Finding it hard to eat meat

Freiheit

Butchers stores disgust me,animal carcases on my plate are starting to too...I'm not enjoying meat any more...But I really have no idea of what vegeterian diet could consist of.what it would be like. I'd be concerned about lack of sufficent nutrition and not enjoying parties as much.

However I'd like to explore vegetarian options,maybe sample them,maybe at least reduce my meat usage and longer term who knows.

I'd appreciate any basic suggestions as to what I could try and maybe testimonies as to what a vegetarian lifestyle is like?

Thanks

Zowie

Eriopis

The comfort of a vegan/vegetarian lifestyle depends on various factors: how much you eat out/how much you cook at home, what your personal preferences are etc.

I'm vegan, for similar reasons to yourself actually (so a dietary vegan); I hate the smell and taste of meat and animal products, I find milk, cheese etc disgusting (so I don't eat vegan "alternatives" much either), and as I am an avid cook I'm really enjoying eating amazing food since I have switched without feeling like I am missing out at all, in fact I feel 100 times better.
As for nutrients; you can get everything from a vegan/vegetarian diet that you would from an omnivore diet - protein from legumes/beans and bean products (e.g. lentils, or soy products such as tofu), iron from beets and leafy greens, calcium in tofu, kale, broccoli, soy milk etc., B12 in e.g. nutritional yeast (which also makes a pretty decent replacement for cheese in sauces if you like the taste of cheese).. after all, vegetarian or vegan diets are pretty commonplace in countries like India, where millions of people (1/2 of the population) get along just fine without meat. You can take a multivitamin if you want to be doubly sure - I take a multivitamin supplement with iron a few times a week, but I did this before I ate vegan too, as I was low in B12 and iron even when I was eating meat (I obviously don't absorb them well).

Try looking at vegan or vegetarian food blogs to see how you like the look of the recipes (e.g. theveganstoner.com or fatfreevegan.com), most are fairly easy, you can get all the ingredients in normal supermarkets and health food stores.
It doesn't have to be expensive either - I personally don't buy much in the way of specialist products as I don't like highly processed food (and as I mentioned I'm not keen on milk/cheese and their replacements anyway), so my own diet consists of fruit, nuts, veggies, grains, beans/lentils, occasional bit of tofu, combined in thousands of delicious ways!

As for parties.. well it depends what food is on offer - you can always eat vegetarian party food - chips, fries, baked beans, salads etc., pizza can be made without meat (and without cheese too if you're vegan), cakes are easy to make without eggs, nuts, raisins, sweets etc are all acceptable.. even for omnivores not every dish is meat ;-)

Anyway, hope that helps!

Freiheit

Thanks,thats helped a lot. As a kid I remember dumping my meat for about a month and was forced by family to reform,I enjoyed meat for the next 25 years,until the last 6 months or so.

Finding myself leaving more and more meat behind,eating more and more veg . When I do eat meat I'm increasingly having to focus on the taste and not the thoughts that this once lived and had parents and was murdered. It's just gone foul for me.

So in one line or two what would use as a substitute for what one looses in meat? or just as a the centre piece of a meal? meals tend to be defined by their meat content,there's always potatoes and a veg.

If I go to Tesco monday could you recommend a simple starter for a vegetarian meal?

I know you probably told me above but I'm new to this field and likely to be a slow learner!:)

Eriopis

How about dal and rice? Lots of protein in that..

The basic recipe is 1 cup red split lentils, thoroughly washed, then cook in saucepan with 2.5 cups water and 1/2tsp turmeric (kurkuma). Cook for ca. 40 min, skim foam off the top as it boils, add extra water for your preferred consistency if you like it more soupy than porridge-like. While that's cooking, in a frying pan heat oil, add 1 large diced onion, 4 cloves garlic (minced), fry off until caramelised then add 1 tsp each of ginger, cumin, coriander, garam masala and chilli to taste (fresh or powdered). Heat until the spices give off a strong aroma.
When the lentils are cooked, beat with a spoon or whisk until creamy then add the onion/oil/spice mix to the lentils. Add 1 tsp salt, and stir through. Squeeze some lemon or lime juice over it before serving if you like. Done! Serve with basmati rice, naan or pitta bread and a green vegetable (like broccoli, or spinach)
Other variants: add coconut milk, mashed tomatoes, butternut squash, cauliflower, grated zucchini, spinach etc. etc. and try different split lentils/ split peas (most other kinds will need soaking first though).

