Need help getting started

[lillym]

I keep having a few meatless days and then falling back into the habit of eating meat because my life is hectic and even though I've read (and own) cook books I end up getting a bit overwhelmed and either fall back on eating the exact same stuff.

What I need is some kind of template to work from just to get started. I saw a link somewhere here on the board to a site that had 2 weeks worth of vegan meal ideas and I was wondering if anyone had something like that for lacto-ovo. The vegan site I found was interesting, but right now I'm at the point of going vegan and (more importantly) the menus were heavy on meat substitutes which I can't afford and am really am not interested in eating.

It sounds kind of silly when I'm making this request but there are too many choices for me starting out and I need some kind of guideance.

I wanted to add that even though I live by myself I like dinners with a main dish and one or several side dishes instead of just eating a casserole or one thing at dinner. Even if I have a casserole I like to have at least a salad with it. This might have something to do with being Southern, we love our side dishes, breads and desserts.

[karenlovessnow]

This website looked interesting. Scoll down to the menu bar and you can click on a weeks worth of menu ideas. I think it's more of a weight loss plan for l/o vegetarians, but if you check out the recipe section of Veggieboards you will see a whole section on side dishes so you could mix up/add as many sides as you like.


http://www.chatelaine.com/foodrecipes/tools/mealplans/article.jsp?content=20050705_122113_5948

[lillym]

Thanks for the link! I need to lose weight anyway so that would work.

I've been looking through all the great recipes here on the board, but I just need a little help figuring out how to put it all together.

[chiaraluna]

Here's another with just the dinner meal plans... Hope it's helpful!

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0820/is_n253/ai_21034485

[Michael]

You may want to consider making a large batch of something and then freezing it in individual serving containers. That way you'd always have something to fall back on.

You can check Google for vegetarian meal plans. I looked at the first few results and there's some good information there.

The best advice I can give would be to alter the meals you were already used to eating. That should be easy enough with mock meat products (which are readily available at most grocery stores).

[synergy]

Like Michael said, you can alter the meals you ate already, but if you don't like mock meats, you could use alternate protein sources like beans, legumes, seeds, nuts, tofu, tempeh or seitan.

Eg) Make bean burritos (with black beans or vegetarian refried beans) rather than beef burritos. All the toppings are already veg!

Pasta- just do pasta (whole wheat preferably) without meat/meatballs. If you want a meat sub, you can get fake meatballs, or you can add some tofu or TVP (texturized vegetable protein) or fake ground beef).
To add some nutrition, throw in some veggies. I love sauteeing spinach in garlic and adding it to tomato sauce.
You can also have great vegetarian lasagnes, butternut squash ravioli, or cheese tortillini!

Stir Fry's are so easy to do. Instead of beef or chicken, throw in some cashews, tofu, chickpeas, almonds or mock meat strips. Use the same veggies and sauces as you normally would.

Pizza- lots of veggies- no meat. easy enough. When I was lacto- ovo, spinach and feta pizza was my absolute favorite.

Also, just hanging around VB in the recipie section and in the food discussion section will help you with more ideas!

Good luck!

[CoolPercussion]

Blaaaaaaaack Beeeeeeeeans :drool:
Whole Wheat Paaaaaaaaasta :drool:

I don't really care for meat substitutes. Tofurky.... BAH! I'd rather have a veggie sandwich. Fake taco meat... fake cheese... BLEH! Beans, tomatoes, bell beppers, mexican brown rice, lots of cilantro, onions, salsa in a whole wheat tortilla!! :drool: Fake meat is too expensive for what it is. Hell, its too expensive PERIOD. Its flavor and texture usually just gets hidden in the rest whatever is being prepared anyway, AND for me, I kind of feel like Lot's wife taking one last look back on the evil city when i use a meat substitute. I stopped eating meat mostly because it's cruelty and murder---I don’t want a cruelty substitute.:down:

[Blobbenstein]

well, I think that we evolved to like the taste of meat and I like meat substitute-though it is expensive, just use it sparingly and don't mix it with other strong flavored food.

would vegi bangers,mashed potatos and coleslaw be too basic for you OP? Personally I could have that every day.

[CoolPercussion]

I don’t agree with you on us evolving to like the taste of meat. Tastes are so volitle that they can change drastically multiple times in a lifetime. People liking the taste of meat has more to do with upbringing than genetics and evolution. Although I wish I did, I don't really have any hard data to support my belief though. So that is as far as I can go on this right now.

I don’t know what veggie bangers are. It sounds like it could be the brand name of celebratory firecrackers lit off on Animal Independence Day, if there were such a thing. Non-mayo coleslaw and mashed potatoes sound good, although I would probably want some broccoli on the potato.

