Calling all Vegetarians and Vegans!! HELP!

Go to www.fatfreevegan.com. And definitely check out the blog. There are some fantastic recipes on there.

Also, don't forget www.theppk.com (The Post Punk Kitchen, Isa Chandra Moskowitz's website).

My advice to a new vegetarian is to focus on fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes, nuts and seeds. Ease into the meat substitutes and try just one new thing at a time. If you rush in headlong, you'll just freak yourself out, decide it's impossible and be standing in the queue at the local Burger King again!

Vicki,
There are a number of threads in this (Food) section here with vegetarian and vegan recipes.  www.vegweb.com also has some recipes.

I also agree that it's best phased in, not all at once.  Find a few veggie/vegan recipes you like, bring them into your diet while phasing the meat out. 

As for the Morningstar Farms chicken strips (if they're the Meal Starters), I've used them in sweet-and-sour and liked them.  They also worked on nachos.  Good luck.

try linda mccartney's cookbooks:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Linda-McCartneys-World-Vegetarian-Cooking/dp/0316854875/ref=pd_bbs_1/026-7567867-2108420?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1184585265&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lindas-Kitchen-Inspiring-Recipes-Without/dp/0316877352/ref=pd_sim_b_2/026-7567867-2108420?ie=UTF8&qid=1184585265&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lindas-Summer-Kitchen-Linda-McCartney/dp/0316639788/ref=pd_sim_b_3/026-7567867-2108420?ie=UTF8&qid=1184585265&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lindas-Winter-Kitchen-Linda-McCartney/dp/0316639761/ref=pd_sim_b_1/026-7567867-2108420?ie=UTF8&qid=1184585265&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Linda-McCartney-Tour-Meat-free-Dishes/dp/0316639796/ref=pd_sim_b_2/026-7567867-2108420?ie=UTF8&qid=1184585265&sr=8-1

I second the Linda McCartney suggestion.  Her books are pretty straightforward, and tend to not have too many hard-to-find/specialty store items.

www.allrecipes.com has a pretty decent selection of veggie recipes, and their advanced search can really help find recipes with specific ingredients.

The pictures in this book are like food sex....made me try things I never liked before (like pea soup).  I've made half the recipes in this book so far and EVERYTHING has been fab - and gets thumbs up from my carnivore family as well.  (I'm not a vegetarian anymore, but still have plenty of cookbooks, including the HUGE Vegetarian Times Cookbook.  But this is still my favourite.)

The pictures in this book are like food sex....made me try things I never liked before

rock on with the food porn!

rock on with the food porn!

I am horrible with cookbooks - I read them like novels...over and over...!

Don't the Linda McCartney books tend to revolve around her own products? I've only seen one and it seemed like most recipes called for Linda McCartney this, that or the other processed thing and not many were recipes to make things from scratch.

HEY!!
Thanks guys!! this is great. Alot of feedback its wonderful. I again am at work so not much time to look things up. But hey! figured i'd check the board. Eatting Morningstar products until i find a good cookbook and some good recipies to try haha. I tried to do an asian stirfry w/ noodles with the morningstar chick'n strips. Maybe i didn't prepare the strips right, but i didn't like it. They were to soft for me.  Ok so:

Linda McCartney- is more pre-made/processed ingredients. *wrinkles nose*
Rock on with the food porn! -*HAHAHAHA* = Better Gardens
AllReceipes.com- Have used this before to search for dinner ideas a few months ago.
Laurel's Kitchen is a bit preachy, not as tasty, and somewhat hard to make..guessing thats what involved means.
FatFreevegan.com-seems worth checkin out
thePPK.com- even more worth it.. lol


"My advice to a new vegetarian is to focus on fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes, nuts and seeds. Ease into the meat substitutes and try just one new thing at a time. If you rush in headlong, you'll just freak yourself out, decide it's impossible and be standing in the queue at the local Burger King again!"-Carla

==I never liked burger king anyway! haha
Don't worry i don't think i'll be going back to meat for a long time if ever.. o.0  I never really enjoyed meat (especially red meat) I kinda liked chicken.  Now i know i won't be standing in line at KFC anytime soon! The last time i ate meat after reading my new book was from KFC and i couldn't sleep because i knew what i ate, and my stomach was killing me.. but i was fine in the morning. I dunno.. Things will be fine..  gotta get back to work this actually took my whole fifteen. EEK

o.0 have a good day

I'm not a vegetarian but I eat a lot of middle eastern food which is often veggie by chance.  You could definitely find some good vegetarian middle eastern cookbooks.  Japanese food too is often vegetarian or can be easily adapted to make it veggie. 

I hate tofu personally, the texture just squicks me out.  I eat a lot of Quorn though, most times I think it actually tastes better than meat and isn't as unhealthy.

Hi 
Ive been vegetarian all my life, and vegan for about 3 years and have only very recently started liking and cooking tofu! I wouldnt even eat any meat substitute until I was about 19- just the thought of eating something 'meat-like' freaked me out! lol
So I ate a lot of pasta, potato, rice or vegetable based dishes- I still do, but Ill incorporate soy 'meats' into those. DH and I actually just tried a new tofu recipe last night that we got here http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Baked-Tofu-Bites/Detail.aspx -it was DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!! We had in on a big salad- hmmmmm soooooo good! Ive found quite a lot of yummy things on that site.
I cant really recommend any cook books, as I just dont use them- theres always too many ingredients I dont have at that time- so I mainly use the internet and find things that way.
Good luck!!!! 

Don't the Linda McCartney books tend to revolve around her own products? I've only seen one and it seemed like most recipes called for Linda McCartney this, that or the other processed thing and not many were recipes to make things from scratch.

We have the Linda On Tour book (or whatever it's called), and I dont think there's any call for her products in it.  Of course, that may be because it's an Americal edition and her stuff isn't really all that available here. 

We have the Linda On Tour book (or whatever it's called), and I dont think there's any call for her products in it.  Of course, that may be because it's an Americal edition and her stuff isn't really all that available here. 

Maybe it was just that one book that i saw then. I can't remmeber the title of it.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Hot-and-Spicy-Tofu/Detail.aspx

this looks like it should be okay for a first time dish? what do ya think!?
i love spicy stuff..