Becoming Vegetarian!

theoceansmademe

I stopped eating land meat 8 years ago and my body has thanked me.

Vegetarian Times magazine and .com is an excellent resource for recipes and general nutrition.

My protein comes from eggs, beans, tofu and the occasional soy meat.

The key to cooking many tofu dishes is expelling the water from the tofu block. I cut the block into thirds, ending with 3 rectangles not three huge strips. I then put the tofu on top a paper towels and a wire cookie cooling rack. Let it sit for 30 or more minutes. The tofu then becomes a bit stiffer and won't crumble when grilling.

Good luck.

Heineken Helen

Ms. Haiku wrote:

I'm excited for you, Helen. It sounds like you were trying new things right from the get go, and I think that's the best way to approach a new lifestyle. Have fun and I wish for you all tasty colorful dishes!

Thank you theoceansmademe... what if it's pre marinated? Is it just good to go then?

Thanks Ms H I think that's why I haven't gone back on meat yet cos I'm still trying new stuff. I'm gonna wait til I've tried all the veggie stuff and can't get my meat satisfaction from anything I've tried and THEN I'll go back on... if ever.

chime

Heineken Helen wrote:

chime wrote:

I use the ordinary quorn pieces (I buy the frozen ones) ... in curries (Indian and Thai), fajitas etc. You can use marinated tofu in Thai curries as well.

I use tofu hotdogs as a quick snack ... they can also be used in pasta dishes chopped up where bacon or ham may have been used (can bring some up with me in a couple of weeks if you want to try them!).

I found the best burgers to be the Tesco own ones. I usually have some in the freezer in the summer to take with me when I'm invited to bbqs. For faux sausages I go with cauldron.

I may have posted some of this stuff already ... but thought I'd repost as you are getting the meat cravings!

Yeh, that's brilliant, there's so much info in this thread. We don't get to tesco often but I will have to give that a go. I made a thai curry the other night but chickened out of using the tofu :oops: do you use it as you would chicken pieces?

Yeah you can use the pre-marinated stuff like chicken ... would work in stir fries etc as well.

Heineken Helen

chime wrote:

Yeah you can use the pre-marinated stuff like chicken ... would work in stir fries etc as well.

Thank you

Heineken Helen

QUORN is amazing!!!!!! I absolutely love it... seriously, you'd never have to eat meat again. Their mince is pretty much the same... the chicken gougons and the meatballs... omg the meatballs :oops: :P

Anyway, yep, still doin the vegetarian thing! I reckon I've lost quite a bit of weight since giving up too (clothes are falling off me and this is the only thing I've done differently!) The other half has also tried most of the veggie products and he loves them too. Since I used the quorn mince at the hen party for the chilli wraps a few people have said they've since bought it.

Go Beavers

Heineken Helen wrote:

QUORN is amazing!!!!!! I absolutely love it... seriously, you'd never have to eat meat again. Their mince is pretty much the same... the chicken gougons and the meatballs... omg the meatballs :oops: :P

Anyway, yep, still doin the vegetarian thing! I reckon I've lost quite a bit of weight since giving up too (clothes are falling off me and this is the only thing I've done differently!) The other half has also tried most of the veggie products and he loves them too. Since I used the quorn mince at the hen party for the chilli wraps a few people have said they've since bought it.

If you haven't yet, try making Tempeh Reubens sandwiches. Yum!

Heineken Helen

Go Beavers wrote:

Heineken Helen wrote:

QUORN is amazing!!!!!! I absolutely love it... seriously, you'd never have to eat meat again. Their mince is pretty much the same... the chicken gougons and the meatballs... omg the meatballs :oops: :P

Anyway, yep, still doin the vegetarian thing! I reckon I've lost quite a bit of weight since giving up too (clothes are falling off me and this is the only thing I've done differently!) The other half has also tried most of the veggie products and he loves them too. Since I used the quorn mince at the hen party for the chilli wraps a few people have said they've since bought it.

