Need Some Meatless Meal ideas--HELP

Have you heard of The Six O'Clock Scramble? (I DO NOT work for them - just LOVE the service!)http://www.sixoclockscramble.com/

You can subscribe to this receipe service for a very economical rate. Every week you get a menu emailed to you complete with receipes, side dish suggestions and a grocery list all prepared. Most of the receipes are made in less than 30 minutes. Three of the receipes each week are meatless or can be made without meat, and one uses fish.

I signed up for on a suggestion from a friend and we LOVE it. My husband and I work full time and have 4 hungry kids at home every night and this has really helped us get organized.

Good Luck!

Funny, I had that same issue with my first pregnancy-I couldn't bear to look at meat counter at the grocery store-it would make me nauseous (sp?). It passed however, so maybe there's hope for you yet. Could you send your husband to the grocery store and have him cook the meat until this passes?? Perhaps buy precooked chickens is an option-you can do quite a bit with those. Hang in there!

If you go to the feezer section of the store, pick up some veggie crumbles and veggie burgers. They are really good and you can make all the same things you make with ground beef with the vggie crumbles. Veggie tacos with these are awesome!! They have different flavors.

My other suggestion is pull out the grill no matter what the temp is and have hubby grill all your meat for dinner. That's the least he can do for you for carrying his child ;). We crazy people in WI grill all year round.

Good luck!!

I'm a vegetarian but I cook meat for my family. Is it the touch, smell or look of it that turns you off right now? I can't stand any of the 3 so I don't touch raw meat but use lots of utensils. I try and hold my breath or burn candles that smell good so I don't have to smell it - and don't cook sea food or venecin because they're beyond nasty. I also try not to look at it much or cut it because it makes me sick to my stomach.
Here are some suggestions:
Have DH throw a roast in the crock pot after you put in mini carrots, chopped onions and some baby reds cut in half. Throw the lid on and let it cook on high for a while. You can also make Chicken Nuggets, corndogs, pizza with meat. Have DH cook up a bunch of hamburger one day and cool it and put it in zip lock baggies and freeze them. That way you can talk them out one at a time and add to spaghetti, chili, or whatever requires ground beef. We also have a really nice George Foreman that has the removable plates that go in the dishwasher. I love using that because you can slop it on the frozen, which isn't nearly as gross, and close the lid and cook away. It's easy enough for him to do also.
Other than that, if you want to do the vegetarian thing go with the Boca brand because it's the best. I love the chicken patties because they taste just like chicken and cook in the microwave in 1 minute. I also like the brats and italian sausages. Try taco's with refried beans instead of meat, be sure to add taco seasoning to them. You can make a lot of normal stuff and just leave the meat out.
Good luck and feel free to email me if you have any questions, I've been a veg since I was 13 and I'll be 32 next week :o)
Congrats on the new baby,
J.

My sister is a vegetarian, so I am pretty familiar with your struggles. A quick meal idea...and one that even my 7 year old enjoys...is quesadillas. I use a soft taco shell, spread it with refried beans, cover the beans with cheddar cheese, and cover with an additional taco shell. Then fry it up in a small amount of olive oil, flipping when cheese starts to melt and shell becomes slightly browned. Brown the other side. You can then top with lettuce, salsa. sour cream, or whatever you usually like on tacos.
---I hope this suggestion is helpful ;)

Here's a few hits in our family:
Penne Pasta tossed with Ricotta Cheese and topped with Tomato sauce (it's like what Cossettas in St. Paul serves.) I get a mild sauce and chop up the pasta a bit to give to my 15 month old.

Quesadilla made with whole wheat tortilla, cheese and veggies (cut up tomato, peppers...) - you can microwave them but they are best if you heat them in a frying pan or griddle sprayed with nonstick spray.

Spruce up your grilled cheese by adding tomatoes, roasted peppers or even grilled portabellos to them.

Cheese pizzas made with English muffins - I make one light on the sauce for the little guy and he loves it. If you use premade sauce in a squeeze bottle it's really convienant hot snack too. My 5 year old loves to help make these. If you don't like english muffins you can buy premade pizza crusts instead. Sometimes I add veggies like peppers or mushrooms on top too.

