XP: Vegetarians

smilee1079

I just watched Food Inc.  It's making me really consider becoming vegetarian.  However, I know I need to do a lot of research before I could do that.  So, I have a few questions that maybe you could answer.

Are there any web sites with good info about starting being vegetarian?

Know any sites with simple recipes for vegetarians?

Do you have to take a lot of extra supplements?  (I take a multivitamin, probiotics, and calcium pills daily now)

Do you find you eat mostly carbs?  What are good sources of filling protein that are vegetarian?

Any other info you think would be useful?

Thanks!!!!

brianna611

I don't really read any vegetarian websites as I've been a veg for over 10 years and it's second nature.  I adapt most of our meals to become vegetarian.  I don't take supplements.

The issue of carbs is a matter of what you enjoy eating.  I enjoy carbs, but for weight purposes, I limit them.  I make "fake meat" a few times a week because my DH eats meat, while DD and I are vegetarian.  I also use a lot of beans.  I love avocados, though I don't know that they're a good protein source.  We also eat a lot of eggs.  90% of the time I buy the cage free organic eggs.

I love that more and more people are becoming vegetarian!  I always say it is one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life.  It is a wonderful thing to do for your body, soul, animals, and the earth.

Alirebco

goveg.com has a vegetarian starter kit that might be helpful to you.  I also checked out a bunch of veg cookbooks from the library and also look at blogs.  vegnews.com also has a bunch of recipes. 

I take a prenatal (bfing and ttc), probiotics, and vit d daily.  You mostly just want to make sure you're getting B12 in your multi.  

I don't eat a lot of carbs and what I do are whole grains.  I'm also vegan, so this is a typical day for me:

B: steel cut oat, apple

L: chickpea salad , clementines, veggies

roasted  tofu, roasted broccoli, brown rice

 I don't eat fake meats, but I do eat wheat gluten sausage (Field Roast apple sage), tofu, and tempeh.  We also eat a lot of beans, some lentils, brown rice, quinoa, etc. 

Saxgrl1

I didn't really read much about becoming veg and its been about 14 years for me.  I eat a lot of Morning Star products.  I don't take any supplements, tho I probably should do calcium.  I'm ovo-lacto, so I eat dairy products and eggs.  I've notice Publix is really starting to carry more vegetarian stuff which is nice but  its sorta hard to find a variety of products here in the south.  DH mostly cooks/eats vegetarian at home, but eats meat if we go out to eat. He really likes Morning Star chik strips and we use it a lot when we cook.  I think their website has some recipes on there, but I go to allrecipes.com a lot.

smilee1079

Thanks!  Off to go look at those web sites!

apples09

I've been a vegetarian for 15 years- I recommend doing a lot of research from reputable sources- It took me a good 5-8 years before I realized what I needed to eat for health, vitality, etc.

I do not take a supplement other than probiotics and a women's multi-vitamin- I don't really need to- I get enough of my vitamins/minerals through my diet.

I do not eat mostly carbs- I eat a well balanced diet of whole grains and vegetables, dairy, soy/tofu, etc. The carbs I eat are whole grains and used as a complement to my main dishes.

I suggest reading "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone" by Deborah Madison or "How To Cook Everything Vegetaran" by Mark Bittman- both offer great veggie recipies. They are, in my opinion, the bibles to vegetarian cooking and eating. 

Good luck!

jennyk213

I became a vegetarian 15 years ago and didn't really do any reading before I switched.  I just slowly cut out meat and learned along the way.  I will admit that my eating was horrible because I didn't know anything about nutrition or even how to find info about becoming a vegetarian.  I was in my teens and we didn't have the internet back then. 

I've been getting recipes from blogs lately.  Cara's Cravings isn't vegetarian but she has a lot of meatless recipes.  I also like Fat Free Vegan.   I get a lot from Allrecipes.com even though it's not vegetarian.  I like the reviews and sometimes you just want to know you're making something that's gonna taste good.

I take a multi vitamin, vitamin D (live in a northern climate and don't get enough sun) and an Omega-3 supplement.  

