Vegetarians - do you use meat substitutes?

kunekune

My 7 year old has just announced that she is now a vegetarian (lacto-ovo, thinks she may eat fish, but isn't sure). I have been vegetarian at various times, and I'm confident about adapting our weekly menus to include a non-meat eater (we already eat vege 2-3 times a week anyway, and it's just a matter of a meal in separate components, eg, cook the sauce for meatballs and pasta without the meatballs and separate hers before they go in). But after talking to people at work, I was surprised to hear that they rely heavily on things like quorn.

My philosophy as a meat eater is that I am honest about eating meat, eat good meat, and don't pretend it's not from an animal. I will happily eat offal, etc. When I've been a non-meat eater, I've had a similar philosophy: I don't eat meat protein, so my protein comes from other sources (eggs, dairy, nuts, pulses and so forth). I wouldn't expect my plate to look "the same" as a meat-based plate and I don't think I've even tried the substitutes. I was inclined to take the same approach with my daughter, and we're trying out different foods over the next few days to find out what she likes.

But I'd be interested to hear from vegetarians on here, and others cooking for a mixed household. Is my philosophy peculiar?

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

I've always been vegetarian and when it was only me I never ate any substitutes.However when my children got older and my husband also decided he wouldn't eat meat anymore I started using soya,quorn ect. for them as they seem to need the texture as well as the taste.
Now there's only me and OH again,he's not eating so many subtitutes and I'm leaning towards true vegi food again much to my delight as I always had a problem with the look and texture of substitutes.
I don't think your philosophy is peculiar at all to be honest.

Dobie

I agree with your philosophy & as a vegan who cooks for a meat eating husband & sometimes for a veggie daughter I usually adopt the same approach & add chickpeas, lentils etc to my own & DDs portion.

I do sometime use Linda McCartney sausages though. Simply because I like them & they're convenient when I can't be bothered to cook after work.

Hollysan

We are a vegetarian household. Both the children have been brought up as vegetarian and we are vege at home, but occasionally DD and I will have fish when eating out.

At home, we use Quorn chunks to replace tofu when time is tight, and it is handy. The children also love Cauldron vege sausages, and that is usually their Friday night meal at the end of the week when I have had enough of cooking!

My son is very fussy, and although a committed vege, he actually is not that keen on many vegetables! This is where meat substitutes are useful. Otherwise I make pizza, minestrone, vege shepherds pie etc, and sometimes we eat the same thing, or, as OH usually gets home later, he and I eat together and have something different (proper vege food!)

Hollysan

fernliebee

I have been veggie all my life, and I'm now vegan as is DD. My DH mainly eats vegan but will have meat occasionally if we eat out, though he is very fussy about it. I do understand your philosophy and don't think it's peculiar at all. I used to eat a fair bit of quorn mince and sausages mainly, but now I use linda mccartney pies/ sausages sometimes on a sun for a roast for example, or I sometimes buy redwoods cheatn chicken slices as DD (8 months old) likes to nibble through them (and I'm not adverse to them in a sandwich! ) I can see what your saying about not needing a meal to look the same, but sometimes it's nice to have it. I don't see these things as nutrition ie for protein (we get that from tofu, pulses, nuts etc) but I see them as a treat as they taste nice. I also think like others have said they are time saving iyswim.

andrina_nightshade

I've been vegetarian for a little over a year now, and I mostly avoid meat substitutes. I just don't find them good value for money. Plus there's just something a bit... odd about the taste - especially Quorn mince. I tend to use pulses as a meat substitute - vege chillis, dahl curries, etc. Though I can't stand that other vege favourite, the nut roast. Yuck!

Plus I find lentil soup a really good "one size fits all" type meal (neither my sister or my parents are vegetarian). Just substitute a ham stock cube for a vegetable one, although I suppose you could make two different batches if you wanted. I have managed to tempt my mum with some vegetarian food, but the other two are commited omnivores so no luck.

Best of luck to your daughter

rachbc

I was veggie for about 8 years and never really liked substitutes, I still love lentils, pulses and nuts and would eat much more veggie food were it not for my heavily carniverous dh

clutterydrawer

sometimes, yes. i like sausages, I dont see any reason why I shouldn't eat veggie ones. It's not an issue of wanting to pretend I'm eating meat, i just like the taste of them.

The only reason I sometimes avoid them is cos theyre fairly expensive compared to pulses etc but thats a money thing.

VfM4meplse

No. Non-european cultures can be very creative with vege recipes, we could learn a lot from them.

Buddingblonde

I am a veggie who loves Quorn/Soya etc. I always loved meat and the only reason I dont eat meat is that it is made from animals.
I am happy to eat food that looks like meat and tastes like meat - why wouldnt I be? If anything quorn and soya has allowed people to eat traditional style meals - this is often easier for non meat eaters to accept and even opens the door to more people giving up meat. The traditional view that all veggies eat is seeds and lentils is out of date and is one of the reasons people often ridicule those who chose to go veggie.
Anything that makes vegetarianism accessable to the masses must be a good thing even if you dont chose to eat quorn/soya yourself.

Doom_and_Gloom

Another vegan here. I do eat the 'substitutes' sometimes, mostly when I'm not in the mood for cooking much so the LM sausages/pies etc can be good. I eat a lot of pulses instead in my meals. There is one thing though I don't see tofu as a substitute as people in the East use it as a usual ingredient in its own right :cool: .
Meals are rather easy to do with or without the 'subtitutes'. I prefer to do most of my meals without tofu or substitutes really as I don't think they are very nutritionally sound. I do use soya mince in meals such as chilli or vegan shepheards (sp?) pie as well as pulses as that's how I like them best .
I don't care if people think I eat a lot of pulses etc as I'm a nut/crazy but I do try and make them realise that there is more food that we can eat than they give us credit for :rotfl: .