Im going vegetarian...

I was vegan for several years before I got sick and started gaining weight I gave it up because I was going to gain weight no matter what and I figured I might as well eat what I wanted instead of eat for my weight. I have recently made the decision to go vegetarian to better my health and I just dont want to eat anything that was once alive anymore...I also miss my healthy life style!!! I ran 2 miles this morning and was in shock that I could do it again and I want to continue it!!I have several vegan recipes I can use...because I was strictly vegan and kept all of my recipes! I just need some vegetarian ones I dont have too many of those! So do any of you have any good sites I can get on for recipes?

Edited to add that I was vegetarian for a very brief time before going to vegan it was a very fast adjustment period..which is why I dont have many vegetarian recipes!

Hey, I like your decision. I do think though that fruits and vegs and yeast and stuff is alive in a sense and delicious! I think you should probably meet with a qualified dietian/or nutritionist that knows a lot about plant based diets, nuts, seeds, veg, fruits, grains and stuff like that, not vegan but vegetarian. More than just recipes you need to know what a well balanced diet is, how much protein you need daily, how many carbs, stuff like that, for YOUR body style and your specific diet needs as an individual, stuff that you can't just get online. It isn't always easy to eat right when changing your food habits, but is is very important as you said to staying healthy. Chinese stir frys and spices are fun to cook with when eating a lot of veggies.

I've been doing the vegetarian thing for about 5 months I think. Not strict though. I have no aversion to eating meat. My reason was because I simply couldn't afford to buy meat products anymore. My income hasn't changed in over 4 years and everything around me has gone up so much that it's completely maxed out my income just for the necessities.

I still have dairy and eggs, and eat meat occasionally when out. The other day I ordered Chinese food. Plus I will have the odd can of tuna. Yesterday I did buy some lunch meat because I'm completely at a loss for vegetarian lunch ideas that are quick and easy to prepare IE: slap it together in a few minutes. I can do that with sandwiches.

In December I will be back on the payroll and be able to afford to buy meat and poultry again. I'm not sure if I will. I know that at the end of June when I made a meatloaf, which is one of my favourite foods, I was getting nauseated by the smell of it cooking in my kitchen. In the past my mouth would have been watering.

I could never be a 100% strict vegetarian and eat nothing but plant foods. But from a budget stand point, it's much easier on the wallet than a meat diet.

I've been veg since February and whenever I want to try a new recipe I just google it.

Cally

Just be forewarned that going vegetarian doesn't necessarily mean you will lose weight. It's not that easy to get enough protein and if you go to cheeses for protein you will also be eating a lot of fat, and if you use soy or TVP for protein, you will want to make sure your thyroid is working properly because soy not good for people with thyroid problems. Eggs and nuts are high-quality proteins and the fats are good ones, yet they are fats. Watch out for whey proteins, too, many contain sugar or sucralose, both of which do not aid in weight loss.

I was an ovo-lacto vegetarian for 19 years. I highly recommend Anna Thomas' books; The Vegetarian Epicure and The Vegetarian Epicure Book Two. Everything I've ever made from them has been wonderful. They are healthy, too, with real ingredients. Good luck!

Is it just me or is a Vegan someone who eats no live organisms (dairy, any kind of meat, etc) and the Vegetarian eats chicken and such?? My cousin was vegetarian for many years and she finally went to eating meat products because the strict vegetarian diet was causing havoc on her system.

Originally Posted by SwampWitch

Watch out for whey proteins, too, many contain sugar or sucralose, both of which do not aid in weight loss.

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i didn't know splenda [sucralose] had any kind of adverse affect on weight loss?
most of the whey i have is sweetened w/either acesulfame-k, or sucralose, or a combination of the two. my 2 main favorites are Champion's Whey Stack:
Ingredients: Micro-filtered and ion-exchange whey protein concentrate and isolate, whey peptides, glycine, natural and artificial flavoring, acesulfame-potassium. Contains milk and soy. Maltodextrin (from low-glycemic waxy maize), citric acid, natural and artificial flavoring, sucralose, acesulfame-potassium, lake red 40, blue 2 lake.
& Syntrax's Nectars: [font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Ingredients: Whey Protein Isolate, Citric Acid, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Soy Lecithin, Acesulfame-K, Sucralose, FD&C Yellow #5, FD&C Blue #1.[/font]

I hardly ever eat meat and drink Soy Milk.
I do eat Cheese though.
The soy corn dogs are good by Mouring Star.
Amy's has some good vegie Enchaladas.
I drink rice drinks also.
I do not use diet sugars at all because they make me very sick.
My dad does because he has Diabetes and he can not lose weight.

