'Good 'Vegetarians what do you eat on a daily basis?

[Beauregard]

I am a terrible vegetarian partly due to me having food phobias but also because i am so pushed for time and cant preparemany meals from scratch. Because of this i tend to eat shite processed ready meals a lot of the time.I work late so dont get in until 8.30 ish and i am too tired to bother cooking and have school lunches etc to do. I have been unwell for some time and it is now clear following many blood tests that i have low b12 and folate levels.I cannot continue to eat boring crap food anymore especially now i feel so shit.
Anyone ?

I do cook at weekends and usually make a vegetable casserole with dumplings or a curry or chilli type meal and of course the roast minus the roast

Do you have time to cook at the weekend? I sometimes make batches of food at the weekend and put portions in Tupperware in the fridge/freezer to heat up and eat on weekday evenings. Much easier than getting home late after a long day at work and having to start cooking from scratch! Soups, stews, curries etc are all good for this.

If you have a bit more time to cook, stir fries are usually quick, and there are pasta dishes that don't take long.

Maybe try a multivitamin/mineral supplement in the short term to make up for any deficiencies?

What kind of food phobias do you have?

Not veg but DH is. I make a lot of 'bakes'. Quite a nice one is sliced courgette, carrot and leeks (par boiled), add half fat creme fraiche, all mixed together with breadcrumbs and parmesan on top, baked for about 35 mins. Also, baked sweet potatoes with a bit of low fat cream cheese and side salad, baked potatoes with cheese, mushroom and leek filling, veg chilli (w/ wraps or rice), veg moussaka, lasagne etc. You can freeze that kind of thing and the chilli lasts for ages. Also, try veg stir fry with tofu, wholewheat noodles and sweet chilli sauce (from a bottle!). Veg Thai green curry using a jar of paste and low fat coconut cream served with rice and other simple curries using tinned toms and a few dried spices. OK, I'm hungry now....

Those bakes sound lovely millionsthefloss

I dont do noodles or spaghetti or anything worm like.
I dont like aubergines and have to be feeling brave to eat mushrooms and eggs, i also hate sloppy food and always over cook my meals .I actually get panicky over eating certain foods ,i actually like fish but i cannot bring myself to eat it.

See i condridict myself when i say i hate sloppy food but i do eat some it is a visual thing i think.

Have different types of nuts in the house for snacks, buy good quality bread with lots of seeds in/ on. Helps with protein intake, and good fats and micro nutrients. We also get through a lot of beans and lentils, we always add one or the other to a pasta sauce and whatever veg is around - tinned stuff makes this v easy.

when too lazy/stressed to cook properly, ripe avocado spread on wholemeal toast.

Staple low effort meals in this house are...

Thai green curry with tofu (smoked is v v good), peppers, leeks, brocolli, sweet potato, paste from a jar, coconut milk and lime juice, with brown basmati rice

Wholemeal couscous with tinned mixed beans, sliced red onion, chopped tomato, lime/lemon juice, olive oil and whatever fresh herbs I can find

Baked sweet potatoes with houmous and salad

Tortilla wraps with quorn/tofu fried up with pepper strips and smoked paprika/garlic, with salad leaves

Sausages (we love the Redwood sage and marjoram ones), mash and peas

Sweet potato, new potatoes, red onion, and cherry tomatoes all cut into chunks and roasted, then add halloumi chunks towards the end [mmmmmm]

you can do the curries/ stir fries etc with rice instead of noodles and substitute mushrooms for other veg. i really like aubergines and mushrooms but i guess others don't like the texture. as liger said, use beans in recipes. you could google some simple dhal type recipes and have with ready made naan- quick and easy!

Stirfries with rice sound good

Some tasty sounding ideas thankyou ,i like the sound of the sweet potato and cherry toms, and red onion but i have never had Hallomi ?
I have also never tried Advocado as it looks slimey.
I cannot eat nuts as i have a jaw problem.

We are a family of four vegetarians.
I tend to stick (frozen) veg and potatoes in the steamer on days where I can't be bothered to make something elaborate. Or stick some baking potatoes in the oven. Jacket potatoes are so filling. A tin of beans and some grated cheese with it, yum.
I sneak in cheese a lot by making a cheesy omelet or chuck some in mash. Cheese sauce also works in a lot of meals.
Quorn is okay, but I try to stick with just the roast, pieces and mince nowadays.
I do a lovely cowboy hotpot, the recipe is here. A lot of veg and again very filling.
Baguette, wraps or pitta bread filled with salad stuffs are easy and healthy.

this is my favourite dhal recipe - quick, easy, tasty and healthy. you can make it as spicy (or not) as you like, and it keeps well in tupperware in the fridge so you could make double and have the second portion a few days later if you wanted.

red lentils also go nicely in a herby, garlicky tomato sauce for pasta.

if you feel you need building up, Floradix tonic is good. i used it after DS was born and my immune system was shot to bits, it helped me get stronger very quickly.

falafel and hummus, if you like hummus, are great in pitta with some sliced cucumber/pepper etc. - quick and easy.

I love humous and falafel. I spread humous on sandwiches instead of butter :)

My partner is a brilliant, inventive vegetarian cook, but when he's away and I'm busy or tired, I eat a lot of hummus and pitta bread and carrot/cucumber sticks, cheeses, fruit, puy lentils with a few tomatoes cooked through and some balsamic vinegar, roast vegetables (just throw them in the oven with some garlic, olive oil and rosemary), or simple pastas with sauces I make in bulk and freeeze in small portions, and soups also made in bulk and frozen. Even if you are heavly dependent on readymeals, eat some fresh or frozen vegetables (which are very nutritious) along with them, and some fruit to follow. And any healthfood shop would recommend a vegetarian tonic or vitamin supplement.

