Can you help us eat less meat?

[ilovetosleep]

We are DH and I, Ds1 who is 4 and Ds2 is 18mo. I think we have a really good repertiore of meals and the kids are great eaters (the 4 year old less so but thats a very recent thing. His appetite just isn't huge and he is a little distrustful of new things) I really want to eat less meat for numerous reasons.

The problem I have with cutting back meat is that DS2 and I are dairy and egg and gluten free, so protein is a real issue. I really want to continue cooking one meal for the whole family rather than separate dishes.

At the moment our meals consist of (all homemade):

Spag bol
Lamb or chicken tagine
Roast dinners
Chilli
Curries
Shep pie
casseroles and stews
Various chicken tray bakes
Sausage and mash
sausage casserole
Risottos
various pastas eg tomato veg & bacon, pesto etc
Teryaki salmon
Prawn stirfry

etc. That sort of thing anyway.

Lunches we always have soup or bits and pieces - cold meat, avocado, salad, crackers, etc etc.

I have managed to get away with lentil curry, I've been making that for years and they love it. I tried subbing lamb mince for puy lentils in a shepherds pie and the 4yr old didn't like the 'seeds' (they were a bit al dente but I know he was a bit suspicious of the whole thing). Other than that, any vegetarian adaptations of the above meals lack any sort of protein. We can't afford to eat fish every day.

Any ideas?
Thanks in advance!

There is protein in all plants. Hard to be protein-deficient if you eat plants.
www.netflix.com/watch/80033772?trackId=13752289&tctx=0%2C1%2Cb1df134b5c76803ac608f4ee4246baeced569b98%3A7b4efd3946499a1ac455ad567d9847d099df0dde is very educational.

I make a spicy chickpea saag which is delicious, have it with rice ( I like it with couscous but that's no good for gluten free) it's got spinach and carrot ribbons in it. My recipe is from Food For Thought cookbook, but lots of similar online eg www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/72617/chickpeas-with-tomatoes-and-spinach

Exactly Interrobang If you think of gorillas' diets, they eat only plants and a few insects! They ain't underfed!!!!

Avoid giving the males in your household soya. Not good for them.

You have to chamge your mindset away from substituting meat and go for something that celebrates other ingredients.

I'm so glad someone wrote that. I really dislike all the meat and dairy substitute type foods. They make no sense to me. Awful in concept and in execution.

That said, one reason I could never be vegan is I'd miss cheese way too much. That's real cheese. Don't even try to pretend any fake cheese is the same.

I reckon that's a huge myth trying to argue that men shouldn't eat soy.

Sadly I hear this myth at work. We are supposed to be scientists (argh). But not said by the nutritional scientists, from the social scientists & admin staff. I smile & wave.

Another considered discussion of whether it's reasonable for men to eat soy.

id just carry on as you are if its pretty much the only source of protein youre getting, or cut down to just eating white meat, and use turkey mince etc

Soya is fine. That it isn't is a myth put about by the dairy and meat industries.

lljkk, agree about substitute food type thinking. With a proper veggie diet, it isn't about just shoving lentils into a sauce instead of mince (bleurgh), and the results are much much better not just in nutritional terms but also in terms of taste - real veggie food of the type found in south east India etc is absolutely gorgeous because they have a long history of cooking this way and know what works taste-wise and health-wise.

Sacla do a vegan pesto now

Thanks for all these comments.

No I'm not keen on meat and dairy substitutes which I didn't make clear in my Op, what I wanted really was ideas for new but similar type meals that include some protein but not quorn, soya etc. I don't like tofu either. When I write the op I totally forgot about bean chilli which is a great example, we eat loads of rice so it's good to know beans and rice are the perfect combo. I think I was also being a bit stupid as I totally forgot that I usually pad out meat dishes with either chick peas (eg curry,tagine) or lentils (dhansak etc) so I suppose it's just as easy to remove the meat entirely. I'll definitely have a look at some South Indian recipe books as I find substituted ingredients so depressing - I miss cheese like hell and there is no substitute in this world I would enjoy. Vegan Mac and cheese sounds so wrong and ridiculous to me! Hopefully DS2 will climb the milk ladder before too long so we can return to eating cheese! I think I will try a dairy free fish pie though, having said all that. I have had to get used to almond milk in so many things I reckon I could manage a fish pie. Chick pea saag also sounds fab. I do buy the sacks vegan/gf pesto but I find it quite salty for the kids and although they love it I try to stick to homemade sauces especially for them. They could eat pesto from the jar every night if they could though so maybe I shouldn't bother!

ALL plants contain protein. Please stop worrying about protein.
And watch Cowspiracy. It is free on Netflix right now.

Sohackedoff The japanese live mainly on soya with less bad health than the west. Also beer is packed with hops which are a source of progesterone which gives males breasts, so probably best to get your 'men' to cut right back on beer!

Amy's Kitchen Rice Mac and Cheeze does taste properly like macaroni cheese though. I na good way.

I have 'invented' a really easy-to-prepare veggie centrepiece for a roast.

When I say 'invented', I mean 'threw together random stuff from the fridge in a bowl hopefully and it worked'. This is the laziest kind of cooking in the world, but it makes it look like you've slaved for hours. Which is my kind of food.

Take a large (500g) veggie MacSween haggis. Slit open the packet, and crumble it into the base of a large casserole tin. (Do not be put off by the word 'haggis' - this is veggie, remember. It's essentially a moist stuffing).

Fry up at least 500g of mushrooms with a little butter. Make sure they're slightly browned. Right at the end add a liberal amount of dried tarragon. Put these on top of the haggis in a second layer.

Open a jar of redcurrant jelly and put a layer over the mushrooms, right to the edges.

Open a pack of ready-prepared breadcrumbs (yes I am that lazy), 200g of ready-roasted chopped nuts (any kind will do). Add a good handful of chopped parsley, dried is fine too. Then add 1:1 of lemon juice: olive oil, until the mix starts to come together. You want it loose, not a claggy mess. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Shove this on top.

Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes. Tada! You look like Mary Berry.

Alternative layer: if you don't like mushrooms, you can take a can of chestnut puree and shove it in the food processor with some port and a bit of fried onion. However, this means you have to wash up the food processor, so is best avoided.

brown lentils are great for shepherds pie, and spag bol, they hold their shape more than red lentils

I make GF vegan mac and cheese actually and it's fab!

GD has an over the top dm and isn't allowed wheat, when she stays with us she thinks she's eating 'normal' mac n cheese, but she isn't!

How much meat do you have in your portions? You don't have to be meat free to actually eat less meat. Have a look at how the Greeks or the Japanese eat. (Jamie's new show on super food talks about it).

Or have a look at a thai takeaway. If you order a chicken green curry, you'll see a lot of veg padding out the portion. If you eat that way, you can get away with 2 chicken thighs per adult. (That's about 1/2 a chicken breast, I think)?

Otherwise, how about legumes? Indians have dhals with all their meals, and that'll fill your stomach so you need less meat.

Basically meals like what you said about bean chillis. You add beans so you end up eating less meat.

Oh and I mean one chicken thigh per adult. I cook 2 thighs for the 4 of us. But DDs are only 4 and 1. They barely eats.