hi Veggieboards ,

I'm still in this section and may be for some time as I said before I can't rush this but have been looking into it and am horrified at the fat content of alot of vegetarian food !!! In tescos the meat burgers have WAY less fat than the veggie burgers. What I look at is the ratio of protein to fat on a supposedly protein food like a burger or cheese or something and I try to pick things were the protein content is the higher ( I made up this idea for myself ) . Well it's not just the burgers , it's also the nut roasts , and other stuff generally in the supermarket freezers marked vegetarian. It's better in the organic section but I can't always afford to buy from there.

And then the recipe books. Take the bbc Christmas recipe magazine, well worth a look absolutely gorgeous mouthwatering vegetarian recipes. But again laden with fat , cream and parmezan which is a very high fat cheeze. Well I know it's partly my responsibility to search for the right foods that I can afford. But also , please people manufacturing and publishing, PLEASE , it's not OK to substitute for the taste of meat with loads of fat and cream !!!! I must remember to write to the supermarkets about this too. Their veggieburgers are nice, there are mexican ones and nut ones etc, but whats with the massively high fat content ????

thanks for listening guys , wish me luck with my long term goal of metamorphosis !!!

XXXXXlolXXXXX

:lovesign: :drool: :wayne: :trick: :bobo:

Frustrating isn't it! Have you tried Quorn stuff? That's reasonably low in fat. I'm not a big fan of their sausages personally but their burgers are good. Also the mince is good as well for making stuff like chilli and spag bol. I tend to find for burgers the vegan brands have more fat than Quorn as they are bound with oil rather than egg.

It's also frustrating when you go out to a restaurant and all the Veggie options are smothered in cheese and cream! I'm not a huge cheese/cream fan anyway and it's definitely not good if you're watching your weight or trying to eat healthily.

Do check out the recipe boards on here - you might find some ideas for meals.

Also be aware - depending on how strict a veggie you are - that proper parmesan isn't vegetarian as it is made with animal rennet (usually cheeses in UK supermarkets will be labelled if they are veggie). Tesco do sell on a veggie parmesan style cheese - I think the 'brand' is Twineham Grange or something. Still high in fat though!!!

thanks Jacksparrow, I'll do that , read the recipes on here. Not madly keen on quorn , bit synthetic for me, but love tofu ! I also know that it's possible to make great creamy sauces with tofu and bio yoghurt , and other things like nut butters , in small quantities, soya flour , hummus etc . what I mean is when you're in a hurry and you need to stock up on cheap things for the week , like alot of people I stock up on veggieburgers and then discovered this ! flavour should come from herbs , spices and varied use of ingredients, not loads of dairy fat ! you're talking to a would-be vegetarian here I'm afraid , I explained when I introduced myself that I've tried it all ways and its not possible for me to force this at the moment, just making it a long term goal lol

You don't have to have a lot of fat in your diet to be vegetarian. You can stock up on "quick" foods like keeping some cooked rice (brown or otherwise), legumes or pasta in your fridge. Stock up on veggies than are good eaten raw - wash them and cut them up for storage so all you have to do is open the contain and grab a handful. Same with fruits.

There is also reduced-fat and low-fat tofu available from which you can make many wonderful dishes.

Boca brand's "Original Vegan" burger is not high in fat if you feel you absolutely must have a burger. Though I have to say that I've not found meat analogs to be "cheap things" as they tend to be twice or three times the cost per pound as meat.

Bryanna Clark Grogan is a vegan cookbook author whose books are noted for their delicious but low-fat vegan recipes.

It can be done - you just have to think of eating whole foods and finding ways to make those 'quick' rather than relying on processed foods (which for both omnis and veg*ns aren't your best bet).

1st step: don't worry about the fat.

2nd step: eat the food

3rd step: enjoy the food


if you give worrying about the fat a miss, you'll find it much easier to enjoy your food. I'm eating a eggie burger right now, and i couldn't tell you for the life of me how much fat is in there - I just have no clue whasoever. What I do know is that it tastes good, it doesn't contain meat, and holding it in one hand and typing with the other is a bit of a bugger.

I find it very strange that people do elect to analyse the fat content of their food. In all honesty, fat is just a number which some smug bugger at the factory has put on the nutritional info thingy. Watch the salt content is my advice. That's something that actually needs to be watched.

Now cheese and such can be a bit of a bummer that they're in vegetarian foods. I find it bloody annoying, because I can't stand cheese. So I'll usually omit cheese. People have it in their heads that vegetarians subsist off quorn and cheese. Bloody hell, how wrong are they! A good cookbook will have recipes that do't call for cheese or quorn though. A bit more variety, but as any gastronome will tell you, fatis essentialin foods for flavour. You need it in there. Don't worry about it, just ignore all the nutritional info. Try the food out. If it tastes nice, ram it down your gob and then ram a double portion of chips down for good measure.

