Meatless meals (without peas or chick peas)

DatMurse

Yes, he can have dairy. We are trying to cut out meat because of the price of it. We just can't afford to buy it anymore.

What about dairy, can he have dairy? ... You said vegetarian, not vegan.

if money is an issue, and not belief I highly suggest look at bulk food stores(costco or sams) for chicken breast or ground beef. you can rinse ground beef to make it leaner. 3 dollars a pound for 90/10 and you can save the rest. the chicken breast is still cheaper.

It is important to get well rounded diets and kids need to have b12. animal protein is also very good for them to get due to the amino acid profile.

JoRocka

check the price of ground turkey vs beef. usually ground turkey is cheaper at my store. (I prefer beef- but I just don't care that much)

Also whole chicken is cheaper and you can get a lot out of it
Chicken thigh meat- also cheaper- you can get a lot out of them

I'd die if I went meatless- I'd rather walk to work than go without meat.

Edit- canned meat is pretty decent too. can get it for a dollar a can. NOM NOM NOM.

I like chili- two cans of beans 2 cans of tomato 2 lbs of turkey (or beef).. spice it up- and you have like food for a week.

afat12

Stuffed mushrooms?

patrnbabe

You can stretch your budget w/o completely cutting out meat by switching to cheaper cuts, smaller proportions of meat in the dish. Small dice or shred to make sure what little you are using gets throughout the dish. Cheaper meat cuts require a little more work and different cooking methods to make them as tender and flavorful as possible. Roast whole chicken or turkey, and portion out the meat to be used in soup or casseroles. Then you have bones to make soup stock.....

Add more veggies & legumes, serve w/ rice or another grain. You'll have a complete amino acid profile, be eating less meat, and still fill up on delicious food. For example, I routinely use only 1 lb of ground beef for a large pot of chili (12 servings) and never miss the other pound of beef. Add some corn or corn meal & a little TVP if you're not averse to using soy. In strongly flavored foods it blends in easily. Or instead of chicken breasts w/ a sauce, dice the breast and add some veggies and/or legumes and serve over rice or barley. Essentially turn the meat into "flavoring" instead of "star" of the dish.

MissBee0507

Lentils- I use these all the time when I cook meat-less. They are cheap and easy to cook. I made lentil 'sloppy joe's' recently, turned out great.
Edamame
Tofu
Tempeh
Beans- Black, Pinto, Navy, Canellini, Kidney, Red Beans, Northern Beans.
I think the cheapest way to do it is to buy dried bags of lentils and beans and cook them yourself, although more time consuming then buying canned.
Eggs are also pretty cheap- at least where I live in Wisconsin.

Someone posted about Vit b12- this can be found in dairy products. If those are limited many vegans add nutritional yeast to their diets for b12.

lynn_glenmont

He can eat beans. He used to be allergic to soy but not anymore. I thought about trying tofu but I have to learn how to make it. Meat has just gotten so expensive that we can't afford to have it for dinner everyday anymore. My friend only eats meat once a week and everything is organic. She really seems to like it so I thought we would try that.

Yes, he can have dairy. We are trying to cut out meat because of the price of it. We just can't afford to buy it anymore.

Given that beans and dairy are both OK, that you're doing this mainly for cost savings, and you're ambitious enough to consider making you're own tofu, I'd say your best bets are to build most of your meatless meals around eggs, dried (as opposed to canned) beans (they're cheaper, and you can control the sodium if that's a concern; you can soak and cook enough on the weekend for the meals you're planning for the week), grains/rice/pasta/oats (bought plain in large packages or in bulk; don't pay for packages of spices that are mostly salt -- seasoning to taste yourself is much cheaper), and whatever produce is in season (usually cheaper and better quality) or whatever frozen plain (no sauce -- cheaper to make any sauce that you want yourself) veggies are on sale. Add a little store-brand cheese one or two nights a week, maybe a dish with nuts (if no allergies) or nut butters another night if the budget will stretch to that. If you want to do a lot of casseroles and quiches, you might look into whether it would be cheaper to use reconstituted powdered milk or evaporated milk (no one will taste the difference once its cooked).

