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There is so much to eat besides meat that you don't realize it until you eat a more vegetarian diet. Now I would say that I'm about 80% vegetarian in my diet, the reason being that I really love seafood, cheese, eggs, butter etc. I could easily live without red meat and chicken though and I pretty much do.
But what else is there ? Wow... for starters
Veg chili made with seitan and lots of roasted peppers (red bell & pasilla are my favorites)
Falafel wraps w/ fresh tzatziki (I make falafel in huge batches)
Greek Dolmos
for lunch today I had "meatball" sandwiches made w/ seitan, provolone, fresh marinara sauce and garnished with pepperoncinis & black olives & fresh oregano.
Any number of soups (sunchoke is one of my favorites)
steamed or roasted veggies (tonight I had roasted green beans tossed w/EVOO, s&p, and pistachios)
I always make good use of nuts.
I love indian simmer sauces w/ baked tofu & brown rice or basmati rice
I make a good tofu breakfast scramble as well
Lots of fruits
Lots of greens (I'm more of a cooked greens rather then a salad type person though lol)
I plan our meals a week at a time because I don't like to make multiple grocery trips. It's a waste of time for me, and I invariably pick up extra things that aren't in my budget. (Don't let me go to the store when I am hungry!) I designate certain foods for certain days of the week because that makes planning easier. It's just a guideline but it helps when I am stumped about what to cook. Thursday is soup ... that kind of thing. Looking at a week's worth of food allows me to see where I will use something in multiple dishes so that 1) I buy enough and 2) I don't waste food. For example, if I am steaming green beans for dinner, I might make extra and use some in a salad the next day. I like to have several containers of prepped or ready-to-eat vegetables on hand so that I can quickly assemble lunches in the morning. We've cut all meat but seafood from our diet, and overall meal planning has been pretty easy. Oddly enough, our grocery bill has not gone down much since we quit eating meat. I upped our weekly fish intake from once to twice a week, but still--I expected the grocery budget to relax a bit. It hasn't much.
Anyway, here is our menu for next week, including the lunches I pack for my husband (one salad, one sandwich--he has long days except on Thursdays, when he works from home). You can see that we eat a variety of lacto-ovo meals.
Thursday lunch: egg salad with arugula on herb bread
Thursday dinner (usually soup, but I have to use up some vegetables): stir fry with soba noodles, bok choy, bell pepper, shredded carrots, cashews
Friday lunch, sandwich: egg salad
Friday lunch, salad (I usually have the same salad and not the sandwich): spinach tortellini with lemon dressing, mixed greens
Friday dinner (fish): some kind of fish (haven't bought yet, will have to see what's good), Trader Joe's brown rice medley, steamed carrots with parsley. If we were going meat-free all the way, I'd probably make a mushroom risotto and carrots.
Saturday lunch: banana and Nutella panini on brioche for the kids, adults will get cut up veggies and hummus with naan
Saturday dinner (pasta): vegetarian pho with bean sprouts, basil, seitan (trying this for the first time)
Sunday lunch: huevos rancheros with refried black beans and spanish rice
Sunday dinner (soup or something fancy): minestrone made with homemade vegetable broth* and whole-wheat pasta shells
Monday lunch, sandwich: avocado, cream cheese, cucumber, and sprouts on squaw bread
Monday lunch, salad: lentil salad with arugula
Monday dinner (casserole): cheese lasagna from scratch
Tuesday lunch, sandwich: avocado, cream cheese, cucumber, and sprouts on squaw
Tuesday lunch, salad: spinach, steamed red potatoes, artichoke hearts
Tuesday dinner (fish again): Same as Friday but with green beans instead of carrots, and probably plain brown rice instead of the medley. Without meat, I would probably make a stir fry with rice. We used to have tacos on Tuesday, but I failed at making fish tacos, and I haven't gotten used to the idea of lentil tacos yet. Maybe grilled veggie fajitas at some point.
Wednesday lunch, sandwich: egg salad
Wednesday lunch, salad: spinach, red potatoes, flaked tuna, green beans, sliced hard-boiled egg
Wednesday dinner (easy meal - I go grocery shopping after work): leftover minestrone and grilled cheese
* The last time I made minestrone, I took someone's suggestion and threw in a parmesan rind. I got a few rinds at Whole Foods just for soup. So good! I will always do this now. The cheese is soft and soaked with yummy broth. My husband hates parm ... so it's all for me!
