New vegetarian.

[Randomdogbite]

My husband and I stopped eating meat for the new year and are happy to keep it up, it’s been a gradual process and neither of us miss it. However I feel like I’m buying a lot of ready made things like pies and vege sausages etc so was hoping for some incredibly easy cook from scratch ideas or good all round recipe book recommendations. We are still eating fish and have 4 children who eat meat so if it suits them even better! Thanks

First, please don’t call yourself vegetarian if you’re eating fish. You’re a pescatarian. It’s really great what you’re doing but it makes it harder for all vegetarians by confusing people about what they do and don’t eat.

The bbc food good website is great for veggie recipes. I eat loads of curry, chilli and stir fries with meat replaced by chick peas, lentils, tofu, roast butternut squash, etc etc etc. Bolognaise is lovely with lentils. You could try out one or two new recipes a week. Most meals freeze really well so you can batch cook.

www.veganricha.com/

This is my absolute favourite website for curries and deals. They are more of a weekend treat than a quick meal but utterly delicious.

When I became a veggie my big sister bought me a cookery book and I just worked my way through it, seeing what I liked.

And no - fish eaters aren't Veggies!

It's easy to makes pies and things with beans and/or lentils and lots of veg rather than meat. Quorn mince is good for a veggie chilli (chilli con quorne in our house). Ditto curries and pasta sauces.

Try the kids on quorn 'chicken' nuggets! Infinitely preferable to mechanically recovered chicken meat from poor battery birds.

I like the Good Housekeeping Vegetarian Cookbook www.abebooks.co.uk/Good-Housekeeping-Step-Vegetarian-Cookbook-Step-by-step/22699596061/bd?cm_mmc=ggl--UK_Shopp_Tradestandard--product_id=COUK9780091851644USED-_-keyword=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIm6WT1ayc5wIVQ7TtCh0gMAO5EAQYAyABEgKSn_D_BwE

Quorn nuggets are really nice I always buy them now. So much nicer.

We love sri lankan curry
Chili
Lentil and potato stew
Quiona soup

Our favourite (and easy) cook-from scratch meals are:
Bean burgers www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/mexican-bean-burgers-lime-yogurt-salsa
Lentil meatballs in tomato sauce www.olivemagazine.com/recipes/healthy/lentil-meatballs-with-fresh-tomato-sauce/
Chilli bean pie www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/veggie-chilli-pie
Chickpea curry www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/sweet-potato-chickpea-amp-spinach-curry/
Falafel burgers www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/falafel-burgers
Lentil ragu www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/lentil-ragu
Chickpea tagine www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/recipes/vegetable-and-chickpea-tagine

One of my Dc's favourite quick meals is spinach and ricotta ravioli (any brand) or tortellini mixed with tomato sauce some cheese on top and baked in the oven until hot, served with supermarket garlic bread and some broccoli and peas.

I think pasta bakes are usually popular
Homemade pizzas (you can buy frozen dough for the bases if you don't have time for that bit)
Fake "roasts". I do up some Paxo which they love, roasted portobello mushrooms, lots of veg, roast potatoes or celeriac mash, I make a gravy with the juices from the mushrooms a bit of cornflour, a bit of a veg stock cube and a drizzle of soy.

You can get tins of lentils for around 50p and they are great to use instead of mince, fantastic for shepherd's pie. Tinned blackbeans make great chilli.

Vegetable pasties (use bought shortcrust to save time) with potatoes, celeriac, carrots, peas etc work well. If you like spice you can add some curry powder to spice them up.

Vegetable stir frys with noodles are quick and tasty.

Vegetable kebabs with couscous, pearl couscous or quinoa work well. I alternate courgette and mushrooms serve with green veg and make a nice honey, lemon, oil dressing with some harissa and yoghurt on the side for those that like it.

Hello fresh have lots of easy vegetarian recipes here:
www.hellofresh.co.uk/recipes/veggie-collection

You don't need to buy their boxes, just get the ingredients in your usual shop.

A good veggie blog is www.tinnedtomatoes.com/p/recipes.html

We go veggie/pescatarian for Lent. I'm ok with that but every time it comes around I am aware that cooking attractive, interesting meals is going to be more demanding than my "normal" repertoire that would include meat roughly half the week. I was checking out a nut roast recipe today; there were twenty ingredients in the roast and seven for the sauce. Even cooking a simple vegetable sauce for pasta involves an amount of peeling and chopping, frying and simmering. And of course you need to prepare more veg than if it was a side dish. (Retreats to bunker).