Guest guest Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 I am a vegetarian, not a vegan, I love cheese too much to become a vegan. But anyways, I'm interested if anybody has any quick and simple meal ideas that I can make just by going to any usual grocery store such as acme or giant eagle..? I find that my meals seem to consist a lot of the same things. I eat noodles, rice, broccoli, potatoes, grilled cheese, and bagels a lot (not all at once of course ). I'm not really so much tired of eating all these same things because I've found tons of ways to make pasta different week to week, but my fiance and I live together and he is not a vegetarian so he'll eat pretty much anything and yet I'm sure that whenever it's my turn to make dinner that he's tired of having " the same things " all the time... so if anybody has any ideas of basic meat-less meals, I'd love to hear it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 Hi there, Your diet seems to be lacking vegetables and legumes. These are the guidelines that we try to follow on a daily basis: * 7-8 servings of fruits and vegetables, in at least three different colors * 5-6 servings of whole grains * at least two servings of legumes Rather than post a bunch recipes that I like, I will post the meals that are generally in our regular rotation (I plan 1-2 weeks at a time). I will be happy to post any requested recipe (many of which are from this group).  No hurry curry sweet and sour cabbage rolls taco salad minestrone soup, salad General Tsao’s tofu stuffed peppers chili and cornbread sweet potato and black bean burritos Halloween black and orange quesadillas black bean soup, quesadillas, avocado salad not crab cakes, tofu fish sticks, baked sweet potato “fries†dairy-free nachos tamale bean pie Mexican bean and pasta bake white chili Stovetop lentil sloppy joes Tofu and spinach curry Lentil soup stew with dumplings lentil tacos Pot pie zucchini enchiladas Mediterranean Vegetable stew with poached eggs Stirfry homemade pizza squashed macaroni peanut noodles blueberry oatmeal pancakes slowcooker lentil sloppy joes Southwest Falafel ________________________________ sansaveraa <sansaveraa Fri, February 5, 2010 2:00:49 AM [veg_grp] unhealthy vegetarian?  I am a vegetarian, not a vegan, I love cheese too much to become a vegan. But anyways, I'm interested if anybody has any quick and simple meal ideas that I can make just by going to any usual grocery store such as acme or giant eagle..? I find that my meals seem to consist a lot of the same things. I eat noodles, rice, broccoli, potatoes, grilled cheese, and bagels a lot (not all at once of course ). I'm not really so much tired of eating all these same things because I've found tons of ways to make pasta different week to week, but my fiance and I live together and he is not a vegetarian so he'll eat pretty much anything and yet I'm sure that whenever it's my turn to make dinner that he's tired of having " the same things " all the time... so if anybody has any ideas of basic meat-less meals, I'd love to hear it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 Have you checked out our Recipe files and the area " For new Vegetarian " ? They are under Files on our homepage. There are so many delicious Tried and True Recipes that you'll never run out of ideas. Make up a menu for the week from the recipes and then make out a shopping list. It helps if you preplan your menu's when you first start out being a vegetarian especially, so you don't end up with no idea what to make a meal time. Then be willing to try lots of new foods and recipes to add to the wonderful bounty that a vegetarian lifestyles open up to you. Judy On Feb 5, 2010, at 2:00 AM, sansaveraa wrote: > I am a vegetarian, not a vegan, I love cheese too much to become a > vegan. But anyways, I'm interested if anybody has any quick and > simple meal ideas that I can make just by going to any usual grocery > store such as acme or giant eagle..? > > I find that my meals seem to consist a lot of the same things. I eat > noodles, rice, broccoli, potatoes, grilled cheese, and bagels a lot > (not all at once of course ). I'm not really so much tired of > eating all these same things because I've found tons of ways to make > pasta different week to week, but my fiance and I live together and > he is not a vegetarian so he'll eat pretty much