If you haven't yet, try making Tempeh Reubens sandwiches. Yum!

what's that?

CJMST3K

Heineken Helen wrote:

QUORN is amazing!!!!!! I absolutely love it... seriously, you'd never have to eat meat again.

Sweet! Don't forget the many other mock meats though. Have you tried them all?

Here's my short list from the thread I started last April "Vegetarian items for the meat eaters"
http://forums.pearljam.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=130097

Go Beavers wrote:

If you haven't yet, try making Tempeh Reubens sandwiches. Yum!

There's a local all vegetarian cafe near me. That's my favorite dish.

Tempeh is bought, sliced in half and seared and topped with swiss cheese, sauerkraut and 1,000 island dressing on toasted bread (if I recall correctly). Not what I'd normally think to put together, but MAN is it addictive! I travel about 20 miles round trip to go there just for that.

g under p

Heineken Helen wrote:

So it looks like I'm doing it!

I was a really big meat eater... didn't consider food a meal unless there's meat in it but we ate so much meat over Christmas (honestly, sometimes it was just plates of meat) that now I can't even imagine ever eating it again. So I decided to give up meat for a week (will be there on Tuesday) and can't really see myself going back on it.

I've already discovered a few foods that I'd never have tried before and have even bought some veggie burgers

Anyway, I know there are a few veggies here and was just wondering if there are any tips. Seems to me a lot of vegetarian recipes seem to be quite fattening or full of sauce, which I wasn't really in the habit of doing! I'm getting married in three months so could really do without putting on weight in the process

Do I have to worry about any implications of cutting meat out? I'm not gonna be overly zealous about reading labels and stuff like that though... and surely chicken stock doesn't count as meat???! And I'm probably gonna keep fish in my diet for a while (although I never eat it too often anyway)

And for those of you who read this and think 'she'll never last', I normally do anything I say I'll do... or I wouldn't go to the trouble of saying it!

I've done it once again first time 3 years this time for good. I saw the movie *Food* Inc then *Earthlings* and you'll understand.

Here's my thread on the movie.. viewtopic.php?f=13&t=151655

Peace

Go Beavers

CJMST3K wrote:

Heineken Helen wrote:

QUORN is amazing!!!!!! I absolutely love it... seriously, you'd never have to eat meat again.

Sweet! Don't forget the many other mock meats though. Have you tried them all?

Here's my short list from the thread I started last April "Vegetarian items for the meat eaters"
http://forums.pearljam.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=130097

Go Beavers wrote:

If you haven't yet, try making Tempeh Reubens sandwiches. Yum!

There's a local all vegetarian cafe near me. That's my favorite dish.

Tempeh is bought, sliced in half and seared and topped with swiss cheese, sauerkraut and 1,000 island dressing on toasted bread (if I recall correctly). Not what I'd normally think to put together, but MAN is it addictive! I travel about 20 miles round trip to go there just for that.

---

Here's my recipe:

One 8 oz. Package Tempeh, sliced into sandwich sized pieces baked in the following:
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon caraway
2 teaspoons grainy mustard
1 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
bake 40 min @350.

Here's what you put on it with kraut and swiss cheese (I like mine in a panini grill):

2 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp low fat mayonnaise
1-2 tsp sweet pickle relish – 3-5
¼ tsp dried mustard

double this

Heineken Helen

CJMST3K wrote:

Heineken Helen wrote:

QUORN is amazing!!!!!! I absolutely love it... seriously, you'd never have to eat meat again.

Sweet! Don't forget the many other mock meats though. Have you tried them all?

Here's my short list from the thread I started last April "Vegetarian items for the meat eaters"
http://forums.pearljam.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=130097

Go Beavers wrote:

If you haven't yet, try making Tempeh Reubens sandwiches. Yum!

There's a local all vegetarian cafe near me. That's my favorite dish.

