Advice please re. becoming a vegetarian

[MrsMcEnroe]

I think I might have just eaten meat for the last time.

I'm seriously considering going pescatarian initially, then maybe veggie later on. My question to non-meat-eaters is: do you use meat substitutes such as Qorn etc, or do you get your protein from fish, or do you go the whole hog and just get your protein from lentils, pulses etc?

Oh - and do you still cook meat for the rest of the family?! I was thinking of using vegetarian mince, for example, so we could all eat the same meal occasionally ....

And is there such a thing as tasty non-meat gravy?

All help/advice gratefully received

P.S. In the interests of full disclosure: I LOATHE nuts so I can't rely on them as a source of protein/whatever else it is that they provide!

Thanks. What do you eat? - what's a typical dinner in your house? I am CLUELESS!

we don't eat meat substitutes very often, maybe once a week at most
we eat lots of beans, chickpeas, lentils
eggs and cheese
never nuts as dd is allergic
this week- egg and chips, quiche, baked spuds with cheese and onions, tonight dhal with spinach and rice...that's a bit heavier on the cheese and eggs than usual

Have just started eating meat - but I'll answer your questions as if I was veggie (ate like that for 25 years!)

I cook one meal for the family and I put a lot of effort into making sure that meal is tasty & interesting - we all eat the same, if I cook a veggie meal they eat a veggie meal - they have school dinners and can choose to eat meat then. There's no way I want to be making 2 dinners when one is perfectly good.

I don't like meat substitutes - they are ok every now and then but they taste overly salty and processed - my tastebuds rebel against processed food. Soy products are better but still you need something to dilute the taste.

I don't really like meat & two veg, never have done, too bland - so I have never craved gravy....I prefer the flavour of food from foreign shores.

One thing - if you are going veggie for animal welfare reasons then you need to consider what happens the calves in milk production and the male chicks in egg production - none of it is very nice but we all have our own line that we can't cross.

I love veggie food - homemade with care and attention is amazing but eating out is often a very, very ordinary affair...chefs all too often can't be bothered or don't have the skill and knowledge to create anything with flair & imagination.

For gravy, I fry off some onions in a little booze - red wine, port or sherry - and add some bisto and maybe a splodge of marmite.

I'll have meat substitutes occasionally, like veggie sausages so I can have sausage and mash with my carnivore DH or mince to make bolognese, cottage pie, etc.

You can also get protein from cheese, eggs, beans, soya products such as tofu (nicest well marinated, imo) and lentils and pulses, although I don't actually have the latter that often, truth be told.

Best of luck with it :)

Thanks everyone! I wonder how long I'll last without meat?!

mrsmc A lot of veggies are much healthier than most carnivores as long as you keep off too much wheat and highly salted processed stuff. You'd be amazed how much protein there is in all greens,veg. and whole rice with other cereals. I had quinoa and marinaded tofu with onions gently fried in tamari soya sauce served on a bed of fresh finely chopped lettuce yesterday. I make onion gravy by frying the onions and garlic in olive oil and then adding the tamari it's really delish.

The organic soya mince is cheap and a good substitute for meat mince. You just pour boiling water on it before adding to whatever you're making; a little goes a long way too . It's worth visiting Health food shops to see what they've got; not everything is expensive (I agree about most of the 'pretend' meat though).

Thank you I'd like to come to dinner at your house, your food sounds amazing!

This week we have eaten for our main meals:

Mushroom risotto
Falafels and sprouted salad
Veggie sausages and beans
Veggie shepherd's pie (it had a bit of Quorn mince in it but mostly chopped veg)
Nut roast with roast spuds, butter nut squash and carrots
Tomato soup with rolls

I think we might have stuffed pancakes tonight - I have a bit of frozen bolognaise mix left over from making the shepherd's pie.

What do you eat already that's veggie? Pasta napoli, pizza, omlettte, maccaroni cheese, beans in a jacket spud...?

I cook meat for the carnivore, fish for the pescatore and whatever I can be bothered for me! Get a decent veggie cookbook and try a few things out. I do use soya chunks for curry and sometimes the mince in 'bolognaise'. Veggie lasagne is highly superior to the meat version, ditto moussaka.

All you need are a few basics to start with that can be used for veggies and meat eaters (if they must have their flesh). So cauli/broccoli cheese, dauphinoise potatoes, stir frys, dahls etc that you can eat with some other veggie dish (like quiche) and they can have a lamb chop of the side if they must!

Quorn bangers and aces though! Yummity yum, and I like tartex ('fake' pate) on toast. I have been veggie for 26 years now and don't miss meat or fish (although the smell of a bacon butty could turn me!).

I have tried the 'crank' veggie food in the '80s when it was a bit trickier to get veggie stuff in mainstream shops (think knitted lentils flavoured with vegecon...) It was a bit 'challenging' eating out then too (cheese salad without the cheese)!

I love tofu and paneer - lightly fried or griddled with a spicy chili sauce and some rice. Just try things out slowly, and if you have something nice in a restaurant, try it out at home.

How could I forget - risotto, hummous, felafels...

