Guest guest Posted August 5, 2009 Report Share Posted August 5, 2009 Well you've come to the right place for recipes. We have tried and true recipes that our member here are sharing daily and thousands of previously shared ones in our recipe files. They are all organized by catagories with subfolders full of recipes within each catagory. Here is the link. Click on Recipes and " For New Vegetarians " . Glad to have you. BTW pasta and rice aren't bad for you and if you choose brown rice and the multigrain pasta, they are even healtier for you. Judy - braseltonmomof3 Wednesday, August 05, 2009 6:17 PM Really need help with menu and recipes!! Daughter and I have been lacto-vegetarian for about 5 months now. We are having a hard time coming up with recipes. I have been making myself eat foods(mushrooms mainly) that I do not like, but daughter will not even force herself to try. We are ok for breakfast, but lunch and supper are a big issue for us. I want to cut out pasta and rice out of my diet, but I am finding it a bit hard, since there isn't much else for me to eat--that I know how to cook. Sometimes I don't have time to cook or I just don't feel like cooking. I worry about my daughter who eats a lot of pasta, some veggies and a some beans. Here are some meals that we will eat--quesadillas, spaghetti, potatoes, beans(daughter isn't a big fan), pasta salad, cheese and crackers, hummus and crackers, veggie burger and fries. I do try to keep fruits on hand at all times. We get so tired of eating the same ol'stuff!!! Please help us come up with new(possible quick) recipes!! By the way--we don't like mushrooms or avocados Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 6, 2009 Report Share Posted August 6, 2009 I can appreciate how this could be a bit discouraging, but I have found that most of the traditional lunch and dinner recipes are easily vegetarian-ized with a little creativity. I try to avoid pasta, rice, yeast or sugar for various reasons, and our meals are never boring and they are always delicious. For instance you mentioned quesadillas. There are so many variations on that one theme that you could try without ever getting bored. Try adding a few sauted peppers,grilled squash, some sundried tomatoes, pesto, olives, corn, different herbs, some crumbles,a veggie burger cut into strips (pre-cook it), veggie sausage crumbles, some homemade pico de gallo, tomato sauce and italian herbs, or any combination of the above. Any quesadilla concept is easily turned into an enchillada by rolling the ingredients inside the tortilla, placing it in a baking dish and adding a sauce (which are very inexpensive to purchase but are easy to make). Little work, great entree. Add a salad and maybe some fruit and you will be amazed at how quickly a meal can come together. Where a dish may call for rice I substitute finely chopped cauliflower that has been steamed, bulgur wheat or even grits. Pastas are generally reserved for " Oops Mom didn't get to do the shopping yet " meals, so we never feel that we are being pasta'd to death. (When we first stopped eating meat, we ate a TON of pasta we try not to eat it now) While large veggies are in big supply I like taking a large squash or eggplant, cutting it into 1/2 inch chunks, and making " Chicken fried veggies " with it. I usually cook them just short of done and freeze what we won't be using that night. Then when I don't have time or when I am on travel, the fam can pull out the patties, throw them in the oven and use them for sandwiches, or cover them with marinara and use it as the main dish, or make a nice gravy to serve over top of them. Add a few side dishes like mixed vegetables and mashed potatoes and viola! A meal! Don't get discouraged, those recipe files are a Godsend and I know you will find something that works for your family as well. When you do feel like cooking, make a few extra servings so you can freeze it, and have it on hand for when you don't have the time or feel like cooking. Peace. Andrea www.ANDECosmetics.com > Here are some meals that we will eat--quesadillas, spaghetti, potatoes, beans(daughter isn't a big fan), pasta salad, cheese and crackers, hummus and crackers, veggie burger and fries. > > I do try to keep fruits on hand at all times. > > We get so tired of eating the same ol'stuff!!! Please help us come up with new(possible quick) recipes!! > > By the way--we don't like mushrooms or avocados Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 