anything and yet I'm > sure that whenever it's my turn to make dinner that he's tired of > having " the same things " all the time... > > so if anybody has any ideas of basic meat-less meals, I'd love to > hear it! > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 A lot of your recipes sound really good Robin! What do you use for your stuffed peppers? I can't get my family to eat lentils for some reason, but beans go over pretty well except for one member of our family. We eat LOTS of beans, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 6, 2010 Report Share Posted February 6, 2010 I agree. I keep buying the same things, and I have really gotten tired of the same recipes. I need some easy recipes that I can bring to school and work, but that's different than what I am taking now. , " sansaveraa " <sansaveraa wrote: > > I am a vegetarian, not a vegan, I love cheese too much to become a vegan. But anyways, I'm interested if anybody has any quick and simple meal ideas that I can make just by going to any usual grocery store such as acme or giant eagle..? > > I find that my meals seem to consist a lot of the same things. I eat noodles, rice, broccoli, potatoes, grilled cheese, and bagels a lot (not all at once of course ). I'm not really so much tired of eating all these same things because I've found tons of ways to make pasta different week to week, but my fiance and I live together and he is not a vegetarian so he'll eat pretty much anything and yet I'm sure that whenever it's my turn to make dinner that he's tired of having " the same things " all the time... > > so if anybody has any ideas of basic meat-less meals, I'd love to hear it! > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 6, 2010 Report Share Posted February 6, 2010 This list of bagged lunch ideas is the collective wisdom of many moms, I hope that you find it inspiring.  Robin  Lunch Box Ideas  Drinks: o  Soy shakes, like Vigoraid by Westsoy in juice boxes o  Warm apple cider, herb tea or cocoa in a thermos (what other warm drinks are good?) o  Bottled water o  soy milk boxes o  Most fruit juices especially if it comes in a box..or if I put it in those drink bottles with a straw. Any juice boxes should be transferred into some type of sippy cup or cup with flip-up straw before drinking (trust me -- those juice boxes are a menace), o  Homemade flavored soy milks again best if in a travel bottle with straw. Simply add flavoring to ordinary soy milk some ideas may be: Chocolate or carob, cinnamon, mango, orange, pineapple, banana, Etc. Use your imagination and think of your child’s favorite flavors. o  Fruit and tofu smoothies. Often these are enough to fill my kids up on my own and it's easy to sneak in extra nutrients.  Food: o  Cream cheese and jelly sandwiches, cut up into quarters or fingers o  Peanut Butter Roll-ups (cut crusts off a slice of bread, flatten it out, put peanut butter + other toppings, roll up. Optional: slice into 4's with toothpicks to keep from unrolling. o  Cream Cheese Cucumber Pita Sandwich (almost any sandwich can go in a pita!) o  Nut butter and fruit spread sandwiches on bread, cut up into quarters or fingers o  Nut butter sandwiches on small crackers o  Mini quiches or mini pizzas o  Whole wheat pasta rollups: with soynut butter, chopped apples, and carrots; avocado, chives, hummus or other bean spread (with lots of garlic), and sometimes sprouts;  roasted veggie wraps with hummus or spiced sour cream o  Peeled hardboiled egg, halved o  Cheese or baked tofu cubes o  Greek yoghurt w honey o  Ziti or multicolored finger food pasta w/ tomato sauce to dip & grated cheese o  Chick peas, green beans and macaroni (mixed together, no sauce) o  Pancake and sausage w/ fruit spread to dip o  Hot dog wrapped in biscuit dough and baked o  Baby potatoes and carrots, cooked whole, with yoghurt based dip o  Baked white or sweet potato " fries " with cubed burger and ketchup to dip o  Thermos of bean & veggie soup with toast fingers to dip in it o  Thermos of rice & beans, grated or shredded cheese on the side to mix in o  One of my kids favorites is tofu salad sandwiches o  Leftovers... may sound crazy but but my dd seems to think that food tastes better coming out of a plastic container and a bag or lunch box... or maybe it's just the home-cooked thing away from home. o  Rice with margarine and Nutritional Yeast