Vegetarians

GettingHealthy2013

I have recently decided to become a vegetarian. What does your shopping list look like? I would also love anyone to share some vegetarian recipes.

SkepticallyFit

Vegetables. Lots of them.

Also olive oil, safflower oil, cheese, nuts & legumes, beans, fruits, tofu & other meat substitutes, whey protein powder, eggs, yogurt, milk (both cow milk and almond milk), whole grain bread, bran flakes, oatmeal, and did I mention vegetables?

Probably other stuff I'm not remembering right now, but those are the staples.

LolaTootsie

I eat a primarily (though not 100%) vegetarian diet, and I usually have the following on hand:
Dried beans - lentils, chickpeas
Frozen veggies - Wegmans has some for 99 cents a bag
Greek yogurt
Cottage cheese
Eggs
Fruit - fresh and dried
Homemade peanut butter
Oats
Nuts - usually almonds
Feta cheese
Canned tomatoes

SkepticallyFit

OMG, totally forgot about peanut butter. Amazing since I eat it almost daily.

pcotter54

Check out the Happy Herbivores group on MFP for lots of veggie talk: recipes, ideas, funny stories, etc.

uthatswho

try this blog - http://theveeword.blogspot.com/
She has tons recipe ideas with simple directions.

Been Burgers!!!

KardioKim

Lots of fresh fruit & veggies. It means going shopping more often but that's okay.

I like hummus for a snack.

Lots of nuts, too!

grimendale

My diary is openif you want to poke around. I haven't been logging the last few days (I was on vacation), but anything earlier has been thorough.

James_Bergin

Here's mine;
- carrots
- potatoes
- onions
- green onions
- coriander (cilantro in some locales)
- soy sauce
- sesame oil
- dried nori (seaweed)
- multi-grain bread
- eggs
- milk
- mixed nuts and seeds (whatever you prefer)
- pinto beans
- mushroom
- kale
- cabbage
- ginger
- garlic
- sriracha sauce ( basically spicy chili paste)

The list goes on but those are my basics. And here's on of my favorite light recipes; spicy carrot salad.

1) Grate a carrot using a potato peeler into long strands.

2) Chop one stalk of green onion and coriander.

3) In a small bowl, combine 1tbsp soy sauce, 1tbsp garlic ginger paste (a paste made by pulsing ginger and garlic in equal amounts in a blender), 1 tbsp sriracha sauce and some water or white vinegar.

4) Toss carrot, coriander, and green card onion and drizzle with above sauce; mixing evenly.

Enjoy! But beware it is a bit spicy.

mnb89

Going vegetarian was a life changing experience for me, and I hope you stick with it. I really think that the best way to do that is by doing it intelligently. Haha I'm actually vegan now so it almost feels a little weird talking about vegetarian again.
I felt a lot better going vegetarian, but I suggest buying a book or something to get more information on it. Vegetarian is perfectly healthy, and protein isn't actually as important as people say (most omnivores get 2x as much as the daily recommended amount, on average... Anyway, bring on the nasty comments for me insulting protein).
Besides that, Iron and B12 should be the main things you worry about, and even though I probably eat enough Iron and fortified b12 foods that I don't have to worry about it, I take a multivitamin which contains them just so I'm sure I have enough.
Make sure you enjoy the foods you eat. Don't eat salads twice a day everyone day, that'll get old real fast. I suggest investing in a cookbook.
Limit the dairy, I gained weight until I went vegan from all the fat in my dairy products :P
Other than that, focus on fruits and veggies being the main part of your meal, but make sure you eat A LOT of the healthy food, not a lot of junk food, because you can get really hungry transitioning from meat to no meat diets, as meat tends to be one of the most filling foods, without it, you can get hungry.

haha that was as much as i could cram into here. but seriously, look into it more, and focus on fruits and veggies.

SudoApt

I'm going vegetarian for a month with a friend as a health challenge. My shopping list looks almost identical to what I was eating anyway. My personal shopping list always has

Bell peppers
Onions
tomatoes
lettuce
cauliflower
broccoli
peas
carrots
bread (although I have replaced most of my bread with lettuce.)
Ground turkey (which I'm using meatless crumbles from Morningstar Farms)

I'm going to buy some Tempeh "bacon" tomorrow so I can have some BLTs Quinoa is on my list for my next shopping round so I can make grain free vegetarian pasta. I really like mushrooms but my husband hates them so they are a special occasion food.

Also for 4th of July I scored a big box of Morningstar Farms spicy black bean burgers! I absolutely hate other veggie burgers except black bean burgers. YUM

pocketmole

My shopping list changes a lot. It's pretty common for me to get whatever looks good or is in season at the time. I buy lots of fresh fruits and veggies, always have canned beans and tomatoes stocked, and keep things like tofu, seitan, vegetarian burger grounds, and quorn roast on hand for "meaty" substitutes in recipes. Staples that always exist in my pantry include basics like flour and sugar, but I also tend to have polenta, dried lentils, and steel cut oats on hand. I also always have natural peanut butter and extra virgin olive oil. I have an open food diary and post pictures of the things I eat to the photo thread a lot. Always willing to share recipes :]

Edit... I went to the store today and figured I'd list what I bought. Bear in mind that I'm the sort of person that shops short term. I don't usually like to stock up for two weeks with non-perishable items. Often I think about what I'm going to make for dinner and I hit the store in the afternoon. If I'm low on fruit I pick some up while I'm there. Tonight I was making a mixed tomato basil salad with homemade croutons and decided to restock on fruit.

Cherry plums
Pears
Figs
Lemons
Three kinds of tomatoes
Fresh basil
Arugula
Avocado
Cucumber
Canned chickpeas
Canned black beans
Canned diced tomatoes
Tomato paste (in a tube, since I find it easily to use and store)
Quorn roast
Flax and chia bread
Parmesan bread

lemonmon1

Meat free for over 10 years! My diary is open! I've always got lots of legumes like lentils split peas, chickpeas, and various beans in the pantry as well as almonds, cashews, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, pea protein powder for smoothies, etc! Also lots of fresh vegetables and fruits in the fridge!