Vegetarian quick questions thread

ffion

thank you so much will try out next week ,can i leave out the wine vinigar, yvonne

MrsGSR

Hi, after shopping yesterday and looking at the price of meat e.g. a pack of basics frying steak cost a fiver I'm wondering whether it's an idea to go vegetarian again. I was a vegetarian for years until I met my husband and starting eating meat cos it was easier really (he is a real meat and two veg bloke) my mum ran a veggie restaurant for a bit and she became veggie when I was about 6 so I have grown up with the food and way of life.

But as I said, hubby loves his meat, shall I just keep buying for him and adapt our meals? I hate having to do different meals as for time and money it's easier to all have the same but he is really not willining to meet me half way.

Any suggestions on what I can cook to adapt for him so he doesn't feel like he is missing out?

It shocks me how much meat and fish is and can be almost half the food bill:eek:

FatVonD

I was vegetarian for many years and one of my favourite meals was a Mexican bake. I can't remember the amounts at the moment (but still have the cookbook and could look them up if required) but it was cooked aubergine and courgette slices mixed with breadcrumbs, grated cheese and cumin baked in the oven then served with soured cream and grated carrots on top. It was so filling you'd never know it was vegetarian (if his objection to a vegetarian diet is that it will be all salad stuffs!)

(And as long as you're okay with dairy stuff!)

rfran

I couldn't give up meat personally but agree with you regards price. If you were going to cut out meat and your OH wasn't it may lead to more meat on the side types of dishes which I find are more expensive as you seem to need more meat and more expensive cuts so instead I make my meat go further i.e. I would make stew and add a vast selection of lentils beans and grains as well as loads of seasonal veg so in effect it's like cooked with meat stew, (I have to count the pieces of meat so I don't look like I'm favouring anyone) so I can make 1lb of stewing meat feed at least 7 without trying.

ubamother

My lot are pretty avid meat eaters, but we take the cost right down by serving meat almost as a dressing rather than the main course. For example, for last night's meal we had pork and rice: where we would previously have had a pork chop each, with rice and vegetables, instead one chop was cooked, then shredded into little bits, and stirred into vegetable fried rice. Because there were plenty of little bits of meat nobody felt they missed out - this was between two adults and a voracious ten year old. I keep small amounts of prepared cooked meat in the freezer to use like this, which if one of us was veggie would work well. For example, veggiepizza can have ham added for the meat element, pre-cooked frozen meatballs added to a tomato based sauce for pasta.

Cat72

I have been a vegetarian since I was 8 but my OH eats meat. Normally I would cook him meat and me veggie things but recentaly becaiuse money is so tight I suggested to him trying a few veggie nights for us both. Also I dont keep to well and I find it too tiring cooking seperate meals all the time.
Partly this came about as I was starting to several meat free dishes and he never noticed- like macaroni & ch, pasta dishes, risotto etc .
Before he was really admint he could never eat a vegetarian dish but now admits after trying a few its not so bad- plus he lost his pot belly lol.

I do batch cook him a lot of meat dishes and freeze them, find this works out very cheap.
Like bolognese, which I then defrost and maybe add in to the veggie bolgnese I make. Or adapt to cottage pies etc.
So I tend to buy a whole chicken, boil cook it- give some to him that night then chop the rest up and freeze buy. Do the same with mince , beef etc.

Then for rest of week maybe we have vegetable currys, pasta dishes, paella, vegeatable soup etc.
Then I just add some of the frozen meat to the dishes I am having to make his.
Or swap my tofu, veggie sausages, veggie burgers for his meat equivalent.
What about trying a half the week veggie thing and half meat and see how it goes.
Good luck

debbym

My eldest son is really picky about what he eats (he is autistic and so gets panicked if presented with food he can't identify or doesn't like) I manage by cooking the main part of the meal be it two-veg, pasta, rice, couscous etc for everyone and cook one source of protein for the rest of us and something like sausages (his fav) for him and assemble it into two separate looking meals at the last minute. Does take some planning but doesn't take twice as long.

rozmister

Why don't you try cooking with Quorn. I eat a lot of it because meat is generally out of my price range (unless on offer/reduced) and I love it! You can get a bag of Quorn mince for £1 in Asda atm which will make chilli or spag bol for 4 at least. It doesn't taste the same as meat and if you expect it to you won't like it but it is a really low fat alternative to meat that is still protein and bulky.

JulieGeorgiana

We found the same, but we are a family of confessed meat eaters.

I found that having a fish night helps, and 2 vegetarian nights. Sometimes with meat substitues, and sometimes without. This means we eat meat 3-4 times a week only.

It used to be 7 days a week.

I also buy my meat from the butchers and use cheaper cuts and bulk them out and make them go further. ie. I made a curry lasy night (6 portions) with 1 chicken portion (leg and theigh) but bulked it out with LOADS of veg (7 different kinds) peppers and lentils.

If I had made the above completly vegetarian my family would have not liked it.

I think if your husband is a meat guy, you could try this kind of approach because it is a 50/50 split between what you want and what your husband wants.

I introduced this over the last 4 months, and it is starting to work really very well. This week we have had the Curry and I am making a beef stew at the weekend, the rest is all vegetarian or fish. because of the cuts I have used that's a 70% reduction of our meat intake (we used to use 2-4 chicken breasts for a curry)!

I hope this helps x

elaine12022

Also it depends on whether you feel well on a vegetarian diet, everybody is different. I have just found out that my OH may need more vegetarian type foods for his wellbeing whereas those foods would make me sick. This is going to be a challenge, although some things we can eat the same. Beef stew out now though!

We get a lot of fish from Farmfoods, and meat from the butcher where possible. We have a small health food shop where we can get some things from too.