becoming a vegetarian

[bronny-jane]

ok im never eating meat again......alot of reasons....
and am thinking maybe even a vegan:D

any tips on great meals and healthy eating?
or good websites:D

[moomoosmummy]

hi just like to say welcome:laughing: i have never eaten meat
at this very moment i cannot think of any riveting infomation but if ever want a Q answered or so on feel free to pm me:smiliedance:

[Ana Gram]

bugger I just got rid of a whole lots of vegetarian and vegan cookbooks!!

[Saraswati]

Good decision! It's easy to be vegetarian but you need to make sure you get your protein. To do this, combine whole grains with either tofu, beans, lentils etc. It's easier than it sounds. Eg if you make a stir fry with tofu, have a piece of whole grain bread with it.

One good recipe I use a lot is 'vegie stack'. I stack large pieces of grilled capsicum, sweet potato, pumpkin, tofu and zuccini. In between each layer of vegies I pour a tomato ish sauce made from a tin of crushed toms, onion and a cup of cooked red lentils. Then in the oven till it's hot enough (15 mins?)

it's like lasagne minus the meat and minus the pasta. :chef:

[AVR]

www.goveg.com (http://www.goveg.com) has a good recipe section on it :thumbsup:

[Lirael]

hi just like to say welcome:laughing: i have never eaten meat
at this very moment i cannot think of any riveting infomation but if ever want a Q answered or so on feel free to pm me:smiliedance:

not even as a child?

[CurlyG]

I'm vego as well :thumbsup:
Except I go through phases where I'll occasionally eat a bit of fish, but I'm off even that now too!

To get my protein I put lentils and beans in just about everything. I make a yummy veg pasta using whatever vegies are in the fridge (onion, broc, cauli, zucchini, eggplant, etc.) and then I add a tin or cennelini beans and either a tin of brown lentils or dry "soup mix" and simmer it slowly for two hours. Plus the usual herbs, salt and pepper, etc. For pasta I use the San Remo wholemeal spirals (yum yum!) or san remo spinach fettucine.

And with summer coming up there's always salads --> Four bean mix, brown lentils, chopped or cherry tomatoes, rocket and lemon juice (yum yum too!). Or just add beans or baby spinach leaves or english spinach to your green salads, stir-fries, etc.

And I never buy white bread or white multi-grain. I make sure we either have wholemeal or wholemeal multi-grain in the house. Basically swap your white grains for wholemeal grains.

As for veganism - start slowly :) Because veganism usually involves not using ANY animal products, including leather (shoes, belts, etc) and food-wise, it can be very difficult? A girlfriend of mine went straight from carnivore to vegan and she just about starved because she had no idea what to eat! Hence my caution to start slowly :)

Otherwise, enjoy vegetarianism!!!! It's a much better way of living if meat makes you feel-->:barf:

Good luck!
Carly.

[littlejoy]

Here is a good website with lots of info and recipes http://www.vegsoc.org/index.html. I stopped eating red meat and chicken last week as the thought of it makes me feel sick ( i still eat seafood though..:o so I guess I can't call myself veetarian)

[RedPanda]

I love "fake meat". You can get it in the health food section of supermarkets. I'm not a vego, but my sister is, so I used to keep it in my cupboard for when I was cooking for her. I loved it (it's like mince, but is really just flavoured gluten pieces). If it weren't for DH's attitude towards it, I'd eat falafel and fake meat a lot more!!

[Yasmeena]

tis not difficult to do veg recipes, just don't add the meat!
Pasta's are easy, just have vegetables and herbs with sauce and pasta of your choice (sundried tomato is a great substitute for bacon) parmesan is yummy but not necessary if you want to be vegan.
tis easy to make vegan curries, use coconut cream/milk (instead of cow's cream) with curry paste, add vegies, serve with cous cous/rice/noodles whatever.
Alot of asian stir-fry's can be made veg or vegan, and you can get vegetarian oyster sauce at your local supermarket (just check the lable)
vegetable soups are great, you can make a vege minestrone, or a tomato soup with pasta in it, pumpkin soup is yum (add coconut milk to make it vegan, especially yummy with coriander and cumin seeds)
carrot and cashew soup is a great combination.
Sometimes I make 'not-meat and three veg' for dinner, which my children love, just buy the sanitarium not meats (not chicken schnitzel, not sausages, vege burgers etc.....) and do the three veg thing.
vegetarian pizza, vegetarian casseroles, roast vegetables, pies, spring rolls. quiche..... most things can be made vegetarian with a little thought :-)

I don't think vegetarians need to be overly worried about protein, chances are you'll be getting complete protein in your diet without even trying :o
peanut butter on toast is complete protein, so is baked beans on toast, or a sandwich with hummus, or a curry with chickpeas (or any other yummy pulse) and rice/cous cous, or raw oat muesli with nuts, and if you are very worried, have a handful of brazil nuts, they contain complete protein as well as numerous other nutritional benefits.
I would recommend eating nuts and seeds, but not just because you are vegetarian, I think eveyone should eat more raw organic foods.
Add some pepitas or sunflower seeds on top of pasta or salad, have nuts and dried fruit for snacks, or in a yummy cereal.

If you want any particular recipes feel free to pm me :wave:

[fire~fly]

If you are becoming a vego, make sure you get enough iron, especially if you are pregnant.
I had to have an iron infusion towards the end of my pregnancy because i had absolutely no iron in my body and they said if i had of gone into labour, i would have probably ended up in a coma after loosing blood. My next pregnancy i will be keeping a very close eye on my iron levels.
A good iron supplement that i have found recently is Spatone. Its a liquid supplement that you just mix with some orange juice and it hardly has any taste. Is also very gentle on your tummy and doesnt cause constipation unlike a lot of other iron supplements.

Congrats on joining the us vegos!! :thumbsup: