Making the slow transition to becoming a Vegetarian, any assistance welcomed!

[DaintreeDream]

Thankyou for your replies ladies.

I might head down the shop and see if they have any of the frys brand, sounds like a bit of buy and try to see what I like.

I like mushrooms, strawberries and dark chocolate so I am in luck

This may be a silly question but the meat alternatives, are these good for health/diet reasons and good to be part of your daily diet or are there more for the people that want to eat meat with eating meat? Like just that extra something to put with their meals? I'm not sure if that makes any sense.

Thanks for the recipe rosehip fairy - I am a big fan of mornay type meals.

Deanne.

[Nai]

I have been lacto-ovo veg for 17 years now and only take a multi-vitamin as a supplement. I have also been a blood donor (prior to being pregnant) so my iron levels are just fine. DP eats meat but we don't cook it at home and he says he doesn't miss it as we have a lot of variety.

The replacement food that I use are sanitarium ones and mainly because DP thinks they are good. I use the casserole mince for spag bol so he doesn't feel like he is missing out, sanitarium sausages which go well with mash and soy fillets (or "tricken" fillets as DP calls them) which are great to grill and use in a mega salad. Also refried beans for burritos and tacos - I have a way of cooking these to make them taste good

Generally though I just do a lot of recipes like lentil soups, curries with chickpeas, pasta with beans in the sauce, stir fry with marinated tofu etc. PM me if you need any basic recipes.

[SareBear]

Hi Deanne,

I have been a vegetarian since I was 8 and DH has been since he was toddler. We both just didn't really like the taste of meat but now it's for the same reasons as you, and it makes us feel good

We rarely have the meat substitute, sometimes tofu though. We use a lot of lentils, kidney beans and chick peas. I quite like the schnitzel and nuggets that you get in the freezer section but DH isn't keen on them so I have them occasionally when I'm on my own.

Any recipe that you have that you really like, just try substituting the meat for a heap of extra vegies or adding some chickpeas or lentils. I've found the women's weekly website helpful for finding new vegetarian recipes.

The one thing that I find really hard to avoid is gelatine, it's in most yoghurt and lollies which I find hard to give up completely. And there are some vegetarian cheeses but I don't think they are as good, so I guess that is a choice you need to make eventually. You'll get really good at reading ingredients on packets as there are meat products in things that you wouldn't expect. I would suggest as you're going to make the transition slowly to start getting used to reading the ingredients, there are meat products in some tomato pasta sauces, curry pastes, even chocolate biscuits!

I'm not sure where you're located but here in Melbourne there is a fabulous asian restaurant that is completely vegetarian. The menu is just like a regular menu though, there is a vege section but you can also order things like lemon chicken or ribs and it does really look (and I've heard) taste like the real thing but it's all meat substitute. If you want to try the fake meat this is excellent place to do it.

I hope that helped, sorry I've rambled!

Sare