harrietxpotter replied to your post: drescrazylife replied to your post: I just...
How difficult was it for you to cut out meat? I grew up in a very Meat & Grains type family. Vegetables would typically give us a serving each, whereas we’d have lots of leftover meat/grains. I wanna move away from all that. Can you offer advice? :)
It all depends on your personal palate. I like a lot of spicy ethnic foods that really don't require meat. For instance, tonight I had refried black bean tacos. I'm also thinking of making some curry pumpkin and chickpeas. One of my favourite dishes is channa masala (an Indian chickpea dish). Sometimes I'll make a vegetarian chili and use lots of beans and textured vegetable protein (a soy product). Other times I'll make a meat chili, but I won't use much meat, I'll fill it up with beans and TVP (a lot of commercial chilis do this because it's cheap). TVP is also good in a bolognese sauce. I will use tofu in stir fries sometimes, but not a lot lately. I don't tend to use fake meat products, like fake chicken or beef strips. I do like this fake 'bacon' made from tempeh. Really it's just smoked tempeh (a nutty tasting soy product).
Now my dad on the other hand has been a vegetarian for about 10 years and he grew up in a real meat and potatoes kind of household. He doesn't like anything interesting. He tends to eat a lot of typical meat and potatoes meals but without the meat. He'll often have baked beans for a protein or a hearty bean-filled soup. Sometimes he'll go for a veggie burger. He also eats fish a lot of fish which helps.
Just be sure to get enough protein. I tend to get most of my protein from whey protein shakes. I also snack on things like almonds and soy nuts (unbelievably high in protein). And I'll often have Greek yogurt for breakfast. And be sure to get tons of veggies too. People have a tendency to fill up on meat and grains. You need to learn to fill up on veggies. Like if I make a burrito, it will be full of veggies and one protein serving. Green smoothies are a great way to easily get lots of veggie servings in.
I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.