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Originally Posted by Seltzer
So... my flatmate and I have made a pact to go vege for a month over the summer, but we're still going to eat dairy products and eggs. Does anyone have any good ideas for vege meals/snacks or advice in general?
Most likely we'll gravitate towards an Indian vegetarian diet, as we already eat curry 3-4 times a week, and we can simply replace the meat with lentils, soybeans and paneer... that, and the fact that Indian vege food is fantastic! But I'm open to any ideas and frankly, I'm happy to have the excuse to buy things like olives, okra and eggplant 
I'm not sure what to do for snacks. I'm thinking trail mix, falafel, oatmeal & yoghurt, celery/carrots & dip, mushroom pate and extra fruit with the money we'd otherwise be spending on meat. |
Mmmm...yummy, yummy Indian vegetarian food!!
You could also try making Mexican-style burritos with non-refried beans. And of course there is a lot of Italian cuisine that works well in a vegetarian diet, such as pasta e fa
gioli (pasta with beans).
Turkish food can be vegetarian, too. When I was in Turkey, I had no problem eating ovo-lacto vegetarian foods at restaurants, and some of the deserts even contain garbanzo beans, like my favorite, "asure." Yum!
Asure - a delicious and nutritious Turkish desert!
You mentioned trail mix as a snack, Seltzer. Any kind of nuts are good, especially if non-roasted and non-salted. My favorites (though expensive) are almonds and pecans. My main snack is whole grain cereal with nuts (and Rice Drink rather than milk since I'm vegan, of course).
I hope you both have fun exporing different foods and getting creative!
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Originally Posted by tore
As you know, I'm not a vegetarian, but I do have some consumer conscience to go along with my carnivorism. Something I'm quite displeased about here is that it's almost impossible to buy free range chickens in this country. We pride ourselves on the way our pigs and cattle are treated, but if I go to the store to buy a chicken, I can only get the industry 100-chickens-per-square-meter kind. Stupid!
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I didn't realize they don't have free range chickens in Norway, Tor. Mind you, "free range" doesn't necessarily mean chickens are outdoors here in the U.S., so you can't assume "free range" chickens in the U.S. have it much better than Norwegian chickens:
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Free Range Chicken and Farm Raised Fish
According to the US Department of Agriculture, free range chickens are simply those which have access to the outdoors. There is no clear definition of outdoors, however.
Free range chickens are still fenced in and typically have a roof over their head as well, but conditions are as varied as there are numbers of farms. The vast majority of chickens sold as free range are simply given some access to outdoor space in approximately the same proportion that their higher market price justifies any reduced farming efficiency. Often it means little more than a window, and that's perfectly legal.
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Originally Posted by MoonlitSunshine
If you can, eat a lot more iron/protein than you normally would; if you don't counter the amount that you're losing by not eating meat, you're gonna start feeling crappy as a result. Broccoli, Spinach, Eggs :P
if you're a curry type of person, Saags are awesome |
I've never had a saag! My favorite vegetarian Indian dishses are dal and channa masala.
I actually don't think you need to eat more protein on a vegetarian diet than you normally would. Most people who eat meat get way more protein than they need. A typical person only needs around 50 - 70 g per day (depending on the person's weight), which is very easy to get if you eat grains and beans and nuts.
Protein in the Vegan Diet -- The Vegetarian Resource Group
A way to maximize iron absorption from foods like legumes and broccoli that are rich in non-heme iron is to also eat citrus foods at the meal, such as oranges or lemon, since vitamin C helps increase iron absorption.