I have been thinking of trying to eat vegetarian for health reasons. I know for me it will not be a problem. For my SO and my daughter I'm not so sure. I also don't want to be making 2 different meals each night or spending 2x as much at the grocery store. I also do not want to be eating a lot of "fake meat" either. I do plan to eat fish and will most likely continue to eat the occasional egg. Any suggestions?

Jill

Your body should adjust to the change Jill. Just say very well hydrated in the process.

Jill, is your new diet higher-fiber than your old diet?

From the Mayo Clinic:

"High-fiber foods are good for your health. But adding too much fiber too quickly can promote intestinal gas, abdominal bloating and cramping. Increase fiber in your diet gradually over a period of a few weeks. This allows the natural bacteria in your digestive system to adjust to the change. Also, drink plenty of water. Fiber works best when it absorbs water, making your stool soft and bulky."

http://www.mayoclinic.com/heal...NU00033/METHOD=print

BTW, with dogs, if you are changing dog food brands, you are also supposed to do it gradually, to allow the dog's digestive bacteria to adjust.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Sheltieguy,

Jill,
Increasing your veggies will do a number on your digestive system at first. I wouldn't worry. I know that when I first tried green smoothies, I felt the difference immediately(and every time I increase my veggie quota, same thing). I felt great otherwise though.

I know it's really late but I'm still awake and have something not-so-pleasant to post and want to see what others have experienced. Since I stopped eating meat, about 2 weeks ago, I have been having serious intestinal issues. I'm sure it's all the raw and cooked veggies, the whole grains, etc. but quite honestly it is awful. I've lost over 5 lbs (which I am SO happy about) but, and I hate to even post this, I have horrible gas pains and am going to the bathroom A LOT. I'm guessing this is normal? I know that meats contain a lot of hormones and antibiotics. I guess my body is going through a detox period? I love how I feel and how my skin looks-since changing my diet I have a "sun-kissed" glow. It's weird, I don't spend much time in the sun but for whatever reason my skin looks great, less dried out and healthier looking. I am really enjoying researching vegetarian meals-we have made 2 wks now of meat-free meals with few complaints from SO and DD. I thank you all for your suggestions and support in this thread!

Jill

I have really been enjoying marinated tofu lately. I use the extra firm tofu, slice it into slabs about 1/2 and inch thick. I lay it on a plate covered with paper towels put more paper towels on top and weigh it down with a cutting board. After about a half an hour or so, it is sufficiently drained. In the mean time I mix up some soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, a little hot sauce, a pinch of sugar or honey, and maybe some rice wine vinegar orange juice is nice too. Marinate the tofu slabs in this turning occasionally. I try to do this the night before, but even a half hour in the marinade is good.
Put a little olive oil, or canola oil in a nonstick pan and cook over medium heat until browned on both sides. It has a nice chewy texture. I have heard that you can freeze tofu to make the texture even more meaty, but I haven't tried it.

This with some rice and a steamed veggie is a great meal, lunch or dinner. You can serve it on the side like meat, or you can make a rice bowl thing and cut up the tofu into smaller cubes and put the rice and veggies in a bowl with the tofu.

Jill,
I am not sure if you make stuff like meatballs or meatloaf, but I have occasionally made them in the past year or two with far less meat than is normally used.

For about 40 golf sized meatballs, I use aprox. 1 pound of ground chicken breast. I use the food processor to finely chop about 8 cups of vegetables. (I use what I have- mushrooms, zucchini, leek, carrot, celery, red peppers.) I sautee the veg and then mix veg with the ground meat as well as about 4 cups of whole wheat bread crumbs. (I make my own in the food processor with our favorite whole wheat bread.) I add lots of herbs and flavoring and combine with egg whites. (Whole eggs works just fine too.)

This recipe make about 12 servings. Each person eats only about an ounce+ of meat and loads of fresh veg.

If you use chix breast and no oil to sautee the vegetables, the dish has something like 6% fat and very low cholesterol. Sugars are super low too. The downside is that it is time consuming to do. OTOH, we eat one meal and I freeze the rest to heat up in weeks to come.

BTW, I use an ice cream scoop to portion mine and bake on Silpat w/o oil. Then I simmer them in tomato sauce.

quote:

Originally posted by jillybean:
...I love sandwiches...

Here is a Rick Bayless "Mexican sub sandwich" that's easily convertible to vegetarian.

http://www.fronterafiesta.com/...n-chorizo-torta.html

Just omit the chorizo sausage, and spice the black beans with something like chipotle pepper.

http://www.mccormickgourmet.co...Pepper-Chipotle.aspx

I use Penzeys dry-ground chipotle pepper, but McCormick's is easier to find. It's great match with black beans, or corn.

I use goat cheese in this recipe, and top it with roasted garlic tomato salsa. If you want to cut down on the cheese, a thin layer of grated pepperjack would also work.

I use the recipe from the Bayless book "Mexican Everyday", but this looks to be the same.

quote:

Originally posted by GoingSkiing:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Sheltieguy:


Also, Jill... a sandwich I like take drained garbanzo beans (or any beans... but I like garbanzos the best) and coursely mash them with a potato masher and then add mayo, mustard, relish, diced green onion, and diced celery... or all the ingredients you might put in a tuna or egg salad.

Add tomatoes and lettuce to the sandwich.

It is something like a cross between hummus and tuna salad. It is a good alternative to veggie lunch "meat". And is fast and easy.

