NEED MEATLESS HELP!

prencesskl
prencesskl Posts: 123
edited September 24 in Food and Nutrition
So since today, and every friday for the next few weeks during lent are meatless, and the whole pizza thing isn't gonna work like we always had growing up... I need some ideas, and they have to be good, because hubby is not gonna be keen on the no meat and pizza thing lol

Replies

  • Nogo
    Nogo Posts: 105 Member
    Lots of Tilapia and other fish. Tuna hot dish. And I made an amazing Mushroom and Brown Rice soup. I'll post the recipe on my blog later. Good luck!
  • melsinct
    melsinct Posts: 3,512 Member
    EatingWell.com has loads of great low cal vegetarian recipes. I especially love their Catalan Sauteed Polenta w/Butter Beans.
  • cavycity
    cavycity Posts: 24 Member
    Try "A Grain, A Green, and a Bean". Any grain (rice, barley, quinoa), any bean (black beans are my fave), and any green (collard greens, spinach, kale). Cook the grain first, then add the other two until they're hot. You can season with garlic, pepper, lemon, any kind of flavors you like. It is super filling, healthy, and gives you tons of energy. It is also very easy to make.
  • melusinagr
    melusinagr Posts: 205 Member
    For Greek Orthodox lent we are entirely meatless for 49 days - and I'm a picky eater so it has been a challenge. Luckily, pizza places here make pizza with veggie cheese, so we can satisfy our pizza cravings. I make black bean chili, black bean taco filling, and black bean and rice burgers that are really good. I also make a tofu lasagna that my husband likes *almost* as much as full meat and ricotta lasagna. Best thing is to search for vegan recipes online, most of these recipes I use I've found on Allrecipes.com.
  • Barelmy
    Barelmy Posts: 590 Member
    I'm a vegan. You can have a look at my diary if you like, but bear in mind that I tend to snack a lot rather than eat proper meals.

    I don't know what kind of things you usually eat, but it shouldn't be too hard to make it veg*n. For instance, mushrooms make a decent substitute for meat in things like bolognaise, lasagne, and chilli. Or you could make your own seitan - vegan dad has a good recipe here; http://vegandad.blogspot.com/2008/03/homemade-sausages.html.
  • wriglucy
    wriglucy Posts: 1,064 Member
    Maybe a veggie chop suey, or veggie lasagna. I saw somebody put up a recipe for a low cal eggplant parm too. I don't eat meat, so for me it's not an issue...but my husband can't eat meat those days, so he sticks to the fish for meat.
  • AggieCass09
    AggieCass09 Posts: 1,867 Member
    check out my dairy and blog for ideas.....I'm a vegetarian!
  • bbear
    bbear Posts: 96 Member
    I'm catholic too so I know what you mean. On of my favorites is veggie fajitas: sliced onions, bell peppers, corn, black olives, and canned black beans (rinsed and drained). Just sautee up in a tsp of olive oil and serve with corn tortillas.
  • humpalc
    humpalc Posts: 140
    We bake fish a lot, or do eggs... we have gotten shrimp pizza before and loved it, but I haven't tried making it yet: ) veg versions of soups work well, too. Minestrone, veg barley...
  • Barelmy
    Barelmy Posts: 590 Member
    Oh, have a look at Asian food. Hindus are traditionally vegitarian, and there's quite a lot of veg*n South-East Asian recipes out there.
  • kms1981
    kms1981 Posts: 207 Member
    I love to take black beans, frozen corn, red and green peppers, onion and cook it down with chili powder and hot sauce, then top it with cheese in a low cal, low carb mission tortilla...so yummy. I am a vegetarian...I look at sparkpeople.com for healthy ideas.
  • epj78
    epj78 Posts: 643 Member
    I always use lent to get me into the fish habit again. I'm not a fish lover by nature - but use lent to explore new things. Tonight is Swai fish (marinated) with steamed veggies and brown rice. Already bought some tuna steaks for the grill for when it warms up a little - plan on doing those veggie ka-bobs. Shrimp stir fry is another favorite I do.

    I gave up cheese two years ago for lent - so I know how tough it can be without it for a fallback (this year I gave up pizza for the exact reason you mentioned - way too easy to do that every Friday!!).

    Oh, and tofu lasagna with soy crumbles for meat is actually really good. If you don't tell hubby - he may not know it isn't "real" cheese.
  • meggonkgonk
    meggonkgonk Posts: 2,066 Member
    I like mac n cheese...I will likely be having a lot of Pizza myself tho...

    My fave mac n cheese (much adaptable - so play with it!)

    Campbell's Tomato Soup
    1lb pasta
    3-4 ozCheese of choice
    Veggies at own discretion - I like broccoli

    Boil pasta
    Heat soup, (Add water slowly- you want it to stay thick and sticky)
    (At this point you would also want to boil or steam your veggies)
    Mix all ingredients except the cheese

    Layer pasta mix into a casserole dish, layering with cheese about every 1-3 inches. Pop in warm oven until cheese is melty. Enjoy.
  • jsmjboertlein
    jsmjboertlein Posts: 267
    Swordfish is verrrry filling for hubby and low calories for you. Also Mako shark is very steaky. I don't know much about what you can and can't have as far as meat is concerned but those are 2 big hits in my family. Even my daughter loves the swordfish. I bake it in a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil with lemon juice and season salt sprinkled on top.
  • Nich0le
    Nich0le Posts: 2,906 Member
    I'm not religious so correct me if I'm wrong but isn't fish meat???

    Anyway, there are so many options for meatless dishes, including replacing meat with beans, lentils, veggies etc in your regular meat dishes.

