Vegetarians please advise...

shandyclover

Thank you all so much for your advice and input - much appreciated!

Today I registered with approved foods and made my first order as there seemed to be a fair bit of ainsley harriot's coucous on offer which the girls all love, and a meat free roast type of thingy. At least I know I'll have something in the cuboard for emergencies.

Girls aren't really fussy in that they love fruit and veg, just not keen on anything creamy ie. white sauce, hate mayonaise with a vengence. Won't drink milk but will eat plain yogurt. Not keen on eggs but their grandad taught them all how to make a mean spanish omlette which they scoff!

So far I haven't had to cook 3 seperate meals, just slightly adapted our usual menu. Thankfully hubby is not a 'meat and potatoes' type and is quite health conscious himself, so cutting down on meat hasn't bothered him. He and the girls help out with the cooking too, but their approach has been to cut out the meat and since they are not fond of cheese and eggs, and pulses take time, forget the protein entirely! I've explained to them the need to have some form of protein, and hopefully the message has gotten through.My mum (bless her!) bought the girls Sam Stern's vegetarian cook books for Christmas pressies (good strategy there being as he is a teenager). Mainly I was concerned the girls would not get aneamic or some other deficiency. I might be overstressing about the anaemia but I have had problems myself in the past to the extent my Dr put me on that liquid iron and I was banned from drinking tea and coffee till my levels got back up. One of my daughters has been a bit under the weather the past few months but she also has a deficient immune system and we have just had a very stressful move where she worked very hard so I'm hoping it that and not the diet will have to keep and eye out. Since we are due to register with a new Dr this week I will mention our family diet and see if he has any pointers too.

Tonight OH made Palak Paneer (Indian spinach and cheese), potato and cauliflower curry and home made chapattis. Incidently I would recommend Palak Paneer to anyone who is veggie and likes a bit of spice.

MandM90

I'm an ex-veggie (hangs head in shame) but our favourite meal is still veggie curry with lentils or chickpeas. It's cheap, easy, freezes well and can be used for any odds and ends of veg you have in the bottom of your fridge.

natlie

Hi
I have been veggie nearly 20 years now I have anaemia but I had it when I was a meat eater too

I dont think I eat enough protein but have been adding more recently

I think its a good idea to start by making a list of the meals you usually eat that are veggie e.g. Jacket Potato and cheese and beans, pasta or veg soup etc then adapt them with interesting new ideas like jacket potato and veggie chilli or veg curry

Then look at the meals you eat that are meat based - curry is easy and mix them up use root veg and brassicas like cauli and broc for indian curries add split peas or lentils for protein you could also use paneer. For thai style curry use stir fry veg and tofu

stir fry is good and you can use noodles or do egg-fried rice - only little bits of egg

I dont like quorn but I like the veggie mince you can get in most supermarkets, you can use lentils for bolognaise

I use a lot of frozen veg as it keeps and its easy - mexican food is good for frozen veg as its so spicy I make enchiladas with mixed veg, cheese and butter beans. I make quesedillas, I also make maxican lasagne by layering spiced veg and cheese with corn tortillas and beans - no need for white sauce and cooks in no time - you could omit the cheese

spinach is good for iron and goes well with pasta

Nat

RHemmings

I'm a long term vegan. I would strongly suggest that anyone vegetarian or vegan who is unsure about nutrition should go back to basics, and read up on basic human nutrition. That way you know

As an example, protein is extremely easy to obtain from any varied diet. Many foods which are not obvious "protein" such as bread contain useful amounts of protein. Same for potatoes and rice. Not as much protein as meat gram for gram, but useful amounts. And if you're eating a normal variety of foods and add it up, and look to see how much protein you actually need, then this is confidence building.

As well as Marmite, many other common foods include important vitamins. E.g. certain brands of soya milk, margarines such as "Pure" etc.

Badger_Lady

First of all - your girls are making this decision for themselves and should be encouraged to do their own research and find ways of providing good nutrition. I was raised vegetarian but at age 13 I decided to go vegan - I had to work out the best diet for me and arrange for most of my own food. I couldn't expect my chef-Mum to do it all for me!

Having said that, here are some of my favourite cheap-and-easy vegetarian proteins:
- Soya chunks cost very little and go a long, long way. You can cook them into any sauce, curry or stew and you can also buy them minced.
- Quinoa is a great base for food - a lot like CousCous, it actually provides much more protein, and a good complete protein at that! You cook it easily, in just a few minutes.
- Nutolene (now renamed Nut Luncheon for some inexplicable reason) is the perfect easy thing to put on a Sunday roast or instead of your meat in a meal - it's made from peanuts but in a sliceable loaf that you can fry or grill. Even my little sister, who refuses to eat nuts or nut roast, loves this stuff!

Then of course there's the usual vegetabes, lentils, cheeses blah-di-blah. Off you go

sharnad

I love quorn pieces - great in curry or with pasta. Quorn mince Im not to see on but they do a nice meatless mince at tesco, tesco veggie stuff if quite nice. Most places do lots of veggie meals now and if your cooking from fresh there are loads of great veggie recipes out there. I would have a look at the vegetarian society