I don't eat soy products and rarely have cheese (from cow's milk - goat is ok) because I have a food sensitivity to both.  The soy sensitivity means I can't eat most of the prepackaged meat substitutes.  I will eat eggs and milk only if they're cooked in something (can't stand the taste alone).  I eat a lot of beans, quinoa, nuts and whole grains for protein.

There are a ton of vegetarian Indian recipes out there and it seems like you can find a lot of Mediterranean vegetarian recipes, too.  My recent favorite cookbook is the Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen.  The New Whole Grains Cookbook opened me up to a world of quinoa and whole grains. 

JewelsEF

I have been a vegetarian for over ten years, DH a few years.  We just watched Food Inc. about a week ago and now are trying to go vegan.

When we first got married, we fell into the carb trap.  We ate pasta in almost every meal for dinner.  We eat pasta only once a week now, what we try to do is eat a whole grain product (like barley, couscous, rice) at dinner, not whole grain flour product.   I subscribe to vegetarian times magazine and there is a great website vegetariantimes.com that goes with it.  Some of the recipes are a bit complicated though.  

I find that if you are in the mood for something, just google a vegetarian version, there are amazing recipes right on the web for almost everything. 

I recommend not eating the fake meat products for  a few weeks or so.  My Dh hated all the fake meat products at first because the texture was not exactly like meat.  After about six months, he tried them again, after his tastebuds readjusted and loves most fake meat products now.  

I also recommend finding a great organic or vegetarian store and restaurant in your area.  For me, the groccery store was overwhelming at first, so it was nice to have restaurants and stores where I could eat almost anything in it.  

Good luck on your journey!! 

Mrs.MauiBride24

http://www.foodpolitics.com/2009/11/are-vegetarian-diets-ok/

Tambcat

I was a vegetarian for about 2 years, and I did not take supplements. I didn't even take a multi at the time. If you are vegan, you do need a B12 supplement unless you plan to eat dirt. lol. As a lacto or lacto-ovo vegetarian you just have to be aware of what you are eating and don't just take the easy out, like spaghetti w/ marinara every night. I did use a good amount of meat substitutes, but if I did it again, I don't think I would eat those much at all.  I would use mostly beans, nuts, eggs, and tofu for my protein. It was actually a lot of fun trying to find non-meat substitutions for the meat in my favorite meals. H and I still try to eat a couple of vegetarian dinners every week, and I almost always eat veg for lunch. (I usually just bring frozen dinners and piece of fruit for lunch - I know, the shame! Amy's burritos are good and cheap. But you can easily make your own veg. lunches too - wraps, hummus sandwiches, rice and bean salads...)

sm23

I've been a vegetarian about two years now - so definitely still learning.

I don't know a ton about goveg.org except that it's an offshoot of PETA, which immediately turns me off. I'm sorry to say I don't have a ton of official sources of info for you - I got most of my info from peopel I trust who'd been vegetarians for many many years, and have done so healthily.

Simple recipes: I really like Vegetarian Times magazine - the mag itself has good recipes, but they also put out cookbooks. One of my favorites is this one. I also like Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian." There are some simple, some less simple things in there. I also make a lot of basic/favorite recipes vegetarian pretty easily. If you have some favorites that you're having trouble converting, post them and I'm sure people here can help.

Supplements: I don't take anything unusual - just a multivitamin and a calcium/vitamin D supplement, which I would take regardless of vegetarianism. If you aren't careful about your iron intake, you could become anemic and require a supplement for that.

Carbs: It's easy to fall back on them (as well as cheese) when you become a vegetarian. It takes time and planning to make sure you're eating healthy. I've always had a problem with carbs    even before I was a vegetarian. I just love sweets and potatoes... So that's an ongoing struggle.

Good sources of filling protein: Beans, tofu and other soy products (in moderation), eggs (in moderation), peanut butter, chickpeas/hummus, tahini, yogurt, and veggies like sweet potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, asparagus, and Brussels sprouts. You can also use a protein supplement in your regular food - we add it to smoothies usually, or yogurt. Also, combining some of these foods makes for a COMPLETE protein - whole wheat toast with peanut butter, rice with beans/corn, etc.