Like To Try Vegetarianism

I do eat meat, but usually because that's what is in meals. I prefer vegetables, so I think I could be a vegetarian but I don't know of many recipes. I don't know anything actually but steam them or have salads.

[knightofalbion]

Good for you! Give it a go!

You may find this resource helpful

http://www.recipes.vegsoc.org

[Sarian]

I'm wanting to get into more vegetarian meals myself and bought two vegetarian cookbooks at a yard sale last weekend. :-)

In the start I struggled, but now I am starting to feel free within the vegetarian label and have just started to make up my own dishes just be creative

I found it was helpful to redo my favorite recipes. Like Spaghetti and Lasange are just as good without meat. Add more veggies like red pepper, onions and mushrooms instead. You can also make great tacos by replacing meat with beans and rice and taco seasoning. Stir frys you can also do without any meat. Actually practically any of your favorite recipes can be changed to just not include meat. I love allrecipes.com they have lots of vegetarian recipes that have been reviewed.

Try stews, soups, salads.. just add a few more exotic ingredients. I've been a veggie going on 7 years and my diet has been so much more varied interesting and tasty. Just give it a go and most of all, enjoy!

I totally love being a vegetarian!

I make my dad's homemade beef vegetable soup w/o beef sometimes when my husband is away on Army business. I always make spaghetti w/o meat. We love a nice Thai restaurant in town, you can get orders w/o meat. That taco idea sounds good to try, love them, will try with beans instead. Now I'm thinking of a wonderful carrot soup I had in a hotel restaurant in Ireland, wish I had that recipe. There's a place in a nearby town with the most awesome cool cucumber soup! Now I want some..

One week down w/o meat! I haven't really missed it. Tried the tacos, we got a kit and I used refired beans in mine with the fixings, instead of beef, and it was good! Had some good meals this week, pineapple fried rice, and today we went to an Indian place, lots of spicy vegetarian on those menus. I think I lost a pound ot two and I'm not eating flesh!

[Holly]

I DEFINITELY don't live on salads!

Try Quorn products, which is a type of processed fungus flavoured to be similar to meat. It's very nice, cheaper than meat (tho not by that much). It can be put in anything.
http://www.quorn.co.uk/

I eat it in curries, indian, chilli con carne (I call it Chilli Con Quorn!) Lasagne and Bolognaise. They also do vegetarian chicken style fillets, chicken nuggets, scotch eggs, sausages etc. You'll have to experiment, meat has a lot of flavour when cooked and quorn doesn't have that, so you'll need to add things like herbs, worcester sauce (Free From range do a fish free worcester sauce) or soy sauce.

If you eat dairy products you can make very nice food that way. Tofu is supposed to be a good substitute for meat. Be wary of cheeses - always check the label. Many are veggie but many are made with calf rennet, which involves killing the calf very painfully.

At our Morrisons/Tesco's you can get a marinade in a bag, which you can throw veggies or potatoes or quorn into, and serve that up on rice. If you like sweet and sour, you could buy a cooking sauce and put various veg in that, instead of chicken. Most pre packaged food (in the UK anyway) is labelled with a 'V' if it's vegetarian. Loads of indian food can be made vegetarian - just put broccoli, chopped carrots, courgette, celery, potatoes, lentils in instead. Don't overlook the humble bean, either, which you can buy in tins of 'mixed beans' and put in any sauce. Lentils and beans contain a LOT of protein and fibre, a good meat substitute.

A simple recipe I like is a butternut squash halved, take the seeds out, then put a bit of butter and half a clove of chopped garlic in the hollow and roast it for about 40-45 mins. Makes a filling meal on quinoa/buckwheat/bulgur wheat.

Check out Amazon, they'll stock loads of veggie cookbooks. A lot of people seem to think if you go veggie all you can eat is veggie burgers, salads and steamed veg, but it's not so. I eat better now than I ever did when I was eating meat. Incidentally, have a look at the Vegetarian Society website, they have lots of ideas for veggies.

https://www.vegsoc.org/