Vegetarian Friends (sale, home, buy)

[chicagocubs]

I am going on a 21-day vegetarian fast starting on Friday for personal reasons. Now, the clincher here is that I am very much a midwesterner. Love my beef, and eat some form of meat at least once a day. I am also not a fan of vegetables overall. I did this last year and struggled a good bit.

SO, I am asking for help.

I usually brown-bag it to work. If you are a vegetarian and also brown bag it, what do you bring? I should mention that I really cannot handle tofu.

What are some other ideas for supper? Breakfast is obviously easy and I can make things like macaroni & cheese and pasta with tomato sauce, but, after 21 days, that gets old. I have been advised by another vegetarian that shrimp/seafood are acceptable, which will help for the supper option, but, can't really take that for lunch. People complain about the smell.

any ideas?

[noobinacan]

learn how to cook India food. there are lots of vegetarian dishes that are easy to cook. like 15 mins and will make enough food for one person...to last a few days. I portion it off and put it n the freezer.
as long as you don't load it up with spices...and have good ventilation. you'll e fine. lol
catch my drift ?

and should I say..I eat a lot of rice. its Basmati...its naturally white and obviously organic and healthy.
its also a complex carbohydrate.

[chicagocubs]

yes... thanks!

[coastalgirl]

Yes! I can give you tons of ideas. I don't really classify myself as a vegetarian b/c I will eat meat, but not a lot, and I will often go several months or even years as a full vegetarian only to be pulled back in by a juicy ribeye...drool...We eat vegetarian about four days a week, somewhat to my husband's dismay.

Lunch is easy. I rarely eat meat at lunch:
PB & J
Tuna salad
Egg salad
Veggie salad (I add kidney or black beans for protein)
Cheese and crackers
Cheese or veggie quesadilla (doesn't have to be hot)
Leftovers from dinner
Cottage cheese and fruit salad
Pasta salad - I can DM you several recipes if you want
My favorite sandwich: 1/2 a pita bread stuffed with mixture of chopped cucumber, tomato, red onion, fresh spinach and feta sprinkled with oregano. mmmmmmmmm
Hummus and dippers

Dinner:
Risotto - plain, mushroom, peas, asparagus, tomato, pumpkin, cheddar, the list is endless
Bean burritos - I have two recipes I can send you, one is AMAZING
Vegetable soup and grilled cheese
Spinach enchiladas
Pasta - doesn't have to be regular old spaghetti and marinara. I make roasted red pepper sauce, alfredo with broccoli or zucchini, butternut squash & parmesan sauce, pesto, Baked ziti, manicotti, etc.
Vegetable lasagna
Cheese or veggie pizza
Quiche
Veggie chili or Black bean soup
Au gratin potatoes
Vegetable pot pie
Stir fry
Fried rice
Grilled portobello burgers


I can add more if you want. I try to eat beans several times a week, and often substitute mushrooms in a dish where it calls for meat or chicken. I "beef" up meals with beans, cheese, barley, portabellos, etc. so that they are satisfying w/o meat.

Hope that helps. The possibilities are endless!

[noobinacan]

i typed this up for a friend last year

you'll need this from the grocery store:
- Patak's paste comes in a purple jar (http://www.pataks.co.uk/Patak's Indian recipes and videos, cooking sauces, curry pastes and chutneys)
and you wanna get the one that says 'Hot curry paste'. You can get this at Harris teeter.
or 'Garam Masala' from the Indian store. in the spices section comes in a little small container.


- Can of diced tomatoes
- Onions
- Ginger/Garlic (I usually buy ginger/garlic paste from the Indian store)
- red Chilli powder


open up a window and run a fan...at the window to get some air flow
]- saute onions for two mins
- now add tomatoes + garlic/giner paste
- then add one spoon of that Patak's paste (one small spoon is enough, don't add a lot)
that one jar should last you a year..ha
or one spoon of spice.
- add Red chilly powder

---The above is base---
Then you add whatever ya want,...kidney beans or garbanzo beans...or tofu ... chicken etc.
- Add a glass of water...and now add salt (start with 1 tablespoon)

- Leave it on low for another 10 mins...tada!

eat with Rice!

[lacey3eb]

Originally Posted by coastalgirl

Pasta salad - I can DM you several recipes if you want

I would love some pasta salad recipes if you can send them my way, thanks! I've been a vegetarian for a few years now (only ate white meat before that) and my menu is getting pretty old...

[NCaro4]

For portable lunches I usually make a burrito stuffed with:

1) Different Veggies. I prefer romaine, plum tomatoes (less runny), green olives, cucumber, onions, and flax seed topped with mustard or hummus (Trader Joe's has a delicious cilantro hummus).
2) Cold quinoa salad. The night before, I'll make quinoa for dinner cooked with garlic, tomatoes, spinach, garbanzo beans, zuchinni and balsamic vinegar. It's even better the next day after the flavors have blended together, so I stuff it into a wrap or pita.

Check out vegetariantimes.com, they have a ton of vegetarian/vegan recipes that you can brown bag.

For other protein besides tofu, try tempeh (Harris Teeter has them on sale this week) or seitan (Healthy Home Market). You can marinate this many different ways. Try it with homemade bbq sauce.

[Graciebaby]

I focus mostly on grains (definitely look into quinoa; it's so healthy and really versatile), beans, nuts, veggies and fruits. You won't be a vegetarian for long so it's not that important but you have to get out of the habbit of thinking of meals as a main course with a starch side and a veggie side etc. (if you even think like that to begin with). I tend to create complete meals instead of separate dishes. I second the Indian food idea - using lots of spices in general is good.

Some great quinoa recipes I've made recently are quinoa with sweet potatoes and toasted walnuts and quinoa/black bean burritos (let me know if you'd like recipes, although I kind of made the burritos up). Since it's winter, soups are an idea such as bean soup or minestrone (remember the veggie stock, not chicken!). If you're desperate, you can't go wrong with peanut butter and jelly or beans and rice. There's so many options if you just google some vegetarian foods you like plus "recipe". I find a lot of stuff to make that way. Let me know if you want any other info - I call myself a vegetarian but I eat almost completely vegan (except when I lose it around Christmas sweets!) so your diet may revolve around different things since you're including cheese, eggs etc.

[ClevelandMike]

Look into different healthy Bean recipes on the web. Like: Lentil, Great Northern, Cannelini, Black, Green Peas, Navy. Veggie Chili is awesome.

Quinoa is really, really healthy.

[chicagocubs]

Thanks guys! This is really helpful!

Next week, I start school (and work full time). So, cooking a lot will be difficult (no time). Still, I can make some of this stuff on the weekends and eat on it thru the week.

I'll let you know how it is going!