141 replies to this topic

[trmeyer]

What are some meal ideas that I can make without meat that he won't notice as much or if he does, it will be so good that he doesn't really care:) Thanks for any help with this.

Tracy

[kathie_san]

That's great! I was born and raised in the countryside so it kinda reminds me of how my life was before. We even plant vegetables in our backyard, and my father used to work as an agriculturist so he'd plant almost all kinds of veggies. You can also do the same, not just for a healthy living but you could also cut your grocery bills. Regarding the meals, you may opt to using tofu instead of meat, you might want to try chopsuey, that's stir-fried veggies which you can add slices of meat if you desire but it's mostly veggies. We have a lot of Asian recipes that does not require meat at all I just don't know if your family has an appetite for Asian food.

[mommymumbles]

We are all vegetarian in our family, so we do not ever eat meat. There are many vegetarian substitutes for meat available in markets these days that are great. We make veggie burgers, hot dogs, chicken, meatballs and even ribs! Tofu is another great replacement (inexpensive and can be used in so many recipes.) Maybe you can gradually cut back on the meat dishes so the hubby doesn't miss them too much.
Also, Mexican dishes are always delicious - like cheese enchiladas and been &cheese burritos. Maybe incorporate more egg dishes as well at dinner (my family always love having breakfast for dinner every so often.)

Good luck and enjoy those meat free meals

[jasserEnv]

I myself, really don't like the taste of tofu or soy milk even after living in Japan for some time. For those who really can't stomach a bean loaf replacement for meatloaf, one option is wheat gluten if you are not allergic to it. It can be flavored fairly well and has a texture like some meats when prepared appropriately. As well, another bean option, but served as a bean, is the black bean. Per cup of beans it has 1/3 of your daily protein requirement and can be spiced to make it tasty.

The last option is to just have lots of nuts around (again if no allergies are present), because nuts have reasonable amounts of protein. If you are munching on these regularly, you won't need as much protein at meal time.

[Monkey Doctor]

I was brought up a vegetarian and I was 25 when I had my forst taste of meat. I now do eat meat but I only eat organic free range meat that I can be sure of came from the highest standard of farm. The way I overcome the need to use meat is by adding flavour to my meals. This is ok if you have a liking for spices and herbs but if you have quite a traditional taste then this may not be any good. I love using pulses and nuts in cooking. A salad is so much tastier if you dry roast some sunflower seeds with some mustard seeds, add a little soy sauce and throw into the finished salad. Similarly some mixes roast veg (carrots, parsnips, sweet potato and something like swede) with some honey, mustard and olive oil are so tasty.

[jasserEnv]

Monkey Doctor, on 28 September 2011 - 11:58 AM, said:

I was brought up a vegetarian and I was 25 when I had my forst taste of meat. I now do eat meat but I only eat organic free range meat that I can be sure of came from the highest standard of farm. The way I overcome the need to use meat is by adding flavour to my meals. This is ok if you have a liking for spices and herbs but if you have quite a traditional taste then this may not be any good. I love using pulses and nuts in cooking. A salad is so much tastier if you dry roast some sunflower seeds with some mustard seeds, add a little soy sauce and throw into the finished salad. Similarly some mixes roast veg (carrots, parsnips, sweet potato and something like swede) with some honey, mustard and olive oil are so tasty.

Besides the pulses and nuts, what do you eat to make you feel satiated? I know that for myself, these protein sources barely keep me feeling full enough and I have to eat a fair amount or I will often be hungry again in short order following a meal. I think that if more people could overcome that empty feeling, more would be willing to eat vegetarian.

[Monkey Doctor]

jasserEnv, on 28 September 2011 - 01:56 PM, said:

Besides the pulses and nuts, what do you eat to make you feel satiated? I know that for myself, these protein sources barely keep me feeling full enough and I have to eat a fair amount or I will often be hungry again in short order following a meal. I think that if more people could overcome that empty feeling, more would be willing to eat vegetarian.

I think it's alot about eating routines. I kind of snack and eat big meals too. I have an organic veg box delivered every two weeks and just make the main meals out of that. Cheese is a big part of my diet as is bread. Theres nothing better than a cheese and cucmber sandwich on a wholegrain seeded loaf to weigh down the stomache!

I cook a whole variety of foods from around the world. India has a history of vegetarianism and there are some amazing recipes. I love making curries. Daal is something I cook alot. If its done right it is very tast and filling. Rice is very important too.

