Vegetarians or Vegans or even Wannabees Wanna Group?

Okay, I'd like to start giving some tips that work for me.

#1 Be prepared - Always, always, always have lots of fresh veggies in the house. I buy organic baby spinach, coleslaw mix (shredded cabbage), peppers, carrots, bananas, fresh pineapple, cantaloupe, blueberries, (whatever is in season) at Sam's Club a few times a week. We can go through one of those big (1 pound) tubs of baby spinach in a few days. I hate to throw good food in the compost pile, so I prepare my meals around what's fresh, ripe and available.

#2 Plan each meal around a high fiber bulky food option. If you start your day with a bulky breakfast, you won't tend to be as hungry later in the day.
Breakfast:
Pineapple/banana/blueberry fruit salad with homemade granola (or store bought if you can find a good one).
Cantaloupe/blueberries/banana with buckwheat groats & soy milk. (I sprout my own hulled buckwheat and use some fresh and dry the rest.)
Oatmeal, cinnamon & banana with a little soy milk.
Today I had Pineapple with Soy Silk Yogurt and some granola on top. Yummy after my run!

Lunch or Dinner:
Fill a large bowl with about 2 cups of chopped Spinach and about 2 cups of chopped coleslaw mix and 1/2 cup of beans. You can do so much with this and it's easy to keep on hand. Change the beans and dressings and add a few more choice veggies to make totally different meals.

White beans with Italian dressing, peppers, shredded carrots, etc.
Black beans with salsa and cashew nut dressing, zucchini, peppers, tomatoes, etc.
Adzuki beans (Asian red beans) with sesame oil/soy sauce/garlic/chili garlic sauce dressing, cucumber, peppers, peanuts
A vegan garden burger with ketchup/mustard/relish dressing, onions, tomatoes, etc.

We try not to use to much 'processed' foods, but it can't always be helped. Sometimes we just have 1/2 a steamed cauliflower or equal amount of steamed broccoli and a vegan burger type product for dinner. We just discovered some 'certified vegan' products at Albertsons made by 'gardein'. www.gardein.com. The chick'n scallopini is pretty good!

SNACKS:
Adamami
100 calorie popcorn

Can't wait to hear more suggestions from everyone else!

Yup, I'm in. I think a group would be great.

I am in Ottawa, Canada.

(and have been a vegetarian since '97)

So great to read through these posts and get new ideas and tips! :flowerforyou:

Went to Trader Joe's the other day and last night had pasta with their vegan meatballs and low sodium marinara... it was delicious! Today will be a huge salad with lots of veggies, black beans, and a tofu burger cut into strips on top. mmmm....

I'm in too! Just started eating vegetarian this week! In the meantime it is forcing me to learn how to cook, lol. I used to just live on plain chicken/fish and veggies but it has always been in the back of my head to become vegetarian. So I am officially making the leap.

Have you guys seen Forks Over Knives? I posted some videos on my Facebook page. I can't wait to see it.

I look forward to chatting!

hey all! for all the 'wannabes' and this includes me cause im so new to it, watch Earthlings. Google it, you can watch it for free online. It converted me months ago, I now can't stomach meat. When I smell it it smells like murder, not yummy food!

OMG - couldn't even get through it. That's what pushed me over the edge. It started for health reasons but I get upset when my kid's pet fish or hermit crab dies. I was just kidding myself pretending it was OK to eat animals because I didn't actually SEE them killed. Ugg.

Anyway, not to get too far off track - I just look forward to this new journey!

I agree, if you're on the fence watch 'Earthlings' and Sir Paul McCartney "If Slaughterhouses Had Glass Walls..." (13 minutes on YouTube). Both are basically unwatchable if you are a compassionate earthling, but I watched some, and listened to the rest (almost as hard), just so I can reaffirm WHY I'm Vegan.

I was also vegetarian/vegan for health reasons. My doctor told me, "You're just one of those people that can't lower their cholesterol without medication." I proved her WRONG by going Vegan and reducing my protein intake. People don't realize that protein can raise your cholesterol too (read 'The China Study' by T Colin Campbell, and 'Eat To Live" by Dr. Joel Fuhrman).

