For new vegetarians

[Guest guest]

As we have some relatively new vegetarians here on these lists, I thought I'd

share a few things I've learned over the decades of eating as a vegetarian. Some

folk can end up spending a lot more on groceries since going vegetarian because

they end up buying the fake meat things from the freezer section at the grocery

store.

 

Carl and I had lived over 20 years before even trying one of those fake meats. I

keep a package of veggie burgers in the freezer, but it is for emergencies, not

for nightly consumption. I suggest strongly that unless you have the funds to

just eat the frozen meatless meals, you might want to put the money into buying

foods you can make (and taste better). Things which have been processed more

seem to cost a lot more. Look at the cost of a box of oatmeal (even the more

expensive steel cut oats) with your own spices and fruit added compared to the

individual packages of instant oatmeal. (Hint: If you have a large family, put

your oatmeal and water on to cook in the crock pot on low before going to bed.)

 

There are thousands of vegetarian recipes online and these groups are the best

source of help online. Of course that is just my opinion. (But I'm right.) My

starting off place for living as a vegetarian was Francis Moore Lappe's Diet For

A Small Planet. I have the bad habit of giving my copy of this book to new

vegetarians. The Moosewood cookbooks are also incredible.

 

Dry beans, peas and lentils are an awesome source of protein and fiber. Dry is

cheaper than canned, but I keep both on hand. The canned beans are great for

nights I really don't feel like cooking.

 

Plan leftovers. Our pot of chili is served as chili, then taco salad, then

either as soft tacos or mashed up and served with corn chips. Marinara sauce is

another which can have several reincarnations - spaghetti, eggplant Parmesan,

baked ziti, things like that. Periodically I will make things for the freezer,

like a veggie pot pie.

 

I cook with TVP a lot, but not daily. The most useful piece of advice I can give

about using TVP is to get used to it in highly flavored foods like chilies and

curries.

 

Read the labels on foods. That old standby, the cheap box of Jiffy cornbread mix

has LARD in it. A yellow rice which we've been using for many years has chicken

stock in it, which shocked me.

 

Get to know yous spices and keep herbs, spices, peppers, onions and garlic on

hand. Plain pinto beans cooked with no seasoning isn't as good as a pot of pinto

beans cooked with peppers, onions, garlic and other seasonings. Plain lentils

are blah. Lentils in a curry sauce and served over jasmine rice is lovely.

 

About the taco seasoning - those little packages cost a LOT more than a large

jar of the Tone's Taco Seasoning you can buy either online or at Sam's Club for

$4.00. We buy the large containers of spices and split them up into smaller jars

and use one jar, storing the rest in the freezer.

 

The five things I use the most in the kitchen are my chef's knife, paring knife,

cutting board, crock pot and rice cooker. I used to have the opinion that a rice

cooker was a luxury item until getting a Zojirushi rice cooker. When it died on

me, I was totally bereft until a dear person on both these lists sent me a Black

and Decker rice cooker.

 

Happy eating. Jeanne in GA