I just don't know what it is!

Because I don't have a very big diet, I usually don't explore with food that I eat. So I usually eat the same types of meals over and over. About 70% contain cheese. So when I imagine becoming a vegan, and I think about all the foods I always eat that I can't eat anymore, it's a lot. And I don't even eat that much to begin with. So the thought of getting rid of the only foods I seem to eat nowadays makes the concept of being vegan impossible for me to do.

So what I need help with right now is what kind of meals out there can I eat that are vegan? And please no complicated recipes. Because I'm lazy when it comes to food, I need simple dishes, or snacks that I can have during the day. Things that I can get use to. There are a lot of vegans on this board so I'm sure I can get some good suggestions.

I am lazy when it comes to food also. I feel so left out of the IAT thread because everyone has such elaborate meals!

The basics:
Nuts
Beans
Natural cereals (Kashi brand, oatmeal, shredded wheat, raisin bran...etc)
Vegetables
Fruits
Whole grain bread
Snacks (pretzels, dark chocolate, natural popcorn, soy ice cream, etc)
"Milks"---almond, rice, soy, oat, etc...
Tofu/tempeh/seitan

You do not need to make complicated recipes! Beans + veggies with some spices makes for a good meal. Throw in some boiled whole wheat noodles if you'd like. Breakfast can be oatmeal + fruit. Lunch, a sandwich made from WW bread, tomato, tempeh, and avocado.

If you're feeling super lazy (like I often do), you can even make tempeh, beans, + veggies in the microwave. Less quality, but less effort! :)

Perhaps make a trip to a natural food store because then you can ask them to help you pick stuff out.

Pasta with Marinara; bean burritos with salsa and 'Better than Sour Cream"; oatmeal with raisins and maple syrup; peanut butter and banana sandwiches; chili; vegetable soup; hummus and pita bread with ripe tomatoes; romaine and spinach salad with almonds and Brianna's Poppyseed Dressing; pasta with toasted sesame oil, sesame seeds, red pepper flakes and bok choi; Amy's roasted vegetable pizza; tortillas with "Better Than Cream Cheese", salsa, and avocado slices..these are easy to make or you can buy them already prepared! :chef:

I don't have a lot of time durring the week to cook, so I make big batches of stuff and put them in containers with a serving size that I can easily microwave when I feel hungry.

I'm with you guys on the laziness factor. I love the idea of cooking, but when it comes down it, I never try new recipes unless they are less than 5 ingredients!

One of my favorite things to do is make up some brown rice or pasta and just add stuff to it. You can add canned whole beans, vegetarian refried beans, stir fry veggies, and even nuts to your rice. It's so yummy and simple!
To make pasta salad you can try out fun new pasta shapes and add veggies and fat free italian dressing. Catalina dressing is really great with pasta salad as well but I can't remember if that's vegan or not!

There's always great stand-by's like:
*spaghetti & marinara
*vegan pancakes (just stir together white or whole wheat flour & water)
*peanut butter & pickle sandwhiches (I swear these are incredible!)
*pita sandwhiches with whatever you want inside
*burritos and tacos (with lettuce, tomato, onion, gaucomoli, salsa, beans, vegan meat, etc.)
*baked apple dessert (just cut up an apple, add brown sugar and maybe syrup, bake it for 15mins until it's all soft and shiny. Yum!)
*focaccia bread with hummus, tomato & basil
*low sodium canned soups, like Healthy Choice

Hope some of those work for you!! :)

Healthy Choice is vegan? *must check that out when I'm in the store next* :)

Glad to see someone else also shares my affection for peanut butter and pickles. Try it with spicy pickles sometime - it's the yum! :bobo:

Some of my vegan quick-meals:

*Tomato soup
*Chili
*Rice bowls
*stir-fry
*Pasta with veggies and/or sauce
*Burritos, tacos, tostadas
*"Mexican pizzas" (no-fat refried beans, olives, tomatoes, etc on either a soft corn or a flour tortilla)
*Veggie potatoes (bake/nuke a potato, open it, mash the innerds,put veggies on, nuke again till hot, top with hummus or vegan sour cream and enjoy).
*Dinner salads (with just about everything thrown in)
*Veggie soup

I would say that about 90% of my dinners are quick cook. I just don't have time or patience to cook all night long unless it's a really special occaision like Thanksgiving or Christmas. Otherwise, it's whatever I grab from the freezer (I keep a lot of frozen veggies on hand) put with whatever is from a can (beans and/or tomatoes, typically) and whatever grains I've got on hand.

Simple, hearty, filling, yummy. :)

For me, I always like to go on the internet and get recpies for from some good eating lol. VB has some great ones you should check them out.

Oh dear...I might be wrong about Healthy Choice being vegan. It's been a while since I've had it so I just assumed!
I can't deal with anything spicy, even it is just pickles! Lol:) I like the regular dill pickles that are sliced for sandwhiches...I could go through a can in a day if I wanted to, lol.

Almost any kind of soup that isn't cream based. Just don't add the meat and use veggie broth. Even creamed soups can be thickened with blended potatoes and/or soy milk instead. That's how I make cream of broccoli or leek soup. Soups are super easy and you can make huge pots and then store them in smaller containers in the freezer.

