Any vegetarians out there?

mrsrep123 · September 2016

We (DH, DS 14 months, and I) are new to the vegetarian game for a little over a month now. We still eat fish and eggs. Because of the waves of nausea and dry heaves I've been experiencing, meal planning has taken a back seat. I'm hopeful this will ease up soon and would love to hear what you and your kiddos eat. TIA!

MollyandD · September 2016

Me! I gave up meat 4 1/2 years ago. (If you eat fish then you're a pescatarian.)

I have a yummy lentil soup recipe and a delicious fajita pasta recipe.

ETA: after work I'll post some recipes.

starphish18 · September 2016

@mrsrep123 I was a pescatarian for 10 years, up until about a year ago when I started eating a bit of meat again because of low iron that I couldn't get to raise through other methods. I still don't eat much meat...maybe 2 servings a week. No kiddos yet, but a lot of my go-to mains include: brown butter gnocchi with spinach and pine nuts, golden squash risotto, eggplant parmesan, black bean and quinoa enchilada bake (sooo good!), spinach enchiladas, vegetarian chili, spinach ricotta lasagna, sundried tomato and basil pasta with fresh tomato and mozzarella, and crispy tofu and veggie stir-fry. I'm sure there's more, but I can't remember them at the moment. If you'd like any of the recipes, let me know and I can link them once I'm home next week!

tumbleweed-1 · September 2016

I eat meat now. I've been a vegetarian most of my life. By highschool I was a pescatarian, and in college I started eating meat and eggs. (Mostly due to discovering I was anemic).

I dont enjoy most meats, and we still don't eat a lot of red meat (except that I'm a terrible person and I think lamb is delicious. Lol). We try to eat meat every other day. I'd love to get more vegetarian meal ideas from you all.

emilyalso · September 2016

I am toying with the idea of going vegan, but my pediatrician queationed me for trying while I was breastfeeding DS (Why do you feel like you need to do it RIGHT NOW? What ill affects from animal products will you suffer in the next 6 months that you haven't in 30 years of eating them?). Now that I'm pregnant, I feel like I'm in that same boat... Why now? I just am not sure I know enough about eating a balanced plant-based diet and eating enough calories for it to be healthy during pregnancy.

RainyDays86 · September 2016

I'm not but I am following this thread because while we have no desire to be full vegetarian, H and I are trying to cut down on how much meat we eat mainly for environmental reasons. I would love to hear some of your recipes (I'm looking at you @starphish18, everything you mentioned sounded delicious)!

Klee_NC · September 2016

My husband is a pescatarian and me and the girls are vegetarian.

Tonight we had grilled cheese and tomato soup and it was so simple and so perfect for my lack of want for food lately.

I've also been loving simple naan bread with some olive oil, artichokes, olives and some veggies roasted for about 10 minutes. Served with a side of hummus.

MollyandD · September 2016

I use this recipe, but I leave out the chicken and cook the bell peppers and onion in olive oil. I also don't add cheese, and I use almond milk. I'm not fully vegan, but I cook this in a vegan-friendly way.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yrWJ2-fUw98

HowdyAnnie · September 2016

I would love your tofu recipe, @starphish18! We aren't vegetarian, but do eat meatless most nights. I once had a lovely crispy tofu dish with caramelized onions at a work luncheon, but haven't been able to replicate the crispy goodness myself.

starphish18 · September 2016

@RainyDays86 @HowdyAnnie You got it! It'll be about a week, but I'll post links/pictures of my recipes when I get home!

doxiemoxie212 · September 2016

Vegetarian for 10+ years!

mrsrep123 · September 2016

@starphish18 Me too me too!

Jellybeanqueen13 · September 2016

The only meat I eat is occasionally fish. Other than that, I'll do lentils, beans, quinoa, rice, lots of fruits and veggies. My RE told me to avoid soy products because I have PCOS, so it's been harder bc I LOVE tofu! I could live off of tofu stir fry.

So far in this pregnancy, I have really been craving Mexican/Southwest flavors, so lots of beans and rice based meals lately for our family.

Klee_NC · September 2016

When we first went full vegetarian I loved the meat substitutes. Like the morning star crumbles used to be my favorite for taco night, but lately I can eat them at all. I've just been filling my tacos with avocado/tomato chunks & greens. So lately, I stick with mostly veggies.

I photograph my friends vegan-organic farm so I get a box of veganic food every week. It's nice having a stupid amount of veggies. Even my non vegan/vegetarian friends love it. Every Saturday we get together and cook it all up and take photos.