I've recently become a student, so i know all about eating on a budget. Spaghetti is my signature dish.Vegetarian spag bol, one portion (enough for two people) is made using a few mushrooms, half a medium-sized onion, half a green oxo cube, two cloves of garlic, half a can of chopped tomatoes, a small amount of Aldi's pasta sauce, and a wee portion of vegemince. Just fry up the onions, garlic and mushrooms, until bown, and then throw everything else in and leave to ste whilst the spaghetti cooks. Add tabasco or other flavours at your discretion, and you got yourself a meal, on the cheap.

I've made it for vegetarians, vegans and omnis. It's been getting rave reviews! People just seem to love my cooking! And it's bloody cheap! Heaven knows what the fat content is, but sod it - It's good food!

Moving away from processed foods will probably help to solve this problem. Also, choosing vegan options might be a healthier choice.

Moving away from processed foods will probably help to solve this problem. Also, choosing vegan options might be a healthier choice.

Agreed. If you buy a decent cookbook and make your own food a majority of the time, you will have no problems with fat.

Also a lot of lacto-ovo cookbooks are loaded with cheese, eggs, milk, and cream in the recipies. As a vegetarian, you should NOT be getting the bulk of your protein from these sources, because they are high in fat and really not all that healthy for you. Intead you should be getting the majority from things like beans, nuts, whole grains, and tofu. Meat-replacements are good for a transition to vegetarianism, but in the long run they should be eaten rarely, if at all.

Do this, and your diet will be low fat by default.

I hear you about the fat levels on veggie foods. IME, some of those numbers are bad enough to make one scream with fright and run a mile. Here in US, fat and sodium seem to be the 2 main ingredients in those things. I'm thinking organic quick foods are about as bad, but that's all by fuzzy memory as I don't buy them too often (they're quite dear where I'm at).

Moving more to a whole-foods diet is really the best, IMO. Yes, there's fat in things like pumpkin seeds and olive oil, but we need good fats in order to get on well (good fats being fats from whole-foods, not from heavily processed things). If buying a decent cookbook is not an option for whatever reason, there's always sites like VegWeb and this one that are looooaded with good vegan recipes (the vegan ones tend to be a bit nicer in the fat department than the vegetarian ones). :yes:

Wishing you much luck in your metamorphosis. :)

Watch the salt content is my advice. That's something that actually needs to be watched.

That's what I was going to say. The sodium content in processed foods, even vegetarian and vegan processed foods, is appalling, just appalling. :no:

The sodium content in processed foods, even vegetarian and vegan processed foods, is appalling, just appalling. :no:

Too true. And while most people are watching fat like hawks, all too few of us are watching our sodium. Moving away from processed foods helps there as well.

I totally agree on the sodium comments!

Remember, there's also good fats that are healthy, like almonds and olive oil. Fat in moderation is essential.

Fat levels?? My problem is I don't get enough fat. I need to start eating the food you eat! :)

Do these recipes have a lot of dairy/eggs in them and fake meat type things? That's probably why. Try cooking meals that have no/very little cheese in them. Try looking at different brands of veggie burgers. I eat Lick's Nature Burgers and I am pretty sure their fat content is lower than in the beef burgers. At least I am assuming so since my meat-eating friend switched over to those veggie burgers and lost weight.

I should also point out, if it hasn't been already, that you don't have to buy foods that are marked as vegetarian in order to eat vegetarian food. Try looking at other cookbooks so you can make your own foods. One that I really like is: "Full of Beans" by Violet Currie and Kay Spicer. It has meat recipes in it too but lots of veggie ones. Beans are incredibly low in fat. I eat them like crazy.

Vegetarian spag bol, one portion (enough for two people) is made using a few mushrooms, half a medium-sized onion, half a green oxo cube, two cloves of garlic, half a can of chopped tomatoes, a small amount of Aldi's pasta sauce, and a wee portion of vegemince.

Hi Loki,
I was wondering if you could tell me where you buy green oxo and veggiemince. I wish I could spice my spaghetti up a bit and yours sounds yummy.

thanks peoples , yeah I guess the thing is to try to avoid these burgers *sigh* ! it's margarine they've got in them I think. A can of chickpeas would be much better. I find I do need to watch the fat but not the salt , I seem to need alot of salt for some reason and even add a little lo salt. I became unwell when I gave that up. Thats probably unusual though , most people need to watch the salt. And I will deffo read your recipe section and let you know how it goes lol

"would be vegetarian with health issues"

"sustainability begins in the kitchen" !

thanks peoples , yeah I guess the thing is to try to avoid these burgers *sigh* ! it's margarine they've got in them I think. A can of chickpeas would be much better. I find I do need to watch the fat but not the salt , I seem to need alot of salt for some reason and even add a little lo salt. I became unwell when I gave that up. Thats probably unusual though , most people need to watch the salt. And I will deffo read your recipe section and let you know how it goes lol

"would be vegetarian with health issues"

"sustainability begins in the kitchen" !