Blob, you replied to my other post, in a completely different sub-forum... are you stalking me? :worried:

[tiggybrown]

Try recipezaar.com, and click on vegetarian, I got some great ideas from that site. There are so many recipes on there so don't be overwhelmed, just take it one page at a time. I usually look at one page a week and pick one or two recipes off of that page and make it for that week. There are so many recipes you simply can't look at them all in one sitting it will freak you out. Great ideas though, I made the greek filo pizza the other night it was delicious.

[Blobbenstein]

I don’t agree with you on us evolving to like the taste of meat. Tastes are so volitle that they can change drastically multiple times in a lifetime. People liking the taste of meat has more to do with upbringing than genetics and evolution. Although I wish I did, I don't really have any hard data to support my belief though. So that is as far as I can go on this right now.

I don’t know what veggie bangers are. It sounds like it could be the brand name of celebratory firecrackers lit off on Animal Independence Day, if there were such a thing. Non-mayo coleslaw and mashed potatoes sound good, although I would probably want some broccoli on the potato.

Blob, you replied to my other post, in a completely different sub-forum... are you stalking me? :worried:

I don't think I'm stalking you. Maybe it was because I just clicked on 'new posts' and replyed to the same threads, I duno...

as for evolving to like meat, I don't know for sure, but I have never eaten chicken or beef but I like eating chicken and beef substitutes and chicken and beef crisps.


and 'bangers' are the UK word for 'sausages'.

[chiaraluna]

I don't think I'm stalking you. Maybe it was because I just clicked on 'new posts' and replyed to the same threads, I duno...

as for evolving to like meat, I don't know for sure, but I have never eaten chicken or beef but I like eating chicken and beef substitutes and chicken and beef crisps.


and 'bangers' are the UK word for 'sausages'.

I think that evolution and taste are completely separate things. I like my fake meats every once and a while, sure, but I don't think that it's because my biological makeup is commanding me to eat something that tastes like meat. I eat them because they taste good when I'm in the mood for them. Why do people eat meat? Because it tastes good. It doesn't have anything to do with evolution. Our tastes may evolve, sure, but not our bodies. Two different meanings of the same word.

[Blobbenstein]

How is it then that different animals like different foods.

Do any humans enjoy eating raw eggs as I presume foxes and other animals do?
Do any humans really enjoy eating grass as I presume cows do?

Not to mention what flies like eating.

No I think, although I'm not completely sure, that enjoying cooked meat had something to do with human evolution-I'm not quite sure but I don't see how the taste of cooked mean would be intrinsically a good taste to humans. I could be wrong, what do dogs prefer cooked or raw?

[CoolPercussion]

Do any humans enjoy eating raw eggs as I presume foxes and other animals do?

Body builders?:hamster:


Do any humans really enjoy eating grass as I presume cows do?
Does wheatgrass count?


Not to mention what flies like eating.

No I think, although I'm not completely sure, that enjoying cooked meat had something to do with human evolution-I'm not quite sure but I don't see how the taste of cooked mean would be intrinsically a good taste to humans. I could be wrong, what do dogs prefer cooked or raw?

You have a point. Humans may have developed a tolerance for meat out of necessity for survival, long, long ago. But I don't think the taste of cooked meat intrinsically a good taste to humans. Looking back, most, if not all the meat I ate had to be flavored by someting, and thats how the vast majority of meat is prepared. Without the spices and marinades, plain meat doesn't taste any better than plain tofu.

[Blobbenstein]

well, humans have more than a tolerance for things like fruit and vegetables, we like them. The animals that did enjoy a nutritious food had more incentive to find that nutritious food, as opposed to less nutritious food and upon eating that more nutrisios food were less likely to die of malnutrition than those that ate the less nutritious foods and so were more likely to pass on their food enjoying genes. It can't be just coincidence that what you like eating is also good for you, in the natural setting that is. After all how is an animal supposed to know what is good for them? Although cooked meat might well be an exception, eating cooked meat probably did confer an advantage to those groups that did eat cooked meat as opposed to those that didn't. And anyway, our ancestors didn't have tofu. So we are luck to have soya protein and tofu etc.

[Ludi]

The easiest way to avoid eating meat is to just not buy it anymore. I know that sounds obvious, but if you don't have it in the fridge, you'll have to cook something else.

