-Mix shredded zucchini(2 medium) and 1 cup of cooked green peas into your best low fat mac and cheese recipe.

ZUCCHINI BROWNIES!
-1/2 cup applesauce
-2 small or medium bananas, mashed
-1.5 cup sugar
-2 tsp vanilla
-1/2 cup cocoa powder
-1.5 tsp baking soda
-1/2 tsp salt
-2 cups finely shredded zucchini
-2 cups all purpose flour
-1/2 cup walnut pieces
1. Preheat oven to 350*. Grease 13 x 9 pan.
2. In large bowl, mix together applesauce, mashed bananas, and sugar. Add vanilla and cocoa and mix together. Then add baking soda, salt and zucchini and mix together. Add flour and walnuts and mix together. Spread evenly in pan.
3. Bake for 25 minutes until brownies spring back when gently touched.
Nutri-facts: serving 1 brownie. 122 calories per serving. 2g fat. 25g carbs. 2g protein. Makes 24 brownies

Those are more healthy than anything, but the brownies and the brownies don't have animal products. I'm not sure if you're going totally vegan or not.

If I were to stop eating meat, I would look up the nutritional facts of the fruits and veggies that I would be eating the most of, to try to tailor my diet around that. You want to make sure that you're balanced, but instead of meat you'll be substituting beans or tofu for the "animal" protein. But I AM an over thinker! haha.
Good luck and good for you guys for wanting to be cruelty free and healthier!

BTW cows have best friends. I just learned it the other day, if you have two cows together that are close, if you take one away the other one will be really stressed and upset because its friend is gone; but when you bring it back it calms down. So they have best friends. I thought it was cute!

 

[Acacia-Berry]

Congrats on your decision! I have been a lacto-ovo vegetarian for almost 12 years now. Initially it was hard because I was only 14 and mom did NOT support my decision so I literally starved half the time. You're adults so you won't- lol

I eat meat substitutes all the time because my bf eats meat and I get jealous if all I have is tofu My favorite are the PC blue menu brand from Loblaws. They make "boneless, skinless chicken breast" which are simply amazing and you can do ANY chicken recipe with them (even butter chicken which is my favorite thing ever). Yves makes good "hot dogs" but the only ones I like come in the family pack with 2 rows of wieners, the other ones taste funny to me and ground "beef" and "chicken". Tofurkey is an amazing brand- they put out delicious deli slices, turkey roasts and tempeh bacon (Which I find repulsive but that's me). You can get "beef" strips and sauteed tofu in sauces.

AS for tofu, for most meals you might be looking for texture and something you can cut into cubes and fry. You will need to buy the Extra FIRM tofu, nobody ever told me this and I was buying Rooster brand medium firm tofu for a long time which was like jello and fell apart and just didn't fry right. With the ex.firm you cut into chunks or cubes and fry over olive oil on medium heat and SPICE them!! Add pepper, herbs, steak spice anything- but add spices to it because you want it to have flavour! lol Tofu cubes you can add to tacos and anything else.

Burgers. There are many veggie and vegetable patties. I don't like the vegetable patties because they are bland and crumble. But veggie patties can be pretty close to beef patties in taste. Then, you can always make your own. I cannot remember the last time I bought veggie burgers aside from at restaraunts. I use the Yves ground round (ground "beef") and add a bit of egg and breadcrumbs and spices and form them. The most important thing to add to your own patties is the egg, ground round doesn't stick on its own like ground beef. You can find recipes all over the internet for chick pea burgers, black bean and lentil burgers too. Lentil burgers are my favorite!!

As mentioned above, you'll want to eat beans and legumes for the iron and shop conscously for protein rich foods, however, if you eat tofu and fake meats you will get enough protein from them. Too much protein is bad, you want to up your fibre to make sure you're digesting the extra protein!

But yea, there's nothing I regret about my decision 11 and a half years ago. I did it for the animals and my health. Ultimately, the environment benefits as well bc there's less animal waste getting dumped into our water. But I never feel like I'm missing out, the only thing is the countless times I get asked what I eat.. I live in a very traditional society where people for centuries lived off fishing and sealing and eating root vegetables and salt beef so it gets annoying having to repeat yourself like a broken record around here. I'm sure you get asked less in more forward high population-dense areas. This can be a support group too, if you ever need encouragement or ideas for dinner. I know a lot of people "miss" meat and since its 2013 and there are plenty of alternatives to meat we can all work together

 

[Kittiebot]

Thanks for all the great ideas everyone! So far so good, I think the only things I will miss are buffalo chicken wings and gyros, but I feel amazing eating more fruits and veggies! I love dairy and eggs so I don't think a lack of protein will be a problem. I'm going to have to try tofu tho, it sounds like it's tasty!

