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

really fancy trying

Remus I said it was 'good' It is for a beginner veggie but I'm not that impressed either (I tried his tempura recipe without much success; it was much better when I twisted it to make pakura to use up the batter!).

Haven't used it for a while so thought it was time to get stuck in again.
Tonight I'm doing the Cambodian wedding day dip and the baba ganoush, along with your feta dip and some homemade pitta.
Tomorrow the merguez chips with stuffed mushrooms in tomato sauce from Jamie's ministry.
The merguez chips have been raved about and I've been meaning to try them for ages.

The merguez chips do look lovely - but I do spiced wedge things a lot anyway and they don't look far removed from those. Impressed re homemade pittas!

I've never made pakora - have a bit of an 'issue' re deep fat frying.

pittas
They're dead easy, I make the dough in my Kenwood.
They freeze really well too.

Lovely blog with so many gorgeous pictures of bread - mmmmmm bread.....

is it yours?

No, I wish it was!

I'd forgotten about tartex.Used to love it back in the 80's when I was being fed a mainly vegan diet. I really want some now

I am so close to becoming vegetarian again - very much because I loved the veggie food I used to eat - seems to be so much more flavoursome! There's also the health aspects with red meat eating,and the financial aspects with the cost of meat.

Watching this with great interest!!!!

Bisto is the king of veggie gravy - the granules (i don't think the chicken is, but beef defintiely is) and use the water from boiling the beg.

I wouldn't do eating fish and then not, because it sounds like you're just doing it as a fad, rather than actually becomig vegetarian (plus, it means that it perpetuates the common misconception that veggies eat fish - that's a hard one to keep having to explain "well, yes, your sister's best friend's daughter might eat fish, but that means she's not vegie, whereas I am and I don't" (calling yourself pescatarian will prove too difficult where old ladies are concerned! ))

I don't eat much replacement stuff -Quorn is basically disgusting, but I will eat Cauldron foods and other TVP (textured vegetable protein) foods.
there are shedloads available.

when you say you don't eat nuts, do you mean all nuts? or just peanuts?
it's jsut htat you can get some great foods that have nuts in, but you'd never know.

also, lentils, beans and seeds are all good for protein, as is dairy and eggs (egg whites are basically all protein) -don't forget they have to be free-range (minimum) eggs to qualify as veggie. (and the dairy is preferably organic)
so, you can make chillis, bolognese, cottage pie, etc with lentils and beans.

In our house, DH is a meat eater, and he often makes us the same food but different : eg, he'll make the basis of the meal, then add meat to it for him.
it's easy to do with most foods.
those that it isn't, just serve the veggie version (you're not supposed to eat meat every day anyway, so it's good for them!)

Aldi does some great veggie pastas - in their italian section - they're vacuum packed and filled, so they act like fresh pasta.

avoid Parmesan and other similar cheeses, and therefore most pesto, as they've been made with animal rennet. sainsbury's basics parmesan style cheese is veggie as is twineham grange (now called "not just a pasta cheese")
and sainsbury's fresh pesto (in the chiller section) is veggie too.

ooh, a bit of an essay

i wanted to add, though, that in my family growing up, at one point, all us DDs were veggie, and we really did just eat everything the rest of the family did but not the meat.
easiest is sunday roast dinner - make sure everything baked, roasted or fried is in vegetable fat, then keep the meat separate - you can cook the roast meat in its own tin, and still have plenty of room in the oven for stuffing (made with breadcrumbs, onions, eggs and herbs), roast veg, etc (i sometimes have one of those veggie burgers or similar as my "meat").

Griddled halloumi is gorgeous!

Stuffed peppers - with rice, onion, any veg you like. Add a squishy tomato so it diesnt dry out and pop a slab of goats cheese, cubes of feta or mozzarella on top and bake

Veggie pasties - cheese, onion and potato or spicy potatoes for fillings

Quiche - spinach and feta

Salad with beetroot, wallnuts and warmed goats cheese.

I love cheese!!

I also like to pop to Portobello market and get lovely fruit and veggies. There is usually someone who will tell you their recipe with them (in fact two people gave me beetroot recipes last week without me asking!)

I have a veggie cookbook from 1984 and it is quite brilliant! Its an idea to troll through some second hand bookshops for inspiration. My best veggie books are the old ones - they seem a bit more 'creative' than the newer ones.

MrsMcEnroe hope you don't mind me asking on your thread,but it may or may not be something that'd help you out too....

I'd like to cook a lot more with pulses,but I'm a bit put off as I don't understand the whole soaking business.Can anyone offer advice on the why soaking is needed,what needs soaking,and how to do it and how long for?

I know you can get tinned pulses (which I use,but I'm unsure whether okay uncooked?) but I expect dried pulses (are lentils pulses?) are cheaper.

If soaking isn't mentioned on a recipe,but its dried stuff,is the assumption that you don't need to soak,or that you've already soaked them?

I really, really want some Tartex now!