Peanut butter and pickles???? You guys be crazy folks! :D I will have to try it now though because I remember telling my friends about Wise chips + vanilla ice cream being mixed together (it is incredible) and nobody believed me except my cousin (who is now converted). Haven't had it in FOREVER, but I used to eat it all the time. I would use soy ice cream now...wonder if it would have the same effect.

I swear by soup. I think it's the best food ever and there are so many choices of what kinds of soup.

Are you sure we can consume bread products? I was under the impression that yeast was a living thing and this should be avoided. I'm new to this lifestyle also, but I was told yeast was a no-no. :worried:


yeast is ok. welcome aboard.

Are you sure we can consume bread products? I was under the impression that yeast was a living thing and this should be avoided. I'm new to this lifestyle also, but I was told yeast was a no-no. :worried:

Whoever told you that was misinformed.
Do some reading on reliable websites or do some research in good books and resource materiels so you can better understand the "requirements" of a Veg* lifestyle. It's easy to believe every little thing you hear and petty soon you're afraid to eat anything...

Who told you yeast wasn't ok?
Yeast is a fungi, just like mushroom.


I admit it I'm a soup and bread-aholic.

Are you sure we can consume bread products? I was under the impression that yeast was a living thing and this should be avoided. I'm new to this lifestyle also, but I was told yeast was a no-no. :worried:

The Jains (a religion related to Hinduism and Buddhism) of northern India don't eat foods with yeast such as bread and alcohol, but then they are the world's most extreme vegetarians. The masters of their religion commonly carry small brooms with which they constantly sweep the path in front of them to avoid stepping on tiny insects, and they wear masks over their faces to avoid inhaling tiny life forms. They also only eat food that's been made fresh that day to avoid eating the microorganisms that grow in stored food. According to their creed, yeast and bacteria are above plants in the great hierarchy of living things.

I think this goes to show that you can always do more to be compassionate, kind, and careful about avoiding harm to other living beings. Just like the Jewish principle that you can always be more kosher. That said, I think most Western vegans would agree that since yeast, protozoans and bacteria are not animals as we know them, they're OK to eat. I think we can probably all agree here that we don't have to go quite as far as the Jains in order to be good, compassionate people!

Try not to get too caught up in made-up rules about what's OK and what's not. I suggest you do your own research and do what feels right to you.

psychem,

I have a weekly rotation where at least once a week I have a simple supper of fresh, plain-cooked vegetables. Usually it'll be a potato of some type or maybe corn, along with two "green" veggies, whatever looks good at the store that week. So it may be a baked sweet potato with steamed spinach and boiled green beans or boiled new potatoes with roasted carrots and asparagus. Often on the weekend I'll make up some kind of marinated bean salad with or without pasta, and dish out some of this to go with the veggies as well as taking it to work for lunch with pita bread.

Then on another day of the week, particularly in the spring and summer, I have salad and bread or salad and soup. Either we go out to the local salad bar restaurant and stuff ourselves silly, or we get greens and take 'n bake bread from the grocery.

Then I also have a few easy backup suppers that can be assembled in a flash out of the pantry. One is a can of veg chili over cornbread made from a mix. Sometimes if I'm in the mood I sautee up some onion, zucchini and carrot to "veg" up the chili. Between that and spaghetti with jarred sauce and canned artichoke hearts, capers and olives, I can whip up a quick supper no matter how tired and uninspired I am.

Around these very simple foods, I work in the more elaborate or adventurous recipes that I want to try, like Summer Roll Salad with Glazed Tofu or Pumpkin Ravioli with Sage and Pine Nuts. And when I make something like this, it often feeds us for two nights.

I also like to make the most of making large batches of things on the weekend and eating the leftovers several times during the week. Don't let the long cooking times fool you-- most soups are really easy to make, and the leftovers only get better with time. And you can't beat a big ol' pot of red beans and rice.

I use my rice cooker a lot for all kinds of things but you might not have one. You can mix cooked rice (preferrably brown) with canned (drained, rinsed) beans of choice, some spices, onion, and maybe some cooked potatoes or other veggies. I usually cook it with a little Braggs Liquid Aminos so it has more flavor. I'm not very picky with food, some people find beans and rice too plain.
Pasta is always good, I like Tesseract's idea of putting artichokes and olives on pasta, yumm. I love artichoke hearts (don't like that they only seem to come canned though).
You can sautee tofu with onions and garlic in oil and then add some frozen (thawed) veggies and then add things like ginger, soysauce, lemon juice, and sambal oelek to make a nice sauce. I'm only remembering these things off the top of my head so it's not very complete/exact, sorry.
One recipe I love is coconut curry. You sautee onion and garlic in oil, add chopped cashews, curry powder, coconut milk, and something sweet (brown sugar, white sugar, apricot jam, whatever you like), some salt, pepper, maybe tabasco, frozen peas, and then put this on rice. You can also put canned (drained, rinsed) chickpeas in it for some more protein.

I love artichoke hearts (don't like that they only seem to come canned though).

VegAnna, I know I have seen frozen quartered artichoke hearts before, but I haven't looked for them lately. I get artichoke and roasted pepper sandwhiches at a shop near where I work and the artichoke hearts are awesome; the manager tells me they come packaged in olive oil. I really wish I could figure out how to get these.