To ask how to reduce our meat consumption

[Mulhollandmagoo]

Inspired by a thread on here about eating less, better quality meat, I reflected on our eating habits and our household consumes a lot of meat - most evening meals are meat based, as are a lot of lunches, which is very very poor environmentally.

Both myself and my husband very overweight and desperately wish to change our lifestyle, we also have a 2yo, who isn't too much of a picky eater and we really don't want to pass on our poor eating habits to her.

So, I'm hoping for you to share your quick, easy and healthy veggie meals, we love (particularly red) meat, so this will be a huge adjustment for us, but after some self reflection over the past couple of days we have to make some changes.

We are big fans of curries, but not to keen on pasta really so anything along those lines but open to any and all suggestions

@CovidinPrimary

Daal, I am not convinced chickpeas replace the taste and mouth feel of meat.

Daal is supposed to be vegetarian and isn’t trying to mimic meat. I am currently looking at a lot of south Asian (Indian) recipes to try and reduce meat consumption, I don’t mind no meat as long as there is tonnes of flavour.

Hence reducing meat by half but it still being there gives you the taste I have made a meal for 4 adults with one chicken breast!

Placemarking as we've also been trying to reduce our meat consumption.

I'm not an enthusiastic cook but some things I've been trying include:
Veggie bolognese - serve with new potatoes/ rice if you don't like pasta.
Veggie pizzas - I make with my 3yo. They like cheese, pepper and sweetcorn. I put goat's cheese and red onion on mine.
Homemade baba ghanoush/hummus with pitta bread and carrot sticks for healthy snack/tea.
Egg-fried veggie rice (though we do ours with prawns or a little bit of chicken as well).
Risotto - lots of tasty veggie options.
Macaroni cheese - though not going to help any diet much!

3yo is an enthusiastic spiraliser of vegetables here. Keeps them busy for ages .

Oh and just generally eggs...scrambled served with mushrooms and cherry tomatoes, omelettes, poached on asparagus. Lots of options if you like eggs.

OP you read my mind

This thread is amazing !!! Xxxxx

Chilli with no mince is so easy.

Make it exactly as you normally would, same spices, tins tomatoes, kidney beans etc, in fact use any chilli recipe you want..but instead of adding mince, add an extra tin of kidney beans, a tin of butter beans and two tins of (rinsed off) baked beans.

Tastes the same, also much cheaper.

We got this- it’s got some super tasty recipes and we aren’t vegan or veggie btw, we just wanted to reduced our meats consumption.
I’m getting hungry thinking about the recipes now!!
BOSH!: Simple recipes. Unbelievable results. All plants. The highest-selling vegan cookery book ever www.amazon.co.uk/dp/000826290X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_HDYADJEAWFWKG0WG0R3J?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

most evening meals are meat based, as are a lot of lunches

This is very healthy OP, and most likely not the cause of your weight issues.

If I were you, I would look at reducing empty calories you may be consuming (e.g. pasta, bread, biscuits, sugar, etc)

Would also recommend looking at Jack Monroe's website. Technically it's a budget meals site but because all the meals are cheap, many of them contain no or minimal meat and she substitutes with beans and lentils a lot. And they're really easy, straightforward recipes, nothing fancy or unusual so great for quick mid week meals.

It was Jack Monroes chilli recipe that first made me realise you could do it without the mince...i know it sounds ridiculous but it genuinely never occurred to me before that you could!

It was Jack Monroes chilli recipe that first made me realise you could do it without the mince...i know it sounds ridiculous but it genuinely never occurred to me before that you could!

This is exactly me, you make chilli with mince and curry with chicken! Veggie cooking is an alien concept to me, but got some amazing recommendations though, will be having a good look through before I do my next food shop

Veggie 30+ years here plus losing weigh myself (lost just over a stone since start of june) so I applaud you for reviewing and making changes - being veggie isn't automatically healthier/lower cal! It requires effort. All diets (in terms of meat use) can be healthy or unhealthy

You can replace the red meat with meat substitutes - veggie mince, Quorn and other brands of fake meat

You can replace it with things like lentils

Meal wise I must admit I like pasta so have that a fair bit

Non pasta meals -

Stir fry (sometimes I'll use Quorn sometimes "just" lots of veggies), either with a home made sauce or just a splash of soy or sweet chilli, served with rice, noodles or Cous cous but I've cut my carbs portion sizes right down!

