Easy Vegetarian Meal Suggestions

Hi C.,

I've been a vegetarian for over 30 years and my Twin Daughters have been all their 27 years of life now this July 20th! I used to cook very little being so busy with them and art shows and a very demanding husband. My girls loved salad greens like lettuce , the carrots, celery and tomatoes; fired tofu sliced thin and lightly fried in a Wok oil or my own mixture of garlic, ginger and vegie oil; Pasta and brocoli lightly cooked. They would eat this so many times weekly. We used to scramble up the tofu in those mixes from the health food store=scrambled tofu, and have it raw with a great salad dressing on it for taste. Also Loma Lima Linketts were a staple for us too. lightly fried or steamed-we liked it fried best.With all this fried foods, you would think we were all fat and unhealthy, but we are still today all slim and the healthiest people I know among my friends! I think the trick is moderate size portions and salads and lots of exercise as we were very active. Wheat Gluten comes in many amazing forms today and Trader Joes has the best prices on their MEATLESS "beef or chicken slices" for diner or their slices for lunch.
I shop there now more than the health food stores and I get all kinds of "Reasonably priced" vegetarian meals (Frozen and in refrig dept.) that are quick and easy to prepare, most are pre-cooked and you just heat up. I do not own a microwave and never did! I agree with you on that MMicrowave cooking is BAD FOR THE NUTRITION IN THE FOOD! My toaster oven works great for heating up the veggie patties quickly without the frying when in a hurry too. Hope this helps. Good Luck and enjoy! M. G

Budget conscious vegetarian meals that are quick and easy is always the goal with kids. I recommend The Starving Students' Vegetarian Cookbook as a starting point. It is under $15 new and much less used. I like the 5-Ingredient Vegetarian Cookbook as well since it is easy, healthy and cheap meals. Once you are familiar with some recipes you will find that you will develop your own versions with seasonal veggies or regionally available foods. Good luck! My daughter ate mostly vegetarian for the first few years of her life and now does not like any fast food or frozen foods (she orders salad when we eat out).

Hi C., You received some good advice. I concur with everyone who said you need to do some planning ahead. That was hard for me because I was used to having time to chop veggies, cook brown rice, make soups, and healthy veg. meals. I felt like after my son was born I ate terribly until I got my head screwed back on and realized I needed to change my approach.

To eat the way you would like to will involve a lifestyle change for you. Here are some things I do:

Chop up veggies ahead of time and save in baggies to use during week.

Don't underestimate the occasional bag of frozen veggies. They can be thrown in with pasta right in the cooking water, etc. You can microwave them. I use them now more than I did before my son.

I make a batch of brown rice and/or quinoa on a Sunday and use it for recipes during the week.

I go through my recipes/ideas and make a list of what I want to make and eat for the week so that I see it on the fridge and also buy groceries to match my plans. I try to include at least one meal that I make extra and/or can freeze for those times when I forgot to plan ahead.

Learn to make the crock pot your friend. Crock pots are not just for meat! I picked up this cookbook: Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker by Robin Robertson. There are some good ideas in there.

Make steel cut oats overnight in the crock pot with dried fruits or apples in it. I also make amaranth porridge one morning (not quick, but good) and then I have it to eat other mornings or whenever during the week.

If you can afford it, buy some pre-chopped convenience veggies. Buy beans canned, or make them in your crock pot.

***Find a local junior HS student to be a "mother's helper." I used a neighbor. She would do little chores for me like washing veggies, chopping them, assembling casseroles ahead of time, etc. It was a huge help!!!***

Finding some help would be good. I was strapped for cash but found the time I got from having a mother's helper for an hour or two here and there allowed me to either rest or to get some meal prep done. I don't have family right around the corner so this was something that helped me a lot.

Good luck,
K.

do you have a Trader Joes near you? they do great food and often stock up on the frozen stir fries etc they also do a good curry one. If I'm realy tired it's quick and easy.

I'm not a vegetarian, but here are a few things I do to make it easier.

Keep some hard boiled eggs on hand. You can make a quick egg salad or cut up and toss over a salad.

I make a quck italian pasta salad: carrots, broccoli zucchinni - steam for a minute or two, black olives, and tomatos - toss with your favorite pasta and italian or ceaser dressing. You can make in advance and store in the fridge a few days. It's better if you add the dressing just before eating.

Chop up veggies in advance, especially those that keep well, like carrots and celery. You may aslo want to cut up some cheese in small cubes or shread some to keep on hand.

Make a large pot of pasta sauce and freeze it in portion sizes.

Make a large veggie or eggplant lassagna and freeze it in portion sizes.

very easy lentils:

bottom of big pot, sautee onion, then garlic,in some olive oil. add a few cans/boxes of chicken broth, then a bag of soaked lentils. you can serve this as a soup, or over pasta is delicious with some parm cheese ontop. reheats wonderfully too!

You've got some great suggestions already! Keep some whole wheat tortillas around, as well as lowfat grated cheese or soy cheese (even veggie singles will work) and some cans of beans or vegetarian refried beans for burritos- add tomatoes, lettuce, salsa. So fast to assemble (minus the veggies) and heat in the microwave or on the stove in a skillet. Those same tortillas can become personal pizzas-- the small cans of tomato sauce are good for these. Top with leftover veggies or any of your favorite toppings. Bake at 400 degrees until cheese is bubbly. Serve with salad.
Prep salad stuff when baby is sleeping or husband is home- enough for several meals. Also cook up a batch of brown rice and some pasta so you can heat and eat them with all the suggestions you have. Do try to take advantage of all the summer produce coming up- but keep some frozen veggies on hand for when you run out or just don't have time/energy to chop.
You can also make fried rice with leftover rice, leftover or frozen veggies-- add a lightly beaten egg to heated rice for protein.
And I love soyrizo- a soy version of chorizo, spanish sausage. Have that in rice, tortillas, with pasta. . .
Bon Appetit!

i do a farm share, so i am always looking for veggie recipes. i found a great one for swiss chard. it is almost like a spanikopita and fairly easy. check out epicurious.com or allrecipes.com

These are easy, budget conscious, and can be put together in a flash when you come back from school or babysitting. If you can, spend some time chopping onions, garlic, carrots, celery, etc. and store them in your fridge for about a week. Make soups and pasta sauce when your husband is home on the weekends to reheat when you are short of time.

