title: help with a vegitarian diet...please
Written by: ??? on 4/5/98 at 11:48AM.
recently i have ceased in my consumption of meat. (it was equally just something that happend as it was a consiouse decision).. to me it there were just no reasons to continue doing something i felt badly about every day. but to my point... what are some good substitute bases for meals and dishes that might other wise be based with meat? at this point i am just really hungry and i'm getting less enthusiastic about another plate of salad and nachos. what type of seasonings, sides, anything. the usual veggies have worn me thin these last couple of weeks... thanks.
Replies:
Reply from: An anonymous viewer on 4/5/98 at 11:58AM. Two words: VEGETARIAN CHILI (mmmmmmmmmmmmmm).
Reply from: missy on 4/5/98 at 12:02PM. congrats on the no meat thing... i've been a veg-head since i was 5. by age 20, you learn to adapt...i'm really happy to see things in restraunts getting a little easier to change for vegetarians... even places like wendy's have started offering those pita things... but i digress. i basically live on 3 kinds of food. 1. Rice-this is wonderful. not exactly a meat substitute, but it's great to base meals off of... you can add any kinds of veggies or my favorite, beans! to it. just get a bag of frozen vegs, some seasonings and some rice and make yourself a stir fry...it's easy, and cheap. 2. Beans-yum yumyum. i put these on everything. they're a good source of protien and taste sooo good. try them with the rice! or make soups out of them. (ie throw a can of beans with some tomato soup (or veggie bullion) and some veggies and you've got a yummy soup. make a lot and there's some for the next few days. 3. Cheese-this is the only reason i can never be vegan. it gets me everytime... you can do anything with cheese. i swear. it's the best food. cheese sandwiches make a yummy lunch, put a tomato slice on it and it's even better... you can make regular sandwiches and leave out the cold cuts. (cheese/mayo/lettuce/tomato is one of my fave foods) just experiment. i make up food all the time... eat pasta. i hardly ever eat tofu, unless i make chinese, and i'm fine. don't think that there's not protein in the other foods you eat. i've been doing this for 15 years, and i'm healthy. my only suggestion would be to maybe, if you're afraid you're not getting enough vitamins, grab a bottle of vitamin b12. try some of these, and email me if you want some more ideas or support. xoxoxo good luck. eat pussy not cows.
Reply from: ??? on 4/5/98 at 12:15PM. thank you oh so much missy. just what i was looking for. i just put some flavored rice on to boil. :) ... you may very well be hearing from me, when things get rough. thanks again. michael
Reply from: missy on 4/5/98 at 12:17PM. always here to listen michelle! good luck. i know how hard it is. xoxoxo missy
Reply from: missy on 4/5/98 at 12:20PM. DAMMIT. YOUR NAME IS MICHAEL. NOT MICHELLE! DO'OH. BIG APOLOLOGIES
Reply from: adam on 4/5/98 at 1:02PM. meat substitutes are really easy to get at like safeway or someplace. garned burgers are the besat thing evevr. and fake chickn nuggets rule!! pizza is also another good thing to eat for veggie's, especially w/ vegetables on it..french fries...soup. and im all about rice (brown rice w/ butter and salt!! or veggie bullion. SMART DOGS>>>macaroni and cheese. thers tons of shit. OH and peanut butter..yum
Reply from: holiday golightly on 4/5/98 at 1:28PM. my fave meat subs are: * seitan!!! it's sooo good! i like the white wave stuff the best.... * baked tofu by soy-deli!!!!! this is the best tofu ever! a really good consitency and flavor... my faves are hickory and savory... really really good, and this is *such* a compliment since i hate every other tofu usually... * garden burgers- there are some really really good garden burgers out there... i can't eat em anymore cuz they have eggs in them, but i highly reccomend them to veggies... * rice dream orginal enriched on top of cereal! yumm....i guess that's it... good luck! xoxoxo heather
Reply from: dirk on 4/5/98 at 3:33PM. bread And barbecue sauce; popcorn; egg snadwiches(if you stil eat those),pasta
Reply from: spike on 4/5/98 at 3:44PM. bean and rice burritos, potatoes (mashed, roasted, etc...), peanut butter sandwiches, tofu/veggie/rice dishes (which a lotta chinese and thai places serve...i'd make it myself, but my ass is lazy) and pasta pasta pasta....these things will usually satisfy hunger without turnin to meat. i've been vegetarian for like 3 years and most of my meat eating friends and acquaintances assume ya hafta eat salads or vegetables only. i eat salads and other veggies sometimes, but there's so much more tasty stuff out there that's non-meat.
