Please help me change from a meat mindset.

[EIIa]

I am absolutely desperate to embrace a vegan/ vegetarian lifestyle.

I’m riddled with autoimmune diseases, ask a big meaty glutton, feel horrified and guilty at even handling meat ..... but I find it so hard

The problem is, I was brought up in a food obsessed house where meat or fish have been the centre to my meals and it’s so hard to step away from that Mindset.

We cook everything from scratch and don’t eat processed food - maybe a takeaway twice a year. Sometimes we eat qorn but not often as it’s still processed rubbish IMO. Don’t think I am interested in fakey meat substitutes because one to would be hankering a proper bacon butty instantly.

To make things worse, my cholesterol is quite high so eggs and cheese are no longer my buddies 😭

So I’ve been trying to work out what I could feasibly eat and all I can think of is a jacket potato and salad

By far though, my biggest obstacle is my mind. Can anybody relate?

M&S do a great vegan bacon

Why don't you go to a vegan restaurant. Try a couple of dishes. Read the menu to get ideas. Maybe try a couple of different restaurants. Make it fun.

Try hello fresh , they have great veg recipes, I started by using meat subs but just eat veg now really . There are so many ways to make nice meals!
For what it's worth I was brought up in a very meat eating family and love the taste of meat ( or did ) but I have chosen not to eat it . It was lorry full of sheep that started me on my vegan journey 😩😩

Gousto - their plant based meals are brilliant.

I would watch some documentaries, if you haven't already. "The Game Changers" is fascinating and nothing to do with animal cruelty, only fitness and athletes and the advantages of plant based eating.

You could watch "Earthlings" if you really don't want to eat animal products anymore.

FWIW I went vegan 8 years ago and I can't recommend it highly enough. A whole new world of food has opened up and my health is so much better. We eat so many vegetables now and love it. (I did not expect this!!)

Good luck.

There are so many delicious meat-free meals. Risottos, curries, stir fries, pastas, soups, stews, and yes salads and potatoes! Could you get a Hello Fresh box with a few veggie meals to kick-start your tastebuds? We tried 3 recipes and they were all fantastic.

I've been veggie for 25 years, and am fit and healthy. I do eat a lot of quorn too though.

I'm not vegan but do eat far less meat than we used to.
Why not start with 'meat free Monday' or just aiming for one day a week and gradually build up your repertoire. Once you have s range of dishes that you like you can substitute more days, rather than making a huge change all at once?
Get a book like Bosh and have a meat free feast once a week. Their recipes are great and are proper food, not processed substitutes.

I've inadvertently become a pesco, umm, umm. . I'm a fish eater. I'm old now and was finding meat really quite difficult to digest.

So salmon fillets smoked haddock fish cakes, vegy stir fry. That kind of thing. I think that soon my tastes will move even further and I'll be a vegan. I've become very enamoured of a plate of well cooked veg.

Last night I made 'Spanish chicken'. No idea what makes it Spanish but it is a sauce of red lentils cooked into a purée, with thyme, garlic, paprika, tinned tomatoes and passata, sweet red capsicums and onions, a pinch of sugar and lots of salt and pepper. I fry off the chicken with the peppers and onions and paprika and add it to the sauce which has been bubbling down, then when the chicken is cooked we have it with rice or bread. Last night DD said 'this sauce would be great with those stuffed cabbage leaves you do Mum'. And so in a week or so we'll be having cabbage leaves stuffed with rice and chopped nuts (sort of a nut roast) cooked in 'Spanish sauce': making a meaty dish we all like into a vegan one.

Would some swaps like that work for you OP?

@ODFOx

Last night I made 'Spanish chicken'. No idea what makes it Spanish but it is a sauce of red lentils cooked into a purée, with thyme, garlic, paprika, tinned tomatoes and passata, sweet red capsicums and onions, a pinch of sugar and lots of salt and pepper. I fry off the chicken with the peppers and onions and paprika and add it to the sauce which has been bubbling down, then when the chicken is cooked we have it with rice or bread. Last night DD said 'this sauce would be great with those stuffed cabbage leaves you do Mum'. And so in a week or so we'll be having cabbage leaves stuffed with rice and chopped nuts (sort of a nut roast) cooked in 'Spanish sauce': making a meaty dish we all like into a vegan one. Would some swaps like that work for you OP?

That sounds fab with cabbage leaves!

Thanks everybody

I’ve ordered some cook books off Amazon
Going shopping after school with my son who is of the same mindset as me

The gusto and hello fresh are great ideas - will have a look at those 👍

Why don’t you sign up for a weekly recipe box? Like Mindful Chef or Gousto or Riverford? They have so many vegan options. It’s still cooking from scratch, but it will give you new ideas and allow you to try out new ingredients without investing in a whole pot of whatever spice etc.

Oh whoops I see someone else has already suggested that!!

I have to say, from experience, Hello Fresh is the least nice one. In fact, I’d go so far as to say the recipes I’ve tried from there have actually been bad - which might put you off vegan recipes?!! (I am also newly vegan.)

Riverford, Gousto and Mindful Chef are all much nicer - I’ve tried the lot!

First of all I don't believe avoiding meat will help auto immune disease.
Also you don't have to go the whole way overnight.
Having said that I have reduced my meat consumption by about 90% since vegetarian DS moved home.

If you cook from scratch you have a huge head start IMO and don't need gimmicky ready to cook things. I also agree that meat substitutes are not the way, highly processed and not very nice.