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

. Yesterday I did buy some lunch meat because I'm completely at a loss for vegetarian lunch ideas that are quick and easy to prepare IE: slap it together in a few minutes. I can do that with sandwiches.

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You can make all sorts of yummy sandwiches that are veg. I take a whole wheat tortilla, add some premade organic salad mix (or you can use spinach leaves) and put those on bottom. Then I slice bell peppers and/or poblanos thin in strips for a crunch, add some sliced mushrooms, then top with homemade guac dip (avocado, red onion, cilantro, tomato, lemon, and lime juice) and bring a small container to dip the roll up in salsa. Sometimes I use hummas instead of guac and add thin red onions. Mostly they are raw veggies, although sometimes I grill them or use a pan with a bit of olive oil and add mushrooms and garlic . Sometimes I use sandwich bread, salad mix, strips of red onions and melt some swiss cheese on top of a portabella mushroom. That is very tasty as well. Or I make a salad. Or grilled fish tacos with lots of lettuce, some beans, lime, cilantro, and guac and salsa for dipping. Also, you can take a tortillas and make a really quick and easy veggie pizza, using the tortilla as the crust. Same with English muffins, you can make mini veg pizzas on that and load on those veggies. As sides you can cut up vegs and dip them in organic peanut butter and/or hummas. Sometimes I make some brown rice and stir fry veggies with a bit of olive oil and make a simple Asian sauce (chicken stock, garlic, ginger, and soy sauce and a drop of seasame oil with a bit corn starch) and take that and wrap it in a lettuce leaf for a nice crunch. And I make sushi for really cheap, you can easily make veg sushi with a bit of rice, small amounts of vegs and roll them in seaweed wrappers (very reasonable and good for you) and top with sesame seeds. And I make spring rolls and eat them during lunch, they are sooo easy to make and very cheap and delicious. Also, you can make a delicious red potato mustard salad with whole wheat pasta that stays good for a couple days and tastes fresh and great for lunch. And bean and cheese burritos with lots of veggies and fresh salsa and sometimes rice. Or a grilled cheese with apples. I always add some fruit, be it a fruit salad or the whole fruits, if you make a fruit salad make it that morning if possible. Also soups can be very filling, I make miso soup weekly and it is cheap and packs a punch depending on what veggies you add, sometimes I add a bit of fish. Then there are the old stand-by's, natural peanut butter (sometimes with honey or jelly) sandwiches on wheat, mac and cheese (organic with yogurt instead of milk added), tuna fish sandwiches. I could talk about making different lunch dishes all day as I have to be creative if I want everyone in the family to eat this way. lol. They don't like getting bored. Hope this gives you some ideas It doesn't take me long to prepare these things and most are easy to just slap together for me. I do some pre work the night before on some of them, but most of them are actually pretty quick, which is important as I don't have much time to spend all day fixing human food, too much going on to do that!

Originally Posted by SwampWitch

Watch out for whey proteins, too, many contain sugar or sucralose, both of which do not aid in weight loss.
!

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This is true. This is the brand I use only has two ingredients, it took me a long time to find, most have all sorts of crap in them! If I want to sweeten something I use honey Or 100% real maple syrup. Some people are using Stevia that I know. I just don't care for really sweet things, but sometimes in green tea I like some honey and my family likes something sweet on wheat pancakes/waffles and PB sandwiches.

Originally Posted by SwampWitch \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t
\t\t\t\tWatch out for whey proteins, too, many contain sugar or sucralose, both of which do not aid in weight loss.!