I love Tartex and my DCs were brought up on it.
However after noshing it happily for 25 years, last year I went on a carb free diet and had a look at the ingredients...it is mostly mashed potato!
Mashed potato flavoured with yeast extract, herbs, etc. I was so surprised.

Still love it though. Yum

I have never heard of Tartex so I'm going to have to track some down now!

I made myself some delicious pasta with spinach, leeks and onions last night, and cooked steak for DH and the DCs .... I didn't miss having meat at all.

I've been vegetarian for over 10 years, but my husband is an omnivore and my son is being brought up eating meat, too. However, I don't cook it that often at home, mainly because it's more expensive. They tend to eat meat when we're out at our families' or eating in restaurants etc.

Protein wise, we eat:
-lentils and other pulses
-beans (kidney beans, butter beans, chickpeas, cannellini beans...)

• cheese

-mushrooms -eggs -TVP (textured vegetable protein available at Holland & Barrett etc)

• Sosmix

-tofu

And aubergines are great!

A great cookbook, that is not strictly a vegetarian cookbook, is River Cottage Veg Everyday. That's pretty much the only one I use now.

Examples of meals we eat:
-homemade pizza with mozzarella & roasted veg
-flatbreads with spicy butternut squash & carrot fillings
-risotto
-falafel and houmous
-jacket potatoes with all manner of toppings
-slow cooked lentil bolognaise (can also be used for 'cottage' pie/jacket potatoes/chilli etc)
-vegetarian toad in the hole
-butternut squash soup
-stuffed peppers/butternut squash/mushrooms
-bean burgers
-vegetarian lasagne (spinach and ricotta/aubergines/butternut squash
-Sosmix pie (sosmix mixed with baked beans and then baked in a pie)

I don't often buy meat substitutes, because they are overpriced and you can cook perfectly well without them. I do, however, like Linda McCartney sausages and Sosmix (used to eat this when I was a kid and now buy it from AlternativeStores.com as it no longer seems to be available on the high street). And the RealEat veggie mince. I think this is now sold under the Linda McCartney banner. Quorn mince, in my opinion, is incredibly bland and I can never get it to soak up flavours.

And, I repeat, get the River Cottage veg cookbook if you think you can't make interesting vegetarian meals!

Yes I 2nd the River Cottage Veg. cookbook it's good, of course there are others.

Two people in my house have just become pescatarians.

We have fish 3 times a week, Salmon, birds eye baked to perfection if I'm lazy etc.

We have quorn mince for spaghetti Bol, quorn premade cottage pie if I'm making cottage pie with meat for the others.

We then have baked beans on toast scrambled eggs etc.

As yet I've not got into pulses as its difficult to introduce my son with ASD onto new food tastes

Tartex is yum. It comes in a metal toothpaste tube and sometimes a small tin with a plastic lid. There is a copycat product but it is yeurch!

I love italian food in all forms. My favoutites are:

Spaghetti with fresh tomatoes (skinned and squished) mixed with a little garlic, onion and roquet stirred in.

Fusilli with asparagus added towards the end so al dente. Mix in some dolcalette and pop on lid and take off the heat until all melty.

Spaghetti with cooked broad beans and toasted pinenuts. Can add wilted spinach or roquet.

Maccaroni cheese (who doesn't?)

Veggie lasagne - just veggies in a red sauce (not soya or lentils) and the usual white/cheese sauces

Layered aubergine and mozzarella baked in the oven

Loads of salads in summer and soups in winter!

Lots of my recipes are either taken directly from or adapted from The Italian Summer cookbook.

Yes, you can make a tasty veggie gravy. I do mine with marmite and a slug of port.

I don't cook meat at all but dp and dd1 sometimes eat it when we go out.

Family favourites currently include:

Shepherd's pie with Quorn mince - I do the base in the slowcooker and can give you my recipe if you want it

Dahl with easy pilau rice plus chutney/salad

Veggie sausage casserole (again, can give recipe if wanted)

Veggie lasagne made with puy lentils and roasted vege

Vegetable or lentil soup

Chilli - if you do a search for chilli and my name you will find my 'Mother of all veggie chillis' recipe, which has now been perfected after many years!

Quiche with roasted garlic new potatoes and salad (if I'm doing this midweek I use bought pastry)

Risotto with loads of green vege (usually asparagus, leeks and jarred artichokes plus frozen peas and fresh baby spinach)

Chickpea curry

Veggie curry with paneer

Homemade wedges with eggs and peas

Sausage and mash with savoy cabbage and gravy as mentioned above

Noodles or rice with tofu (or cashews) and vege (I tend to use a bought Thai paste plus coconut milk to make the sauce but sometimes buy a Wagamamas sauce)

Lots of other ideas but these are the ones that I can guarantee all four of us will eat (2 of us are very fussy!).

I seem to be the only person in the world who is not v impressed with the Veg Everyday book. There is little in it that has made me immediately want to cook it.

I'm doing two more recipes from it tongith, and another tomorrow, I love it.
Am trying your feta dip tonight too.

Ooh - hope you enjoy it!

What are you making from the book? What else HAVE you made lately? The only thing I really trying is the pasta with savoy cabbage.