Tempeh is bought, sliced in half and seared and topped with swiss cheese, sauerkraut and 1,000 island dressing on toasted bread (if I recall correctly). Not what I'd normally think to put together, but MAN is it addictive! I travel about 20 miles round trip to go there just for that.

Nope, haven't tried them all but I reckon I will.... I'm still discovering plenty at the mo. But I'm always keeping this thread at the ready for info for when I'm having one of my 'inspirational cooking' weeks they don't seem to come along too often these days though

Heineken Helen

Go Beavers wrote:

---

Here's my recipe:

One 8 oz. Package Tempeh, sliced into sandwich sized pieces baked in the following:
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon caraway
2 teaspoons grainy mustard
1 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
bake 40 min @350.

Here's what you put on it with kraut and swiss cheese (I like mine in a panini grill):

2 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp low fat mayonnaise
1-2 tsp sweet pickle relish – 3-5
¼ tsp dried mustard

double this

Thank you what kinda bread do ya do it in?

Heineken Helen

[quote="g under p"

I've done it once again first time 3 years this time for good. I saw the movie *Food* Inc then *Earthlings* and you'll understand.

Here's my thread on the movie.. viewtopic.php?f=13&t=151655

Peace[/quote]
Thanks G... I'll keep that one in mind. I like shocking films that have an effect... can only handle one every few months though.

dr0ptheleash

Congrats on sticking with it, it's a great way to make a positive change. Very cool to see how dedicated you are! Also, it's nice to see all the veg recipes popping up

Heineken Helen

dr0ptheleash wrote:

Congrats on sticking with it, it's a great way to make a positive change. Very cool to see how dedicated you are! Also, it's nice to see all the veg recipes popping up

Thank you seriously, even if I don't stick to it, I'm really glad I did it. Just had the quorn chicken balls tonight and the other half kept begging me for more they were pretty damn good!

I've had some pretty amazing salads too... Friday I'd a mackerel and boiled egg salad... it was gone in about 3 seconds

Go Beavers

Heineken Helen wrote:

Go Beavers wrote:

---

Here's my recipe:

One 8 oz. Package Tempeh, sliced into sandwich sized pieces baked in the following:
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon caraway
2 teaspoons grainy mustard
1 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
bake 40 min @350.

Here's what you put on it with kraut and swiss cheese (I like mine in a panini grill):

2 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp low fat mayonnaise
1-2 tsp sweet pickle relish – 3-5
¼ tsp dried mustard

double this

Thank you what kinda bread do ya do it in?

Any rye bread, dark or light.

Ms. Haiku

I'm going to try veganism for 30 days (inspired by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's 30-day Vegan Challenge book.) I'll start in mid-October, and will come here for inspiration from seasoned vegans.

I'm very excited to try new foods, and to get more energy from a whole foods plant based diet. If it feels like a good lifestyle fit for me who knows what will happen after the 30 days.

CJMST3K

Just got back from my occasional 1 hour jaunt to the Harrison Street Cafe to get my choice of about 20 different all vegetarian items. Had the "black bean burger" which is made from scratch. ...almost had the Beer Battered Tofu, but opted for the burger. I'm so happy that this region I moved to exactly 10 years ago happens to have so many all vegetarian restaurants which are awesome.

Ms. Haiku

CJMST3K wrote:

Just got back from my occasional 1 hour jaunt to the Harrison Street Cafe to get my choice of about 20 different all vegetarian items. Had the "black bean burger" which is made from scratch. ...almost had the Beer Battered Tofu, but opted for the burger. I'm so happy that this region I moved to exactly 10 years ago happens to have so many all vegetarian restaurants which are awesome.

I tried veganism a couple years ago, and I lasted a day because I couldn't find anywhere to eat. A vegan soup/salad place, and another bistro that serves vegan fare opened near my metro stop within the past couple years. I think this is an auspicious time to try new foods as I'll have back-up places to eat if I am not able to cook.

shortstack

try going raw!