flakes ( or cheesy powder as we call it. chunks of tofu or steamed veggies can be added to this if desired... and with a bit of Bragg’s it becomes a very believable fried rice. o  nut butter sandwiches with slices or smashed fruit o  fruit sandwiches o  cucumber sandwiches o  carrot salad sandwiches (shredded carrots mixed with a vegan mayo, and if the mood suits raisins) o  any type of salad or " normal " sandwich toppings in pita bread o  tortilla rolls ...are favorites are pizza, taco (beans and cheese), or pb and fruit. o  Cold cooked pasta, baby carrots (they're already peeled), o   homemade lunchables: any type of meal a kid can assemble ( or eat separately if they choose)served in a container with various compartments. o  Pancake Sandwiches - Cut pancakes into shapes with cookie cutters. Spread one side with cream o  Chili with whole wheat noodles, brown rice or whole grain crackers o  cheese (can be vegan), do the other with fruit preserves or jam.  Snacks and sides: o  Fruit w/ dip (cream cheese with juice concentrate or preserves mixed in) o  Dried fruit or fruit leather o  Baked chips, veggie chips or veggie/fruit/pirate's booty o  Just Veggies or Fruit o  Fresh whole banana o  Fruit..of all kinds...with or without dip. o  soy pretzels- plain or with anything that it can be dipped into o  veggie booty o  soy nuts o  bread sticks o  sunflower seeds o  sunflower seed mixed with dried fruit o  roasted pumpkin seeds o  popcorn!!!! our favorite...air-popped with or without added flavorings... o  your own gorp (whatever mixture of cereal, dried fruit, nuts & possibly coated chocolate -- like M & Ms -- you like), o  grapes, pretzels, garbanzo beans (chickpeas), o  Corn & Bean Salad o  Broccoli Salad o  Frozen Grapes  Basically anything that seems novel gets points so be sure to try cutting sandwiches with a knife or cookie cutter. fruits and veggies can be cut into all kinds of cool shapes too. Hope this helps.  Bring a small cooler, and you've got a little more leeway on what you can offer.  Freezable Sandwich Toppings (freezing sandwiches can save a lot of time in the morning) o  Bananas (sprinkle with citrus juice if browning bothers you) o  Branston pickle o  carrots (raw or cooked) o  cheese (sliced) o  greens (COOKED) (i.e. spinach, cabbages, etc.) o  jams, jellies o  lunchmeats (ham, roast beef, turkey, etc.) o  Marmite or Vegemite o  mushrooms (cooked, or raw — but without surface water) o  Nutella o  peanut butter o  tomatoes  DON’T FREEZE: o  cream cheese o  cucumber (raw) o  greens (raw) (i.e. spinach, cabbages, etc.) o  honey o  lettuce (raw) o  mayonnaise ________________________________ BrianaM <littlenina812 Sat, February 6, 2010 10:55:38 AM [veg_grp] Re: unhealthy vegetarian?  I agree. I keep buying the same things, and I have really gotten tired of the same recipes. I need some easy recipes that I can bring to school and work, but that's different than what I am taking now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 6, 2010 Report Share Posted February 6, 2010 Those are great ideas, Robin, thanks! Last week, I left a bag of pita chips and a tub of hummus at work and ate on that. That was different enough that I was willing to eat it 3 days that week! I need to remember to bring some carrots to dip in it, too. Audrey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 6, 2010 Report Share Posted February 6, 2010 It sounds like you're what I call a " grainetarian " rather than a " vegetarian " . My focus is on vegetables rather than grains. You can do a lot of interesting things with veggies, both cooked and raw, if you're willing to learn how to use herbs and spices. For example, I just had a dinner made from sauteed mushrooms mixed with boiled cauliflower, peas and carrots, cooked with tandoori seasoning and lemon juice, and mixed with Alfredo sauce. I served this no-named invention on a bed of rice and it was delicious. It took about 15-20 minutes to cook (I already had the rice). The peas and carrots were frozen, the rest fresh. With veggies, the possibilities are endless. If I use the same veggies again, the seasonings will probably be totally different, depending upon what I have readily available that sounds like it will be a good mix with the veggies. Elizabeth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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