Looking for Feedback: Vegan/Vegetarian Recipes/Lifestyle

Sueetie

Hey everyone,

Currently, I am not a "Vegan," but I've been considering incorporating more of that diet type into my lifestyle. I LOOOOVE chicken, so I may not transition into full-Vegan/Vegetarianism, but I'm curious about recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. What are your favorites? What do you get your protein from? What differences do you experience without animals or animal by-products in your diet?

Today is my 8th day on the Master Cleanse (my second time doing it); I usually eat healthier than most people (whole grains, minimal starchy carbs, no red meat or pork, lots of water, no soda, etc) but I don't feel that it's enough. I have a MAJOR sweet-tooth that I'm trying to get under control, so I'm looking for alternative, healthier food ideas. I also want to incorporate more veggies, but I get bored easily, so I need variety.

Tell me what you know!

Thanks

FemininGuns

I was Vegan for a year and Vegetarian for 2.

Here are some recipes:

Eseau’s Pottage of Lentils & Leeks

Ingredients For 2 Servings For 4 Servings

Olive Oil 1 ½ Teaspoons 1 Tablespoon
Sliced Leeks (white and tender green parts), rinsed well 1 ½ cups 3 cups
Garlic, minced 2 cloves 4 cloves
Brown Rice ½ cup 1 cup
Water 2 cups 4 cups
Salt ½ teaspoon 1 teaspoon
Pepper ¼ teaspoon ½ teaspoon
Lentils ½ cup 1 cup

Place the oil in a heavy 2-quart (or 3-quart) saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the leeks and cook, stirring frequently for 3-5 minutes, or until soft.

Stir in the garlic and rice; sauté the mixture for 1-2 minutes or until the rice looks opaque.

Add the water, salt and pepper. Raise the heat to high and bring the mixture quickly to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan and cook for 10 minutes.

While the rice cooks, pick over the lentils and rinse them in cold water; drain well. Stir the lentils into the pan and cook the pottage for 20-25 minutes, or until the rice and lentils are tender and the water is absorbed. If the pottage sticks during cooking, add a little more water; the finished dish should be dry, not soupy.

Per serving: 421 calories, 5.6 g. total fat, 0.8 g saturated fat, 0 mg. cholesterol, 571 mg. sodium, 16.7 g. protein, 78.3 g. carbohydrates, 11.3 g. dietary fiber.




New Boston Baked Beans

Ingredients For 2 Servings For 4 Servings

Onion ½ small 1 small
Canned Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained 16 ounces 32 ounces
Water ¼ cup ½ cup
Molasses 2 tablespoons ¼ cup
Ketchup 2 tablespoons ¼ cup
Dry Mustard ½ teaspoon 1 teaspoon
Pepper To taste To taste

Preheat oven to 300○. Put the onion in a deep 3-cup (1 ½ quart) casserole and cover it with the beans.

In a small saucepan, combine the water, molasses, ketchup, mustard and pepper. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Pour the mixture over the beans.

Set the casserole on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 1 hour without stirring, until the beans are glazed on top and most of the liquid has been absorbed. Serve hot or lukewarm.

***Instead of canned beans, you can soak your own Navy Beans (overnight), then rinse, boil in new water for 10 minutes, discard water and then put beans into slow cooker for the day (low for 8-10 hours) with these ingredients (I added I added and extra ¼ cup of each ingredient in slow cooker)***

Per serving: 248 calories, 1 g. total fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg. cholesterol, 171 mg. sodium, 11.8 g. protein, 49.6 g. carbohydrates, 7.4 g. dietary fiber.


Michelle’s GOOD SOUP!

Ingredients Measurement


Vegetable Oil 1 tbsp (15 ml)
Green Onions 4 chopped
Carrots 3 chopped
Potato (regular or sweet) 1 peeled and chopped
Tomato paste 1 tbsp (15 ml)
Mild Curry Paste 2 tsp (10 ml)
Vegetable Stock 2 ½ cups
Water 2 ½ cups
Dried Red Lentils 1 cup
Collard Greens or Baby Spinach 2 cups (packed)
Summer Squash (OPTIONAL) 2 cups

In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat; fry chopped green onions, carrots and potato/squash, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened, about 4 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and curry paste.

Add stock, water and lentils; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until lentils are tender, about 12 minutes. Stir in spinach or collard greens. Turn off heat, let sit for 5 minutes before serving.


Portobello Fajitas

Ingredients Measurement


Vegetable Oil 1 tablespoon
Garlic 1 clove
Ground Cumin 1 Teaspoon
Salt ½ Teaspoon
Fresh Portobello Mushrooms ¾ pound sliced thin
Bell Pepper 1 cup sliced
Onion 1 cup chopped

Heat oil in skillet. Add mushrooms, onion and bell pepper to pan. Season with salt and pepper and cook stirring frequently for 5-6 minutes until veggies are just tender. Serve with flour tortillas, salsa and guacamole. You can also use Toffuti cream cheese (found in health food section) to spread on flour tortilla.



Lentil Tomato Sauce

1 cup brown lentils
½ teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon dried basil
2 cups of tomato sauce
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 ½ teaspoons black pepper
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
8 ounces thin spaghetti (or brown rice *better*)
1 ½ teaspoons olive oil
3 or 4 sprigs of parsley (optional)

Bring the lentils, thyme, basil and 2 cups of water to boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until the lentils are al dente, about 12-15 minutes. Drain the lentils.

