A great kid-friendly veggo meal is chickpea burgers. Puree a 400g can of chickpeas and add 1 egg, 1/4 cup self-raising flour and some chutney (to taste). This makes about 4 fritters (the mix will be like thick pancake batter rather than a burger as such, but they turn out lovely). My boys are big meat eaters and love these.
Well done on being a thoughtful consumer! I became vego when i was in my late teens because my stepfather (a butcher) forced me to help in his shop plus he also used to kill animals while i was around without really warning me (we lived on a farm for a while)... the moment I saw a sheep's neck slit I made up my mind that i was turning vego as soon as i could! I had to wait until my mother left him though. Interestingly my aunt and uncle had a poultry farm and i witnessed the killing of chooks and that didn't bother me because I trusted them as adults. I even helped to pluck them. So i was vego for about 5 years, between 18 and 23. My DH was too. Then when i fell pregnant I started craving fish. So DH and I had a talk and we decided that we would start to eat seafood and poultry because if it came to it we know that we could actually kill them ourselves. We figure that if you can't do the killing (or help with the carcass preparation) then you shouldn't really eat it... but enough soapbox.... just want to agree that I share your motivation.
My kids have never eaten red meat and are very healthy specimens! They eat a lot of eggs though... nearly every breakfast they have an egg and will eat them done in all ways. They also love quiche and frittata. We have a hen and eat her eggs so they certainly know what they are eating! and are fine with it.
Like Inanna I'm not overly keen on meat substitutes... but that's just me... i don't like it when something is pretending to be something that it is not... eg 'mock cream' or chemical 'sugar'. BUT my kids seem to like a vego deli roll (by Sanitarium) on their sandwiches so i buy it for them... the Smoked flavour one tastes like devon... it's in the cold section at Coles.
If you find you don't like tofu then try Tempeh... it is made of whole soybeans and has more flavour... we love it diced into small cubes and fried then added to stir fries... very yummy.
Curries are great... get into lentils and split peas... you will also save a fortune in your grocery bill!
Also if you are type A (blood) then you should notice an especially great improvement in your health... Google 'eat Right For Your Blood Type" for more info on this. Basically types As really benefit from a vego diet.
Mel - I'm an O blood type and I am supposed to have red meat apparently. I have been veg for 18 years and still donate blood, have had 2 babies and BF for over 12 months with both so it hasn't hindered me or the girls thriving at all.
I tried to get the book at lunch time for you today and they have sold out
Actually it's really the Type O's that apparently thrive on red meat... they have the "Oldest" blood type... the same one that cavemen had in Africa... so their digestive systems can readily cope with processing meats. After o's came the "A's" which developed when man started to get food from Agriculture ie grains and vegies and fish. Bs are even more recent and can process lots of foods... but don't really need meat as much as O's. Getting a bit offic topic though i have a thread about this somewhere, i'll have a look. BTW the blood type thing is only a theory.... most medical people just laugh when i mention it.
Inanna: yep, as well as the ethical reasons i had for giving up red meat i also always felt physically uncomfortable when eating it... it did kind of sit in my tummy for a long time (the blood type theory says this is because type A's have low stomach acid levels... i never get heart burn or feel acidy... so this rings true for me). I am A+ too.... lots of Northern Europeans are.
Nai: DH and DD are type 0s too and they are very healthy. DH does complain of feeling "acidy" in his tummy a lot though after eating certain foods especially ones with garlic.
Last edited by Bathsheba; August 17th, 2010 at 02:59 PM.
and I love garlic... it never upsets my tummy... if it wasn't for worrying about being stinky I would eat a lot more of it! So yep... i think there might be something to it. Sorry for taking this OT Arimeh! I'll find my blood type thread and link.
ETA: HERE is the link to the Eating for Your Blood type thread.
Last edited by Bathsheba; August 17th, 2010 at 06:00 PM.
I want to eat vegetarian. I don't enjoy meat, and I just feel horrible thinking that I eat helpless animals when there is perfectly good veggies etc to eat instead. I have been thinking about it for about 3 years now, and it just feels like something I have to do, and I feel like now is the right time.
So... Where do I start? At the moment I am living with my grandparents, and Nan does pretty much all of the cooking. I'm hoping I can find recipes I can cook on the weekend and freeze, so Nan doesn't have to cook anything separate for me during the week. (hah I sound like a spoilt brat.... I work full time and Nan loves cooking, she won't let me help her cook during the week lol but I do help on the weekends!). I'm thinking something like spag bol but with lentils instead of mince, but I'm a bit stuck as to how to prep the lentils? And maybe some veggie curries for myself (my grandparents probably won't eat curry unless it's super mild)... So yeah. I just don't know where to start really... I don't want to be an inconvenience to my grandparents kwim?
Sibbie - we are into week 3 of our new vegetarian ways, and its pretty good so far. All recipes I have tried have been super yummy, but the prep does take a bit longer than just your standard meat and veg meals.
I make spag bol with red lentils, I get these indian ones from coles and I just have to rinse them. There are others that you have to soak overnight and stuff like that, but I haven't needed to, I just follow the directions on the packet. No doubt they are the more expensive ones, but I also have to consider ease in my cooking, since I have three youngin's!!
We had lentil and sweet potato pouches last night and they were sooo yummy, but took about an hour and a half to do in the kitchen!!!! Well worth it though, but definitely a weekend type meal when I have DH on hand to watch the kids for me so I can cook without interruptions and little ones wanting "up" !!!!
Before I fell preg I was vegetarian, still ate eggs, milk, cheese etc. I've been eating meat but plan on getting back to my vego ways once she is here.
Sorry if I repeat what PP have said, I haven't read them all.
I made sure that I used lot's of lentils, beans, chickpeas, mushrooms, spinach, tofu etc in my cooking.
I love a good ol green smoothie hehe my fave is to blend a bunch of parsley, lot's of baby spinach, 1 pear & 1 banana, little bit of apple juice & water all together. It may not look appealing but it tastes great and packs a punch of healthy goodness, be brave and give it a try
Hey Mel, I ahve found some yummy recipes here www (with no space here !).taste.com.au/recipes/collections/vegetarian/47.
Whilst we're not going veggo, I am trying to have 2-3 meat free meals a fortnight to try to cut grocery costs, and also to be healthier, and to be a bit nicer to the environment!
Last edited by MrsFabuloso; October 11th, 2010 at 12:35 PM.
Reply With QuoteI became vego when i was in my late teens because my stepfather (a butcher) forced me to help in his shop plus he also used to kill animals while i was around without really warning me (we lived on a farm for a while)... the moment I saw a sheep's neck slit I made up my mind that i was turning vego as soon as i could! I had to wait until my mother left him though. Interestingly my aunt and uncle had a poultry farm and i witnessed the killing of chooks and that didn't bother me because I trusted them as adults. I even helped to pluck them. So i was vego for about 5 years, between 18 and 23. My DH was too. Then when i fell pregnant I started craving fish. So DH and I had a talk and we decided that we would start to eat seafood and poultry because if it came to it we know that we could actually kill them ourselves. We figure that if you can't do the killing (or help with the carcass preparation) then you shouldn't really eat it... but enough soapbox.... just want to agree that I share your motivation.
i have a thread about this somewhere, i'll have a look. BTW the blood type thing is only a theory.... most medical people just laugh when i mention it.
!).taste.com.au/recipes/collections/vegetarian/47.
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