I went to Morocco last year and ate alot of food cooked in a tajine. Its an earthenware pot with a triangular lid. You put all of your ingredients in it with a small amount of water and oil mixed with herbs and spices. you cook slowly from below and all the spices seep into your ingrdients and basically steam and roast them at the same time. You can put pretty much anything into it. I tried one with some grilled haloumi (greek cheese that you cook) and it was amazing. I am going to do one soon with Paneer (an unpasturised chese used in Indian cooking).

If I make food exciting its much easier to eat and maintain a healthy diet. My partners family has very traditional 'meat & two veg' style eating habits. I think they found it hard when she became a vegetarian as a teenager. I think it is difficult to be a vegetarian and maintain the same eating habits. You have to really go for it and be experimental, stick with what you like and ditch what you don't. After a while you adjust.

I forgot pasta too. Thats an essential part of my diet.

[mommymumbles]

We eat a lot of veggie burgers and hot dogs. I find those as filling as meat ones. We also eat tofu mixed with rice and beans...another good simple dish (inexpensive too!) that is very satisfying. And yes, pasta is big in our house, as are salads of all kinds, including potato salads and macaroni salads. We do the cheese pizza and enchiladas, tacos (using veggie crumbles) - all yummy and filling. Humus is delicious and my daughter makes hummus sandwiches while my younger two love it as a dip for their veggies.

There are lots of ways to make vegetarian diets work and feel as full and satisfied as if you ate meat

[zararina]

Some patties now have more  extenders on them, better choose those that uses vegetables such as corn and potato as extenders. You could even create one at home. Just a mixture of some meat and more "vegetables meats". Maybe try making a vegetable dish with some slices of meats, slice the meat according to the slices of the vegetables to make it look like there are several meats in the dish. Usually potatoes could do the trick for it.

[neodoxa]

Eating meat isn't bad for you.  There are essential amino acids and protein chains found in meats that aren't readily available for absorption from nuts, etc.  If you eat tons of red meat every day, sure, it's bad...  But organic white meat and fish are definitely good for you and I wouldn't recommend cutting them out of your diet.  But that's just me.  I eat fish more often than I eat meat.  The health benefits from regular fish consumption are huge.

As far as ways to cut back on eating meat, I'd recommend eating fish.  Haha.  

Neodoxa

[mariaandrea]

Great topic. We eat much less meat these days for all sorts of reasons, including cost and my son turning vegetarian a couple of years ago. My daughter and I still eat meat (I actually grew up vegetarian) and there are a few ways I found to create satisfying meals with less meat that we will all enjoy.

I'm half Japanese, so I use some tricks from cooking with that cuisine. Traditional Japanese meals include many small plates of various foods along with rice. I'll buy 2 large scallops or 4 large prawns and sear them and serve with plates of vegetables and tofu. A wide variety of small plates of food also allows you to use those odd leftover amounts, like the end of a zucchini. It's a table full of appetizers with rice anchoring the meal. Or, instead of cooking meat with a meal, I'll top noodles and vegetables with shredded roasted chicken and use it as more of a garnish. Seeing it on top of a mound of food tricks your eye into thinking you're getting more than you actually are.

We also eat a lot of beans and rice. Beans are great for protein, but lack some essential amino acids. If you eat beans with grains you get the same kind of complete protein you would get as if you ate meat. Plus, fiber helps fill you up, so eat lots of vegetables. This is the perfect time of year for filling and hearty vegetarian chili and stew.

[Bababooey]

My daughter, who has type 1 diabetes, was a vegetarian for about two years, but she was really getting too deficient in iron, to the point that her hair was starting to fall out. Now that she's back to eating moderate levels of meat, her overall health has improved. That being said, we try to limit our intake of red meat to just a few times per month. We all hate the taste of factory-farmed anything, but especially poultry. We're in Vancouver, so we do eat a fair bit of seafood. Planning on grilling up some salmon (caught by a friend) tonight, actually!

[mariaandrea]

Bababooey, on 07 October 2011 - 02:12 PM, said:

My daughter, who has type 1 diabetes, was a vegetarian for about two years, but she was really getting too deficient in iron, to the point that her hair was starting to fall out. Now that she's back to eating moderate levels of meat, her overall health has improved...

