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Crappy Vegetarian Needs Advice from a Pro

phatty4dayz
phatty4dayz Posts: 125 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hello all! I have been a vegetarian (no meat, poultry, or seafood) for a year now. The problem is, I'm the worst type of vegetarian possible. I have been suplementing meat with potatoes, pasta, and other carb-overloaded choices. Basicly, I need help with what I should be eating. Vegetables is the obvious answer, but I'm not all that interested in muching on stalks of celery all day. I like flavorful food that won't take 100 ingredients or hours to make. I have two jobs and am always on the go, so I don't have time for that.

Also, I need options for when I'm out if I forget to pack my food with me. My previous choice of french fries are no loger gonna cut it. Ideally fast food would not be an option, but in the real world, sometimes its all you have. I'm hoping that maybe if I have a few "go-to" items it will make that golden deep fried potato a non-factor...

Replies

  • Anoble17
    Anoble17 Posts: 37 Member
    I make a spinach salad with blue berries, strawberries, fried peaches, and cherries like you would not believe. You can throw some almonds in there for protein and then you're in business. I also top it with my homemade blueberry vinaigrette.
  • bella8282
    bella8282 Posts: 188 Member
    http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes_menus/collections/healthy_vegetarian_recipes

    http://webecoist.com/2008/10/28/14-quick-vegetarian-recipes-for-the-hopeless-cook/

    http://www.whfoods.com/recipestoc.php

    http://www.healthyfoodguide.com.au/recipes/top-10-vegetarian-dishes


    All these site's have lots of healthy vegitarian options, as well as most of them being quick and easy to prepare, but most of all delicious! Hope it helps!!
  • supertracylynn
    supertracylynn Posts: 1,338 Member
    Sugar snap peas are delicious. Pre-packaged baby carrots are also a nice alternative.
    Have you looked in to fruits, like grapes, berries, cherries, apples?
    Nuts are an easy go-to. Go to Whole Food (or somewhere similar) and buy raw, unsalted nuts. The best in my opinion are Brazilian nuts and cashews. Soy nuts are good and come dry roasted. .

    If you're the type of vegetarian who eats dairy, look in to the Laughing Cow wedges (I'm really liking the garlic herb as well as the tomato basil right now), baby bell cheeses come in a variety of flavors, and low-fat string cheese.

    A nice substitute for rice/pasta is quinoa. (pronounced keen-wah) It's actually a seed, you cook it like rice, and it's better than even brown rice. Or even a small helping of beans. My kids like kidney beans and pinto beans. We are also really fond of black beans.

    Hope this helps!
  • Zeromilediet
    Zeromilediet Posts: 787 Member
    I'm not a vegetarian but one of my favorite ways to get veg is with juices and smoothies and for recipes I go to websites like raw nation and the like. You can get lots of nutrients real quick with a blender or eating cold, raw soups. Current fav is 1/2 cup coconut milk, 1cup frozen berries, 1/2 avocado, 1cup water, and 3-4 leaves kale all buzzed in a blender. I chop, blanch, and freeze the kale before use so it blends easier. Also, great salad: 1 cup each grated beets and cucumber, chopped avocado, on bed of greens with citrus dressing: lemon juice, olive oil,honey, chopped cilantro.
  • cupcakecarnivore
    cupcakecarnivore Posts: 267
    Im a vegetarian and what I try to do is make sure to eat as well rounded as possible (sometimes easier said than done)

    For example, my day usually looks something like this

    breakfast
    Green monster smoothie (spinach, yogurt, banana, soy milk, chia seeds...all blended into a smoothie...delicious)
    or toast with mashed avocado. Both quick easy options:)

    Snack
    apple with yogurt or veggies and hummus

    lunch
    Usually leftovers from last nights dinner....or if Im in a lazy, lentil soup with ryvita crackers with some hummus or laughing cow cheese. If I have more time, I like to make my favorite spinach salad (spinach, asiago cheese, sunflower seeds, cherry tomatoes, chick peas and parmeson and garlic dressing:)

    Dinner
    Whatever I feel like making but it has to be quick and easy. Tonight I made portabello "cheese steak" sandwiches. So good and only about 285 calories per sandwich
    http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/portobello_philly_cheese_steak_sandwich.html

    The other night for dinner, I had a sweet potato (baked in the microwave) with vegetarian baked beans on top, with a bit of low fat sour cream....super quick and easy.

    Its definitely harder when you don't eat meat, to eat a lot more carb heavy meals. But carbs are good for you remember:) Just make sure to incorporate lots of beans and veggies at every meal if possible. And as far as good snacks to keep on hand for when you go out...some almonds, and a luna bar are my go to. But all bets are off when I go to a restaurant....usually I just order whatever looks good and then work out more later if its higher in calories lol
  • KayakAngel
    KayakAngel Posts: 397 Member
    I'm a new vegetarian (only a month so far), but my go-to standby at home is a sweet potato. Those things are just awesome baked or roasted. And I do eat a lot of other roasted vegetables too. For protein, I go with smoothies, black beans w/quinoa, omlettes, tofu and veggie stir fry with ginger, and all kinds of great wraps. I love to try new vegetarian recipes, and I always make extra so I can plan ahead with my leftovers.
  • phatty4dayz
    phatty4dayz Posts: 125 Member
    These are really great tips! I really appreciate it. I've been hearing alot about the smoothie option and am thinking about investing in a Ninja Blending System so I can make them in a snap.

    I never thought about adding fruit to my salads, but that might be the quick and delicious meal that I've been needing. It sounds like a great lunch option.

    A few of you mentioned Laughing Cow cheese... I've never had it, but it sounds like many people are sold on it. I'm adding to my grocery list as we speak.
  • mamagooskie
    mamagooskie Posts: 2,964 Member
    I eat beans, lentils, chickpeas, quinoa, rice, veggies, salad, tons of fruit, cereal, almond milk, tofu, ready to go vegetarian foods like veggie burgers or veggie dogs, mock chicken strips or veggie nuggets, mock ground beef, granola bars, yogurt (greek is awesome for protein), low calories/low fat cheese, really the possiblities are endless.

    I use vegweb a lot and just search for the ingredient I want to use and usually pages of recipies come up and a lot of them are super easy and quick with not a ton of ingredients.
  • mizfit
    mizfit Posts: 118
    Hello,

    There are some great sites to get vegetarian recipes and ones that are not difficult too.
    I really love allrecipes.com. You can type in vegetarian recipes and they will give you a list and they even have the calorie listings.
    Other good sites are fatfreevegan.com which has tons of recipes and pictures, vegetariantimes.com and skinnytaste.com.
    Feel free to add me as a friend if you wish and good luck with everything.
  • razzmahtazz
    razzmahtazz Posts: 78 Member
    Wheatgrass is a great and easy way to get nutrients! I drink it daily!

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