 

[Acacia-Berry]

As I write this I am waiting on my pasta noodles to finish cooking- I cut my tofu small like hash brown french fries! The small er the pieces, the more flavor per piece

If you like Thai food, you'll LOVE tofu patties and peanut sauce!

 

[ResQBunny]

I've been a vegetarian for 12 years... there are a TON of options out there (including awesome cookbooks like the Vegetarian Bible), I haven't had meat in a REALLY long time so I don't really remember what it taste like but I love the taste of Morning Star brands breakfast products (they have BACON!) and Boca has these awesome breaded chicken patties (my husband who refuses to go veggie and claims any supplement is icky will eat a box of these in one sitting, lol).... Morning Star also has these things called Buffalo Nuggets.... they are pretty good but theres not a lot in a box (guess that might help with you missing buffalo wings)

 

[Kittiebot]

o god, buffalo nuggets...those sound awesome! I will have to give them a try next time I go grocery shopping. So far it's been 2 weeks, I don't really miss it a whole lot. I already feel more healthy since I've been eating tons of fruits and veggies, and I've lost 2 lbs, woo!

 

[Apebull]

I was a partial vegetarian for years. I felt if I couldn't kill it myself I shouldn't eat it and since I'd been fishing and had zero problems with it I ate fish. But my problem was I don't like vegetable or most fruit so I ate mostly pasta. My husband called me a starchatarian LOL. I started eating meat again when we were trying to have kids because for me it was not healthy. I have to agree with Sierra that Morning Star is the best and taste just like real meat. Good luck!

 

[Acacia-Berry]

We don't have Morning Star in Newfoundland. There's one brand called Veggie Patch which makes the buffalo nuggets and chicken nuggets and falafel (though its much easier to make falafel yourself)

Yay! Lose weight at a healthy rate, I think 1-2 pounds per week is healthy. Rapid loss or gain is never a good sign. I too love pasta, potatoes and starch! lol Starchetarian!

 

[Kittiebot]

I used to be a starchatarian too! I just recently started force feeding myself veggies, and it turned out after a few times of choking them down, I actually like them! Especially salad, yum!

 

[Acacia-Berry]

I guess I'm also a saucitarian. I add so much dressing to salads it's no longer considered healthy!

 

[ResQBunny]

There's another awesome brand that I can't remember for the life of me, they only sell it at Harris Teeter (at least by me).. and they have things like "chicken breasts" (no breading!), "orange chicken" and "beef tips"... its AMAZING though, lol, the packaging is mostly white

Yves hotdogs are also good.... my hubby will eat them instead of regular hotdogs most of the time, lol

 

[Hkok]

We been since november 2011. Our storry is a bit like yours our bunny also gave us the final push.
I never tryed the meat substitute. But like the others say the proteins are in beans lenses quiana and rember you only need 0,8 gram protein pr. kg (I am Danish I can only use metric :biggrin2 One thing is that it can be hard to get enough B12 vitamins.

Got a few links http://www.jazzyvegetarian.com/ (mostly vegan)
http://allrecipes.com/recipes/everyday-cooking/vegetarian/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/diets/vegetarian
http://vegetarian.about.com/od/maindishentreerecipes/Vegetarian_Vegan_Main_DishEntree_Recipes.htm
And there is a lot in the Italian kitchen that are based on vegs only like Pasta norma and Melanzane Parmigiana ect.

 

[Ursula]

I just started being a vegetarian too! Something I found was good was baking tofu in homemade bbq sauce, and smashing together black beans and avacado and jalepenos into a wrap. So yummy ^____^ I'm looking forward to sharing the appropriate veggies with my bunny, as soon as she's old enough

 

[qtipthebun]

I've been veggie for about 12 years. I'm not much of a cook, but my partner has been experimenting with the fake meats.She's not a vegetarian, but likes the chicken nuggets (gardein and quorn brand equally) better than real ones, and the lightlife hotdogs and ground beef apparently also taste better than real meat. If you can get past the texture not being the same, the taste is.

I can't say I know any recipes (is rice and beans considered a recipe?) but people always make veggie lasagna or enchiladas when I'm coming over, so those are things vegetarians eat, I guess (I'm just not talented enough to make them!)