Thanks Denise-that sounds really good. I am trying hard to avoid vegetarian "meats". One sandwich I love to make (and I used to make it a lot years ago) especially when tomatoes are in season here is sliced avocado, sliced tomato, red onion, and some type of sprouts (I think I have alfalfa right now) on multi-grain bread or a small multi-grain roll with honey mustard dressing that I make myself. I love sandwiches so I am looking for alternatives and the bean salad sandwich sounds great.

Jill

Brie that sounds great! I will add that to my recipes-might have to make that on a night dd is not home for dinner. I can get her to eat broccoli, green beans, and carrots. She likes no other veggies. She is trying though and seems to be warming to the no meat idea. I asked her to help pick a few dinners for the week out of our cookbooks so that seemed to help. I think she has it in her head that not eating meat means living on vegetables. She seemed to realize there are a lot of meals that can be made without meat that she might actually enjoy.

Jill

Jill - I made a great dinner last night - polenta rounds with grilled zucchini and eggplant in a light tomatoe sauce. I layered everything into a "napolean". Huge success even with dd. If you are worried about protein - a nice spinach salad with garbanzo beans would make a great side to this meal.

I have now been one week and two days with no meat. I have had seafood on two occasions. My dd and SO have been great. In fact, on Wednesday night I had a meeting so for dinner I had a meat-free Vietnamese Pho and he decided to have apple sausage with a pasta and veggie side. Well-turns out after a week of eating NO meat he was completely turned off by the sausage. He said it tasted fatty and gross. My dd is still more of a challenge. She is used to meat with every meal. I have lost 3 lbs. in one week! I am eating more veggies than ever and I love it. There is a woman in my dance class that is a vegan-was once a macrobiotic chef and she is going to email me meal ideas. I have to say that the idea of eliminating meat has been more of a mental issue. I've grown up and as an adult eaten meat. The lady in my dance class told me not to stress and to start slow. She said it took her 2-3 years to make a full change. I do stress over it. I worry about satisfaction and what will I make for dinner. Thanks for all your support!
Jill

Great questions Jill. I have been trying to do the same thing for the past couple of weeks. I decided to go mostly veg, but want to allow fish and seafood so that I wouldn't rely to heavily on cheese, eggs and processed soy, which is what I did in my college years when I was a vegetarian.

If I make fish, my family doesn't even seem to notice. I can also get away with a vegetarian meal once or twice week without them complaining too much. DH likes black beans and rice and they are both ok with vegetarian pasta dishes. In fact, DS prefers spaghetti sauce without meat.

I plan to try not to eat meat, but will eat it if I'm at someone else's home or something.

Dawn

Speaking of food and health issues...
Food, Inc. is a pretty powerful and disturbing documentary exploring the food produces.

It's available to view online through April 29th at

www.pbs.org/pov/foodinc

quote:

For Iz and Nbox-can you, or anyone else who has ideas-post or email (jilld1970@comcast.net) your green veggie smoothie ideas please?

Jill,
I'll get back to you soon. Kudos on the vegetarian thing; I've been wanting to do that for years.

quote:

Originally posted by Sheltieguy:
(I'm not good at sudden change.)

I have students like that. Some days I'll say, "OK... flutes in the back row today... trombones and baritone up front!" If freaks some kids out.

Also, Jill... a sandwich I like take drained garbanzo beans (or any beans... but I like garbanzos the best) and coursely mash them with a potato masher and then add mayo, mustard, relish, diced green onion, and diced celery... or all the ingredients you might put in a tuna or egg salad.

Add tomatoes and lettuce to the sandwich.

It is something like a cross between hummus and tuna salad. It is a good alternative to veggie lunch "meat". And is fast and easy.

Just a thought. (Not being unsupportive):

Perhaps you could ease into things by alternating between Vegetarian Days and Lean Meat Days.

(I'm not good at sudden change.)

quote:

Originally posted by jillybean:


Sandy-diabetes is prevalent in my family-my father, aunt, and cousin all have it. My sister is borderline. My paternal grandfather died from complications from diabetes, he had both legs amputated and had severe health issues.


Jill

Great that you are addressing the potential problem and not waiting for your numbers to cross the line! Hopefully your doc is watching you blood sugars carefully given the family hx.

I agree with Denise re: the fatigue could be from many things. As far as diet goes, I notice I feel significantly better as I eat very low fat and keep my weight low. However, it was super stressful for about 6 months as I revamped nearly all of my cooking. I think that I underestimated how powerful and important patterns of eating and cooking were/are in my life. To make sweeping changes and sustain them took a lot of energy. Now it seems more normal and routine

quote:

Originally posted by jillybean:
AS DENISE WOULD SAY: WARING, LONG POST AHEAD!

LOLOL... I didn't think it was all that long.

quote:

Originally posted by jillybean:
I started today and only had seafood, veggies, and whole grains. I feel very tired. I'm guessing it's my body adjusting to a new way of eating? I've been eating heavy fat foods for a while now and I guess my body needs to adjust.

If you have been eating heavy fat... you "should" feel like you have more energy eating lighter.

I'm not saying this in a mean way at all... but feeling tired after changing your eating ONE day... it is probably in your head.

Or it might because changing your eating and cooking and changing for you AND your family takes more emotional energy. It is like learning a new job... it is stressful and tiring. The same with new shopping and cooking habits. Shoot, just going in the grocery store thru a different door and taking a different route thru the store is a little bit stressful. ANY change is "stressful", even one as simple and easy as a new grocery store. It is tiring and takes thought and emotional energy. And you also have the added anxiety of facing possible rejection from your family.

But after a while, it will just be "normal". Like after you know a new job... it isn't stressful and tiring anymore.