    Hummus and veggies, chili, garbanzo bean salad ( will have to find the recipe but can post if you like its very delicious), black bean burritos, tostadas, of course veggie pizzas, salads with nuts or beans on top , veggie soups (just omit the usual ham for flavor and add a touch of salt if needed), tofu (if you can choke it down), pasta with marinara sauce, etc etc etc.,

    Eat Well was mentioned but most foodie sites have recipe helpers, cookinglight.com, marthastewart.com, eatwell.com, myrecipes.com, recipefinder.com, etc etc..
  • udallmom101
    udallmom101 Posts: 564 Member
    I use the Morning Star Soy Crumbles. My family has no idea there is not meat in the spaghetti or lasagna. My husband is not Catholic, so he doesn't get the whole no meat thing. Potato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches are nice too.
  • cupcakecarnivore
    cupcakecarnivore Posts: 267
    What about indian food? I make a really good Vegetarian vindaloo

    1 jar of pataks vindaloo paste (only four tablespoons needed though)
    1 container of vegetarian beef broth (yes there is such a thing lol)
    1 can of chickpeas
    1 container of white mushrooms
    1 chopped onion
    lots of garlic:)

    -my husband eats meat so I sometimes throw in some of the "fake" beef strips in to:)

    ---put all ingredients in a slow cooker for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high.

    When just about ready to serve I put naan bread in the oven to heat up, and cook the rice with it, and also mix greek yogurt with some skim milk to drizzle on top of the vindaloo to cool it down!

    Its so delicious! I've made it for a ton of meat eaters, and they all love it:)
  • amycal
    amycal Posts: 646 Member
    You can check out my diary for today - I am also Catholic and observe the no meat on Ash Wed/Friday - and I am totally rocking it on protein today whoo hoo!
  • reneeot
    reneeot Posts: 773 Member
    GREEN CHILI ENCHILADAS
    SPAGHETTI W/ NO MEAT
    BAKED POTATO'S WITH CHEESE
    CHEESE QUESADILLA'S
  • Iris0022
    Iris0022 Posts: 54
    Lentils are a good high protein meat substitute. You can use them anywhere you would use ground meat. They work especially well in mexican dishes and chilli because they absorb all the flavor from the seasoning.
  • TrainerRobin
    TrainerRobin Posts: 509 Member
    You'd have to taste my recipes to believe that this stuff is good, but I love "Beef Not" or "Chicken Not" from Dixie Diner (google it) made into: sloppy joes, taco mixture, or pasta sauce.

    It's easy. You just add a cup of beef stock to the dry TVP and let it set a minute. Toss it into a skillet like beef, add some fresh garlic, diced onions, some taco seasoning mix, some diced up chipotle peppers, some salsa, some cilantro and, voila, it tastes EXACTLY like ground beef with some rocking Mexican flavor. Toss the stuff into a high fiber, low carb/calorie tortilla, top off with some nonfat greek yogurt (tastes like sour cream), a couple pieces of avocado, a squeeze of lime and a touch of fresh cilantro and you have a HUGE, filling meal that's low in calories and super nutritious (you really have to read the nutrition info on their website to believe it).

    I love this stuff -- learned about it from attending a one day seminar put on by the Cooking Cardiologist. Our entire family loves the stuff!! And you can use it for anything that you'd use ground beef in (but not straight up as in a hamburger patty). :)

    Just another option! My sister didn't believe how good this stuff is and now she's using it regularly!!
  • AZiemba
    AZiemba Posts: 17
    I made black bean burgers last night and we all loved them. From a meat&potatoes kind of a husband to a 3 year old. with a thin layer of sour cream and some Frank's red hot, the beef wasn't even missed!
  • melsinct
    melsinct Posts: 3,512 Member
    I'm not religious so correct me if I'm wrong but isn't fish meat???

    It is meat when you talk about it from a vegetarian standpoint (pet peeve of mine: fish eaters who call themselves vegetarian). However, for some Biblical reason, Catholics say fish is OK but all other meat isn't on Fridays during Lent.

    My disclaimer: I am not Catholic nor Christian!
  • Valtishia
    Valtishia Posts: 811 Member
    Many people use TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein) as a meat replacement. You can buy it many different ways.. bigger chunks if using in stews or smaller pieces about the size of fish food for dishes that would noramlly include ground beef. I always buy it at bulk food stores.. you can get it flavoured or unflavoured, but watch for the sodium devil in the flavoured ones. Its dry initially, just hydrate with water.
  • meggonkgonk
    meggonkgonk Posts: 2,066 Member
    I'm not religious so correct me if I'm wrong but isn't fish meat???

    It is meat when you talk about it from a vegetarian standpoint (pet peeve of mine: fish eaters who call themselves vegetarian). However, for some Biblical reason, Catholics say fish is OK but all other meat isn't on Fridays during Lent.

    My disclaimer: I am not Catholic nor Christian!

    Dorky Religion Minor chiming in on the fish-ness of lent.

    Christians give up meat during lent, dogmatically, to symbolize not partaking in the sacrifice of "The Lamb" (a title or symbolic reference to Jesus). No animals are to be "sacrificed", and historically since people butchered their own cattle - it came to be associated no meat from cattle. Fish simply weren't killed in the same manner of visible bloodshed- just dragged out of the water. So it's not going vegetarian for lent, it is specifically not participating in the process of butchering (and you can argue semantics but that's the thought process).

    From an early Christian economic point of view, it also was to help support a community that was largely composed of the fishing trade (Jesus' teachings were most accepted by fishers, so the early community of Christians started eating fish during lent to support this trade and to commemorate the symbolism Jesus often invoked- "I will make you fishers of men").

    Dork Girl, Away!!
This discussion has been closed.

Categories