Vegetarianism / Special Diets

We have pretty much stopped eating meat.  It started out as not wanting to introduce our son to the hormones and other issues with meat, and was reinforced by spending a month with my veggie sister and seeing that you really can raise healthy kids on a veggie diet.  We aren't against eating meat - and I'd kill for a good steak every now and then - but like Legs, we want to eat ethically sourced meat but it has such a huge price tag.  We'd rather not eat it than eat the stuff they sell at the supermarkets (that and lentils are so much cheaper!)

My husband is not nearly as open minded as I am about fake meat, so we have an agreement that I will not try to substitute something we used to eat with fake meat.  So, fake sausages are out, but lentil loaf is ok (never made meatloaf) no bean burgers (although I do think I'm going to win this one and get my bean burgers) but sietan pot roast is ok.

We also don't do much soy and I won't eat Quorn, so it's beans for us I'm not sure if you can get fake beef broth over here, I know you can in the States but something like chili is easy to do without meat and if you add a bit of TVP it's almost like it with meat. 

It is interesting that the longer we go (I honestly can't tell you when the last time I cooked meat was) the less we miss it.  I will still get it if we eat out and so does my husband, but I don't have to. 

We are still figuring it out and probably don't eat as good a variety as we should but it is getting there. 

My sister claims that you can replace chicken in any recipe with chickpeas, but I'm not convinced.

I'm not a vegatarian but I stopped eating beef awhile back and I have started eating a few different substitute meats.

But in reference to the cooking issue...I often cook 2 (or more) different meats (or meat substitutes).  We might have hamburgers, I'll make some beef and some veggie but they are cooked in the same way so it doesn't make any extra work for me and also it doesn't feel like we're eating different meals. 

I make side dishes that go with any meat.  So whether you're eating a steak, chicken breast, meat substitute, etc. it will all taste good together (think broccoli and cheese, carrots, potatoes, etc.).  Once again, there's really no extra work involved.  Instead of making two chicken breast, I'm making one chicken breast and some imitation chicken strips.

I'm not sure what kind of meat substitutes are available in the UK (I never paid attention) but I've tried at least 15 different kinds here and I find that most of them are very good (we had the Morning Star breakfast sausage today...YUM!).  It seems I've been subconsciously making a switch to vegetarian without realizing it.

But in reference to the cooking issue...I often cook 2 (or more) different meats (or meat substitutes).  We might have hamburgers, I'll make some beef and some veggie but they are cooked in the same way so it doesn't make any extra work for me and also it doesn't feel like we're eating different meals. 

I make side dishes that go with any meat.  So whether you're eating a steak, chicken breast, meat substitute, etc. it will all taste good together (think broccoli and cheese, carrots, potatoes, etc.).  Once again, there's really no extra work involved.  Instead of making two chicken breast, I'm making one chicken breast and some imitation chicken strips.

This is basically what I have been doing so far, like making bangers and mash, but with the faux sausages for me and a veggie gravy for both of us. It's been working out fine so far, but I don't want my diet to revolve around "fake meat" and DH doesn't normally care for beans, so it's a bit challenging. I bought Madhur Jeffery's World Vegetarian Cookbook yesterday and it has some very interesting and exotic veg recipes that I would never have considered, so will probably give some of those a go and see if there are any that he particularly likes. 

I'm not vegetarian, but I only eat fish and chicken. No four-legged animals. I often prefer total vegetarian meals, but not every night. DH, on the other hand, is a total carnivore. Luckily, he also likes fish and chicken. However, when he does get bored of it, he cooks himself something meaty and eats that along with whatever else we're having.

I really don't like Quorn or any of those meat substitutes because taste & texture are the reasons I choose not to eat meaty meats - not for health or diet reasons. Once something is TRYING to be a bit like meat, it totally turns me off. We tend to eat a lot of grilled fish/chicken with fresh potatoes and veg. So it's easy for DH to have meat instead of fish with his. Do you think you could convince yours to cook meat when he wants it?

I'm exactly the same.  Fish and chicken only, beef/lamb grosses me out.  BF is fine eating what I eat, especially since he's on a healthy kick.  It's the kiddo that gets bored with it.  But, like chary, we most often have fish/chicken, with potatoes and veg so sometimes I'll just throw some sausages on for the kiddo instead.  If BF decides he wants to change it up a bit, then I'll just have a veg version of whatever he's making, or a big spinach salad if it's something like Shepherd's Pie.