I make a menu type thing where we have the same thing every Monday etc for a month / however long a particular vegetable is in season for. It makes it much quicker to cook because I end up doing the same thing several times.

ooh yes falafels i had forgotton those

Thankyou for all the ideas keep them coming

Folate Rich Foods

Foods that are naturally good sources of folate include many beans and vegetables and some fruits:

Black-eyed peas
Lentils
Okra
Kidney beans
Great Northern beans
Broccoli
Iceberg lettuce
Beets
Lima beans
Sunflower seeds
Spinach
Brussels sprouts
Corn
Asparagus
Baked beans
Green peas
Baked potato
Cabbage
Avocados
Peanuts
Romaine lettuce
Tomato Juice
Orange juice
Strawberries
Oranges
Eggs
Bananas

So you could start your day with a glass of orange juice, have a banana as a snack. You could make an avocado sandwich for lunch and dinner could be a bean chilli that you can prepare at the weekend.

Target the deficiencies you have.

What kind of food phobias do you have? I'm incredibly difficult with fruit. I love fruit but can't eat any imperfect ones. It actually makes me vomit.

To get your B12 up, you need to eat animal based products, so milk, eggs, cheese and yoghurt. it is VERY important because low B12 leads to serious anaemia, extreme fatigue, muscle pain, joint pain, disorientation, confusion, clumsiness, burning pins and needles in feet/legs/hands because of nerve dysfunction, mania, paranoia and a whole load more. If it isn't addressed, you can end up with permanent brain and CNS damage amongst other things.

Your doctor can arrange a loading course of B12 injections if the deficiency is serious, you get 6 over 2 weeks and then one every 2-3 months after that (I am well versed in this little joy, am a veggie with pernicious anaemia))

Folates are in dark green veg, black eyed peas, lentils and things like that. Also in fortified bread and breakfast cereal.

You should start your day with a fortified cereal with milk, wholemeal toast and nut/seed butter with orange juice. That addresses your deficiencies.

Lunch could be something avocado sandwiches on wholemeal bread, lentil pate on toast, spinach and butter bean soup, cheese and tomato omelette, wraps with bean salad and dark green leaves (rocket, baby spinach and the like), hummus and pitta breads with salad.

Dinner could be jacket potatoes with beans and cheese, spinach, lentil and potato curry with naan bread, broccoli bake ( cooked broccoli, onion and cooked rice mixed with cheese sauce, topped with cheesy breadcrumbs and baked until golden), mac and cheese with peas, pasta in a tomato sauce topped with cheese and served with salad, bean chilli and brown rice, eggs florentine on wholemeal toast, quiche with cabbage and carrots, roasted beets with onion and feta, carrot, beetroot and orange soup, roasted veg with halloumi, paneer and spinach/okra curry with brown rice, savoury bread and butter pudding with broccoli and cauliflower, asparagus and pea rissoto.

Have yoghurt, citrus fruit, strawberries or wholemeal bread with nut and seed butter as snacks.

All of the above have B12 and folates, are quick, easy and cheap and should give a good balanced diet.

MrsHuxtable- I get anxious around food if it doesnt look quite right,it's difficult to convey.Horrible thoughts/images pop into my head about food and then i associate the food with that .

StressHEmum- I have many of those symptoms , i have muscle spasms,nerve pain in arm and leg, palpitations, forgetful,sudden onset of night terrors, extreme tiredness almost feels fluey and more recently occasional chest pain. You clearly know your b12 and folate

Thankyou for such brilliant informative posts .I just need to kick myself into touch now.

Sounds like you've got some good advice, Pelvic!

I wonder, have you tried tackling your food phobias with some sort of therapy, as it sounds like they are making life more difficult for you? From what you say, CBT or or a course of hypnotherapy might be able to help you train your mind out of making those off-putting associations with food.

Good luck

Thankyou yes i probably would consider some form of therapy just not right now

Pelvic, if you have as many symptoms as that, have you been tested for intrinsic factor? A lack thereof would indicate pernicious anaemia and changing your diet wouldn't really be helpful (except in the obvious improving general health and well being stakes). The only way to treat that is by lifetime B12 injections, although a good diet is also needed to ensure adequate iron intake and whatnot.

I have all the symptoms that I mentioned except the mania and paranoia. Also difficulty focussing eyes, chest pains and breathlessness, forgetfulness and word retrieval problems, night sweats and problems with being too cold/hot, irritable bowel problems, post exertion malaise... and that's with treatment it's not a lot of fun. Can you go back to the doctor and ask for a course of injections and the special blood tests, if you haven't had them?

I would second IC"s suggestion as well. You need to deal with your issues around food so that you can help yourself get better. Can you even talk through the issues with your doctor when you are there? He might be able to give you advice re tackling the problem. I can absolutely understand that you don't want to deal with it at the moment, though. Better to get a bit better first and then you might have the energy and strength to face things more head on.

Hi stressedHEmum not sure if i have been tested for that ? i demanded to be tested for something/anything as noone had run any blood tests despite my symptoms.I have only had mri of neck and nerve test which showed nothing.The g.p is calling me tommorrow regarding my blood results.
Thanks for such good advice