[Gita]

For quick home made TV dinners:
I bought a few weeks worth of plastic divided plates with lids that could be microwaved. Anchor hocking and other companies make them. I then would make several "choices" of food. Some beans and rice, some lentil stew/w meat anologue for example. Id fill the other dish areas with stewed tomatoes or brussle sprouts (some highly colored veg). So I would have a 1 cup serving of some main dish, and 2 1/2 cup servings of a bright veggie. Freeze and thaw & microwave. This also cuts down on cooking time with one night or day set aside for weekly "meal preparation." The down side is you see the same dish again and again-- thats why you need to make more than one dish per week. The up side is you can really monitor your calories and other dietary needs. Home-made TV dinners address the "Buisy" part of your life. It takes some finesse but is well worth it-- also you can take advantage of buying larger quantities of food (whole head of cabbage for instance). Simply steam and freeze. Good ideas are baked ziti w/ pamasean, chili stew (meat analogue or vegan style), Curryied veg and rice, stir fry, southern style fried eggplant (joke), etc.... As for what to cook, a good vegetarian cook book with pictures will give you all sorts of ideas. While there are some very intricate recipies, there are also some with only 4 or 5 ingredients. Time savers are things like pre-flavored (Italian or Mexican) stewed or diced tomatoes, and frozen Oriental or Italian style vegetable mixes. Poke around and you will come up with a lot of ideas and ways of accomplishing your ideas.
Good luck!

[lillym]

I don't think I expressed myself very clearly. I'm sorry.

I have veggie cookbooks and access to recipes. I don't buy meat at the grocery store (although I do get meat in take out stuff). I love meat. Seriously. I love the way eat tastes and the texture and the smell, which is one reason it's hard for me to switch to veggie. I'm used to eating meat based meals with a meat main dish and one or 2 sides and then a starch. I like eating like that.

Trying to eat without meat is strange and I'm trying to make the transition simpler for myself. I'd just like to find a week plan (likeyou see for South beach diet or something) for breakfast, lunch, dinner so I can just make what ever is on the list and not have to plan and think.

[CoolPercussion]

I'd just like to find a week plan (likeyou see for South beach diet or something) for breakfast, lunch, dinner so I can just make what ever is on the list and not have to plan and think.

Recipes for the Vegan / Vegetarian Diet (http://vegweb.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=ea137e770d3e48d9bf768cfd49e97d 37&action=recipes)

This site is very conveniently categorized. I think you will find lots of "normal" (or normal-like) foods here.

Also, the "Vegetarian Beginner's Guide," a publication of Vegetarian Times, has most of the book dedicated to menus and shopping.

:up:

[codemonkey]

I think it would be tricky to go from a meat and potatoes style of eating to a vegetarian style of eating. I've never been a fan of the "big hunk of meat" main dish so switching to vegetarian meals has been super easy for me. You really need to shift your brain away from the meat and potatoes mindset. you can use meat substitutes but if you're expecting them to have the taste and texture of the real thing, you'll be extremely disappointed. I actually like them better than the real thing but I was never a fan of the real thing in the first place.

[CoolPercussion]

Trying to eat without meat is strange and I'm trying to make the transition simpler for myself.
What is the motivation behind your transition? Maybe some kind of a reminder of what is motivating you to be vegetarian would come in helpful when tempted to eat flesh.

[lillym]

Thanks for all the advice. I ordered a copy of Vegetarian Times Beginner's Guide and I'm waiting for that to come in.

In the mean time I'm on day 4 without eating meat. It started out accidentally because I was flat broke and had to eat out of my cupboard and not eat out at all. (I don't cook meat at home because I can't stand handling it) I was tempted to slip last night but I decided that would be stupid since I'm off to a good start.

[Tesseract]

I don't have a handy meal plan I can link you to, but one easy way to change your meals over to vegetarian is to think of "starch and two greens" instead of "meat and two vegetables." That's how a lot of my weeknight suppers are composed. So instead of a chicken breast, a small sweet potato, and one green vegetable, I'll have a big baked sweet potato and two green vegetables. Maybe I'll also add bread or a bean salad. Just make sure you have a big enough serving of your starchy food so that you feel satisfied and you're not hungry again in an hour.

Tip of the Day Thread: Vegetarian Menu Planning (http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/showpost.php?p=1171829&postcount=10)
Tip of the Day Thread: Fast & Easy Eats (http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/showpost.php?p=1343532&postcount=75)

I know that's not exactly what you were after, but hope it helps some.

[snownose]

Here are two sites where you can request free vegetarian starter kits. They are very helpful, and free so you don't have anything to lose!

http://www.tryveg.com/request/

http://goveg.com/order.asp

[tiggybrown]

I have to say I have been programmed to think the protein is the most important nutrient for human survival, so as a result when I am planning my meals I automatically think of a big serving of a high protein in the center of my plate. Therefore I end up turning to meat substitutes. But I have to change my way of thinking, high protein is not the most important part of the meal as I thought it was, I now need to focus more on the veggie and grain part of the meal and make that the big center of my plate. I find myself always so worried about protein and calcium but in reality it is all just what we were fed as kids and it is what we are used to not what will make us healthy. It really takes changing habits and deep seated beliefs about nutrition, it is strange for me.