Combine the lentils, tomato sauce, onion, pepper, pepper flakes, oregano and salt in a saucepan. Simmer over low hear for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.

Cook the spaghetti according to the package directions. Drain and rinse. In a large serving bowl, toss the spaghetti with the olive oil. Pour the sauce over the spaghetti. Garnish with parsley, if desired.

Makes 4 servings.


Michelle’s Sweet and Sour Superb Rice!

1 can of black beans
1 can of corn
1 onion
1 ½ cups of mushrooms
Garlic to taste
1 Package of Frozen Asparagus
2 Packages of Pineapple Mix for rice (Indian Food Section)
2 cups of Brown Rice
1 cup of bite sized Pineapple

Reheat or thaw asparagus, cut into 1 to 1 ½ inch.

In a separate skillet, sauté onions, mushrooms and garlic until likeable consistency. Then mix in beans and corn and asparagus. After all is pretty much ready, mix in the rice and your 2 packages of pineapple mix. Once this is all mixed together, add your pineapples. Once the pineapples are warm you can serve as meal.

Now... MAKE SURE YOU COUNT YOUR CALORIES if you're working out. Make sure you get your B-12 checked regularly if you completely go vegan/vegetarian and make sure that your iron is good too. I had to eat meat again, because I couldn't train and be vegan - just wasn't cut out for it energy wise. I was eating a lot when vegan but still not enough to maintain the calories I needed. For myself, I noticed that I looked healthier when eating meat (responsibly) and not just veggies (I looked like I was on the green side).

I loved Yves Tofu Italian Sausages on the bbq.

You may want to read up on Soy products and it's effects on the body.

Lastly, about our sugar cravings: cut out all refined/unatural sugars and switch to stevia or honey (you won't have this if you're vegan), and cut out the milk (it will help with cravings) and replace with unsweetened almond milk. There is sugar in almost everything we eat - so eat the labels. Since I've eaten like this the only time I crave these is when I am VERY tired...

Hope this info helped!

lizzy755

Hey,

I've been vegetarian for about 8 years now and don't even think about touching meat anymore. I do eat dairy products though. For protein I eat eggs, lots of tofu and quorn. Quite a few veggie products actually have more protein than their meat counterparts. Otherwise I eat a mish mash of foods really. Vegetable wise I love aubergine and mushrooms so aubergine parmigiana is great. I like cheese too so cheesy pastas with vegetables in them or a salad on the side are good. Soups are easy to prepare and you can chuck loads of vegetables in those - carrot and coriander, broccoli and stilton, butternut squash etc etc.

I don't really notice any side effects from not eating meat however I do take iron tablets daily as a supplement.

My friend recently turned vegan so I've looking at recipes and stuff. Try this website for some basics. http://www.simpleveganrecipes.co.uk/

And here's one for vegetarian recipes.
http://www.vegcooking.com/searchrecipes.asp

Hope this helps!

FemininGuns

Veggie123.com is a good site as well...

Mindful_Trent

This is my newest favorite vegetarian (and I think it's vegan-friendly) recipe: http://www.postpunkkitchen.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=15959

It's a recipe for baked Seitan, which is a great vegetarian protein source and a good alternative for those who aren't a huge tofu fan. (Or who want more variety.) I don't mind tofu, but the texture of this is so much better (in my opinion). I'm not a vegetarian myself, but I could eat this in place of meat every day! It's a pretty spice-filled recipe, but would be easy to tweak the spices if your preferences differ.

misspenny762

Hey everyone,

Currently, I am not a "Vegan," but I've been considering incorporating more of that diet type into my lifestyle. I LOOOOVE chicken, so I may not transition into full-Vegan/Vegetarianism, but I'm curious about recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. What are your favorites? What do you get your protein from? What differences do you experience without animals or animal by-products in your diet?

Today is my 8th day on the Master Cleanse (my second time doing it); I usually eat healthier than most people (whole grains, minimal starchy carbs, no red meat or pork, lots of water, no soda, etc) but I don't feel that it's enough. I have a MAJOR sweet-tooth that I'm trying to get under control, so I'm looking for alternative, healthier food ideas. I also want to incorporate more veggies, but I get bored easily, so I need variety.

Tell me what you know!

Thanks

Maybe consider going flexitarian? I did, and I feel GREAT. If you don't know, it basically means you just eat meat a couple of times a week (I've also cut out red meat almost entirely). According to Michael Pollan, it's just as healthy as vegetarianism. It's also a lot cheaper than having to buy meat all the time

LaSirena29

If you've got a sweet tooth, have you tried black bean brownies? They are really yummy and I've served them to many people, never telling them that black beans are the secret ingredient. No one has ever guessed. They're really more fudgey than traditional brownies. They bake in an 8x8 pan. If you cut them into 9 squares, they are only 127 calories each.

Black Bean Brownies
15 ounces black beans, drained and rinsed
2 whole bananas
⅓ cup agave nectar
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup raw sugar (optional-use if your bananas aren't very ripe)
¼ cup instant oats


Preheat oven to 350F. Grease anf 8x8" pan and set aside. Combine all ingredients, except oats, in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth, scrapping sides as needed. Stir in the oats and pour batter into the pan. Bake approx 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool before slicing.

If you find the brownies are too soft or too fudgey for your taste, add another 1/4 cup oats or flour.