Sautee some veggies, add garlic, thyme, paprika, a can of beans and veggie stock. Cook for 5-10 mins. Eat eith rice, bread or pasta for a complete protein.

Easy summer marinara: Sautee 1/2 chopped onion, add 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes, 1/2 cup vegetable stock, 2 large tomatoes, coarsely chopped, 1 crushed clove of garlic, 1 Tbsp. red wine. Simmer for 3 mins. Serve with pasta and cheese.

Chopped greens with cut up veggies, nuts, and cheese.

If you are eating by yourself: 1 cup of yogurt with chopped fruit and a crunchy cereal on top makes for a quick, delicious and nutritious meal.

I have a cookbook published by Weight Watchers called Versitile Vegetarian. It has oodles of tasty, healthy and FAST recipes. I get almost all my books and videos from Half.com. Cheap prices on like-new used books and such.

Vegetable wraps have been my favorite lately. Buy your favorite prepared hummus (I like something spicy), spread it on your favorite wrap, top w/ cut up tomatoes, yellow pepper, avacado, sprouts... anything you like. Salt, pepper and roll it up. So easy.. cut up the vegetables and eat it throughout the week. Enjoy!

C.,

Always, always ALWAYS have hummus in your fridge. You can dip veggies in it or have it on whole wheat bread or a wrap topped with salad. Also keep all natural peanut butter or almond butter on hand. Avacadoes can also be used the same way. When they are ripe sccop out the flesh and use as a spread. I like to "grill" my veggies in my toaster over. Just quickly chop them up with a little olive oil, salt & pepper and set the toaster for about 20 minutes. If you are occupied when the veggies are ready the oven turns itself off so you don't have to run to it, you can finish what you're doing first. Have the veg as a side, on top of salad, in a wrap. You can do sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, beets (wrapped in aluminum foil) the same way.

Good luck!

here's a link to some of my great summer recipes that are veg.
http://www.bedfordmagazine.com/Media/PublicationsArticle/...

as a vegetarian, i would suggest that you do not over-rely on soy or dairy. get into the high protein grains such as quinoa and buckwheat (aka kasha).

quinoa is a great toddler food as well once your little one gets to that point. super high in protein, calcium and absorbable iron.

enjoy!
S. :)

Here's one- my lunch time fallback- quesadillas made with sprouted grain tortillas (spread organic butter on the insides, grate some organic cheese- pan toast on each side til melted). Of course you can add anything else you have handy like tomato slices, sprouts, salsa, or other veggies. I have carrot sticks on the side.

On the same token, you can do a grilled cheese with sprouted grain bread (ezekiel bread)- and a nice side for that is tomato soup, there are plenty of those in the natural section without nasty preservatives.

And a big batch of lentil soup made once a week, with seasonal veggies in it, rye crackers (ryvita are good) with a side salad (keep your greens washed soon as you get them home and grate some red cabbage, carrot, cheese, and toss with olive oil, then drizzle balsamic vinegar over top right before eating- mmmm! much healthier and cheaper than all those premade dressings with the questionable oils that are probably rancid anyways. Keep harboiled eggs in the fridge to add when desired and handfuls of nuts or seeds are nice additions too.

Frittatas are quick too.

Hey C.,

I have three kids and all of us, dad included are vegan. We both work full-time so I am with you on the time crunch. Here is the best way to save yourself some time. Prep before hand..chop a bunch of parsley, cliantro, and basil (seperately) and keep them frozen in containers. They are all really flavorful and added to anything make for a tasty meal. One of my favorite things to do is cook up a pot of rice at the beginning of the week and cook portions of if throughout the week. Day one, re-heat,let cool, toss with parsley, olive oil, kalamata olives and cherry tomoatoes for a great rice salad. Day two, stir fry with cilantro, chopped ginger, frozen peas, some peppers and tofu for stir-fry. I happen to love rice but if you aren't as bg a fan you can use the same concept with pasta, noodles, quinoa or barley. Most important thing is having things prepped before hand. A few hours prepping on a Sunday night saves you loads of time throughout the week! Bon appetit!

Hi C.,

we are not vegitarians, but I do have agreat spinach casserol recipe that my kids love and I love too. it is really easy to throw together, but it does cook for an hour. I often make it in advance and then just heat up the number of portions needed in the microwave at dinner time.

1 bar of munster cheese shredded
4 eggs
4 TBSP of cottage cheese
(this can be optional - I have made the recipe with out it when I did not have it on hand, but it is definitely better with.)
one package of frozen chopped spinach
one small onion chopped

thaw spinach, sautee spinach and onion in a pan for a few minutes, just enough to brown the onion. Squeeze excess water out of spinach.

in a casserol dish sprayed with cooking spray, add all ingredients. mix together with a fork until well mixed. add 3 to 4 pats of butter on top.

bake in oven 350 degrees for 1 hour.

It is good served with egg noodles or with fruit on the side.
It is very much like a crutsless quiche.

I hope this helps

W.