Roast - I have a nut cutlet instead of the meat part, veggie friendly stuffing and gravy, roasties or mash (a small portion these days), a small Yorkie and some "wintry" veg like carrots, broccoli, parsnips etc

Casseroles - sometimes I'll use quorn or similar, sometimes just plenty of hearty veg, sometimes I just use stock and herbs etc, sometimes I'll use a packet mix. Serve with mash or a crusty roll

Tray bake - just root veg, maybe some peppers and mushrooms thickly chopped etc, a drizzle of Henderson's relish over it, lovely with Linda McCartney original veggie sausages

Jacket potato (this is me not eating chips! ) - sometimes as a lunch sometimes a dinner. With cottage cheese (sometimes I'll add some sweetcorn, black pepper, smoked paprika), baked beans (small portion), vegetable or vegetarian chilli (sometimes home made sometimes out of a tin), lentil Dahl, a bit of sweet chilli sauce, tinned tomatoes (I'll usually add some garlic grinder and some herbs to this), ratatouille

Egg dishes - huevos rancheros, omelette, scrambled eggs (i add in some veggies too), baked eggs (which I used to have with chips now I have with jacket potato and a small portion baked beans

Vegetable or vegetarian curry

BBC good food mushroom stroganoff is lovely, I make it regularly with a few minor tweaks

I use fry light for cooking but I don't need to use much

Lunches I have :

As I said jacket potatoes

Soup (I'm getting on a soup making kick this week now the weather is getting cooler. My mum ALWAYS has a pot on the go even in the summer! It's a Scot thing. Soup is great for using up veggies and if you have it as a "starter" it fills you up

Sandwiches/rolls - either with cheese or egg or a vegetarian fake deli meat. This weeks options for me are Quorn spinach slices or squeaky bean pastrami

Toast/crackers with vegetarian pate or cottage cheese or a little salsa on top

Toasties - I love these but I need to figure how to make them not too high cal

Eggs - scrambled, or "Chucky eggs" - boiled eggs mashed in a cup with butter and seasoning served with toast DELICIOUS!

Ready made stuff - falafel, vegetarian mini scotch eggs, Quorn sausage rolls, small/slice of quiche, Quorn roasted sliced fillets (like Cooked diced chicken)

That reminds me with the Quorn fillets I make a dish that is great for a lunch or dinner just adjust portion sizes it's basically a Cous cous salad -

Cous cous
Sliced fillets
Veg (salad veg mainly - cherry tomatoes, diced cucumber, peppers, mushrooms, sweetcorn, spring onions etc)
Sweet chilli sauce

Make up the Cous cous, prep and add in the veg and fillets and mix in, add sweet chilli sauce and mix that in, sometimes I also add a splash of soy sauce or Henderson's relish

Very quick and easy it's one of my go to "lazy" dinners/lunches and works as a packed lunch option too

I like "Mexican" on occasion too but I'm finding it tricky to reduce the cals there

Agree with @PurpleDaisies beware the cheese!

In terms of weight loss it's more a case of looking at your portion sizes (I'm terrible for "portion creep" I HAVE to weigh and measure) and what items you're having that are calorie dense.

I don't believe in cutting out any food group - even fats are part of a healthy diet - but overall portion sizes and maximising vegetable use generally helps

With a little one it is good to get them in the habit of having their 5 a day (Indeed apparently we're actually supposed to have 10 a day but the powers that be thought that would be too tough a sell), having a healthy relationship with food and eating as wide a variety of food as possible.

There's a "100 plant based items a week" challenge which can be fun to do - includes herbs and spices etc so not as hard as it sounds but does take some planning. I've managed it sometimes on my weight loss journey and I have to say when I do this and I'm having more herbs etc I felt more satisfied/less hungry

One of the reasons your body will give hungry signals even if you've had plenty to eat that day is if you haven't had a variety of flavours.

A wider variety of flavours according to some studies apparent triggers the "I'm full" signal more often

@graphista you’re the first person outside of my family to call it a chucky egg! Is that a scots thing also?

Great thread !