I am pescetarian, husband and kids eat meat. Generally, I have pasta with a veggie sauce, risotto with mushrooms or pumpkin, homemade pizza, veggie curries or chilli, baked spuds with tuna, halloumi sandwiches in nice bread, veggie sausage and mash, Spanish omelette etc. I would happily eat a plate full of veg on its own, though. Husband tends to eat the same as me and the kids eat separately as we eat late. At weekends, if they have chicken and chips, I will have omelette and chips, and when they have a roast dinner I will have everything but the meat.

Skinny - I usually boil the kettle and put the lentils in a glass bowl with the boiling water for about 30 minutes, then just put them in the cooking pot.
You can soak them overnight, too. It doesn't matter about the temperature of the water, but I think it makes the quick soak better.
(with bigger pulses such as chick peas, you need at least an hour soaking)

The tinned ones are already soaked, so they can be drained and cooked straight away, but yes, the dried ones are much cheaper.

Oh thank you nickelhasababy

Can you eat the tinned ones uncooked? I'm sure somewhere in my dim and distant memory I've become scared of dried pulses/beans etc because of toxins or something.But is this just red kidney beans or something? And what do you do with them? And do you need to rinse any of the lentils etc after soaking but before using?

Questions,questions I know,but I'm afraid of poisoning my entire family

I soak dried beans/lentils overnight, then cook all day in my slow cooker.
The tinned ones, I rinse and drain, and then they can be used as they are, they don't need further cooking.

The only ones to be wary of AFAIK are dried kidney beans. I only ever use them tinned.

Thanks Netto.Perhaps its better just to go with tinned red kidney beans then.

wow this thread is making me feel really hungry

i am a really lazy veggie and have been for over 20 yrs but eat some fish - dd is the same
we never even think of eating meat again or miss it at all
by lazy veggie i mean i don't cook or eat typical veggie food but there are still loads of options out there - soups,jacket spuds,pasta, quiches,omlettes,veg curries/stews/etc

i will have the occasional veg burger but tbh i am not really keen on the fake meat products

One of the most lovely and easy dips is to whizz up a tin of haricots or chickpeas (but I don't eat those) with fresh lemon juice, olive oil, garlic,spring onion ,cumin and tahini with a little seasalt, chilli or wasabi to taste YUM.

I've been going through the recipes on here and listing some basic ingredients I'm going to need.

If you look in the recipes section MrsMcEnroe,there looks like there's some lovely ones to try!

ppeat,what is tahini?

Tahini is mashed sesame seeds. It comes in jars. I don't use it much - mainly in homemade hummous.

Thanks Frontpaw!

I'm thinking I'll probably end up as a pescatarian tbh as I do love my oily fish especially and I'm into this mainly for health and cost.I don't think my kids will mind at all eating vegetarian food at home as they can have meat at school (the vegetarian options are dire) but I think DH will object and cook for himself,and the kids too when I don't. I'll just get him to try anything I make and see what he thinks - in the last few years he's been thoroughly converted to being a sweet potato,butternut squash and couscous lover,so he's definitely open to trying! Plus I've managed to insist on semi skimmed milk rather than whole,low fat spread and wholewheat bread and pasta,so I'm getting there!

I also now really fancy a veg burger made up from one of those packs - again a taste throw back from the 80's that I miss,but sadly not in line with my non- processed ethos I try to follow on the whole.

I am going shopping soon with DH - I think he'll look at me like I've gone out when he sees the shopping list....

Does anyone have a( easy,mild but tasty,with no hard to come by ingredients) recipe for vegetable curry?? I'd be very grateful!

If you're not used to making curry, the easiest way is to fry up a load of vege (potatoes, onions, carrots, cauliflower for example) then add paste and a tin of coconut milk. Otherwise This Jamie Oliver one is easy and excellent.

That link turns it into a chicken one. Ignore the chicken and just add a load of vege/lentils at the start with the onion. I like to do it with onions, carrots and potatoes then add fresh spinach and some fried paneer just before eating.

We're (me, DP and 4 year old DS) all veggie. Last night's dinner was pea and paneer curry with lentil daal (DS's favourite!), tonight will be lasagne made with Quorn. We cook with Quorn prob twice a week. DS has it more often as they serve it fairly regulary at nursery so I try to avoid using it at the weekend.

We do like Quorn though, the sausages are excellent, as are the mini scotch eggs and the mince and chunks are useful.

Other favourite family meals (without Quorn) are stir fry with tofu, macaroni cheese, paneer kebabs, pasta with homemade tomato sauce. For lunch we have sandwiches, soup or cous cous salad with chickpeas, omlette and of course, beans on toast.

Skinny, the pea and paneer curry is dead easy to make and really yummy. Cut a packet of paneer into cubes and fry until golden. Take out of the pan and fry a sliced onion, then add about 3 tbs of curry paste, fry for a bit, add two cubed potatoes, a tin of tomatoes and the paneer and simmer until the potatoes are soft. Add some frozen peas and simmer for another 5 mins. I put spinach in with the peas last night too as we had some to use up.