You can use TVP or soy mince to replace minced meat dishes (like lasagne or shepherd's pie).. I don't personally bother I just make meals that don't imitate omni meals.

If you want to do something that is as much like "meat and two veg" as possible, make your spuds and veg as usual, buy a block of tofu, drain it, wrap it in kitchen paper, press out as much water as possible, dice it, marinate it in some soy sauce, then fry it in a frying pan with spring onions and mushrooms, or buy some big portobello mushrooms, roast those in the oven and serve with your spuds and veg with (vegetarian) onion gravy.

Or you could make this..

Moroccan Chickpea Stew:
In saucepan saute until softened 1 chopped (red) onion and 2 cloves
garlic, crushed. Add 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp coriander, 1 tsp cumin, 1
tsp fennel seed, cook until fragrant, ca. 1 min. Add 240 g chickpeas
(canned and rinsed, or cooked), 1 tin chopped tomatoes, 1 tsp veg.
stock, 1/2 cup raisins, juice of 1 lime (or lemon). Allow to cook for
at least 30 mins until flavours have combined. Just before serving add
4 cups spinach leaves, stir until wilted, serve with fried potatoes.

Any of that helping? I think there's a number of threads on here (see the top of the page) with good recipes and links to websites with many more..
try e.g. here?
http://www.peta.org/living/vegetarian-living/recipes/default.aspx

Also,.. you probably need a lot less protein than you think anyway; one of my favourite, pre-vegan meals was still meat-free,.. it was just mashed potatoes with red cabbage cooked in red wine with sliced apples and a couple of cloves. Yum! ;-)

Freiheit

Thanks.

So what's the vegetarian equivilant of a slice of ham for a sandwich?.

If I don't eat meat today what supplements would I need?. I suppose meat everyday isn't necessary for nutrition anyway?

Eriopis

Well you can buy veg. ham substitutes, if you want (Quorn is available in most Tescos) but there are plenty of other options for sandwich fillings - hummus with tomatoes and cucumber, sliced marinated tofu with roast peppers, cashew cream cheese with cucumber, roasted aubergines and mushrooms, creamed sweetcorn etc. etc.

You won't need any supplements if you miss a meat meal.. seriously are you saying you've had meat in every single meal up until now? No beans on toast, or baked potato with coleslaw, no salad, or mushroom risotto or omelette or plain pizza or vegetable soup with bread or pasta or any of the other meat-free meals most people eat whether vegetarian or not?

You only need to supplement if you're either bad at absorbing certain nutrients (which I was prior to eating vegan anyway), or if you are not eating a balanced diet.. as I said, you can get everything in a vegan/vegetarian diet that you would in an omnivorous diet.

Feathers

Freiheit wrote: »

So in one line or two what would use as a substitute for what one looses in meat? or just as a the centre piece of a meal? meals tend to be defined by their meat content,there's always potatoes and a veg.

Freiheit wrote: »

So what's the vegetarian equivilant of a slice of ham for a sandwich?.

With respect, I'd say try to think outside of a traditional Irish lunch/dinner set-up & it'll help. I'm not vegetarian, but living with my girlfriend who is — I would've considered veg dishes to be fairly frugal, mostly focused on what you'd see in cafés/restaurants, and the idea of it consisting of 'Irish dinner minus the meat'.

For dinner, things like spaghetti bolognese or lasagna can easily be made into vegetarian dishes by using some diced carrots or brocolli florets for example to bulk up a red sauce in place of mince. Lots of Mediterranean dishes are focused around meat, but can be turned into vegetarian meals much easier than Irish/British style cooking IMO, purely because they are dishes — not just plainly cooked veg/meat on a plate. Mexican, Indian and East Asian food similarly.

Again, with a ham sandwich — personally, I'd find a salad sandwich very plain if I was substituting it for lunch regularly, but rather than focusing on sandwiches, you could have an open salad, pasta with pesto, soup, dhal, etc.

blatantrereg

Ryvita and humus is probably my equivalent of a ham sandwich. Olives and/or sundried tomatoes on it too occasionally. Lots of humus doesn't appeal to me, but tesco humus is an easily available one that I find tasty.

Eat lots of pulses and beans and things instead of meat. There are lots of good vegetarian dishes in Indian cuisine. Also see if you like quinoa.