I'm not a veggie, but I eat a lot of veggie only meals, because 1.) I love veggies 2.) I like beans/lentils/etc, 3.) Its cheap! 4.) I don't have a lot of freezer space and I don't have a lot of time to go to the butcher/fishmonger/farmers market stalls during the times they're open. 5.) It tastes good and can be quite healthy (like anything, need to stay away from deep fried, loads of cheese, etc)   

There are two really good cookbooks in which have lots of good ideas and recipes that even hardcore meat lovers will enjoy
One is Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone  and the other is the Sundays at Moosewood   -Though any of the Moosewood books would do.

Also, its really nice to take foods from predominately Vegetarian food cultures - you can get so many flavours and tastes and someone who is a hardcore carnivore doesn't 'miss the meat'

Have fun Jewlz! 

I've never had the Quorn beef burgers, and I can imagine they're a bit weird.  The fake chicken is pretty good and the mince is good, but you use it in something.  The slices are good on a sarnie or topping a salad. Quorn's one of those weird things where you can either tolerate it or you can't.  I just like it because it's an easy source of protein.  The stuff like the pasties is just junk-food, but I guess sometimes you need junk. I was never really big on meat-analogues before having Quorn, but honestly, the chicken one has made me change my mind about it.  I personally think that bean/nut/veggie burgers aren't analogues.  I don't think they can even attempt to be like meat.  Soy and gluten protein products usually are.

Oh, I ran across this a few months ago.  It's great:

http://www.veganlunchbox.com/loaf_studio.html Although I wish you could put something like sweet potatoes as the "carb".

ETA: Since we're naming cookbooks, in addition to some of the blogs I named (and PB mentioning Moosewood), this cookbook is incredible:

How to Cook Everything: Vegetarian-Mark Bittman I got it out of the library a year ago, and have been meaning to pick it up.  Excellent book, but it is an "American" cookbook.

Though any of the Moosewood books would do.

Another vote here for the Moosewood books! They're fantastic! 

hi. i was vegan for over 10 years and am now just vegetarian. i'd be happy to help in any way if you have questions about anything.

here are some idea's i've had when having to cook for meat eaters and veg*ns:

-layering components:
1) make pizzas at home. you can put the same sauce and use the same bases.
there are decent vegan "cheeses" (if you choose to go that route), or you can even make things like "cashew cheese" sauce -- if you desire something to replace the idea of cheese. then the meat eaters can have meat on theirs and you aren't making a bunch of different recipes.  the same idea applies to something like tacos (you put beans or whatever in yours).

-same sides with a veg or meat option:
2) the idea you mentioned of cooking a couple vegetable dishes and then making a meat for them and a veg option for you. i recently made some homemade veggie burgers (they used egg) that are unbelievable. there are many recipes for vegan ones as well out there too, though.  i personally prefer things like a homemade veggie burger that's full of beans/nuts/grains/veg, rather than using faux meats that are highly processed food products. it doesn't seem like it would use up any extra time to cook a veggie burger and a meat burger when you're all eating everything else and using the same sorts of toppings.

-happens to be veg, but everyone enjoys it anyway:
3) the idea of getting cookbooks (or looking at food blogs, which i do because they're free and full of comments and photos) that cook things that HAPPEN to be vegan/vegetarian, but aren't trying to pretend to be meat is also very helpful. so many things fall into this category. i have an abundance of recipes like this bookmarked if you want some links. just let me know

I dabble with the idea sometimes, and I do like the Veganomicon as a cookbook - I got it in the US, but I'm sure Amazon has it.

But right now, I eat everything.  When I do eat meat/chicken/fish - I try to make sure it's free range/organic, at least to eat a little more ethically and eliminate some of the additional crap that ends up in most supermarket meats/poultry. 

i think I could be vegetarian, I don't love meat, chicken skeeves me - I'd miss fish and seafood, though.    But full on vegan..too rough.  my life without gouda would be a sad, sad one.

my life without gouda would be a sad, sad one.

Heee! This is me! I can easily imagine giving up poultry (fish, maybe not so much), but a life without cheese would be a life not worth living.

I also strongly recommend the moosewood cookbooks. Their Mississippi mud cake is heaven. (I know we are talking about eating health...)

