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"meat" and two veg meals?

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  • 29-07-2014 5:19pm
    #1
    openup
    Registered Users Posts: 121 ✭✭


    Ok so I'm living with my parents at the moment. They are very much meat and two veg type of people. On Saturdays I usually cook and make something I like for everyone and that's fine. On Sunday they roast a chicken (or something) and I have what they're having but replace the meat with quorn. On mondays we have a fry (long standing family tradition), so again I have what they're having but with fake meat. The rest of the week they eat leftover chicken, usually with mashed potatoes.
    I can't cook something from scratch just for myself because I don't really have the time every night and, mainly, they are annoyingly conservative. They think the entire family must be eating the same thing thing at the same time. They also get annoyed when trying to prep their food . So basically, to avoid confrontation (I'm only here temporarily) I end up having whatever they're having, so usually mash and steamed veg plus an bean stew I've dragged out of the freezer.

    I'm starting to hate dinner time! My food doesn't "go", I feel like I'm eating baby food, everything is so mushy! I don't really want to have fake meat another night but I've looked for tofu locally and had no luck.

    So what do you eat that is quick easy and fits with mashed potatoes?


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    #2
    INEEDANID
    Closed Accounts Posts: 381 ✭✭INEEDANID


    openup wrote: »
    Ok so I'm living with my parents at the moment. They are very much meat and two veg type of people. On Saturdays I usually cook and make something I like for everyone and that's fine. On Sunday they roast a chicken (or something) and I have what they're having but replace the meat with quorn. On mondays we have a fry (long standing family tradition), so again I have what they're having but with fake meat. The rest of the week they eat leftover chicken, usually with mashed potatoes.
    I can't cook something from scratch just for myself because I don't really have the time every night and, mainly, they are annoyingly conservative. They think the entire family must be eating the same thing thing at the same time. They also get annoyed when trying to prep their food . So basically, to avoid confrontation (I'm only here temporarily) I end up having whatever they're having, so usually mash and steamed veg plus an bean stew I've dragged out of the freezer.

    I'm starting to hate dinner time! My food doesn't "go", I feel like I'm eating baby food, everything is so mushy! I don't really want to have fake meat another night but I've looked for tofu locally and had no luck.

    So what do you eat that is quick easy and fits with mashed potatoes?

    Fish, beanburgers, falafels, stuffed peppers, stuffed mushrooms, stuffed tomato's om nom nom :pac:


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    #3
    ch750536
    Registered Users Posts: 3,736 ✭✭✭ch750536


    openup wrote: »
    So what do you eat that is quick easy and fits with mashed potatoes?

    A rational conversation about independence and personal choice.


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    #4
    F1ngers
    Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 10,284 Mod ✭✭✭✭F1ngers


    INEEDANID wrote: »
    Fish, beanburgers, falafels, stuffed peppers, stuffed mushrooms, stuffed tomato's om nom nom :pac:

    Since when is fish a vegetable/vegetarian option? :confused:


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    #5
    strandroad
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,676 ✭✭✭strandroad


    Mushroom burgers are really quick and not mushy. Pop burger buns in the oven for a minute, fry the heck out of portobello mushrooms with some olive oil/soya sauce/chilli, put them together, add any veg toppings and sauces you like. Goes with mashed potatoes if you have to...
    They might want some too :)


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    #6
    flikflak
    Registered Users Posts: 981 ✭✭✭flikflak


    Linda McCartney pies, plaits, sausages.

    Can you not say to them that you go ahead and I will cook something up for myself? You say time is an issue so maybe make something when you do have time and then eat that for the few days at the end of the week like curry, chilli, stew? Although saying that within a few minutes of being home yesterday I had whipped up some fried salt and pepper tofu and stir fried green veggies.


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    #7
    Pippy1976
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,047 ✭✭✭Pippy1976


    flikflak wrote: »
    Linda McCartney pies, plaits, sausages.

    I tend to keep a few boxes of these at my parent's house for meal-times. They're a good 'emergency' alternative when you're living with parent's with traditional thoughts on mealtimes.