We had a similar problem! My daughter gets anemic easily, so when she was vegetarian, even though we upped her consumption of iron-rich fruits and vegetables, like chard, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, dried apricots and raisins, plus iron-fortified foods, she still wasn't getting enough iron. She eats meat now, but we only eat it a few times a week and it seems to be enough.

[neodoxa]

As many vegans/vegetarians know, lentils and soy beans contain a good amount of iron, and usually prevent a deficiency in iron amongst vegans/vegetarians.

Tea/coffee can really inhibit iron absorption.  If people become iron deficient and anemic, it's important to cut way back on teas, coffees, and calcium intake.

It is way easier to keep your iron levels adequate by just eating meat a couple times a week... And I believe there is a reason for this.  Humans SHOULD be omnivores, in my opinion.  Our teeth are similar to other omnivores (canines are rather sharp).

Neodoxa

[Elisabeth Rose]

If your husband wants meat with every meal, I doubt he's the tofu type! My suggestion is to continue serving meat with every meal, but just use half the normal amount and make it go further. The best way to do this is with dishes like stews, chili, casseroles, burritos, and spaghetti sauce. Make them the same way you usually do, use less meat, and make up for the missing meat by adding more grains, vegetables or beans.

[neodoxa]

Here is a benefit to eating less meat that many people might not know...

Eating a vegan/vegetarian diet reduces an individual's emissions!  A vegan diet shaves off up to 1.5 tons of CO2 emissions compared to a regular meat-heavy diet in the United States.

Neodoxa

[Tom Servo]

I've been a vegetarian for 10 years and I recently became vegan. I just quit cold turkey and never looked back. Don't miss it at all. In fact, meat disgusts me. You couldn't pay me to eat. Cold turkey, that's the best way.

[Eiza]

If your husband likes meat at every meal, then perhaps comfort food will fill him up and make him miss meat less. Is there a Trader Joes in your city? If so, go there this minute and purchase their mock meatballs. I first purchased these by accident. I had been reaching for the turkey meatballs and picked their mock meatballs instead. When I got home and realized the mistake, I was too lazy to go back to the store, so I used them. They were delicious! I didn't even tell my family and they never said a word, except for how good they were.

[fancyfingers]

trmeyer, on 25 September 2011 - 07:03 PM, said:

Hello, we are raising rabbits, chickens and goats for meat, eggs, and milk so we depend less on grocery stores and mass produced food and additives. But since we are producing more of what we eat ourselves, there really isn't enough to have meat at every meal. I do not object to this, but my husband likes to have meat with each meal. What are some meal ideas that I can make without meat that he won't notice as much or if he does, it will be so good that he doesn't really care:) Thanks for any help with this.

Tracy

I would suggest egg sandwiches and a fruit salad, soup (homemade baked potato, for example) with grilled cheese sandwiches and small salad, bean and cheese burritos with diced onions in them. One option you can try is instead of making everyone a chicken breast, take a breast or two, cube it and cook in a pan with favorite seasonings and serve on a salad, on rice or noodles. Use the meat as a piece of a recipe, not the main dish. This way, your hubby will taste the meat, but you can make it last much longer by stretching it to make a few meals.

[Yoginitrish]

We eat a lot of nuts, beans and cheeses. We are not vegetarian, but try to limit our meat consumption to a couple times a week. Some regulars on our menu: harvest salad (greens, cheddar, chopped apples, grapes, walnuts, red onion, celery), black bean and avocado burritos, cauliflower-cheddar-beer soup, eggplant rollentini, vegetable lasagna, veggie chili (using Morning Star crumbles) and quiches.

I also have replaced chicken broth with veggie broth in many recipes.

I think dishes with loads of vegetables and plant proteins are much more filling than meat based dishes. Good luck!

Eiza, on 10 October 2011 - 03:06 PM, said:

If your husband likes meat at every meal, then perhaps comfort food will fill him up and make him miss meat less. Is there a Trader Joes in your city? If so, go there this minute and purchase their mock meatballs. I first purchased these by accident. I had been reaching for the turkey meatballs and picked their mock meatballs instead. When I got home and realized the mistake, I was too lazy to go back to the store, so I used them. They were delicious! I didn't even tell my family and they never said a word, except for how good they were.

I love Trader Joe's mock meatballs too! I use these to make sweet and sour meatballs for parties all the time. I also love many of the Morning Star products. The MS chicken patties are excellent tossed in buffalo wing sauce and put on top of salad. And their fake bacon is sort of amazing!