I really would like to try becoming a vegetarian but so many of my "stand by" recipes include meat. I feel as if I don't know how to cook without meat. What are some good resources (websites or books) for vegetarian substitutes for meat and eggs and some good recipes / cook books? Thanks.
Tags: Human Interest, Cook, eggs, good resources, Vegetariangiant eagle vegan selection
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I know it sounds grose, but tofu is just like meat except it is made by soy beans so it has no animal products in it. depending on how soft it is, you can make burgers, sloppy joes, barbeque, and several other meals. It has no flavor at all but if you were for instance to make barbeque, you could mix a little barbeque sauce with the tofu and let it set for about 5 minutes and it would taste like barbeque!
http://www.suprememastertv.com/veg/
http://www.vrg.org/
First let me say that you should go vegetarian! It is such a great lifestyle for so many reasons, it helps the animals (obviously), it helps the environment greatly and it is also great for your health! You will feel healthier and “lighter” as a vegetarian. I even naturally started to crave fresher, healthier foods. If you need further persuasion, I recommend reading Skinny Bitch for more info on the disgusting environments at slaughterhouses and how to eat healthier! Also visit http://www.meat.org to be scared straight!
Everyone thinks all vegetarians eat is tofu, but there is much more than that to substitute meat in a meal! Check out vegetarian friendly grocery stores, they always have tons of meat substitutes. Giant Eagle has a good selection in their frozen dept. Quorn” is by far the best meat substitute I’ve found. It’s a brand of fake meat- mostly chicken. It is at Giant Eagle and The Mustard Seed. The texture and taste are great. They make breaded “chicken” and skinless cubed “chicken” that you can put into your meals. It cookes just like chicken and tastes 98% just like it! Also, it is not made from soy, which is good because too much soy is thought to be bad for health.
In my opinion, there aren’t that many GREAT beef substitutes but Boca makes a really good burger and also fake ground beef crumbles that are great for cooking. My friend made Boca Burger chili and no one knew it wasn’t real meat. I’ve been vegetarian for 3 years and I love to cook, I basically used my same recipes but just left the meat out and filled up the meal with veggies in it’s place. Use filling ones like broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes etc. Veggie pot pie, veggie lasagna, veggie pasta… and season the crap out of them!
A fantastic recipe website is vegetariantimes.com they have TONS of recipes, you just type in anything you’re looking for and tons of recipes pop up.
Here are a couple good cookbooks: (all available on Amazon.com)
How to Cook Everything Vegetarian
The Student’s Vegetarian Cookbook- Quick, Easy, Cheap meals
Italian Vegetarian
The Vegetarin Family Cookbook
Becoming Vegetarian
I also bought a great one titled “Vegetarian Cooking” on sale at Borders for just $5 and it’s great. Check out Borders or Barnes and Noble, they are sure to have a good selection of vegetarian cookbooks!
Hope this helps, and you can do it- it’s not that hard! When eating out, you can always order a regular dish and just say, “Please leave the chicken/beef/etc.out and add more vegetables.”
You might want to consider taking a B12 vitamin & calcium to supplement.
Try here: http://www.foodista.com/search?query=vegetarian&x=0&y=0
Foodista is a wide range food dictionary and recipes. So vegetarian stuff are present there.
A great site with some very tasty vegetarian chili is
http://www.chili-everyway.com/vegetarian-chili-recipe.html
I love the recipes because they are so good I do not need a meat substitute although they do have 1 or 2 with tofu
Go to this FREE website. They have lots of great info on it. http://savoirvegan.wordpress.com
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