We don't claim vegan but the only cheese we do is from another friends goat farm and I love feta, so I get that a lot. We rarely do dairy. But my little one is gogurt and string cheese crazy so we keep those in the house for her. But we are close. I think when the little ones are older it'll be easier to cut cheese totally.

Klee_NC · September 2016

I still love the morning star farms veggie burgers. We top them with Dijon mustard, greens avocado, tomato, a tiny bit of feta. Sooooooooo good.

Klee_NC · September 2016

Other things we eat:

One of my favorites when I'm craving fried chicken is fried tofu over a salad.

I like sautéing mushrooms and other veggies (artichokes!) in olive oil and garlic and serving over angel hair. Then I top it with diced tomatoes and mozzarella & Parmesan. Put it in a giant bowl and family style eating is easy. That's a favorite when we have last minute dinner guests.

Eggplant parmesean is always yummy.

Naan Pizza (no cheese)

Meatless Chili: I add lots of peppers and potatoes to thicken it up. Sometimes I'll put the meatless crumbles in there but most of the time I like just adding onion, peppers & potatoes.

Farmers dinner. Just lots of veggies. Ideas: corn on the cob, sliced tomatoes, green beans, mashed or baked potatoes, diced roasted red potatoes. Pick your favorites or serve them all!

Toasted bagel with cream cheese. Vary by topping with fried egg (we rescued chickens and they give us eggs - we didn't care if they did when we rescued them but it's a nice bonus), diced tomatoes, or mashed avocados

Pesto Pasta & veggies (like artichokes & broccoli with this)

Black bean and corn quesadillas

mrsrep123 · September 2016

Thanks for all of the wonderful ideas. I will be getting back on track soon.

Abby7 · September 2016

I found the Moosewood cookbook Simple Suppers changed the way I ate dramatically. We wanted to eat more vegetarian, but I never did a good job of cooking vegetarian until this cookbook. (note that it's pescatarian but fish is not integral to the general book.)

By the way, they have a bunch of awesome tofu recipes, including crispy and other fried/baked tofu.

SummerBrooke13 · September 2016

@Klee_NC do you have a recipe or pointers for your fried tofu? I have never been able to cook tofu and make it taste good!

I am veg/pesca. I try to not eat dairy and I never buy cows milk. But I live with a carnivore/hunter so I have to keep deer and cheese in the house. If he wants gravy or red meat he has to remind me to buy milk/meat since I typically don't. I usually cook chicken for him several times a week, but lately raw chicken has made me a little pukey feeling. He definitely eats less meat since I went veg, but I'll never break him!

I like to make chili, stir-fry is huge with me, I sometimes take the spicy "chicken" patties from morning star for work. Also I recently found some vegan/healthy ramen at a Whole Foods type store that I have at work. I also really like sweet potatoes with spanish rice and beans. Love veggie fajitas and pasta. The big one that I can get my hubs to eat is baked buffalo cauliflower "wings"!! We are obsessed! He asks for it all the time and I never have to make chicken wings now!! So good!

Abby7 · September 2016

For tofu, dry and cut into cubes or whatever shape you want. Mix together a sauce of 1.5T soy sauce, 2T oil, one pressed garlic clove, then 1-3Tbsp of whatever seasoning you want (ex. bbq sauce, lemon juice and oregano, honey and vinegar). Gently mix with the tofu,
pour out onto a single layer on an oiled sheet, and bake 375 for 40 minutes, turning once. Or sauté in oil, again only turning once (you want to develop browning).

This is how I make mine and we never have leftovers, and DD has loved it since she started solids.

blissfulberry · September 2016

We're not vegetarian, but cook with meat maybe 1x a week (eating out is a little bit more). Even before I got pregnant, the thought/texture of meat made me queasy. So I'm excited to try these recipes!

@Abby7 thanks for posting your tofu recipe! DH and I never quite got the hang of it. But then again, we were in college at the time and pretty inexperienced when it came to cooking in general.

auro_c · September 2016

I see a lot of you mention tofu. Soy is not safe during pregnancy

Squirtgun · September 2016

@aro_c where have you heard that? I've heard that it is fine. (Screenshot from article I found sorry if picture is huge.)

