Turning vegetarian-this should be simple right?

tmbg1

One more thing if you're in a hurry and need good frozen meals, Fat Rabbit meals are really good!

nooshi713

I had to learn to cook differently when I went plant based. I started replacing the meat with tempeh, sriram, or tofu, veggie meatballs etc in foods I already liked and knew how to make.

Then I started following some vegan bloggers on YouTube and got new cookbooks. Now I make all kinds of things I never thought of before. I love Rachel AMA and Sweet Potato Soul. Pinterest is also amazing! You can do it!

lalalacroix

nooshi713 wrote: »

I had to learn to cook differently when I went plant based. I started replacing the meat with tempeh, sriram, or tofu, veggie meatballs etc in foods I already liked and knew how to make.

Then I started following some vegan bloggers on YouTube and got new cookbooks. Now I make all kinds of things I never thought of before. I love Rachel AMA and Sweet Potato Soul. Pinterest is also amazing! You can do it!

Rachel Ama is fantastic! I also love Avant Garde Vegan.

nooshi713

lalalacroix wrote: »

nooshi713 wrote: »

I had to learn to cook differently when I went plant based. I started replacing the meat with tempeh, sriram, or tofu, veggie meatballs etc in foods I already liked and knew how to make.

Then I started following some vegan bloggers on YouTube and got new cookbooks. Now I make all kinds of things I never thought of before. I love Rachel AMA and Sweet Potato Soul. Pinterest is also amazing! You can do it!

Rachel Ama is fantastic! I also love Avant Garde Vegan.

Yep I’m a Gaz Oakley fan too.

MelanieCN77

Appetite for Reduction is a vegan collection, but I recommend it whole heartedly.

therealmarceline

So many great comments here! I also really love tofu. Its wonderful in curry when pressed and sautéed a bit. I also enjoy doing the cauliflower "steaks" with spicy almond butter romanesco type sauce. Lentils, french lentils especially, are very "meaty" and delish. Blending raw cashews with a little water and baking seasoned vegetables in that can be a very tasty, "creamy" dinner. Good Luck!

JRsLateInLifeMom

Am I the only one who finds some of my Vegan y Vegetarian cookbooks after the years call for ingredients I can’t find in my particular stores? I look or ask get order online or we don’t carry that or the usual what’s that??

BarbaraHelen2013

JRsLateInLifeMom wrote: »

Am I the only one who finds some of my Vegan y Vegetarian cookbooks after the years call for ingredients I can’t find in my particular stores? I look or ask get order online or we don’t carry that or the usual what’s that??

Occasionally I find this, only with vegan ingredients though (vital wheat gluten, xanthum gum, agar agar, liquid smoke spring to mind, although I’ve now sourced all but the xanthum gum). Never with vegetarian recipes - what ingredients are you struggling to find?

nytrifisoul

Tofu is like a sponge. You need to get creative. Cut it in long strips and sear/fry it really good. Then make a sauce/gravy with some vegetable stock and modified cornstarch (I prefer EZ-Gel brand, this stuff is awesome and doesn't break down when hot or cold) and braise/simmer the Tofu in the gravy/sauce.

Another recipe i don't hear too much is Tofu Cacciatore.

I am 100% carnivore and would never go vegetarian or vegan, but these are dishes i like making with Tofu that are vegetarian.

.02

JRsLateInLifeMom

I moved from a small town full of farmers markets to Vegan stores to a City with nothing! Whole Foods got bought up their was only 1 it changed a lot!
Struggling to find herbs even to make pickles to other meals. Can’t find organic Dill in natural form not crushed or dried the actual plant to put in the jars! There’s some vegan meat substitutes but not all so a few newer recipes for toddlers I can’t find the vegan meat substitutes needed like plain Vegan chicken nuggets not BBQ ones. Xanthum gum to vegan condiments (theirs none). Vegan egg substitute none in our stores nearby! So have to use Vegetarian version organic free range eggs 🥚. Struggling to find products I have cooked with for years even here. Black cherries they only carry them 2 months a year. I wanted some veggies find few choices even for potatoes 🥔 only a few bags for a huge city area! So if key word if they have it poof* gone fast 💨.
I wanted cauliflower they didn’t have any fresh pointed us to the freezer 🥶 section . Wanted Cactus to make fried cactus they didn’t have any. It’s aggravating because I’m the country I could get animal cruelty free items (One was a goat she never dried up after her baby still hasn’t thinks she’s a dog has a couch in the house 🏠 she roams in y out through a huge doggie door they had to make her...she barks lol 😂) to fruit straight off trees y vegetables gardens everywhere just trade or pay for what you need. In my own yard got a orange tree y planted mint y lavender plants so far. Can’t find mint here! Can’t find Rosemary or Rosemary oil for my hair. I can get Vegan Mayo online but not in store even. They don’t make cooking easy to make it from scratch more ingredients not in store waiting online orders to arrive.

