I'm going vegetarian!!
MaitreyeeMAYHEM
Posts: 559 Member
So i'm considering going vegetarian. Any thoughts or comments? I just have a hard time thinking about what veggies and fruits I should eat instead of getting bored. Any good recipes I can make? I am a REALLY good cook. I'm East Indian and love chicken curry but they also have potato and other types of veggie currys. I'm just worried about my protein intake. I eat nuts and turkey sandwiches but if I'm really gonna go through this I need some other options. Protein shakes? Idk, I just need help!
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Replies
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Congrats on your decision! There's a great website called thekindlife.com that has amazing support and recipes on it. Also, the cookbook Appetite for Reduction is amazing, and all the recipes are super simple, low cal, and delicious! You can also check out my blog in my signature line for simple recipes as well. Best of luck to you!0
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My daughter found this recipe on CC and it sounded crazy! Butternut squash, garlic and cranberries ! ( ifind cranberries to sweet so i use prunes!?) But she was curious so had to try it. Sure enough, with a little tweaking, it was a taste-bud sensation! This freezes well and refridgerates for up to 3 days. I know the combination of flavours sounds crazy, I was skeptical too, but it really tastes delicious! I eat it on its own, its quite a large portion. Would perhaps go well with a small green salad, and maybe some bulgur wheat or brown rice if you fancy some starchy carbs/grains.
Butternut Squash and Lentil Casserole
Serves: 6
500g Butternut Squash
1 1/2 cups green lentils
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 cloves garlic
3g thyme
400g tomatoes, tinned
100g dried cranberries/prunes
1 tsp olive oil
1 onion
1 chicken stock cube
400 ml water
Boil the lentils in the chicken stock cube and water for 1 hour.
Roast the squash in chunks in the oven for 30 mins.
Warm the oil and add finely chopped garlic and coarsley chopped onion.
Add the squash and any fluids which may have come off during roasting.
Drain the lentils, reserving the stock and adding it to the pan.
When the squash begings to break up a little, add the lentils and tin of tomatoes.
Simmer for 20 mins then add cinnamon,nutmeg, thyme & cranberries or prunes .
Mix well and leave to simmer for 30-45 minutes, or until the squash has almost completely broken down and the sauce has thickened.
227 calories per serving, 0.2g F, 0.0g SF, 44.2g C, 6.9g S, 10.1g Fb, 11.9g P
This freezes well and refridgerates for up to 3 days. I know the combination of flavours sounds crazy, I was skeptical too, but it really tastes delicious! I eat it on its own, its quite a large portion. Would perhaps go well with a small green salad, and maybe some bulgur wheat or brown rice if you fancy some starchy carbs/grains.0 -
My wife makes her own veggie burgers with lentils and beans and tofu..plenty of protein in them and they actually taste pretty good. Search around and you can find plenty of recipes...0
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Congrats on your decision! There's a great website called thekindlife.com that has amazing support and recipes on it. Also, the cookbook Appetite for Reduction is amazing, and all the recipes are super simple, low cal, and delicious! You can also check out my blog in my signature line for simple recipes as well. Best of luck to you!
omg thank you. i just wanna make sure I stick with it.0 -
My daughter found this recipe on CC and it sounded crazy! Butternut squash, garlic and cranberries ! ( ifind cranberries to sweet so i use prunes!?) But she was curious so had to try it. Sure enough, with a little tweaking, it was a taste-bud sensation! This freezes well and refridgerates for up to 3 days. I know the combination of flavours sounds crazy, I was skeptical too, but it really tastes delicious! I eat it on its own, its quite a large portion. Would perhaps go well with a small green salad, and maybe some bulgur wheat or brown rice if you fancy some starchy carbs/grains.
Butternut Squash and Lentil Casserole
Serves: 6
500g Butternut Squash
1 1/2 cups green lentils
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 cloves garlic
3g thyme
400g tomatoes, tinned
100g dried cranberries/prunes
1 tsp olive oil
1 onion
1 chicken stock cube
400 ml water
Boil the lentils in the chicken stock cube and water for 1 hour.
Roast the squash in chunks in the oven for 30 mins.
Warm the oil and add finely chopped garlic and coarsley chopped onion.
Add the squash and any fluids which may have come off during roasting.
Drain the lentils, reserving the stock and adding it to the pan.
When the squash begings to break up a little, add the lentils and tin of tomatoes.