RainyDays86 · September 2016

I have no comment on the safety of soy, but I wanted to add that I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who Big Brother (i.e. Google) has figured out is pregnant and is aggressively targeting with internet adds (looking at the bottom of your screen shot @Squirtgun).

auro_c · September 2016

Squirtgun I live in Mexico, my ob-gyn specifically mentioned "No soy" at all. Also, in most of the reference I find in french, soy is also banned because of phytoestrogens. It might be cultural, if you end up reading books and articles from more than 4 countries, there's nothing you can eat

.

starphish18 · September 2016

As promised, here are some of the vegetarian recipes I use:
https://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/creamy-spinach-and-cheese-green-chile-enchiladas/
https://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/black-bean-and-quinoa-enchilada-bake/
If you want to go one delicious step further with the recipe above, homemade enchilada sauce: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/easy-enchilada-sauce-recipe.html
https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/brown-butter-gnocchi-with-spinach-pine-nuts

I don't have an actual recipe for the tofu, but here's what I do: For crispy tofu, I use extra firm. Cube the tofu and place in a bowl. Boil water (enough to cover the tofu) and add a heaping amount of salt to it, at least a tablespoon. Pour the boiling, salted water over the tofu and let it sit for 20 minutes. Drain the tofu and place between sheets of paper towel, let dry for another 10-20 minutes and dab lightly to remove any excess liquid. Once the tofu is dry, I heat a couple tablespoons of peanut oil in a cast iron skillet and fry the tofu on a medium-high heat. Depending on the size, I do about 5-10 minutes per side, flipping just once after the tofu is browned halfway up the side. Once they're browned on both sides, I remove to a plate with a piece of paper towel (to soak up excess oil), and sprinkle with salt. Then, I just add the tofu to my dish at the end so it warms through and soaks up whatever sauce I'm using.

For a few of my recipes, I don't have online versions, so I'll post pictures in a minute...

starphish18 · September 2016

Golden Squash Risotto: This one includes a few edits I do (I tend to adjust most recipes a bit)

starphish18 · September 2016

Creamy spinach lasagna

starphish18 · September 2016

Last one, I swear... My husband is the one who does the vegetarian chili. I can't find his recipe, but he uses cracked wheat in it. It makes it meaty and filling. I highly recommend.

Sun-dried tomato and Basil Pesto Pasta (I made this one up, so here's the recipe for 2 big servings):
8-10 sun-dried tomatoes
1/4 c pine nuts
1/2 c parmesan
1/2 c basil leaves
1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
salt/pepper to taste
Pulse above ingredients, except olive oil, in a food processor until it's a uniform blend. Slowly add olive oil until creamy. Transfer to a serving dish.
1/2 lb pasta, such as bowtie or rotini (reserve some pasta water)
Cherry tomatoes, whole or halved
Fresh mozzarella, small rounds or cubed
Cook pasta as instructed, reserving about 1/2 cup pasta water. Drain and add pasta to pesto, stirring until coated. Add reserved pasta water to reach a desired consistency (usually at least 1/8 cup for me). Stir in cherry tomatoes and mozzarella and let sit for a few minutes to heat through. Top with additional parmesan or fresh basil if desired.

mrsrep123 · October 2016

THANKS @starphish18

SKZW · October 2016

Klee_NC said:

I've also been loving simple naan bread with some olive oil, artichokes, olives and some veggies roasted for about 10 minutes. Served with a side of hummus.

@Klee_NC: I read your comment the other day and it must have stuck with me. I seriously had this for lunch today---sooooo good! Yummy naan, garlicky hummus, roasted red peppers, crunchy raw carrots on the side. For some reason it really hit the spot. Thanks for the reminder that it's one of my favs.

SKZW · October 2016

@Abby7 The Moosewood Simple Suppers cookbook is also one of my favorites! It has a recipe for banana cupcakes/muffins made with olive oil and yogurt, and they come out so moist every time. Another fav is a creamy cheddar-beer risotto with cherry toms, brocc, and a dash of dijon at the end.

tumbleweed-1 · October 2016

@starphish18 thanks for sharing these recipes.

Abby7 · October 2016

@SKZW I love that risotto. Haven't tried the banana muffins since I never manage to get old enough bananas for bread but will have to make it a point to try those.

tumbleweed-1 · October 2016

I wanted to share a granola bar recipe that I make. After making them according to the blog's directions, I've slightly adapted the recipe for myself. They only have five ingredients, don't require any cooking, and are easy to adapt, like I did, to do what works for you. They can be vegan or vegetarian. Here is the origional recipe as I found it. Enjoy

https://minimalistbaker.com/healthy-5-ingredient-granola-bars/

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Any vegetarians out there?

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