30 days of vegetarian dinners!

Going great

Start simple! And, make sure you have all the ingredients you need at home already. I have just gotten in the habit of buying more fresh ingredients. Now that I bought and made fresh green beans, I don't ever want to buy canned or frozen ever again. But, if you have to buy canned or frozen for a while until you get the hang of it, then do it. But, ALWAYS rinse your canned veggies. Too much sodium and other gunk. And, yes, planning for it in advance is essential. Good for you!

I am not fully vegetarian/vegan. However, I would like to add a lot more vegetarian meals to my life. I had 3 free dinners already this week. I am really looking forward to learning more! Even my 14-yr-old son is okay with it. His favorite meatless meal I have made so far is black bean quesadillas.

Thank you for all of these links, recipes, and ideas!

I was so thinking of doing something like this. I really wanna get healthy and stuff. Cooking is a challenge for me so I have been doing some research on how I can make this happen. I am super busy so I was looking into some kind of app recipe that would be best for my lifestyle and skill level. I found this one http://www.sidechef.com/download
 

There are so many food options for veg, vegan, gluten free. And they got pictures. I really feel like doing this challenge wont be so hard if I can pick what i can do in advance. Ill let u know how it goes!

Sounds devine, just finish work and would love to eat.

This week I sautéed zucchini, onions then added green beans, spaghetti squash and white beans with black pepper it was really good, which was a nice surprise :)

Will have to try

This Was delicious! and hearty and filling.

1 Hour Vegan Shepherds Pie
http://minimalistbaker.com/1-hour-vegan-
shepherds-pie/

Any thing with spinach should be good I will try

I was not sure about these at first. Spinach and garlic with sweet potatoes... it wasn't a combination I had ever tried. But these came out delicious! And so easy!

Loaded Sweet Potatoes: http://www.budgetbytes.com/2013/03/loaded-
sweet-potatoes/

Thank you for sharing, these look great!

Sweet Potato Apple "Chili"

I found this recipe on Pinterest and it is AMAZING. Recipe calls for turkey, but absolutely don't need it! It also calls for milk, but I used almond milk and it seemed to be just fine to me. The consistency is too thin to be considered a chili, in my opinion, but perhaps adding a meat substitute would thicken it up a bit.

http://www.ohsweetbasil.com/2014/10/easy
-sweet-potato-apple-turkey-chili-recip
e.html

I made it in the crock pot, which just made it that much easier. I also added fresh parsley, thyme, a dash of cumin and a dash of cayenne since upon first tasting I felt like it needed a little "something."

My family loved it! This will make a showing on my table many times this Fall and Winter!

In my CSA package...I got spaghetti squash...never had it before....so...after baking the squash, I scraped out the softened squash, added it to sauted onions, peppers and diced tomatoes....ohhhh yeaaaa!!! that was great!

thanks to all who shared

these are great ideas -- simple and delicious!

lentils and sweet potatoes. I love both and can't wait to try it.

Thank you for sharing. I'll check it out later, since I pinned it. I am SUCH a picky eater, so I'm hoping that there's something there that I'll like :)

Leslie

These are great I needed some new ideas

That's how I started and I never went back.30 days of vegan eating after being vegetarian for a few years.

Right now, I am not "cooking" meals. I have been
using W8W frozen foods for calorie accountability.
My favorite is the Southwest Style Vegetable Soup.
It is new (along with Potato Bacon Soup) and it is
delicious. Has a little "bite" and LOTS of veggies.

I love soups and stews in the winter, so I made some red lentil sweet potato stew this week, and it was delicious. The leftovers have made great lunches too!

http://www.wholeliving.com/216569/red-le
ntil-and-sweet-potato-stew

Thanks, where are the recipes?

KGWINDER post the recipe or the link for it. Sounds delish!

I was craving sloppy joe's the other day and came across a vegan Hawaiian sloppy joe recipe that had onions, red peppers, lentils, tomato paste, worcestershire sauce (Amy's is great), and diced fresh pineapple. AMAZING good. The pineapple added sweetness without adding sugar.

I saw a post earlier asking about a meat substitute for meat recipes, an option is to use firm tofu that has been frozen in your freezer then presses under a plate with a jar or can of something on it to get most off the water out of it, you then cut it up or shred it, the texture is totally different than ordinary tofu and it has loads of small holes in it where your marinade, sauce, gravy or stock or whatever you use goes in.

