I'm done with meat

[happycactus]

I really don't like the taste or texture of meat anymore (mainly red). DC and I could happily live without meat. DH on the other hand is a big meat eater. I cook most meals and have reduced the amount of red meat we're eating. I aim for 2 white meat, 2 fish, 1 veg and 2 red meat meals (usually mined beef).

I'm really struggling with vegetable options. I don't like eggs at all. I find most meat free options are egg based like quiche or omelette. Also starting to go off milk, but not cheese or other dairy products.

I'm not interested in labelling myself as a vegetarian or vegan. I just don't like meat.

Any suggestions for simple family recipes or resources that would be useful? I'm feeling a bit lost.

I’ve found lentils are a good replacement for minced beef in most recipes. I tend to use cans for convenience but there’s more choice with dried.

@StockholmSue
Definitely adding lentils to the list. Used to use them to bulk out meals and love a lentil soup. Thank you.

I found a few recipes on a blog, Penny’s Recipes, other than that could get a copy of a cook book from the library, unless you want to buy one. I have Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Veg Everyday.

Do you like lentils and beans? Something like chilli with a mix of beans instead of minced beef could work. One of my DDs is vegan and so I start off with the base, onions and spices, then put some of that in separate pan before adding the beef to the main pan. Could you do that with your DHs portion?

Lentils and mushrooms replace beef really well in things like lasagne, cottage pie, chilli, beef wellington, pies etc. My DH was a very committed carnivore but he’d now pick a meat-free dish over meat (apart from steak when we are out!). Fajitas or tacos with beans, peppers and onions is good one, paneer and vegetables in a curry instead of meat. Soups and stews are easy too, plenty of veg/pulse combinations. Butternut squash or wild garlic risotto are favourites here.

I do think searching for vegan recipes would serve you well as they tend to avoid meat replacements and focus on putting veg centre stage.

If you're going off dairy milk, OP, try oat milk. It's delicious.

@AdoraBell
I love beans. I made a bean chilli a couple of weeks ago and DH was happy enough. He never complains about the lack of meat but does say that he misses it. This is my main worry. I don't want to make a different meal for him and he wouldn't expect me to either.

I'll have a loom what the library has to offer and check out that blog. Thanks.

I use Quorn mince to make spaghetti Bolognese or use Quorn meatballs. DH and DC don't notice that it's not meat

We all like stuffed peppers and they're dead easy to make.

In a bowl mix a packet of preprepared and flavoured grains or lentils (I use the Aldi Mediterranean flavour grains) with some chopped or tinned tomatoes (so it's not too dry) and mozzarella or feta cheese.

Stuff into halved peppers drizzle with olive oil and cook in oven till peppers are soft (about 30-40 mins).

@MakeLemonade
DH did say he was happy to go without meat as long as I replaced it with cheese

Thanks for all the suggestions and the vegan tip. I really want to avoid meat replacements.

@DirtyDennis
I tried almond milk the other day and it was lovely on it's own but disgusting in tea.

As for books, can recommend
Meat free Mondays
Veg Everyday
Green Roasting Tin

Hi, (mainly) veggie here with a meat loving DH! Do you like pulses and beans e.g. chickpeas, lentils, butter beans? I mainly manage by making batched versions of meals which either have a veggie alternative OR which can have meat added to them, but I do rely heavily on pulses alongside cheese.

I manage needing to have separate meals by making double quantities. So e.g. one night I will make a big batch of a meat meal for DH and put at least one portion in the freezer. I will eat a veggie version 'prepared earlier' out of the freezer. Next time we have it it will be the other way around, so the veggie version is made fresh and extra portions go into the freezer, and the meat version will be the one put into the freezer last time.

So a typical menu for us might look something like:

Monday: Spaghetti bolognese. DH has traditional mince version, I have one made with lentils.

Tuesday: Chilli (with rice, in wraps as a burrito or on a jacket potato). DH has traditional meat version, I have 3 bean

Wednesday: Stir fry. I make it veggie with tofu or nuts for veggie protein (I don't like quorn but if you do is good in things like stir fry), then after plating mine I add some cooked chicken for DH (or sometimes he's OK without the meat, depends on how hungry).

Thursday: Mezze night. Spanakopita made with ready made pastry, hummus, crudites, pitta bread, olives. DH will have some spicy sausage as well if he wants meat.

Friday: Curry. DH will have chicken or lamb curry, I will have spinach and chickpea, dahl, or other veggie curry. Serve with rice or naan.

Saturday: sausage and mash. DH has normal sausages, I have veggie ones OR toad in the hole, again veggie sausages for me.

Sunday: roast dinner. DH has normal meat, I have a nut roast or veggie parcel in filo pastry, sides are shared.

Other ideas might be:

-Lots of nice easy veggie pasta dishes e.g. roasted veg in tomato sauce, macaroni cheese, pesto pasta, ready made tortellini. DH can have same (perhaps with added bacon) or a meaty pasta like bolognese made separately.

-Cottage pie/shepherd's pie. Lentil or quorn based version for you.

-Soup and a sandwich - veggie soup and your choice of sandwich fillings (e.g. ham for him).