    Then when you have spare time at the weekend cook up a batch of something lovely that you can freeze / keep in the fridge for other times.

    I get where you're coming from though. I find it hard to cook independently when I'm up at home. Hopefully your tenure there won't last too long and you can reclaim the kitchen when you get your own space.


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    #8
    fillefatale
    Registered Users Posts: 2,225 ✭✭✭fillefatale


    How old are you out of interest? I had similar confrontations with my mother when I lived at home. I guess it made her aware of all the ****e she was eating but she didn't want to change so causing rows was her way to vent her frustration. Essentially I relied on quick and easy fixes for dinners while I lived at home, and was free to cook what I liked once I left.

    Why don't you prep something to go with the sunday roast that everyone can have too - stuffed peppers/mushrooms or something with texture.

    I know what its like to have a conservative family who refuse to change their diet, but I had to put up and shut up most of the time as I was under their roof.


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    #9
    --LOS--
    Registered Users Posts: 11,028 ✭✭✭✭--LOS--


    Oh god I feel sorry for anyone living with their parents and trying to eat veggie/vegan. I see the folks little enough now but whenever I go home I always have things in mind to make for them and I bring all the stuff with me. They will eat whatever I make once I'm paying for it/cooking it.

    Potato and veg and fake meat would get very boring very fast, I'd make something more like a stew thing/curry thing that you can have with the mash. Even a lasagne, bolognaise or something. Those things wouldn't be such a big deal to make if you just make a big batch and then freeze it, then you have it there during the week.

    Are you in a position to buy your own food or are your parents at least open to buying things for you? I just had my parents over to visit me for a week and it was bad enough trying to eat out with them. I brought them to all veggie/vegan places when I could but other times I just had to tell them to eat where they want and I'd go and get my own thing somewhere else. Sure I could maybe get a salad or chips just about anywhere but for my own sake I'd rather go and get something decent. That was only a few days and it was stressful enough.


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    #10
    Hold the Cheez Whiz
    Closed Accounts Posts: 189 ✭✭Hold the Cheez Whiz


    If you get some breading, you can use mashed potatoes, green onions and seasoning to make croquetas.

    Lasagna and other types of pasta freeze well. You can also make a pan of 'meatless' meatloaf, which would be lovely with mashed potatoes. Or a big pot of daal to last the week. A large pan of Middle Eastern-style food made up on the weekend will keep well during the week, and the flavor often improves with each day. Mejadra, for example is delicious; there is a great recipe in the Jerusalem cookbook (available online, but I can't link 'cos I'm new).

    Personally I'm a fan of making something that lasts a few days (or that I can mix into something else) during the work week. I made a Mexican-style salad the other night with a can of black beans, two cups of frozen corn, 1/2 red onion, a poblano pepper, a handful of cilantro, the juice of a lime and a dash of salt and cumin, and it was pretty good - one of those things you just dump in a bowl, mix and let stand for 15 minutes and then eat. I had it with rice, but you can do it with potatoes, I'd think. The next day, I mixed up the rest of the corn and onion with leftover rice and made a 'Mexican stir fry' topped with fresh tomato and cilantro - that took all of 10 minutes.

    Good luck! I'm a 'weekday vegan' and when I visit my parents, I cook for them and they love it, but making vegan food that they actually like can be a bit time-consuming.


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    #11
    Little Alex
    Registered Users Posts: 1,302 ✭✭✭Little Alex


    I was going to suggest a slice of delish Quorn Family Roast wrapped in puff pastry to make a Mini Wellington, but you want to avoid fake meat.

    How about some of this?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-NyB_pbsE8


    :D


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    #12
    chinacup
    Registered Users Posts: 539 ✭✭✭chinacup


    Tofu nuggets, barely any prep and all in the one batch in a food processor. Delicious! Also I've recently learned you can freeze tofu and I made the attached recipe with frozen tofu today and it was perfect. I used lemon and regular onions instead of the spring onions and lemongrass and didn't have ginger and they were still tasty.. Another thing is you have freedom with a recipe like this. If you're missing some ingredients, much like veggie burger/sausage/pattie recipes, once you have the basics there's room to adjust it to your taste!