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Originally Posted by cococat

This is true. This is the brand I use only has two ingredients, it took me a long time to find, most have all sorts of crap in them! If I want to sweeten something I use honey

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do either of you have links that show that sucralose [splenda] negatively impacts weight loss? 'cause i couldn't find any...

Congratulations! I have been a vegetarian since January 1992 and haven't had one piece of animal meat since that time.

Congratulations on your new lifestyle decision! I've been vegetarian for 17 years and vegan for 13

Congrats to you!

I was a vegi for about 8 years, then started eating meat again. but, its funny how you never want as much or as often meat after being a vegi. having just read 'skinny b*tch' i have been trying unsuccesfuly to go back to it. one plus for eating meat: a tan for the fist time in my life! granted i probably did something wrong befoe, but oh well. tans are over rated.

my fav vegi recipe is simple. olive oil, 5 zuchini squash, some garlic to taste sauted in skillet. add spices like paprika, lemon pepper, red pepper flakes etc and then add a jar of vegi pasta sauce. So good! m,y friends 9who are not vegis) love to come over for this dish. a little cheese melted on top is even better. if you add some marinated tofu chunked, buy the seasme flavor.

have you checked out gardenbugers new products? they have some really cool stuff out. I love the southwesten cakes.

Originally Posted by laureen227

[/i]
do either of you have links that show that sucralose [splenda] negatively impacts weight loss? 'cause i couldn't find any...

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Here's the study.
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/con...l~jumptype=rss

And, of course, the controversy.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/bu...da.html?src=tp

I use honey and maple syrup, too, like cococat.

my daughter and i will have been vegetarian for 6 years in february. we do eat fish but no meat. i know i feel lots better for changing my diet and my daughter (who's 15) does not have any skin problems, spots etc. whereas my son, who does eat meat, has terrible trouble with his skin.

we eat alot of beans and pulses, plus tofu and quorn products. vegetable stews and curries are a weekly event too.

my husband isn't a vege, but he eats very little meat and will only eat free range. i guess our reasons for it are more ethical than healthy. we all champion free range farming even though we don't all eat meat.

one more thing


now that you will alot more time and menu room open, try quinoa (pronounced keen-wa, i think) (a grain, similar to couscous in looks).

it is soooo good! a word of caution, follow the directions exactly or it can be mushy. properly made it is very firm but tender. it should taste and feel exactly the same after being refridgerated the next day.

Originally Posted by laureen227

...
i can't tolerate aspartame or sugar alcohols - & i have enough trouble reducing sugar in the foods i eat to use honey or maple syrup for general sweetening [not to mention, i probably drink a couple of gallons of tea a day - just think how much sugar intake that would be

].

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A friend of mine in Austin used to drink sweetened iced tea all day long. He realized he gradually kept wanting it sweeter and sweeter until he realized how much sugar he was drinking every day.

He had a brilliant idea how to change that; he made a pitcher of iced tea every day as usual, but once a week he lowered the amount of sugar he added, just by a small amount. Over a couple of months he had it down to very little sugar but he was still enjoying his tea.

I thought that was a great idea!

I know this is an old thread but I was catching up on Vegan ideas, and wanted to add a sweetener that I got the idea from out of the book "Skinny B!tch". Agave Syrup. It is a low glycemic sweetener that won't spike your blood sugar levels. I found it at Outpost Natural Food Store, and it tastes just like honey. I can't wait to try it in my tea.

I would recommend anyone wanting to try vegetarianism to check around and see if you have a Seventh-day Adventist friend. The church encourages vegetarian eating, and Morning Star (mentioned earlier in this thread) was actually started by members of that church, as were Loma Linda Foods and Worthington Foods (of which Morning Star was once a part).

Also, although it's gotten a lot of bad press, being able to make your own wheat gluten patties is a great skill, and it can easily be mistaken for veal.

A brief statement:

SDA Position Statement

Do a google on "SDA recipes," and you'll find a bunch.

And ladies (since that's our majority demographic here), SDA women are constantly being recruited as control groups for breast, ovarian, and lung cancer, as well as heart health studies, since the vegetarian and healthful living practices eliminates many of the common risk factors that are otherwise hard to factor into a research study.