Simmer for 20 mins then add cinnamon,nutmeg, thyme & cranberries or prunes .
Mix well and leave to simmer for 30-45 minutes, or until the squash has almost completely broken down and the sauce has thickened.
227 calories per serving, 0.2g F, 0.0g SF, 44.2g C, 6.9g S, 10.1g Fb, 11.9g P
This freezes well and refridgerates for up to 3 days. I know the combination of flavours sounds crazy, I was skeptical too, but it really tastes delicious! I eat it on its own, its quite a large portion. Would perhaps go well with a small green salad, and maybe some bulgur wheat or brown rice if you fancy some starchy carbs/grains.
That sounds REALLY good!!! My parents are also dieting and they LOVE casseroles.0 -
It's great that you're taking this positive step! I was vegetarian for about 15 years, and then went back to just fish. But I will tell you, I absolutely love the vegetarian meat substitutes. Some examples are the Morning Star sausage patties, which I like to break up as they cook in the pan and make with veggies, egg whites, and soy cheese for a delicious breakfast wrap; the Morning Star Farms "chicken" strips are great in stir fries, which I usually do with some kind of curry sauce (jarred for me, unfortunately) and is delicious; and the LightLife veggie ground beef is fantastic in pasta sauce to make it into a hearty "meat" sauce. Oh, and Tofurky hickory smoked deli slices are awesome on a sandwich with avocado. Let me know if you have any other questions. But all these things are packed with protein. And imo, people have a misconception about us needing a huge amt of protein to be healthy. Best of luck!!!0
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Chickpea and Spinach Curry
My family loves it when I cook this! There are 3 servings because I eat it on its own as a meal, but if you have it with rice, or pilau bulgur as I occasionally do, you can half the portion size. This is so incredibly low calorie for a huge portion and one of the meals I tend to make in bulk and keep in the freezer for a while. It really is delicious! Don't be daunted by all the herbs and spices, they are all great for using with other things.
Chickpea and Spinach Curry
Serves: 3
240g chick peas, canned, drained weight (basically one tin)
400g tomatoes, canned
100g spinach
8 mushrooms
1 onion
2g yellow mustard seeds
5g paprika
5g cumin
2g ginger
2g garam masala
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1g pepper
1 small red pepper
1 small green pepper
2 small yellow pepper
Heat the oil in the bottom of a large pan.
Add the mustard seeds on low temperature
When the mustard seeds start to pop add in the sliced onions garlic and ginger with a little water.
When the onions soften add in the mushrooms and peppers.
Add in the spices and herbs and cover for 5 mins until all the veg is soft.
Add in the chickpeas and cover for 5 more mins.
Add in the chopped tomatoes and stir well.
After 5 or so mins add the spinach (about 6/7 lumps frozen).
Mix the spinach in so its covered by the sauce.
Cover it up but keep stirring every few mins.
It can be served as soon as the spinach is cooked (i.e. not frozen in big lumps, but flavour intensifies the longer you simmer it for.
It may need simmering without the lid to reduce the wateriness of the sauce.
240 calories per serving, 7.4g F, 0.9g SF, 38.2 C, 8g S, 9.5 Fb, 9.8g P0 -
Congrats! I'm thinking of doing the same thing, although I plan on taking a slower approach to it. I would suggest researching the entire way of living (and it is a way of living not just eating). There are different types of vegetarians/categories and figuring out which one you would prefer to be may also help in your decision making.
Good luck!0 -
My daughter found this recipe on CC and it sounded crazy! Butternut squash, garlic and cranberries ! ( ifind cranberries to sweet so i use prunes!?) But she was curious so had to try it. Sure enough, with a little tweaking, it was a taste-bud sensation! This freezes well and refridgerates for up to 3 days. I know the combination of flavours sounds crazy, I was skeptical too, but it really tastes delicious! I eat it on its own, its quite a large portion. Would perhaps go well with a small green salad, and maybe some bulgur wheat or brown rice if you fancy some starchy carbs/grains.
Butternut Squash and Lentil Casserole
Serves: 6
500g Butternut Squash
1 1/2 cups green lentils
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 cloves garlic
3g thyme
400g tomatoes, tinned
100g dried cranberries/prunes
1 tsp olive oil
1 onion
1 chicken stock cube
400 ml water
Boil the lentils in the chicken stock cube and water for 1 hour.
Roast the squash in chunks in the oven for 30 mins.