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    #13
    henryporter
    Registered Users Posts: 2,089 ✭✭✭henryporter


    chinacup wrote: »
    Tofu nuggets, barely any prep and all in the one batch in a food processor. Delicious! Also I've recently learned you can freeze tofu and I made the attached recipe with frozen tofu today and it was perfect. I used lemon and regular onions instead of the spring onions and lemongrass and didn't have ginger and they were still tasty.. Another thing is you have freedom with a recipe like this. If you're missing some ingredients, much like veggie burger/sausage/pattie recipes, once you have the basics there's room to adjust it to your taste!

    I think the OP mentioned that tofu was hard to get round their way :)

    Very easy to make up any kind of 'burger' using beans (black, kidney, pinto etc) and a base of cooked onion, garlic, cumin, coriander, soya sauce (or tamari), tomato purée, and add some breadcrumbs or oats to the mix.


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    #14
    chinacup
    Registered Users Posts: 539 ✭✭✭chinacup


    henryporter wrote: »
    I think the OP mentioned that tofu was hard to get round their way :)

    Very easy to make up any kind of 'burger' using beans (black, kidney, pinto etc) and a base of cooked onion, garlic, cumin, coriander, soya sauce (or tamari), tomato purée, and add some breadcrumbs or oats to the mix.

    Did they? Didn't see that anywhere! You just need to get it the once though and freeze, its in Dunnes by salad section and most Asian or other foreign shops + health food stores..


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    #15
    Big Cheese
    Registered Users Posts: 124 ✭✭Big Cheese


    You allow yourself to be treated like a child. Man up or move out.....or eat pot noodles in ur room


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    #16
    ch750536
    Registered Users Posts: 3,736 ✭✭✭ch750536


    chinacup wrote: »
    Did they? Didn't see that anywhere! You just need to get it the once though and freeze, its in Dunnes by salad section and most Asian or other foreign shops + health food stores..

    It's not out this way. Dunnes dont have it & the health food shops may have 1 pack. I've found it really hard to get hold of.


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    #17
    --LOS--
    Registered Users Posts: 11,028 ✭✭✭✭--LOS--


    Let's remember this is a supportive place. Do not post at all if your aim is only to insult, please see the charter here.


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    #18
    chinacup
    Registered Users Posts: 539 ✭✭✭chinacup


    ch750536 wrote: »
    It's not out this way. Dunnes dont have it & the health food shops may have 1 pack. I've found it really hard to get hold of.

    Oh last paragraph, now I see it. I must be going blind! That's unfortunate. Well nut roast would probably be a good one to go with two veg. Its also freezeable.
    http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1852658/nut-roast


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    #19
    chinacup
    Registered Users Posts: 539 ✭✭✭chinacup


    Or for really easy just a tin of mix beans with fried onion garlic tomato and spices added!


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    #20
    Mrrrrrow
    Registered Users Posts: 7 ✭Mrrrrrow


    To the OP, your parents sound a lot like my mother-in-law. No one else in the family is a vegetarian and it freaks her out a lot. :D Usually I just get potatoes and fake meat when I visit. At home, I hate eating meat substitutes all the time. I keep Quorn in the freezer in case I'm feeling too lazy to cook, but generally try not to eat too much pre-packaged frozen stuff cause of the sodium and cause it's no real substitute for good food.

    I cook with beans constantly. They're hearty like meat and they go with anything. Dried lentils cook very quickly (around 25- 30 minutes)(and go very well with potato!), and if you have access to tins of cannellini or garbanzo beans, there is absolutely no prep work required. If you're totally unable to do any food prep in the kitchen with your family, you could try something like a tin of chopped tomatoes, a tin of cannellini beans, some fresh spinach and herbs, throw it in a pan on the stovetop and you've got a meal in 15 minutes and you're not in anyone's way. Or alternatively as a few other people have already mentioned, you could just cook whatever it is you really like ahead of time and freeze it. I've started doing that with breakfasts lately because mmmmmm breakfast, but I'm not a morning person at all. :D


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