Need help on meal plans for vegetarians :(

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queenpushycat
queenpushycat Posts: 761 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hey to all beautiful people of MFP,

I feel a little unmotivated, but I'm not gonna let myself give up just like that. I need help in ideas on how to plan for my meals since I don't eat meat. Hope you guys can help me out or anybody that has the same problem as me.

Carolin

Replies

  • MiNiMoNkI
    MiNiMoNkI Posts: 447 Member
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    Hey im veggie, do you eat quorn?

    i like cous cous with quorn pieces, then oven cooked, mushrooms, peppers, onions, and butternut squash, its lovely with beetroot some low fat coleslaw, or a pitta.

    Also marrow, stuffed with quorn mince, onions, tomatoes and mushrooms.

    veggie sausages with mashed sweet potatoes and peas.

    And sort of casserole, you can buy packet sauces and pack them with veg.

    goats cheese salads, with warm onions and balsamic vinegar or olive oil

    Veggie spag bol.

    i have some great books, also if you look on the quorn website they have great ideas :) x
  • ozycat
    ozycat Posts: 72 Member
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    As a veggie too, I've never considered it a "problem", i just eat loads of lovely food but without meat. Easy!

    I agree with cowandmonkey - get some quorn, roast veggies with tomato sauce, yummy lentil curry, massive salads.

    http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/content/recipes/vegetarian/ is great for veggie stuff
    http://www.cookveg.co.uk/

    I guess with anything, keep it varied and use lots of different coloured veg and don't foget the protein - quorn, pulses etc.

    LOL! I'm hungry now!

    Enjoy! :-)
  • Jen788134
    Jen788134 Posts: 36 Member
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    I find it easy if you think of "meat meals" and just substitute with Quorn products.

    My favourites to make are:

    * Fajita's (pieces or mince)
    * Lasagne (mince)
    * Chilli con Quorn (mince) with rice or a big jacket potato
    * Bolognaise (mince) with any pasta
    * Sweet and sour Quorn (pieces) with rice
    * Toad in the hole (sausages) with veg and vege gravy
    * Cottage pie (mince)

    Wholewheat penne pasta mixed with pesto and loads of roasted vegetables is delicious and really filling too! Roast dinners with a Quorn escalope is also yummy!

    10214968.png
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Weight Loss Tools
  • lulabellarama
    lulabellarama Posts: 96 Member
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    I'm not veggie but eat LOTS of vegetarian food. Recent meals have been:

    Vegetable tagine with cous cous
    Chickpea curry
    Spinach and sweet potato dahl
    Black bean chilli
    Lentil soup
    Carrot and courgette soup
    Vegetable lasagne
    Black bean quesadillas with homemade salsa
    Leek and potato soup
    Loads of pasta dishes:
    Garlic mushroom pasta
    Artichoke, lemon and chilli pasta
    Green veg, creme fraiche and garlic pasta
    Red pepper and creme fraiche sauce

    Hope some of these inspire
  • AH2013
    AH2013 Posts: 385 Member
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    I find it easy if you think of "meat meals" and just substitute with Quorn products.

    My favourites to make are:

    * Fajita's (pieces or mince)
    * Lasagne (mince)
    * Chilli con Quorn (mince) with rice or a big jacket potato
    * Bolognaise (mince) with any pasta
    * Sweet and sour Quorn (pieces) with rice
    * Toad in the hole (sausages) with veg and vege gravy
    * Cottage pie (mince)

    Wholewheat penne pasta mixed with pesto and loads of roasted vegetables is delicious and really filling too! Roast dinners with a Quorn escalope is also yummy!

    10214968.png
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Weight Loss Tools

    I'm also veggie and this is pretty much what I would eat, but smaller portions than before and fill the plate up with steamed veggies too.
    As veggies we don't get much protein so make sure you're getting plenty of that from the meat substitute (as above), cheese (mac cheese - using wholemeal flour and pasta) and protein supplements! Really important if you are working out too.
    Just take some of your recipes you would have made before and put them together in the recipe section, you may be surprised at how many calories are in a portion, or can see how to cut out certain fats and calories and substitute with other things. That's how I do it.

    Soups are good without oil or butter, and beans are a great source of fibre and protein again. I make bean chilli every single week, its awesome with baked potato for lunch at work too!

    Good luck! :)
  • crossarmant
    crossarmant Posts: 26 Member
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    I've been a vegan for 4 years and I've slew of veg recipes:

    Great Northern Beans w/ tomatoes and italian seasoning
    Black Bean Burritos
    Tofu and Veggie Stir-Frys
    Chickpea & Kidney Bean salad
    Soy & Ginger Kale
    Salty Tempeh Wraps
    Steamed Broccoli w/ lemon juice
    Bunches of veggies stuffed in a tortilla with various salad dressings

    If you're interested in any more, feel free to friend me
  • CurlyClare78
    CurlyClare78 Posts: 68
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    I'm veggie too. I made curry yesterday with cauliflower, peppers, aubergine, onions, spinach, cannellini beans, chickpeas and lentils. I would normally have potatoes in it but I used pulses instead because I'm trying to get plenty of different sources of protein and it was yum :smile:

    I make a big pan of something and freeze in portions for convenience and I've found everything I make freezes really well.
  • gentsevetzak
    gentsevetzak Posts: 147 Member
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    I'm a parttime vegetarian, by far the best veggie cookbook i have is Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi, you can find a lot of recipes by him trough google, he writes a cooking column in The Guardian and frequently presents vegetarian recipes on there.