"My friend eats meat once a week and everything is organic. She really seems to like it so I thought we would try that." If you mean trying "everything is organic," that could easily wipe out any cost savings from skipping meat. You might want to limit organic produce purchases to fruits and veggies whose skin or peels you actually eat (e.g., berries, stone fruit or apples/pears if you eat their skins).

I like meatless savory pies. I made this tomato pie (quiche) recently and it was really good. I only made one pie, and I used a 9-inch crust (not sure if it was a deep-dish crust), and only used one egg (rather than one and a half), and probably a little less of the other ingredients, too (e.g., only about 5 oz of cheese). You don't need to use the special tomatoes and onions they call for.

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/recipes/2010/08/11/yellow-and-purple-tomato-and-piedmont-onion-pie/


Here's a meatless pasta dish I made recently that I really liked, with mushrooms, which can be a little pricey, but in some of my local grocery stores, packaged mushrooms are one of those items that tend to go on sale as buy-one-get-one-free, which would be a good buy for this dish. I didn't use the dill because I didn't think I would like it in this dish. Baby portobellos are sometimes sold as cremini, baby bellas, and Italian brown mushrooms.

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/recipes/2013/02/06/linguine-mushrooms-stroganoff-style/


If you're up for making your own tofu, you might look into making your own veggie burgers, which seems like it would be a lot less work. I don't have any recipes for veggies burgers to offer, but probably some of the sites other posters have mentioned have some.

godblessourhome

i started this thread a few years ago and it has been a nice resource for me. hopefully you can find something in there:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/115505-104-vegetarian-meals

forthemoney

Here's just one recipe suggestion - it's my 6-year-old's favorite food in the world (she rates it higher than ice cream!). This is my mom's super simple recipe for chili. Throw some canned tomatoes in the blender with onion, green pepper and a little garlic. Put that in a pot and add a whole bunch of whatever beans you have/like (black, kidney, pinto - I usually put in a mix). Add some chili powder to taste and a dash of cumin and voila! I also like to add ground turkey to it, but my daughter prefers it without the turkey. We serve it with shredded cheese on top.

LB2812

Most recipes, you can probably substitute another bean in place of chickpeas (for instance you could make - or maybe buy - a white bean hummus or edamame hummus).
Chilis are a perfect cheap, easy, healthy veggie meal - I pretty much throw whatever beans I have, a variety of veggies, tomatos, tomato paste, taco seasoning, etc. in the crockpot and let it go!
Hummus (if you make or buy a non-chickpea version) is a good, kid friendly, option for snacks or on a sandwich.
Peanut butter
Tofu - I get a block of it for $2 at trader joes and that gives me 4-5 servings. You gotta get the hang of cooking it (always drain it as much as possible!) but once you do it's pretty versatile. You can throw it in a stir fry, marinate it with bbq sauce & grill it, or my personal favorite - scramble it like you would eggs.
Eggs & dairy.
I like to make pretty simple casserole type dishes - pasta/bean/veggie & sauce.... or rice/bean/veggie.... you can use canned, frozen, fresh veggies - whatever is cheaper and easier for you and rice, beans, pasta, are all pretty cheap too. You get a complete meal in one and can make a few servings at once.
There's always the veggie burgers and soy meats. They can be expensive though and I don't advocate relying on them too heavily, but they're great for transitioning to veggie eating. I find them on sale on target for a good price. You could mix the ground meat into chili, pasta, etc. or do a veggie burger night.
Black bean taco/mexican night is always a fun idea

A recipe I really like and won't break the bank is shepard's pie. Potatos, cheese, and "meat" - you can either use soy "meat' crumbles or you can use lentils. with a mushroom gravy. lots of varieties on the recipe but it's really good!

Also, if you're trying to save money watch the organic stuff. You don't need everything to be organic. Try to stick to the most important ones!

CleanEats4AppleCheeks

I don't eat a lot of meat. I just do not like it very much. So I have lots of meatless meals. One of my favorites that I eat a couple times a week is a healthly "fried rice". I use Quinoa cooked in Chicken broth, Asian Stirfry veggies, Egg Whites, Low Sodium Soy Sauce, Sesame Oil (if I have it), and Chili Flakes. I just Scramble the eggs first and then throw in eveything else. Really satisfies my craving for chinese takeout:)

I also like to do Quinoa and Blackbeans with Salsa and any veggies I have on hand.