Reply from: wheetzie_bat on 4/5/98 at 4:15PM. i say-eat beans. they really don't make you fart, but you've gotta cheew them up nicely otherwise you will have a musical bottom. don't be scared to try new foods-go to the supeymarket and discover the wonderful world of veggie cuisine!!! soups are yum...and my friend has a thoery that when yr a vego you can eat all day like a cow chewing on grass, as opposed to lions who eat once and then carry on with their life...did that help?
Reply from: 5:17 on 4/5/98 at 4:29PM. Yves makes great meat substitutes, in fact they just came up w/ a sausage imitation which is bang on (british pun intended.)
Reply from: StarBrightBoy on 4/5/98 at 7:12PM. Mushrooms make a good substitute for meat. Especislly hamburger.
Reply from: ashley on 4/5/98 at 10:41PM. i live off french fries and beans.
Reply from: carrie on 4/5/98 at 10:45PM. beans and rice, usually red kidney beans or pinto beans. theres lots of nice boxed rices. spagetti o's, the cheese and tomato sauce ones. avocado sandwhiches on toasted bread with mustard. garlic/chives/butter rice on toasted bread with mayo and mustard. tomato soup with those little goldfish crackers. bean and cheese burritos, but make sure the beans arnt made with lard. if you like taco bell they make their beans without lard. cheese cake, ice cream, bagels, pastries not made with lard. pudding without gelatin, pudding usually doesnt have gelatin. for the most part you can eat anything, just watch out for the animal fats, the gelatin, eggs if you dont eat those, and thats about all i can think of. carrie.
Reply from: Semi on 4/6/98 at 7:42AM. Ah, veggie food... I'm not a vegetarian, but I eat vegetarian food. I don't even bother to explain... I'd say: GO NUTS! There are a lot of nice things you can do with peanuts, hazelnuts, peccans and walnuts. I don't know if you know those cashew nuts (I'm not sure if this is the right word in english either, these are the long, bended peanut-type nuts with a typical taste). I always like to have broccoli and pasta or rice, with a cheese sauce (try french soft cheeses once in a while...) and cashew nuts. Or how about spinach lasagna with blue cheese and a topping of roasted sunflower seeds... I could go on for ages.
Reply from: katy on 4/6/98 at 8:01AM. i have been veg. for three years, vegan for a year and a half, and i eat so much (it helps that i work at a vegan cafe). i love guacamole and nondairy sour supreme to make great taco salalds. tempeh burgers with tahini sauce at my work are sooo good too! experiment. i like lots of stir fry recipes. congrats on your decision!