JRsLateInLifeMom

Vegetarian Chili-
In a Pot place
1.Bush’s Pinto Beans or can use black beans or kidney or all 3
2.bellpeppers any colors
3.onion half cut up
4. Chili powder
5. Spinach leaves
6. Bullion cube (any flavor you love ❤️)
7. Crushed tomatoes 🍅
8. A little oatmeal (not much it’s to bulk it up (a few chili companies do it too)

In bowl add
1.Your type of cheese (vegan,Parmesan,regular,your choice or leave out use sparingly it’s for flavor not main ingredient)
2.Avocado slices
3.Top with the chili in pot eat away

Chili Rice Casserole (leftovers)
In baking pan
1. Leftover Rice 🍚
2. Leftover Vegan/Vegetarian Chili
3. Top with Vegan cheese (can use regular but not sure never had it like that might change taste a lot)
bake 20-25minutes 350* to melt cheese y reheat tadaaa The next meal.

kshama2001

JRsLateInLifeMom wrote: »

I moved from a small town full of farmers markets to Vegan stores to a City with nothing! Whole Foods got bought up their was only 1 it changed a lot!
Struggling to find herbs even to make pickles to other meals. Can’t find organic Dill in natural form not crushed or dried the actual plant to put in the jars! There’s some vegan meat substitutes but not all so a few newer recipes for toddlers I can’t find the vegan meat substitutes needed like plain Vegan chicken nuggets not BBQ ones. Xanthum gum to vegan condiments (theirs none). Vegan egg substitute none in our stores nearby! So have to use Vegetarian version organic free range eggs 🥚. Struggling to find products I have cooked with for years even here. Black cherries they only carry them 2 months a year. I wanted some veggies find few choices even for potatoes 🥔 only a few bags for a huge city area! So if key word if they have it poof* gone fast 💨.
I wanted cauliflower they didn’t have any fresh pointed us to the freezer 🥶 section . Wanted Cactus to make fried cactus they didn’t have any. It’s aggravating because I’m the country I could get animal cruelty free items (One was a goat she never dried up after her baby still hasn’t thinks she’s a dog has a couch in the house 🏠 she roams in y out through a huge doggie door they had to make her...she barks lol 😂) to fruit straight off trees y vegetables gardens everywhere just trade or pay for what you need. In my own yard got a orange tree y planted mint y lavender plants so far. Can’t find mint here! Can’t find Rosemary or Rosemary oil for my hair. I can get Vegan Mayo online but not in store even. They don’t make cooking easy to make it from scratch more ingredients not in store waiting online orders to arrive.

I had a similar experience when I moved from south Florida that had tons of Asian markets back to Massachusetts where there aren't any, and what is available in supermarkets is so expensive. I found a huge Asian store about 40 minutes away and go there once or twice a year. Good luck!

pjwrt

I once said I'm 90% vegetarian, but my wife corrected me: it's called a balanced diet.

I ate two hot links a few days ago and they really weren't satisfying. Hot links and fish are the only meat I'll willingly eat now.

Cooking a vegetarian diet is really easy. A few basic ingredients and spices can be mixed with outstanding results. Most of the ingredients are easily replaced with what's at your local store, too.

Other cultures have a vast menu of easy-to-cook meals. Also, I've learned to just leave out meat in a lot of recipes. Stuffed green peppers; substitute the meat with mushrooms, for example.

