to wonder what you eat if you dont eat meat a lot

[goodbyemrschips]

We eat meat a lot.

This week

chicken

beef stew

roast lamb

spag bol

ham salad

fish tonight

roast beef tomorrow

So if you dont eat meat a lot what meals do you have?

This is not a thread to start a row on meat eating ...just interested.

We're veggie. Lunch today was houmous and carrot wraps (DS and I had one each, DP had two) with cucumber and tomato. Dinner will be Thai green curry made with tofu and veggies (green beans, carrots, peppers) and basmati rice.

DS and I usually have porridge for breakfast, or I often have Birchar muesli (oats, nuts, seeds, dried fruit soaked in milk overnight. I add fresh fruit and yoghurt in the morning - this is very filling!)

We eat Quorn probably 2-3 times a week and I'd like to cut down as it's expensive and high in salt.

DP is built like the side of a barn, and runs or does martial arts every day. He doesn't need meat to feel full, he just has larger portions of meals and snacks on fruit or crackers and peanut butter if he's really hungry.

Oh dear - threads like this make me feel hopelessly inadequate for making too much sausage and mash And macaroni cheese! Other meals we've had recently include: goats cheese linguine & salad
3 bean chilli & rice
Homemade veggie burgers and chips, lots of salad and veg
Stir fry with tofu, noodles and veg
Quorn curry
Baked potatoes

Other things we like (all veggie) are: Lasagne, shepherds pie, spinach and ricotta cannelloni from the slow cooker, soups and stews, quorn fillets with pesto on top, fajitas, there is a great Jamie Oliver recipe for a kind of cheesy tomato pasta bake - very very filling!

Fish, grilled or baked, or canned sardines with a can of tomatoes for a pasta sauce. Lots of Indian-type stuff that's obviously designed to be veggie or vegan anyway; a favourite is cabbage and bean curry (tinned pulse-type beans, not green) with tomatoes and coconut milk. Also squash and spinach curry. Melanzane parmigiana. Warm salads of quinoa or bulgur wheat with herbs, nuts, loads of veg. Veg-based soups of all kinds, with lovely bread.

We're not veggie or pescatarian, it's just that meat is expensive (as it should be; it's expensive to produce) and we can only afford to eat it now and then.

OP, sorry, didn't see before that you don't like curry. But you could keep the principle e.g. pulses, coconut milk (a wonder ingredient, makes things seem richer than they are) and lots of veg, and just tweak/leave out the spices you don't like.

I have a hearty appetite and get hungry frequently, but honestly, a chunky omelette with lots of veg is pretty satisfying for me. Cheese on top gives it a more 'savoury' and filling quality. I always have it with hot buttered toast.

Personally I find pulses, and grains like quinoa and couscous, more filling for longer than pasta. Less bloating as well.

Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries and Tender are great for meat-free and meat-light recipes, as is Leith's Vegetarian Bible. Also the Ottolenghi bloke.

throw some veg in a pot with lentils add pepper and herbs of your choice then thicken when ready with cream cheese for a creamy soup.

Add broccoli and other veg of your choice to some pasta to make a pasta bake. Add sauce of your choice and top in the last 20 mins with cheese and tomato.

parboil potatoes then put in lasagne dish along with quartered onions some leek and add seasoning and garlic. Add a bit butter or olive oil. You can add some celery or mushroom too. Cook for 20-30 mins in the overn then remove and add chunks of tomato add more butter or olive oil or even cream. Add mushroom at this point if using and bake again for another 20-30 mins.

These are 3 of my fav recipies. Failing that we eat homemade pizza or wraps spanish omlette. Quorn doesnt really fill me so rarely eat that unless in wraps. There is more but off the top of my head cant think of it.

Jacket potatoes! With beans and cheese (good in winter), or cheese and salad, or red cabbage coleslaw.

Stuffed peppers and savoury rice.

Loads of pulse-based stuff - soups, mixed bean chilli, bean+salad wraps, home made beanburgers with wedges (sweet potato and/or spud). We do eat lots of lentil/bean curries, but since you don't like those maybe try this puy lentil lasagne which is delicious and incredibly filling.

Pasta with any number of different things; my trusted favourite is some sort of garlicky tomato sauce, which you can tweak however you want e.g. anchovies/capers/olives for a rich taste, chillies and peppers for something fiercer (this also works with chopped bacon added, using the principle of making meat go further). We had the pasta with creamy green sauce from the MN Recipe section for lunch today and it was delicious, despite DS's protests that it was 'too green'

Big salads don't have to involve meat - the other night I had a huge plateful of mixed salad with olives and feta cheese, followed by banana and Greek yoghurt, and I was stuffed to the gills. Hardboiled eggs are a good protein addition to salads too, or chickpeas/beans (again).

Home made pizza with various vegs on top.

I was veggie for years before having DS and still prefer to eat meat less often. It is a case of changing your thinking, but it's worth doing as there are so many delicious and exciting meatless meals to be had.

Cottage pie made with quorn mince - ditto spag bol. Soya sausage and mash. Pasta with pesto, sundried tomatoes, parmesan, pine nuts and rocket (believe me if you ate a portion the size I have you wouldn't be hungry!). Vegetable fahitas with broccoli, french beans, onion, peppers, carrot, salsa, soured cream, cheese and lettuce (I have about 3 large ones!)

Oh yes veg pizza and jacket potatoes are also a regular.

ok

first meal

veggie stir fry with rice.

mushroom..tomatoes...bean sprouts.....peas...carrots......spinach........onions red and white.........

:-( wheres the chicken my belly was saying.

I am now sat here eating a pork pie.

Things like this or this Lots there to fill you up and to be a bit healthier. There is all this too

Not doing very well.

If I don't have meat I feel hungry and I know it's all in my head.

Got sausages tonight....................big fat juicy meaty ones.

I'm veggie, DP's pescetarian (eats fish but not meat). This week we've had

Egg and chips
Veg Pie with broccoli and sweetcorn
Mixed veg curry with rice
Leek and potato soup with bread and cheese
Vegetable and halloumi kebabs with pitta bread
Jacket potatoes with tuna (DP and the cats) or grilled peppers and houmous (me)
Pasta with olive/tomato/pepper/chilli sauce
New potatoes, broccoli and beans with (DP)some sort of fresh fish, grilled/(me) fake meat kiev thing.

Oops, posted too soon. I meant to say that it's all pretty filling stuff, and we certainly don't sit around of an evening wondering what else to eat (unless I'm due on, in which case nothing is safe!)

This week I've had

Smoked salmon risotto with fennel & rocket salad

Roast gammon with roast potatoes and roast veg

Veggie Shepherd's Pie

Penne pasta with tuna/tomato sauce

Can't remember what I had down for the rest of the week but last week I did home made asparagus and artichoke pizza, mediterranean veg kebabs and halloumi & bean stew - all very filling dishes with no meat.

If eat too much meat I get a visit from Johnny Giles. :)

Ds is avegetarian (no fish either ). We eat
stuff like

Risotto
Pasta bakes of many varieties
vege curries and stews
Vegetable bakes of different varieties
Barley bakes
Stuffed onions/peppers etc
veggie sausages with veg and mash
Pizza
home made falafels
Homemade vege burgers

Before Ds came along we ate loads of pulses and lentil stews and curries but Ds has refused to touch anything like that ever and we have gradually reduced those meals though we still have them once a week or so. As a result of this we have ended up using more quorn type products especially if we have a roast (usually once every couple of weeks) where dh gets quorn and ds and I have the meat.