We use it for tacos after marinading it shredded up in some spicy seasoning (dunnes river from the caribbean is our favourite), and in stews and pie fillings (it doesn't go mushy at all.

We didn't invent it because the Japanese were making "snow tofu" in feudal times, where they would freeze tofu this way in winter and dry it for storage, though watch out if you are buying it there is another "snow tofu" which is konjak made into a curd/jelly - konjak is the thing they make shirasu noodles from and it has a different texture and virtually no taste at all it is a good fibre source if nothing else though.

I saw Gallo Pinto on your 30 Day recipe board. I think of it as "Latin Fried Rice and Beans." I've eaten it at restaurants and homes throughout Mexico and Central America. Everyone makes it their own way. In Costa Rica when you inquire what's for breakfast (lunch and dinner!) the answer is always "beans and rice and rice and beans."


I make Gallo Pinto all the time for breakfast. I use whatever grain I have left over, a few beans, some veggies (usually onions, peppers and cilantro and top), and a little sauce (e.g. salsa, sweet chili sauce, sriracha). For those who eat eggs still, it's good with a fried egg on top.

@COOPERD1 - The tempeh bulgogi is one of my favorites! I don't get to make it often because I like it spicy and my kids can't handle that. :)

Edited by: HLKLJGK at: 1/13/2014 (22:05)

BABBYB1- there are lots of choices in the grocery store or specialty market as well. You can use soy crumbles or break up a veggie patty if you like the texture of the meat. I just ordered on-line a product called soy curls which give the texture of meat strips for stir fries, fajitas, etc.- I'll let you know how it goes!

Regarding the citrus- what about flavored vinegars?

I'm going to try the tempeh bulgogi and the veggie Kung pao.


Edited by: COOPERD1- at: 1/12/2014 (10:51)

BABBYB1, you can substitute butternut squash for the meat or Portobello mushrooms - add mushrooms at the end so they are not mushy.

I make vegetarian meals out of meat recipes all the time, most time I just delete meat item without adding anything in its place. If I need to add something in its place my go to items are butternut squash, Portobello mushrooms, or chickpeas.

Edited by: TRAVELNISTA at: 1/12/2014 (09:12)

Made the veggie quinoa fried rice with with red quinoa and zucchini, carrots, and green tops of scallions. It was good.

Any suggestions as to how to change meat recipes to vegetarian? Saw an awesome recipe for Slow-Cooker White Bean Chicken Chili, but don't want to do the chicken and don't want something in its place that will be mushy.

Also, we have a tomato/citrus allergy here in the family, and just about every recipe shows up with one or the other added. Ideas for substitutions? I am working really hard to get my necessary fruits and veggies per day, but find that I am coming up short in the protein department.

I'm new to this. HELP!

I'm going to try and make some as well as long as I can convert them to vegan. I feel like I'm eating the same old thing over and over again. I could definitely use some fresh ideas. Thanks for posting!

Will have to try their Quinoa Veggie Fried Rice. I made their Quinoa Spinach Stir Fried Rice on Pinterest and that was fantastic!

I'm now one of your followers! Thanks for sharing.

Pinterest is so awesome, it's the best way to figure out how to switch things up with new ideas!
Thank you for sharing your board, lots of yummy stuff on there!

Looks Yummy! Thanks Heather!

Thank you for sharing!

Looks wonderful! Thanks for sharing!

So, my family was getting into a rut of not planning well for dinner and eating the same things over and over again. It was boring and inefficient and less healthy than I wanted.

But I followed through on one of my resolutions and put together a great variety of meals that are simple, healthy and delicious. Now, I haven't tried ALL of them yet (maybe about half), but they are all well received from their sources.

Here they are: www.pinterest.com/hlkljgk/30-day-veg
et
arian-dinner-menu/
Many are in SparkRecipes already, and I am working on getting the rest there.

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Heather

PS
We had the quinoa veggie fried rice tonight, and it was phenomenal!
recipes.sparkpeople.com/recip
e-detail.
asp?recipe=2395841
(the ingredients list is missing the 2 eggs, but their preparation is in the directions. I'll try to contact the recipe submitter to correct, but in the meantime, just add the egg separately on your tracker.)

Edited by: HLKLJGK at: 1/9/2014 (20:06)