Don't over-complicate it. It's easy. taxi is honking its freakin' horn

JRsLateInLifeMom

Kshama2001- Thankyou. My old town I got Asian y Hispanic stores for ingredients too. Here Muslim stores I can’t read the writing the male clerk at the closest one ignores me (better one is an hour away he helps even gets his wife y other female family members to help me! Problem is their more spices to medicine. I raised my Daughter 20years ago Doctors were supportive...now uuuughhh misinformed dismissive ect so brought in a Dietician at 1 yr old using the meal plans. Letting son guide some on what he will become (meat sensitivity in both my kids but not me or father... Daughter is Pescatarian but had to be Raw fishonly meat she doesn’t throw up)

For now mainly ordering online but as you all know one item great 👍 pictures to information... another vague leaving you wondering ingredients to calories. Some are priced at Champagne budgets! Others cheap having to search around even for canned black cherries 🍒 ( cousin sends from New York for me finally found Walmart sells online closest to fresh I can get except those 2months their $9+ per lb) .

I fought with one local restaurant when they told me no kid meal box for Vegan/Vegetarian or substitution! They now have to give me a box after corporate came down on them for my separate items! I don’t mind paying more for my kid to eat a meal that he can keep down not have to sit watch the other 2yr olds with toys 🧸 but not him!
(2 yr old meltdown over wanting a toy not fun) . Some restaurants are so accommodating even the steak house next to that one bad one they saw me yelled come in Cook has a Vegan Wife! He cooked a wonderful meal for baby ...was nothing left on the plates! Was a wonderful meal all thanks to team work from people in the same boats ⛵️ . Baby was full even at Dinner later after that meal . They gave baby his for free was so nice of them!

Doctor examples: One Pediatrician-spent almost 5minutes on how unsweetened almond milk is full of more sugar than cows milk. Then they were shocked he wasn’t low on iron like all their other cow milk patients .Their against additives to milks like powdered Nido or Enfamil which would help those kids pull out of their iron deficiency or iron kids drops

AnnPT77

JRsLateInLifeMom wrote: »

Vegetarian Chili-
In a Pot place
1.Bush’s Pinto Beans or can use black beans or kidney or all 3
2.bellpeppers any colors
3.onion half cut up
4. Chili powder
5. Spinach leaves
6. Bullion cube (any flavor you love ❤️)
7. Crushed tomatoes 🍅
8. A little oatmeal (not much it’s to bulk it up (a few chili companies do it too)

In bowl add
1.Your type of cheese (vegan,Parmesan,regular,your choice or leave out use sparingly it’s for flavor not main ingredient)
2.Avocado slices
3.Top with the chili in pot eat away

Chili Rice Casserole (leftovers)
In baking pan
1. Leftover Rice 🍚
2. Leftover Vegan/Vegetarian Chili
3. Top with Vegan cheese (can use regular but not sure never had it like that might change taste a lot)
bake 20-25minutes 350* to melt cheese y reheat tadaaa The next meal.

Read the bullion ingredients, if truly vegetarian.

Also, I'd suggest adding a teaspoon to tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa/cacao powder per serving, for richer flavor (plus extra micronutrients). I use a tablespoon, personally.

JRsLateInLifeMom

I use Knorr vegetable Bullion read it not seeing anything bad in it. 5 cal all vegan ingredients. Am I wrong?
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Knorr-Selects-Granulated-Vegetable-Bouillon-14-1-oz/894486621

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Knorr-Vegetarian-Vegetable-Extra-Large-Bouillon-Cubes-2-1-Oz-Pack-of-24/149336219

I just checked it all the tomato based one not vegetable one has dried chicken glad you said something Hubby is on a Vegetarian diet due to gout (meat inflames it!) luckily haven’t used it yet! Daughter Pescatarian y baby well that would have been a vomit mess to clean up! I didn’t even see the chicken just Tomato as I grabbed (they were out of vegetable bullion). I’ll have to use it up on me y my Dad (meat eater with dementia so his diets set even tho some items are not diabetic friendly) . I can eat some meats but not all the time sets off my colitis y IBSD.

Avoid this one http://www.walmart.com/ip/Knorr-Granulated-Bouillon-Tomato-Chicken-35-3-oz/10291840 got 1 package small one luckily . Made chili with the tomatoe bullion can’t use it tonight for Husband will make again tomorrow with vegetable bullion cubes.

AnnPT77

JRsLateInLifeMom wrote: »

I use Knorr vegetable Bullion read it not seeing anything bad in it. 5 cal all vegan ingredients. Am I wrong?
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Knorr-Selects-Granulated-Vegetable-Bouillon-14-1-oz/894486621

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Knorr-Vegetarian-Vegetable-Extra-Large-Bouillon-Cubes-2-1-Oz-Pack-of-24/149336219

I just checked it all the tomato based one not vegetable one has dried chicken glad you said something Hubby is on a Vegetarian diet due to gout (meat inflames it!) luckily haven’t used it yet! Daughter Pescatarian y baby well that would have been a vomit mess to clean up! I didn’t even see the chicken just Tomato as I grabbed (they were out of vegetable bullion). I’ll have to use it up on me y my Dad (meat eater with dementia so his diets set even tho some items are not diabetic friendly) . I can eat some meats but not all the time sets off my colitis y IBSD.