Lucky you about the salt! I have to avoid salt, because I have high blood pressure. Most processed foods are loaded with salt and fat, to make them taste good....

green oxo cubes are available from virtually anywhere. Well, anywhere big. I got the ones I have from the shop on campus, but they sell themat pretty much any large convenience store, or at anysupermarket.

Vegemince is a product made by haldane foods. It's a pretty neat product, and I prefer it to other ground meat substitutes such as quorn. I got mine from sainsburys. Usually, you can get it from a large supermarket, or a health food shop. It's usuallyabout £2 a bag, and it's a bit cumbersome to cook with, but I favour it over quorn any day.

thanks guys , I looked on the box of the said veggieburgers . It's tescos nutburgers and mexican burgers. It's hydrogenated vegetable oil, so there must be a hell of a lot in there ! refined oils are bad news I think, some consider them to be 'non foods' and therefore stuff that might accumulate in the body. eg a tub of margarine left for weeks in the garage does not grow mould on it I think, I heard , someone said that it's because it isn't really a food !
their plain veggiburgers are low in fat but I got bored of those. And am not dead keen on veggie mince , so will be looking into using tinned and frozen sweetcorn and chick peas etc. My main meal is usually brown rice and vegetables which is fine, but wanting a nice bit of tasty protein to go with it that isn't loaded with plasticky fats !!!! manufacturers - no use cheating on this one ! you won't convert the masses to become veggie that way !

see laters lol

"difficulty becoming vegetarian"

"sustainability begins in the kitchen"

have you tried tofu? tempeh?...

why do you fear fat so much, out of curiosity?..

Many of the Cedarlane frozen foods are low in fat : )

Well the food that is high in fat are the ones that incorporate dairy, specifically milk, and cheese products. So stay away from them. Go for the plain vegetables that you can season yourself.

And of course nutburgers will be high in fat, nuts are a well known high fat food, so if your very concerned about fat, watch how many of those you eat.

thanks Libuella , Kat , Ramona , I'm concerned about fat because have weight issues and also find that fatty foods make me feel sluggish too . I guess there's a difference though with the unsaturated fats but if they're refined that can be a problem too. I like tofu but find it works out more expensive than buying burgers. OK not too much nuts and cheese then , but that leaves you with only pulses to make protein. That's the whole challenge thing when you like to try to have a varied diet , which is supposed to be a healthy thing to do I think . Haven't found a substitute for the nutburgers yet but on we go ....

"difficulty becoming vegetarian"

"sustainability begins in the kitchen"

:lovesign:

Ooooh--it's hydrogenated oil that's making up the bulk of the fat in these products you're buying? Hydrogenated oil is the absolute worst kind of fat to consume, hands-down. Way worse than saturated animal fat or anything. It does terrible things to your body. I avoid them completely (except for the occasional restaurant french fries.) I would steer clear of those burgers if I were you.

Beans and grains have SUCH a wide array of flavors, textures, and ways to prepare them--you need never be bored. Look into Indian, Italian, Mexican cooking. There are SO many ways to eat beans and grains. Off the top of my head, in the past two weeks, we've had a bean dish about 10 nights out of 14 (those other four were egg- or soy-based dinners) and haven't repeated a single one, and I don't think we will for quite some time. We've had fava beans and pasta, lentil soup, three-bean chili, squash stuffed with black beans, peanut stew with black-eyed peas, curried chickpeas with mint sauce, pinto bean burritos, yellow split-pea dal, and others...

Nuts themselves are great for you and offer beneficial fats. Just use them as a condiment or a small addition to your meals and you won't get too much fat from them.

thanks Libuella , Kat , Ramona , I'm concerned about fat because have weight issues and also find that fatty foods make me feel sluggish too . I guess there's a difference though with the unsaturated fats but if they're refined that can be a problem too. I like tofu but find it works out more expensive than buying burgers. OK not too much nuts and cheese then , but that leaves you with only pulses to make protein. That's the whole challenge thing when you like to try to have a varied diet , which is supposed to be a healthy thing to do I think . Haven't found a substitute for the nutburgers yet but on we go ....

"difficulty becoming vegetarian"

"sustainability begins in the kitchen"

:lovesign:

Seriously? I pay about $1.50/lb for Tofu. A box of veggie burgers is way more than that.

dude, i pay $.98/lb for tofu at my local asian market and i make burgers out of that... when i buy veggie burgers it's more for the convenience than anything else, and my tofu burgers are way less expensive than boca..