Some good websites for vegetarian recipes
Olive
Recipe tin

And Jamie Oliver

Some tips
Use much more spice and flavouring than you are used to.
Curries are easy. Use whatever veg you like.
Make beans, lentils and nuts your main ingrediant.
I buy tinned beans and pulses instead of soaking but use dried lentils.
In a stir fry use cashew nuts.
Bolognese - use red lentils.

I think once you get going it gets easier and easier.

One suggestion I saw for new vegans was to think of 3 vegan dishes you already eat - e.g. jacket potato and beans, pasta in a Mediterranean-type sauce, vegetable curry. Then think of 3 dishes you could easily change to vegan dishes with substitutes - e.g. nut roast for roast chicken, lentil Bolognese for meat Bolognese, bean chilli for chilli con carne. Then think of brand 3 new dishes to try. You now have a repertoire of 9 dishes - not a bad start. You can then gradually work on expanding your range of dishes.

I would second the recommendation for the Bosh cookbook - we've enjoyed everything we've tried from there, especially the paella recipe and the "mac and greens". We also like the "Quick and easy" cookbook by Deliciously Ella - had the tomato risotto recipe earlier this week and it was lovely.

If you're interested in health aspects, I would recommend the books "Whole" by T Colin Campbell and "How Not to Die" by Michael Greger. There are also lots of interesting videos on Youtube - look for PlantChompers (my favourite), and Plant Based News.

I feel much healthier and happier since becoming a vegan and have never looked back. I doubt I ever will. My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner.

Thanks everybody, I’ve had a successful first day. It really helps that I totally adore falafel and hummus and also wicked burritos and bean salads which I had for dinner . So fairly say’

@coronabeer that’s a really great way of thinking about it - thanks

@FredBair
My health has fallen off a cliff. I need to dramatically turn it around and the meat needs to go for moral reasons but also I just need to really raise my nutrient intake. I found out last week that I also have high cholesterol- so that’s why I can’t rely on eggs and cheese which are basically my staple foods 😩

I need to stop dicking about and start eating properly

YY to the spices!

We do curry, bolognaise, stroganoff, goulash, soups, stew. Lots of brown rice, pasta and bulgar wheat. We are only vegan Monday- Friday tho.

Would it help to visit an abattoir? I'm not sure if that's a thing at the moment with covid but I know a few people who it's been the deciding kick up the bum for. Or maybe watching videos would do it?

Have a look at the squeaky bean range , their pastrami is really nice and I love the Cajun chicken pieces !

@SuperSocks

Would it help to visit an abattoir? I'm not sure if that's a thing at the moment with covid but I know a few people who it's been the deciding kick up the bum for. Or maybe watching videos would do it?

What? That’s such a horrifying thing to suggest! Are you kidding?!

I am NOT struggling morally - think that’s clear.

I am trying to make decent food without resorting to substitutes.

I'm not a fan of meat substitutes or processed food either.. I cook from scratch daily for the whole family. I dislike vegan cheese. And my family still want meat. And i have high cholesterol and high triglycerides so my diet is really limited at the moment, and I'm basically now vegetarian some days, vegan others.

So my conclusion is: make meals that I can add meat to for everyone else at the end.

• curries : made an amazing chickpea and kale curry recently, but home-made dhal is satisfying.
• roasted squash risotto without parmesan.. Add parmesan and chicken if family want meat.

• tomato and red lentil soup. No one needs any meat, so tasty on its own!

• rice noodles and vegetable teriyaki stir fry. Add salmon fillets or chicken for the family.

• ratatouille. Serve with sausages for the family.

• salad with jacket potato with black pepper and olive oil. Add grated cheese for the family.

Then on other days, I just can't cope with the complexity of turning meals meat-free, so I just eat random food cobbled together from the veg in the fridge while cooking a very meat-based meal for the family. My older dd struggles with non-traditional food, and I batch cooked and well-planned before my health problems, so it is really tricky.

Op would it help if you posted here your last 2 weeks worth of dinners?
Then we could all help with a gentle switch to vegetarian or vegan?

It sounds like you just need a bit of practical help

A big pan of soup could last for several lunches.

I made one yesterday by gently frying some onions, then adding some garlic, a large carrot (finely chopped), celery (ditto), a pepper, some torn kale leaves and rosemary. Covered and allowed to "sweat" over a low heat for 10 minutes. Added a tin of tomatoes and a "soup mix" (those packets of mixed dried pasta, beans and pulses) and vegetable stock. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 25-30 minutes. Et voila! A nutritious lunch that should have 4-5 servings.

Also, you don't specify which auto-immune condition you have, but the site nutritionfacts.org does have some research into the effect of diet on auto-immune diseases. All the information is fact-checked with links to the scientific research.

This is a really nice pasta sauce with minimal effort - from the Bosh cookbook that has been mentioned. Makes about 6 portions. We usually sprinkle a bit of nutritional yeast on top in lieu of parmesan. Use wholemeal pasta and serve with a side portion of green veg for extra health points.

www.bosh.tv/recipes/easy-peasy-pasta

Thanks @coronabeer - that sounds lovely

Rent he autoimmune diseases - Well it’s kind of irrelevant in a way as they all have similar foundations but basically I need to lower my inflammation and this is done by cutting out all the processed crap I’ve spent the last 49 years eating 😩

Interesting article here if anybody’s interested www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/science/2022/jan/08/global-spread-of-autoimmune-disease-blamed-on-western-diet

One of the diseases is psoriasis and I managed to clear it completely doing a juice fast about twelve years ago.
It’s gradually come back and is now quite bad..... so I do know that eating clean can work wonders