How to cook vegetarian?

Question

When a person is raised cooking one way (Mac and cheese, Eggs and hash browns, roast chicken) I’m sure you get the idea. How dose one start cooking vegetarian? All the recipes I find call for stuff I can only buy online or take Hours to make. If I can not cook and eat with in 20-30 min tops I won’t do it. Also I have about a $200.00 a month food budget so I can not sit here and buy a can of soy mayo at $6.00 plus s/h online.

Answer 1

All vegetables (whether frozen, fresh or canned) are fairly inexpensive.

What is more expensive is the soy substitute for meat, but meat is expensive to buy as well (from what I hear - I don't buy it).

With the soy substitutes for meat in meals you can do a lot, but you have to find the ones that have a taste you like. I like Morningstar Farms srambles (fake scrambled hamburger), Morningstar Farms fake bacon and fake sausage patties or links. What I really find excellent are the Boca fake Italian sausages. The Morning Star fake hot dogs are really good. Garden Burger has a variety of patties, but I think a really nice one is the one with rice and mushrooms (purple box I think). Also, there is fake cold cuts for sandwiches if you want something besides lettuce and tomato. I use the fake bacon bits for different recipes as well. They're a little salty and you can't eat too many, but they can flavor some things.

You can do stuff with the above beyond just putting a patty on a roll and having fake hamburgers and hot dogs all the time. You can cut them up and use them in pasta or with rice or noodles.

Just yesterday I made a very nice and hearty mashed potato dish with mashed potato topped with carrots, lima beans, tiny peas, soy scrambles, onions and mushroom gravy. You do the potatos and then just heat up the rest of it and dump it on top in a casserole dish.

I'm not a strict vegetarian. I have always used eggs and cheese and occasionally fish for protein, particularly when my kids were little. ( I know this doesn't help you, but my point is that if you want to be a strict vegetarian, even if not a vegan, you do need to study up on ways of making sure you get the right proteins even if you use the soy.) Other than the issue of protein (which is partially addressed by the soy, and if you make sure you add nuts there's a little more of another type of protein), the rest of the food you can buy at any grocery store. (A store with a larger selection is, of course, better than one with a limited selection.)

There are now frozen entrees that have no meat or dairy in them. I haven't seen it recently, but Birds Eye has little packages of pasta with different vegetables. Eggplant is another good vegetable. There are frozen eggplant parmisans (cheese in it, I know), or you could could cook the eggplant beforehand, and microwave it when the meal time comes.

There are all kinds of vegetables stews you could make with or without beans or pastas or rice or potatos. If you use a lot of carrots in a crock pot you can get that thick gravy for stew.

There are vegetable broths at any grocery store, vegetable seasonings, season packets, bouillion cubes and packets, salad dressings, and things like soy sauce and spices to make sauces or otherwise flavor your meals.

Fruits, grains, legumes - they're all vegetarian.

You can buy something like particularly nice breads (a Soloio loaf, a nice loaf of French bread) and make sandwiches with any combination of vegetables and/or soy products.

There's no law that says you have to make terriyaki a beef meal. You can make terriyaki sauce for vegetables and rice or vegetables and noodles of any type.

Just some ideas. I am not familiar enough with exactly how you should approach the protein issue if you don't want to eat cheese or eggs or maybe some occasional fish; but if you were willing to eat the cheese and eggs being a (what do they call it...) "ovo-lacto" (?) vegetarian doesn't cost much at all. If you have children to feed this may be the safer thing to do. Don't forget - everyone needs calcium, and it is generally believed that nutrients from foods are better than from supplements.

Answer 2

Are you trying to go vegetarian or vegan. If you're just cutting meat but not all meat by products then why use soy mayo? It sounds to me like you're trying to be vegan and that can be difficult to do with the stipulations you've put on it--time & money.

If you're just wanting to be vegetarian there are plenty of things you can do. When a recipe calls for meat,leave it out. Eat veggie sandwiches. Tofu isn't all that expensive and makes some great meals. Eat beans and rice. I have a very simply black beans and rice recipe. It is easy, quick and filling. Cook rice, cook beans. Serve beans over rice. Top with shredded cheddar and salsa and sour cream.

Try the site vegweb.com They have some terrific and easy recipes and they've been reviewed by other users.

Answer 3

Just try simple things like Boca burgers and organic maccaroni and cheese with soy milk rather than regular milk. There are also smart does (soy/wheat hotdogs), meatless chicken patties, Amy's soy cheez pizza (frozen takes about twenty minutes), Amy's garden vegetable lasagna, etc. Amy's usually has EXTREMELY good food for vegetarians and even nons. It's all organic and plain delicious. Not to mention quick to make.

Answer 4

i think you should make a slow transition.rather than being overwhelmed just take little steps. educate yourself by reading books and going on-line .everything looks hard to do from the outside so test the waters first.give up red meat then chicken and so on.....learn to use soy products such as tofu . As you start move along you will learn to make some of the things you buy at home.wish you luck.
http://fatfreevegan.com/

Answer 5

Hash brown with cheese sounds good, but a little greasy.

Tofu is great, just can't eat it day and night.

Use soy sauce and nutritional yeast.

Read the book!

Answer 6

Tofu. I say to you Tofu

Extra firm tofu marinated for about 10 min and fried in a lightly oiled skillet or grilled served with rice, whole grain, and a salad, look out. Peanut butter on celery is pretty good. peanut butter rolled in nuts, cream cheese done the same way. Eating enough protein is going to be your greatest challenge.

Answer 7

How about Pierogies, Manicotti, Morning Star Foods (its usually at the end of the isles) it has stuff like corn dogs chik n nuggets bacon all meat free stuff that taste like it., Rice with broc. and cheese with some bread crumbs, Um pretty much anything thats not meat you can make into a meal.

Answer 8

I guess to start, first decide how veg you want to go. Some folks cut all meat except for fish/seafood. Some keep eggs and dairy. And I guess from there start by substituting meat for veggie burgers, those nice big portobello mushrooms, and hearty filling veggies. Look into beans and legumes, because you'll need to get your protein from somewhere.

Answer 9

Annie's makes veg friendly Mac and cheese. Most supermarkets have it. Hashbrowns are vegetarian already..all veggies are obviously. Whole wheat pasta and most sauces are veg friendly too. There are endless possibilities.

Answer 10

A veg is a plant or part of a flower used as food