A few of my favorites, many of which are one-pot wonders that feed two and provide enough leftovers for lunch the next day:
[URL="http://allrecipes.com/recipe/moms-macaroni-and-cheese-2/detail.aspx"]Mom's Macaroni and Cheese Recipe - Allrecipes.com[/URL] (some work, but you'll never eat the boxed stuff again)
[URL="http://allrecipes.com/recipe/italian-sausage-soup-with-tortellini/detail.aspx"]Italian Sausage Soup with Tortellini Recipe - Allrecipes.com[/URL] (made with veggie sausage, make sure you use low-sodium veggie broth, or it will be way too salty)
[URL="http://allrecipes.com/recipe/quinoa-and-black-beans/detail.aspx"]Quinoa and Black Beans Recipe - Allrecipes.com[/URL]
[URL="http://allrecipes.com/recipe/orzo-delicioso/detail.aspx"]Orzo Delicioso Recipe - Allrecipes.com[/URL] (a fair bit of work, but worth it, and you can use the vegetable mix for omelets if you ever host a brunch)
[URL="http://allrecipes.com/recipe/quick-black-beans-and-rice/detail.aspx"]Quick Black Beans and Rice Recipe - Allrecipes.com[/URL] (add some cayenne or it's a little bland)
[URL="http://allrecipes.com/recipe/grandmas-slow-cooker-vegetarian-chili/detail.aspx"]Grandma's Slow Cooker Vegetarian Chili Recipe - Allrecipes.com[/URL]
[URL="http://allrecipes.com/recipe/black-bean-and-corn-quesadillas/detail.aspx"]
Black Bean and Corn Quesadillas - Allrecipes.com[/URL] (you might want to bake these, or just use one tortilla and fold over unless you have a big frying pan and are good at flipping)
[URL="http://allrecipes.com/recipe/barley-bake/detail.aspx"]
Barley Bake - Allrecipes.com
[/URL]
If you go to that site and type in keywords like "black beans," "quinoa," or "lentils," you'll find plenty of good recipes. My rule is that it has to have a lot of reviews and rank 4 or 5 stars for me to give it a try.
Last edited by Yzette; 02-16-2012 at 10:40 AM..
Reason: How could I forget those quesadillas?
Hey, Yzette, I've had my eye on that black bean and quinoa recipe for a while. Do you make it as a main dish? Would it be good as the base of a burrito with lettuce, cheese, and salsa? I mentioned in my post above that we had to stop Taco Tuesday because I don't know what to use for filling. We will probably try some meat substitutes over time, but in general I prefer to use simpler foods like beans or quinoa.
Hey, Yzette, I've had my eye on that black bean and quinoa recipe for a while. Do you make it as a main dish? Would it be good as the base of a burrito with lettuce, cheese, and salsa? I mentioned in my post above that we had to stop Taco Tuesday because I don't know what to use for filling. We will probably try some meat substitutes over time, but in general I prefer to use simpler foods like beans or quinoa.
I make it as a main dish. I gave that recipe four stars. Unless you love, love, LOVE cilantro, you can get away less than 1/2 cup. I like about 1/4 cup.
I'm not sure how it would work in a taco because the quinoa really swells up. The texture might feel a little bit doughy if you are making soft tacos, a little bit grainy if making hard tacos.
For tacos, I just use meat substitute crumbles, whichever has the least salt. Then again, I use the prefab taco kits that come with seasoning. If you make your own seasoning mix, salt content might not matter.
Have you thought of switching to burritos instead? Here's one I haven't tried yet that looks pretty good:
[URL="http://allrecipes.com/recipe/delicious-black-bean-burritos/detail.aspx"]Delicious Black Bean Burritos Recipe - Allrecipes.com[/URL]
If you're fond of Mexican food, I added a quesadilla recipe to my post above. Sometimes one ingredient makes a big difference in flavor. In the quesadillas I added, it's the brown sugar. Absolutely wonderful.
Ah, thanks. I thought the dish might be mostly beans and corn, but I agree that the quinoa's texture might be odd, since there so much of it. The black bean burritos look good, so I will give them a try. I've made these:
... Oddly enough, our grocery bill has not gone down much since we quit eating meat. I upped our weekly fish intake from once to twice a week, but still--I expected the grocery budget to relax a bit. It hasn't much.
Anyway, here is our menu for next week, including the lunches I pack for my husband (one salad, one sandwich--he has long days except on Thursdays, when he works from home). You can see that we eat a variety of lacto-ovo meals. ...
I think your planning is great. It helps to see the overall picture as you say, it's easier to plan that way. I do that too most of the time. I've started going to the store more frequently like they do in other countries. I got tired of my produce going bad before I got around to consuming it. I now have a routine that works.
I've recently learned about the lentil nutritional content and now trying to perfect the lentil loaf recipe for my tastes. I now use it in my heated corn tortillas along with lettuce and tomato and onion and salsa. Outstanding tacos!
...If you go to that site and type in keywords like "black beans," "quinoa," or "lentils," you'll find plenty of good recipes. My rule is that it has to have a lot of reviews and rank 4 or 5 stars for me to give it a try.
these recipes are fantastic! Okay, now I've got lentils, quorn and quinoa for the mains. I hadn't previously heard of the last two. Thanks for posting. Always good to expand my options.
Just recently watched a speech by Mark Bittman on the Ted.org site. He agrees with Dr. Weil's food pyramid in stating we only really need a protein once a week. Another awesome term he coined was that he's a 'locavore' who eats only local foods.
Ah, thanks. I thought the dish might be mostly beans and corn, but I agree that the quinoa's texture might be odd, since there so much of it. The black bean burritos look good, so I will give them a try. I've made these:
I scale the recipe down because the recipe makes a lot and requires a lot of kidney beans (6 cups!).
I shall try these tonight, it sounds fantastic. But I'll be using corn tortillas. Thanks for posting this, it's my kind of food
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