@ElaineKatko, I'm going to look up Forks Over Knives! Thanks!

I grew up eating lots of cheese. My mother thought it was a spice. LOL Once you get used to not using it, you kind of forget about it. Do a Google search for creamy nut butter dressings that use soy milk. I'll post my recipe below. I use this kind of like a sour cream on taco salad.

Cashew or Almond Butter Dressing (2 servings)
2 tablespoons cashew or almond butter
juice of 1/2 lemon
garlic powder
1/4 cup soy milk

Mix it all together in a small food processor. If you want to stretch this and make more, use more soy milk to thin it. If it's too thin, add some flax meal to thicken.

Egg Replacer? If I want to make a banana bread or other quick bread, I use flax meal. It gives it a nutty flavor and works great for baking and pancakes.

I'm all about a veggie group! I've been a vegetarian for about 7 and a half years and was a vegan for a short time. I had to give up the vegan kick, though, as I was a freshman in college with nothing more than a microwave and mini-fridge..and of course no money.

ohh.. I'm vegetarian too! Count me in..:happy:

new vegetarian actually just started easing into it ! And am going full out starting tomorrow

does anyone have any tips for veggies, like...what not to eat

for example, gelatin is meat
and some pies and pastries use animal lard

but i still make mistakes from time to time, like apparently hot and sour soup isn't a veggie base, i thought it was since they used tofu! i still need to look that one up. but anything not to eat is always good to hear too

Since you just said "veggie," I wasn't sure if you were vegetarian or vegan, so I included dairy stuff too. Sorry! Hopefully some of this list is helpful though - I just listed stuff off the top of my head that I'm so used to looking for now, but I would be interested in hearing what others might have to add.

-Geletain (like you said), including a lot of gel-capsules if you take vitamins of any sort, unless they specifically state vegetarian friendly.
-Noodles or soups in restaurants or even canned - a lot of them use beef or chicken broths, so make sure you ask or check the ingredients.
-Fried food in restaurants (same as the soups or pastas, some use animal flavoring - make sure to ask).
-Some wines & beers include an ingredient called "isinglass" that comes from fish.
-Lard.
-Vitamin D3 is animal-derived, whereas D2 is plant derived.
-Casein, whey, rennet (all animal dairy products).
-Dry pasta (may contain egg).
-Mayonnaise (may contain egg).

Those are some of the bigger ones off the top of my head, but there's a really thorough list here:
http://www.happycow.net/health-animal-ingredients.html

That's a bit more than I could probably ever remember, but luckily most vegan or vegetarian friendly products usually state that they are free from animal products. There's also a pocket guide that you can download and print, in case you're ever unsure and wanna check on an ingredient.

-Some wines & beers include an ingredient called "isinglass" that comes from fish.
-Lard.
- on an ingredient.

wow did not know that about wine...but I am still researching and learning.....thanks for the info!

Two recipes I have made this week and both are really good:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Moroccan-Lentil-Salad/Detail.aspx

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Quinoa-and-Black-Bean-Chili/Detail.aspx

Ate some pre-marinated coconut curry tempeh last night. Not so sure I'm a big fan, but I bought 3 more packaged (one is garlic something and two are plain tempeh) so I guess I have time to try it out different ways. Just printed out a recipe for tempeh bacon!

http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/10560?section=

Pickycook.com is my new favorite thing in the world. We made this one night before last and had leftovers again yesterday. It was sooooo good and beautifully colorful! We made a different mushroom gravy, but the herb roasted veggies were delicious and pretty low-cal.

http://pickycook.com/maincourse/herbspiceroastedvegetableswithredwinemushroomgravy.aspx

Thanks, just bookmarked her blog!

Oh you so have to try tempeh "Tuna" salad.. delish! I have the recipe in my blog. It's taken from Alicia Silverstone's cook

Just looked at the recipe, and I am DEFINITELY trying that. How'd you like the Kind Diet overall, by the way? I was looking at it a while ago and thought about buying it, but ultimately purchased Vegan Planet instead. I would've bought both if I wasn't strapped for cash so much lately. :P