As an example: we swapped to lentil bolognase gradually. each time we reduced the amount of beef and increased the amount of lentils. no it was not the same and if you are going to miss beef in it completely try to eat it less often with a greater proportion of lentils but not completley beef free. (do this with whateverr thing it is you cook)

curries are easy meat free. add chickpeas or lentils or other tinned beans.

find different recipes that are veggies so they do not feel like the rpoor relation of the one you really want.

increase the sides in a roast meal. (which is how we magic chicken/turkey) (that and being brought up by parents who lived under rationing in the war and had set ideas on a portion of meat.) if your plate is fulled with lots of roast veg and different cooked veg then yuou miss the meat less. if you cut down gradually it is easier. (if you are used to a whole chicken breast and a leg, say, then you are not going to be impressed by switching straight to a small slice of breast/ dark meat. it will just dfeel miserable. If you switch gradually and add in some nice extras it will feel less obvious)

Omelette are a great meal, quick and you can include whatever veg you like.

vegsoc.org/recipes/gails-butter-bean-pie/
This is delicious.

Beyond burgers are amazing, have them in a bun with sweet potato fries as a treat .

Butternut squash risotto also tasty

I don't substitute meat, but I bulk out with extra veg & pulses - I don't think processed meat substitutes are any better at all, from a health or environmental perspective.
So, if I am doing a meal with mince, I chop mushrooms quite small and also add lentils.
If I do a sausage casserole, I add beans.
If I do a curry - extra cauliflower, butternut squash, spinach, beans/lentils.

Great thread.

I think a good trick too js too use meat as flavouring rather than make it the main focus I. E. : Berg and barley soup, stews a de wiht chicken stock, bacon as a topping etc.

It's tough I know.

Stews made with, not a de wiht

Berg= beef

That butter bean pie looks fab

@teaorwine I think it is. I'm an army brat and lived all over Uk and it was only ever the kids from scots families had eggs that way, lots of different names for it

Smashed eggs
Egg in a mug
Buttery eggs
Mashed eggs

Etc but the non scots had never even had it!

It's something mum always used to make us when we were sick as it's easy on the stomach, light and tasty and full of nutrition

Especially if we had diarrhoea as eggs are meant to "bind" you - slow down the digestive process?

Chips and egg and beans!

I'll admit I'm missing this at the moment! Dress to think what the calories would be though and quite honestly I can't be trusted with chips in the house! So I just don't buy them at the moment

Instead as I said I'm having jackets - but I'm kinda cheating there too as I have the McCain frozen pre cooked ones. I don't have a microwave (they're aimed at micro users) but they only take 40-50 mins in the oven and they come out all fluffy on the inside crispy on the out! That's actually what I consider a "lazy" meal for me as I don't have to stand doing it! Either I'm having it with cottage cheese on or...

If I'm having it with chilli, or ratatouille or lentil Dahl or similar on I heat that in the oven too (sometimes it's home made leftovers I tend to make a batch of 4 portions of chilli at least once a month and freeze 3 portions) or it's a tinned one. I get those foil trays for freezing and reheating stuff so it'll either be one of them or I use I've got these wee enamel pie dishes that hold exactly one portion so I'll pop the chilli or whatever in there cover with a "lid" of foil and heat both the potato and whatever is going on top of it in the oven - go and watch an episode of whatever I'm binge watching and by the time I've done that and got a plate out and sorted a drink to have with it, it's ready to serve and eat

This is a perfect meal for me on "bad" days, I'm disabled and part of that is I can't stand for long periods and standing can be quite painful so on those days I guess it's like a healthier version of a freezer to oven meal for me

What do you use for the aubergine parmigiana? I haven't found a veggie cheese that really works on that yet. I normally use cheddar but I'd love to find a good Parmesan alternative

My mum used to do a boiled egg mashed up in a cup with butter and black pepper when I was ill as a child.
No Scottish connection though.
And she used to call eggs ‘Chucky eggs’.

A lot of the Colman’s packets are vegan/vegetarian so you get the taste of beef casserole, chilli, spaghetti Bol etc without the meat. Just make it with beans/lentils/veg instead.
My vegan daughter does the beef casserole packet with Atora veg suet dumplings.

we did veganuary in jan 2020 and after that we decided to eat mainly vegetarian.
we now have meat once a week and fish another time.
occassionally dh and dc will have cold meats for lunches.
cabbages (I include broccoli&cauliflower in there) and beans/lentils are your friends.
some meat substitutes are quite tasty.

We used to be fully veggie (before pregnancy chicken cravings) so know how to do good veg cooking but now have a fussy 4yo well won't eat mixed stuff

We have fish once a week at least. Then regular veggie meals are stir fry, jacket with cheese and beans, cauldron veg sausage and mash, omelette. Use nuts, seeds and crunchy veg to add texture, is easy to make veggie food mushy.

Veg curries are easy and good! I love the Meera Sodha fresh India book, not that child friendly though!