I've been an on-and-off veggie for years (prompted by the whole mad-cow, Chernobyl, salmonella scares -- as a friend said, makes you wonder why you ever wanted to eat meat in the first place). DH is pretty adaptable but still prefers meat. However, he is now supposed to be on a renal diet which means he should avoid or limit a lot of things like brown rice, brown pasta, potatoes, eggs, cheese, etc. He's also supposed to soak his vegs. for hours before cooking them! This sounds downright impossible to compromise on -- so guess we'll be sticking to the renal guidelines.

I've been vegetarian for about 12 years, and I came from a regular meat-eating family.  Getting to where I am now, which I think is a pretty healthy, varied and balanced vegetarian diet, has happened in stages.  I'm not sure how easy it would have been for me to jump straight from meat, potatoes and veg to beans, tofu and veg.  I guess I would recommend getting to used to new foods and meals bit by bit.

When I first became vegetarian, I was relying on Quorn and cheese to replace the meat/provide protein.  So really it was just a way of adapting the meals to become vegetarian.  I don't think it was the healthiest way to be vegetarian (it's certainly easy to be an unhealthy vegetarian), but it probably wasn't any worse than eating the meat.

When I went to college I discovered more types of food and cuisine, and started cooking different things.  There were more beans (chickpeas were a revolution for me!) so my diet was a bit healthier, and I mostly stopped eating Quorn.  But overall, I think I still had a carb, and probably dairy,-heavy diet. 

When I finished college and moved to the US about 5 years ago, I moved in with my boyfriend who has been vegetarian all his life.  We started eating more beans, tofu, tempeh, lentils - basically quite a few things I had never cooked before.  He doesn't like "fake meat", and in any case Quorn isn't widely available here.  Plus, the only Quorn I thought was worthwhile were the "chicken pieces", and to be honest I'd rather eat tofu.  While I'm not vegan, we do mostly drink soy milk, and eat a fairly modest amount of cheese and not much butter.  We eat eggs every now and then but I only buy organic free range.  Recently, I've started to think about going back to drinking milk and eating yogurt, but it would have to be from pasture-raised cows.  Recently we started getting an organic veg box delivered every week, which has been a lot of fun - we're eating really healthy interesting meals, and trying out veg we've never bought before!

Some tips I would give you:
-Tofu and chicken can be fried separately, then added to stir frys, Thai currys, pad thai etc
-Tempeh is really amazing and flavorful (at least the one we buy).  If you grate it you can use it like minced meat.  We cook it in spices and use it in tacos.
-Chickpeas are awesome as a protein filler for anything - salads, Indian currys, risottos.  And it's so easy, you just stir them in and heat it up for a couple of minutes.
-Hummus is your friend for sandwiches.  Actually I don't eat bread much anymore (dislike American bread), but when I was in the UK I used to eat them a lot, and I was eating way too much cheese because that's the only thing I could think of using.

Sorry if this is a bit late, but I just wanted to add my two cents.

When it comes to protein, people tend to think that we need way more than we actually do. Also, people tend to think that we need all essential amino acids in one go, and that's not really necessary.  Your body puts protein into storage, and whatever protein it needs, it will draw it from storage. All vegetables and grains contain protein.

Also, make sure you pay attention to vitamin B12. If you have been eating meat most of your life and then make the switch to vegetarianism/veganism, your body will have enough B12 stored up to last for years. But, it's still best to pay attention to it. You can supplement it with vitamins, and soy milk is a good source, too.

Thought I would mention that my husband isn't vegetarian, he's been eating vegetarian with me since we've been together (he'll sometimes eat meat on his ship). I told him he doesn't have to feel obligated, but he's very open-minded and loves eating vegetarian (he even loves tofu). As far as processed vegatarien foods made to be like meat- I don't eat them. I don't like the texture and I don't see them as being very healthy- they can be fattening, too. If you want to add a nice texture to your pasta sauce, I'd recommend using red lentils.

If you haven't found it already, and your shelf isn't too stocked up with cook books, you all must must must get "Plenty" by Yotam Ottolenghi -- Every recipe we have made from it is a flavor explosion. It even got my husband into eating vegetarian dinners! The recipes vary from simple to ridiculously difficult, but if you have a comprehensive spice rack your taste buds will thank you!