Reply from: bina on 4/6/98 at 8:55AM. i'm so in2 avocados and tofu rite now. get those frozen vegees and add some tofu and heat it all up in a skillet and add tons of soi sauce and u got yrself good stir fri. stri fri is alwais easee and fun 2 expieriment with. just plain steamed vegetables over rice with soi sauce is wicked good 2. a lot of chinese food is good...like vegetarian fried rice or vegetarian hot and sour soup (make syre u tell them no pork broth) mi favorite food rite now is a bagel with cream cheese, avocado, tomato and mustard. just omit the cream cheese if yr vegan, it's still wai good love, bina
Reply from: lily on 4/6/98 at 9:38AM. hi. umm... so, my mom makes this really really good tofu, and i can give y'all the recipe if ya want it. it's easy, and it's baked, and it is actually going up as space food... (don't ask me, i have no idea why...hehe ;] ) anywho... if you would like to have a really good tofu recipe, you can e-mail me, and i can give it to you. Green Giant Harvest burgers are very good. and they're vegan too :] and tofu pups and not dogs and all those are good too- but don't try to grill them, cuz they get REALLY rubbery and nasty and generally inedible... and know what is cool? grilled mushrooms... really, if you marinate them in like, soy sauce and sesame oil, they are really good! hehe... well, see y'all ;]
Reply from: amy on 4/6/98 at 10:09AM. hey michael...i knew it was you! my suggestion is just to come over to my house more often and we can learn to cook some great vegetarian meals! xxoxooxo
Reply from: StarBrightBoy on 4/6/98 at 4:01PM. I forgot, there is a show on whyy(I dont know if you get that station were you are but if you dont it should be on the same channel as sesame street or just any station out of the biggest city closest to you)there is a show called "cooking the whole foods way" and she uses mostly vegan stuff but she makes a lot of stews and soups and salads and stuff. She sometimes makes foods that supposedly taste like accual meat, like for instance she deep fried sieten(or however it's spelled) and said her husband said it "tastes just like friend clams" so if your looking for good suggestions on substitutes for meat this is probubly the show for you.
Reply from: carrie k. (not the same carrie as above!) on 4/7/98 at 4:28AM. i've been vegetarian for 5 years (since i was twelve). i am in love with middle-eastern food. couscous, falafel, hummus, syrian lentil soup.... couscous is wonderful in the sense that it's really filling, but i usually eat the whole box in one sitting anyhow *a) because my white-bread family won't even try it and *b) i love it so much. my favourite soup is vegetarian vegetable with lots of cheese crackers crushed in it. i like crunchy granola bars. AWESOME FOOD (easy to make too) -- **1 can o' black beans w/ some paprika, garlic, onions (or onion salt- whatever floats yer proverbial boat) and any spices yer just fond of. cook until beans are kinda soft, then pour over (cooked!!) rice, melt cheese over it. eat with tortilla chips or in a soft tortilla. yum. xoxoxo- ck
Reply from: KF on 4/7/98 at 8:20AM. Textured Vegetable Protein(TVP) is something that you can add to a lot of different dishes that adds nutrition and protein and whatnot. Easy to find...and it's cheap.. if you are gonna put it in pasta sauce, soak it in olive oil and let it absorb. then just put it in with the sauce when yer cookin it.. it;s good schtuff.. I think it's super neat that we can all get behind someone on this stuff, and give out our knowledge and ideas.. this in an example of how chainsaw isn't always full of bickering. xox carly
Reply from: micael on 4/7/98 at 12:49PM. gee wiz ! thanks so so much for all of these great responses.. i'm working on copying them all down. i didn't expect all of this, and it is wonderful that i have so so so many new things to try now. thanks again so much to everyone. :) *michael
Reply from: Michael on 4/7/98 at 1:09PM. GO VEGAN!!!!!! Harvest Burgers are vegan meat substitutes, and they taste great, so doesn't tofu. And of course everyone luvs rice. What would we do without it? Rice dream ice cream rocks my pussy!! And who can forget about vegan veggie pockets? All these made possible by those wonderful people at Wild Harvest.
Reply from: DECARLO on 4/12/98 at 7:48AM. PASTA! you can do anything with pasta.
Reply from: jeff on 4/12/98 at 11:27AM. its all about yves deli "meat." last year in hight school *shudder* i always used to bring the stuff to school. one day i had their balonoge (or however you spell it), and i told mi meat and patatoes friend to try it. i didnt tell him it was soy based. i got him to admit that it was the best balonoge he had ever had. hehe. since you all like rice, do any of u like tadiek? im not sure if im spelling it right, but its a persian dish mi dad makes that is *really* good. im not completly sure how to make it, but i think that after your almost done steaming rice, you take it out and put butter on the bottom of the pan. then you lay a tortilla on the bottom, and put your rice back in. when the rice is done, take it out and pry out the burt rice caked tortilla. is very tasty. nice and buttery and crunchy and good. i guess the authentic way is without the bread at the bottom, but i think its hard using new world cooking devices. anyway..