Warm the oil and add finely chopped garlic and coarsley chopped onion.
Add the squash and any fluids which may have come off during roasting.
Drain the lentils, reserving the stock and adding it to the pan.
When the squash begings to break up a little, add the lentils and tin of tomatoes.
Simmer for 20 mins then add cinnamon,nutmeg, thyme & cranberries or prunes .
Mix well and leave to simmer for 30-45 minutes, or until the squash has almost completely broken down and the sauce has thickened.
227 calories per serving, 0.2g F, 0.0g SF, 44.2g C, 6.9g S, 10.1g Fb, 11.9g P
This freezes well and refridgerates for up to 3 days. I know the combination of flavours sounds crazy, I was skeptical too, but it really tastes delicious! I eat it on its own, its quite a large portion. Would perhaps go well with a small green salad, and maybe some bulgur wheat or brown rice if you fancy some starchy carbs/grains.
That sounds REALLY good!!! My parents are also dieting and they LOVE casseroles.
Thank you even my meat eating husband loves this!0 -
Vegetarian Resource Group www.vrg.org has great info about vegetarianism and great recipes too.
If you go to peta.org you can sign up for their weekly email and they always have a good recipe in that too.
There's tons of veggie food with protein in it and a lot of times you can even eat it for a lot cheaper than you would meat.
Plus once you go vegetarian you're less likely to have vitamin deficiencies!
Feel free to friend me and ask any questions you might have. I've been vegan for just under a year.0 -
I just made this decision too, and I just passed the 1 week mark!
You will find it easy to substitute things like tofu and soybeans for protein. (I decided not to cut out fish, so tilapia and salmon are good places also)
I highly highly suggest that you add a column in your food diary to track your iron intake. Most of us get our iron from red meat, but when you cut that out of your diet you seriously risk becoming iron deficient. I've found the easiest way to reach your recommended iron is from Special K or iron-enriched cereal & spinach or other dark greens... you only have to have about 2 cups of Special K to get 90% of your iron.
Good luck.
summertime is the easiest time to do this because of all the wonderful fruits and veggies. It's totally doable. 0 -
Yves makes tons of different meat substitute products that you can use in place of meat. The taste and texture takes a little while for some people to get used to, but when you play with ingredients and preperation methods, they can be quite tasty! I particularly love their Mexican Veggie Round Ground. I fry it up with a little olive oil and garlic powder and make soft shell tacos or taco salad 0
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Morning Star, Boca, and Amy's Kitchen has some good vegetarian products.0
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Although I'm not full 100% vegetarian I only eat meat about once or twice a week for most weeks. What I use for protein are shakes. I'm sure there's a lot of valid reasons to go vegetarian and I don't want to bash anyone but I prefer to be mostly vegetarian but give me the option of enjoying a little bit of something every now and then. I think even the "bad" foods when taken in moderation have some advantages.0
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Great! My parents just stopped eating animal products altogether and dropped a ton of weight, lowered cholesterol, lowered there blood pressure, and more. I'm a vegetarian, and I'm very good at getting the protein I need, because I've had a lot of practice over the years. The best thing to be is knowledgable about it and then you'll think about how to combine certain foods. You can do it with all kinds of food-- Indian Food, too, of course. Here is a website that spells it out very nicely and then gives you a chart about combining certain foods to make a complete protein.
http://www.savvyvegetarian.com/articles/get-enough-protein-veg-diet.php
Word of caution: Vegetarians can eat unhealthfully, too. I know plenty of people that are vegetarian and don't know how to eat well or how to use portion control. Best of luck to you. I love being vegetarian!0 -
Congrats! I've been vegetarian since November now and feel great!! If you are on Facebook, you can get info w/ Vegetarian Times and a few other sites. You can go to www.fatfreevegan.com (I'm not vegan, but I'll take their recipes) to sign up for 1 recipe a day that is emailed to you. There are many sites out there that you can get the info from.
I substitute mushrooms or beans for beef in recipes, and of course there are soy products from Morning Star Farms & Boca. I love Quoron soyless chicken breast (it's mushrooms etc)-- it tastes and looks a lot like chicken. I eat eggs & dairy, so I'm able to get protein via them.
Moosewood has some great recipes, worth buying the book. Also Quick Fix Vegetarian (you can find these on Amazon) has great 30 minute or less meals. Those are two cookbooks I'd recommend.