    Yesterday i made parsnip and apple soup and as a main course bulgur with cauliflower/olives/raisins/saffron and a kefir/tahin dressing out of this cookbook.
    He makes very weird combos but they taste absolutely great.
  • MrsODriscoll
    MrsODriscoll Posts: 127 Member
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    I've been veggie for 20 years and mostly eat vegan and I never feel like I'm missing out. There are loads of great recipe websites and blogs. have you some decent cookbooks? I'd highly recommend Appetite for Reduction if you don't have it.
  • queenpushycat
    queenpushycat Posts: 761 Member
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    Hey to you guys! Wow, thank you for the great response! I am getting more ideas...

    I have to Google about "quorn" lol and, no, I dont have quorn here in my country :(

    I feel tired not because of being a vegetarian, it's because of the limited cooking ways I know (stupid me, i know :P) and i hate eating the substitute meat here because they are processed food and full of fat! :(

    I just bought a book recently called "The Kind Diet" for vegan by Alicia Silverstone. I forgot that she and her husband are both vegans too.. haha... I do eat diary and egg products, but when I'm at home, I would need to leave out onions and garlic (because of my parents)

    And! I do have chickpeas in the house... I don't know why I didn't use them (=_=)

    Please feel free to add me, and also add more ideas! :)
  • kristelpoole
    kristelpoole Posts: 440 Member
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    take a look at 101cookbooks.com

    great inspiration!
  • queenpushycat
    queenpushycat Posts: 761 Member
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    Oh yes! I went to 101cookbooks.com and take a look. The photos are awesome and the food looks delicious! Hehe... :)
  • leslievp
    leslievp Posts: 12 Member
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    I am a vegetarian and I find when I want to lose weight (like now) I go vegan to help cut down... cutting out the dairy/cheese helps a lot. My favorite cookbooks are Veganomicon and her newer one for weight loss: Appetite for Reduction. Isa's recipes are VERY delicious, full of flavor and you wont miss anything (try them at www.theppk.com). A great standby lunch option I use for weight loss is a brown rice/lentil mix... full of protein and fiber and low calories but filling. google "brown rice and lentil" and you will get a ton of varied recipes. Vegetariantimes.com also has a bunch of free, delicious recipes to keep you from getting bored (but note the calorie counts on some of them).

    I don't really like the meat subs because they taste weird to me. I use them sometimes because my husband likes them but once you get used to eating legumes/beans every day, you won't find yourself thinking of dinner as "meat or meat substitute and sides" but what whole grain + legume am I going to cook with my veggies?

    I like The Kind Life but find a lot of her recipes hard to shop for. But they are good.
  • vegangirl88
    vegangirl88 Posts: 104 Member
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    http://favouriteveganrecipes.blogspot.com/

    My recipes are on there, feel free to use them : ) xxxx
  • cowboydan43
    cowboydan43 Posts: 306 Member
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    ohsheglows.com has tons of vegan & vegetarian recipes. Plus beautiful pictures of all the food. I spend hours on that site just oogling the food-porn.
  • it_be_asin
    it_be_asin Posts: 562 Member
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    I taught myself how to cook as a vegetarian, so I can only cook as one now! I do a lot of mexican, pasta bakes, stir frys, steamed veges/salads with pastizzi/vege sausages... There are so many good vegetarian meals out there, you just need to try a few and find your favourties. And keep on trying more, for the rest of your life!
  • UrbanRunner81
    UrbanRunner81 Posts: 1,207 Member
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    My menu for the week is
    stacked enchiladas
    stuffed peppers (rice and beans stuffed)
    lentil soup
    farmer's market quesadillas (whatever veggies I have on hand)
    vegan pot pie (vegan gravy yum!)
    baked southwestern egg rolls
    quinoa taco salad
    homemade pizza

    I can get the recipes if any of those sound good to you. :)
  • oceanrose78
    oceanrose78 Posts: 133 Member
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    I've been using thehappyherbivore.com lately. But my favorite veggie meal is soup. Veggie stock, barley, lentils, rice, tons of veggies, and it's only around 150 calories for a serving. I constantly have my crockpot going.

    I do use some commercial products but I try to keep those limited, mainly for days when I really crave meat.

    We eat a lot of pasta, whole wheat, mixed with 50% veggies, homemade tomato sauce, vegan alfredo sauce, or just olive oil, lemon juice and some spices.
  • queenpushycat
    queenpushycat Posts: 761 Member
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    Bazillion thanks to all of you with those contributions of ideas.... :) I'm looking at the websites you posted, and they are helpful ;) I hope this thread helps others too! :)
  • kristelpoole
    kristelpoole Posts: 440 Member
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    Bazillion thanks to all of you with those contributions of ideas.... :) I'm looking at the websites you posted, and they are helpful ;) I hope this thread helps others too! :)

    So how has it been going so far??

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