mpolston, critti, anyone who is vegetarian...

ShansBride

what do you do for the main part of the meal?  like where the meat would normally go?  We have been trying to do mostly veg. meals and it is fine if I make a pasta dish or cassarole or something like that because I can just meatless crumbles or TVP or just not use any meat-like substance, but if I want to do something like baked cauliflower, a baked potato and normally I would do baked chicken, what do you serve?  We also don't like to do too much soy so I am running out of ideas!

critti710

I try not to do much soy also.  It's taken a while, but I finally have accumulated enough recipes for us to not eat the same thing over and over.  This is the list I keep on my fridge of meals we shop for:

ziti (Bri's recipe with TVP instead of meat)
zucchini grinders
veggie burgers (I have a recipe that uses black beans)
pigs in a blanket (with tofu dogs)
chili (your recipe with TVP)
hummus (usually a lunch, but I keep thinking of trying falafel with it for dinner)
spaghetti w/ marinara
red beans & rice
waffles or pancakes and scrambled eggs
lentil burritos
tacos (I use Quorn crumbles that are made with mycoprotein instead of soy)
chickpea, potato & cauliflower curry
lemon orzo primavera
navy beans
rotini tossed with olive oil & steamed veggies
quinoa & black beans (we serve in tortillas)
vegan potato casserole (with tempeh)
quinoa & lentil cutlets with mashed potatoes
stir fry with tofu

When the weather is cooler, we also have a couple of soup recipes we use.  It looks like about 25% of our meals have some sort of soy meat substitute.  Let me know if you want the recipes for any of these.

 

ShansBride

thanks!  I do Bri's ziti and just don't put any meat in at all or sometimes I do TVP too

can I have the recipe for zucchini grinders and lentil burritos?  thanks so much!

critti710

No problem! Here's the grinders recipe:

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/fabulous-zucchini-grinders/Detail.aspx

I use the 8 count bag of French rolls from the bakery at Homeland, saute the zucchini in olive oil instead of butter, leave out the red pepper flakes and add some minced garlic in with the sauce.

Here are the burritos:

http://mexican.food.com/recipe/lentil-burritos-217952

 

amanjay

We do a LOT of vegetarian meals, but don't try to replicate the "meat and two" or "meat and three" model.

Instead of thinking about balancing out each meal, I try to think about balancing out each week's worth of meals. Was today short on protein? That's ok. Tomorrow's main meal is a lentil chili that will be protein packed!

I probably get too much of my protein from dairy, but it often takes the place of the more traditional lentils or beans or soy in our household. So in the meal you mentioned above (cauliflower and a baked potato), a little grated cheese in the cauliflower, some Greek yogurt on the potato (I use it instead of sour cream in a lot of instances), and a green salad make a complete meal.

mpolston

Well since being pregnant, I haven't been much of a vegetarian. I throw up every time I eat anything with a lot of soy. Weird, yes. I've eaten more burgers than I have in my life. ICK! But I did start making my own veggie burgers again and they tasted SOOO good! I ate 3 in one day. Haha. Usually if we make tacos, H will eat it meatless with me and I'll use black beans instead. A lot of the time if we make pasta or a casserole, H will usually eat it how I want it, without the meat. I try to do things with beans, high protein veggies. I feel like I haven't actually cooked in a while, so thinking of things is kind of hard right now. I just really like different kinda of beans. haha.

mpolston

Also...you could look at this blog. She's vegetarian. Her stuff is pretty good.

http://www.veggiebyseason.com/

ShansBride

thanks girls!  We also try not to do too much dairy so I am having a hard time getting enough protein in our diets.  I will def. check out that blog though! 

critti710

Since you are trying to avoid dairy, you might check out this site.

http://fatfreevegan.com/

I found it when Finn and I were off dairy, and I have gotten a couple of really yummy recipes from there.