Avoid this one http://www.walmart.com/ip/Knorr-Granulated-Bouillon-Tomato-Chicken-35-3-oz/10291840 got 1 package small one luckily . Made chili with the tomatoe bullion can’t use it tonight for Husband will make again tomorrow with vegetable bullion cubes.

Yup, most vegetable bouillon is vegetarian, but not all. The tiny amount might not be enough to trigger allergic reactions unless very sensitive, but ethical vegans/vegetarians might object.

Like I think I said earlier, I've been vegetarian for 45+ years. After some experience, a person gets a feel for which products are most likely to have stealth meaty ingredients . . . though they can show up anywhere.

I don't obsess about it personally, but try to avoid meats, and to stay aware if only on account of cooking occasionally for stricter friends.

Cahgetsfit

My kid decided she's vegetarian. I have found some stuff in the supermarket such as vegetarian sausages in the fridge section and some fake chicken and fake fish in the freezer aisle and I"ve tried them and they are pretty good! The fake chicken and fish are mainly tofu-based. Tastes almost like real fish/chicken. Don't know the names, sorry, I personally am a carnivore, but they tasted nice.
There is a decent selection of vegetarian stuff in the large supermarkets here in Australia from what I can see, now that I need to see!

JRsLateInLifeMom

So true checking from now on.
My Moms side if they were visiting this year would have flipped out! Not all but some are passionately strict Vegans won’t even touch my house with a 10ft pole if I goofed up.
Others are Vegetarian but at their age like ya have health issues so logging foods...1 unexpected ingredient can set their meal plans off the wrong way.

Dads side meat eaters to the point I’ve seen it in things I don’t think meat goes in.... could be wrong but yeah don’t think I am.

Daughter y son even as infants turned their heads wailed at any meat based baby foods didn’t keep them down. I figured it out started giving tofu baby foods to prunes . Tapioca baby food she ate every flavor! Now 20yrs later couldn’t find them at all! He loves Peanut butter pancakes to Quesadillas tons of beans in a tortilla. Healthy as a horse but we got to keep the vitamins balanced. Daughter used to drink carrot y spinach juices guess their no longer popular by the time baby came around cause now seems to be more meat based macaroni to rv dinner like baby foods. Good thing he’s finally 2 can just cook from scratch even!

Try the meat crumbles vegetarian section heat in a frying pan with some pan cooking spray can make tacos to veggies with it on the side their very delicious! Boca to Gardein all good just check salt contents to find lowest.

JRsLateInLifeMom

My Aunts Black Bean 🍔:

Morning Star or other black bean patties
Heat in frying pan with Pam cooking spray.

Heat a Bun (brand you trust read ingredients some add fish gelatin weird I know but they do)
Add spinach leaves
Add heated onion carmalized
Tomato slices
Just Mayo brand or other

Really good add some homemade fries 🍟

JRsLateInLifeMom

https://youtu.be/iTmcGy9CWhE

Fun recipes for this holiday ( if you see one you like but an ingredient you don’t use a substitute or skip it) .

PrismaticPhoenix

nytrifisoul wrote: »

Tofu is like a sponge. You need to get creative. Cut it in long strips and sear/fry it really good. Then make a sauce/gravy with some vegetable stock and modified cornstarch (I prefer EZ-Gel brand, this stuff is awesome and doesn't break down when hot or cold) and braise/simmer the Tofu in the gravy/sauce.

Another recipe i don't hear too much is Tofu Cacciatore.

I am 100% carnivore and would never go vegetarian or vegan, but these are dishes i like making with Tofu that are vegetarian.

.02

Someday I will figure out how to cook tofu. I've tried before and botched it terribly.

JRsLateInLifeMom

https://pinchofyum.com/how-to-cook-tofu

PrismaticPhoenix

Thank you!

ReenieHJ

JRsLateInLifeMom wrote: »

https://pinchofyum.com/how-to-cook-tofu

Very helpful!!