6, 2009 Report Share Posted August 6, 2009 _Where a dish may call for rice I substitute finely chopped cauliflower that has been steamed, bulgur wheat or even grits. Andrea, what a wonderful idea to substitute cauliflower for rice! My husband doesn't like rice but loves cauliflower. I miss out on so many dishes I want to cook. Thanks Jane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 7, 2009 Report Share Posted August 7, 2009 Do you have a food processor? You can easily get more flavorful food & vegetables into your diet. Here's some summer ideas. You can make gazpacho [cold soup in 60 seconds [basic ingredients: cucumber, fresh summer tomatoes, white onion, green onion, green bell peppers, jalapeno pepper, cilantro, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, tomato juice, salt, pepper]. After the vegetables are cleaned, it takes no time. Pulse all the vegetables as follows. Here is a video. Then you chill it in the refrigerator & let it all marinate. There are many zillions of recipes for gazpacho, It's a summer beautiful dish. No cooking required. It's a wonderful appetizer to same old-same-old veggie burger dinner. In a food processor, you can julienne or " chop " all kinds of raw vegetables and sautee them for salads or sautee them w/garlic & oil in a non-stick pan. Easy cleanup. Or toss them in a baggie with fresh, extra virgin olive oil or nut oils like sesame oil, salt & herbs.You can do this with carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, beets, turnips, potatoes, yams whatever. It's easy. Roast them in the oven for 20 minutes. Drizzle w/olive oil & enjoy. I love roasted summerheirloom tomatoes w/ balsamic vinegar oil & a sprinkle of Icrunchy talian bread crumbs. There are thousands of recipes in the files, but I like to make large amounts of a recipe, and save extra servings of recipes I like to eat or creatively modify for the next few days when I don't feel like cooking. Make several cups quick brown & mixed wild rice & serve with sauteed vegetables. Save the leftover rice. The next day, throw some fresh herbs, Italian parsley, onion & garlic into food processor. Saute in non-stick pan. Add the leftover rice to pan, heat briefly, & stuff mixture into halved, cleaned red, green & yellow bell peppers. Before stuffing, toss the vegetables in a baggie with olive oil to keep them from drying out. Stuff whole heriloom tomatoes [scoop out the centers & combine w/stuffing mixture]. Stuff a couple of eggplants [You can also scoop out the centers & sautee with stuffing mixture if you like. You can stuff mushrooms & olives for appetizers, too. Make triple the amount you want to eat that evening, and save & reheat. They taste better the next day. Prep time is about 5 minutes, clean-up is easy, especially if you use a non-stick fry pan. Have you ever tried tossing arugula in oil or romaine lettuce hearts & broiling them?So fast, but delicious with balsamic vinegar oil, salt & pepper. Have you ever tried Japanese soba noodles? They cook in 2 minutes. I love them with a mix of canned black beans & canned cannellini beans. This meal takes 5 minutes to prepare. These are quick things I do regularly that are very healthy & vegan. --- On Wed, 8/5/09, braseltonmomof3 <braseltonmomof3 wrote: braseltonmomof3 <braseltonmomof3 Really need help with menu and recipes!! Wednesday, August 5, 2009, 4:17 PM Daughter and I have been lacto-vegetarian for about 5 months now. We are having a hard time coming up with recipes. I have been making myself eat foods(mushrooms mainly) that I do not like, but daughter will not even force herself to try. We are ok for breakfast, but lunch and supper are a big issue for us. I want to cut out pasta and rice out of my diet, but I am finding it a bit hard, since there isn't much else for me to eat--that I know how to cook. Sometimes I don't have time to cook or I just don't feel like cooking. I worry about my daughter who eats a lot of pasta, some veggies and a some beans. Here are some meals that we will eat--quesadillas, spaghetti, potatoes, beans(daughter isn't a big fan), pasta salad, cheese and crackers, hummus and crackers, veggie burger and fries. I do try to keep fruits on hand at all times. We get so tired of eating the same ol'stuff!!! Please help us come up with new(possible quick) recipes!! By the way--we don't like mushrooms or avocados Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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