-Baked potato night - he can have tuna or chilli, you can have cheese and baked beans

-Pizza night - half and half with your own choice of toppings? Use ready made supermarket bases?

-Breakfast for dinner - so sausage, bacon, beans, toast, mushrooms, tomatos? Use veggie sausages for yours.

-Stew- normal chicken/lamb version for him, tuscan bean stew for you. Served with mash and steamed veg.

-Pie or tart - you can buy individual sized portions of ready made pies and tarts both meaty and meat free, or make your own using pre prepared puff pastry...

Mexican dishes are easy to remove meat from without much effort: beans, veggies all seem to work well with tomato/chilli/smoked paprika etc. You can expand your bean chilli repertoire into enchiladas, nachos and burritos easily without significantly deviating from something you know that you all like.
Also curries: there are loads of vegetable curry /side dish recipes online which all taste amazing without meat.

Oat milk is best for coffee/tea imo, I know you aren't going 'vegan' but there is YouTube channel called 'cheap lazy vegan' and she has lots of really affordable easy meat/dairy free meal ideas

If your DH is the only one who really wants to eat meat, then he cooks his own meaty meals. We're an entirely vegetarian family (at the moment, until 7 year old DS starts to rebel in meaty ways, as I imagine he will at some point), and I don't think most non-meat dishes are egg-based at all -- I hate eggs, and loathe quiche with a passion. (I think the only thing we regularly make that uses them is a vegetable frittata, but the eggs are purely a binding agent for the potatoes and other vegetables.)

In the past week or two, we've had a vegetable coconut curry with paneer and chickpeas, roast vegetables, pasta with homemade pesto, olives and spinach, tofu, broccoli and noodles, vegetable tempura, homemade pizza, falafel in pitta with roast aubergines and homemade hummus, spicy potatoes with chilli, peppers. We use chickpeas a lot, and whatever's down the market, in season and inexpensive.

Since DD went veggie we eat far less meat and I find that even if I do I don’t enjoy it as much. She is also allergic to Quorn so we don’t use that and she doesn’t like eggs but loves cheese.
Few of the things we typically eat
Tofu and veg noodles
Paneer (or feta) and courgette fritters
Lentil chili with tortillas
Chickpea and spinach curry
Roasted cauliflower
Cauliflower, paneer and pea curry
Fried rice with tofu
Spicy veg flatbreads
Bang bang cauliflower with rice
Sweet potato stew

@FogCutter Thank you, love stuffed peppers!

@maxelly that's exactly the sort of things we would eat. Thank you for all the suggestions.

@notatwork I normally go for veggie versions of both Mexican and Indian food if I was out. I don't know why I haven't thought of doing it at home too.

I don't really like meat substitutes. I once used them on a diet and wasn't fussed. I will try them again though. If my tasted have changed so drastically that I'm giving up meat then I may like them now.

I'm in a similar situation OP. I find things that are meant to be without meat work better for DP, if that makes sense. So lots of veggie curries, soups, pasta dishes work for him as a complete meal without me faffing around cooking extra meat.

That said, Maxelly above seems to have it nailed, that's such a good idea!

@flossie86 she sounds fab, will defo have a look later.

@Cobh he would if he could cook. Generally he eats what he's given and knows better than to complain. We're obviously looking in different places. I taste egg in things like cakes and Yorkshire puddings, so avoid anything remotely eggy.

@Hoppinggreen thank you. More really helpful suggestions.

Yes, oat milk is definitely the best in hot drinks. Almond milk tastes like hessian bags in hot drinks.

@LonnyVonnyWilsonFrickett I've been going off meat for a long time but I really can't stomach it anymore. I just don't didn't know where to start. DH likes everything so adding meat to dishes or him won't be a problem at all. I am seriously impressed with @maxelly

No problem, a system born of long experience happy to post more if I think of them or recipes if anyone wants!

Jackfruit had been a bit of a revelation recently. We made fajitas and soft tacos with it and it tasted lovely.

I'm not a vegetarian but eat very little meat and those vegan steaks, burgers and chicken bits from Iceland and tesco are fine as a substitute for us.

Just been on a self catering holiday with someone who doesn't eat meat but her DH does (as do we). She cooked enchiladas for one meal - mince added in ours but beans only in hers. I did a mushroom stroganoff but fried some pancetta and added that after I had dished out her portion. We ate loads of fish dishes - fortunately we were somewhere with good supply of fresh fish. I also cooked a spinach, sweet potato and chick pea curry - you could fry off some chicken and add that in at the end if you wanted to do a portion with meat in (although we didn't bother).

Thank you so much for all of your ideas. I'm going to try the spinach and chick pea curry this week and throw in some cooked chicken I have in the freezer for DH.

@freshasthebrightbluesky don't think I've ever tried jackfruit before.

I'm so glad I started this thread now. Don't feel so overwhelmed by it anymore.

I am vegan but DH and kids aren't and I don't want to force them so I make sure they get food they like.

Meals which you put together yourself are great. Things like fajhitas and tacos where you serve separately and people build there own are great for serving different tastes.

Stir fry works well too.

And read up on tofu. If you don't treat it right it can just taste of sadness but follow the tips you can find online and it can be delicious.

And I agree on the lentils and mushrooms. Definitely a good meat replacement