I already would skip meat 1-2 days a week, but then just went cold turkey and never looked back. Peta has a lot of great recipes on their site, along iwth info (granted, they are obviously very anti meat for their own reasons). For myself, I had complications after having my gallbladder removed and was put on a medication I'd havet o take the rest of my life 2x a day, and I hated the med. I found out when I got rid of meat from my diet, I didn't need the medication any more as there wasn't a bile acid issue. It also dropped my cholesterol down 30 points in 6 months. Lots of great options out there, most restaurants can substitute or have a veggie option. You'll find fast food isn't as easy of a quick fix, but that's a good thing Good luck! 0 -
I have been vegetarian since 98. It is super easy to do but it is a bit harder to stay "healthy" with it since 95% of the foods are carb heavy, the exceptions being vegetables (because of fiber) and eggs. I have to go out of my way to get extra protein with protein powders. I will not ever stop being a vegetarian but it is more difficult to stay "healthy" being vegetarian than eating meat.
The advances the vegetarian market has been in the past years have been amazing! The food actually tastes good now.
Nuts are not too great of an option for protein because the calories are pretty high (high fat).
I get my protein from protein powder, LOTS of eggs, greek yogurt, and tofu.0 -
Chickpea and Spinach Curry
My family loves it when I cook this! There are 3 servings because I eat it on its own as a meal, but if you have it with rice, or pilau bulgur as I occasionally do, you can half the portion size. This is so incredibly low calorie for a huge portion and one of the meals I tend to make in bulk and keep in the freezer for a while. It really is delicious! Don't be daunted by all the herbs and spices, they are all great for using with other things.
Chickpea and Spinach Curry
Serves: 3
240g chick peas, canned, drained weight (basically one tin)
400g tomatoes, canned
100g spinach
8 mushrooms
1 onion
2g yellow mustard seeds
5g paprika
5g cumin
2g ginger
2g garam masala
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1g pepper
1 small red pepper
1 small green pepper
2 small yellow pepper
Heat the oil in the bottom of a large pan.
Add the mustard seeds on low temperature
When the mustard seeds start to pop add in the sliced onions garlic and ginger with a little water.
When the onions soften add in the mushrooms and peppers.
Add in the spices and herbs and cover for 5 mins until all the veg is soft.
Add in the chickpeas and cover for 5 more mins.
Add in the chopped tomatoes and stir well.
After 5 or so mins add the spinach (about 6/7 lumps frozen).
Mix the spinach in so its covered by the sauce.
Cover it up but keep stirring every few mins.
It can be served as soon as the spinach is cooked (i.e. not frozen in big lumps, but flavour intensifies the longer you simmer it for.
It may need simmering without the lid to reduce the wateriness of the sauce.
240 calories per serving, 7.4g F, 0.9g SF, 38.2 C, 8g S, 9.5 Fb, 9.8g P
im gonna make this.0 -
I'm not vegetarian, but I don't eat a lot of meat either... This is a great blog for veggie recipes: http://www.dailygarnish.com/0
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Thanks for the advice everyone!! I wrote all the substitutes and websites down so I can check it out later. I'm always up for new suggestions. What are some good protein shakes?0
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I think that's a fine idea! There are lots of foods that have plenty of protein like beans, lentils, chick peas, broccoli, nuts, potatoes. It's all over the place. We're not vegetarian, but we eat alot less meat than we used to. Good luck!0
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I just got depressed. I realized I can't eat Chicken Tandorri or Chicken Coconut Korma anymore. Those are my two favorite indian dishes? Maybe I can just cut out ground beef and red meats?0
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I just got depressed. I realized I can't eat Chicken Tandorri or Chicken Coconut Korma anymore. Those are my two favorite indian dishes? Maybe I can just cut out ground beef and red meats?
There is a great chicken substitute called Gardein Chick'n Scallopini that is absolutely amazing! Most people I make it for can't even tell the difference between it and a real chicken breast...I'm sure you could use it as a sub in your tandoori or korma recipes!0 -
I just got depressed. I realized I can't eat Chicken Tandorri or Chicken Coconut Korma anymore. Those are my two favorite indian dishes? Maybe I can just cut out ground beef and red meats?
There is a great chicken substitute called Gardein Chick'n Scallopini that is absolutely amazing! Most people I make it for can't even tell the difference between it and a real chicken breast...I'm sure you could use it as a sub in your tandoori or korma recipes!
your a life saver thank you!!! I almost had a heart attack!0
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