Hi I'm J.:). I was a strict vegetarian for many years and surprisingly enough Tofu can be really good if prepared right. You want to by it firm and you can create a great stir fry, add soy sauce and veggies or use it in a number of other things as a meat supplement. It pretty much takes on the flavor of what you're making and it tastes pretty good and you're still getting the protein you need.

I've been a vegetarian for 20 years and my favorite, most practical cookbook (easy recipes with common ingredients) is Laurel's Kitchen. which also has lots of nutrition information, including for pregnancy. I'm certain there are used copies available and probably a copy available through your local library or SELCO. There's also a version that has the recipes only, Laurel's Kitchen Recipes.

A website that is fantastic, lots of resources with recipes tailored for families:
http://vegkitchen.com/

Enjoy!

I had the same problem while pregnant, raw meat made me very ill to look at touch and forget about cooking it. I also have a teenage vegitarian at home so I'm quite used to cooking meatless or a meatless version of dinner. A big hit in my house is tuna casserole. 2 cans of tuna to a can of cream of mushroom soup and 3/4 cups of milk mix it together with a handfull of cheddar or colby and 2 cups not fully cooked egg noodles mix in a can of peas last so they don't get mushed and add a little more cheese over the top if you like cook it at 375 for 30 mins and your all set. Another really yummy one is spinach stuffed shells. All you need is big shell noodles cooked and then stuff them with a mix of ricotta cheese thawed frozen spinach and your favorite italian cheese blend throw a can of spagetti sauce over the top of them in a baking pan and cook for 30mins. If the meat thing becomes an issue long term you could start buying aready cooked meals like the bagged ones in the freezer section. Or a really good and inexspensive cook book is "Student's Vegitarian Cookbook" Barnes and noble cares it and most libraries do to. It has tons of quick easy and cheap meals and snacks that are meatless.

I have TONS of easy meatless meals. Some healthier than others. <G>
One of our favorites is Chili.
1 lb. of Morning Star Farms Ground Meatless (it's in the freezer section in a bag)
1 large chopped onion
2 cloves garlic (I actually use more because I love it)
1 16 oz can chopped tomatoes
2 15 oz cans tomato sauce
1-2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp red pepper
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. salt
1 15 oz can kidney beans in chili sauce, mild
Saute the onion and garlic for a few minutes, add ground meatless, toss everything else in and simmer an hour or so. We serve it over brown rice, so I start the rice in the steamer when I toss all the stuff in to simmer. It's very filling!

Another easy meatless fav is tacos.

A bag of groud meatless
1 onion
1/2 jar med. salsa
1 can Hormel vegitarian chili
1 package of taco seasoning (I actually make my own so I don't have msg and stuff in it, but it is easier to dump a package in)
whatever toppings you like on tacos
shells
again, dump it all in, heat through,serve it as you like it

If you don't want to do meat substitues (although if you give them a try I bet you'll find they sit better than meat right now) you could try quiche.

1 frozen pie crust
1 bag froz. brocolli
1 onion
1 lb. sliced mushrooms
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. basil
some garlic if you want
1 c. sour cream
3 eggs (or egg beaters or 5 egg whites)
2+ c. shredded chedder

Saute the onion and spices,add brocolli and heat through.
In another bowl, mix sour cream, eggs and cheese.
Fill a pie shell about 1/2 way with veggies (this makes two perfect).
Cover the veggies with the cheese/egg mixture.
Bake uncovered at 350 about an hour (check after about 45 min.) It's done when the center is set and it's bubbly and browned on top.
Let me know what you think and I'll happily send more!
K. Wildner
____@____.com

Since it is winter soup is always good. I make chicken and rice using canned chicken so I don't have to cook it. I just dump it in the pot. I sautee carrots, celery and onions in a little butter until they are soft, add chicken broth, chicken, water and a couple boullion cubes. Once that starts boiling I add a cup of rice and there is your soup. I make it about once a month in a huge pot so we can eat it all week. It ALWAYS hits the spot. You can make chili w/o the hamburger; lentil soup, vegetable stew, french onion....the list is endless. If you need more filling stuff I make a loaf of bread in the bread machine too.

Good luck and I hope this helps.

Here is something that might help :)

Cut up an eggplant into 1/2" thick pieces
whisk some eggs with salt and pepper
dip it in the mix
fry the eggplant with a little bit of oil
(cooking it for a few minutes on medium heat, until it's tender do the same to other side)
cut pita bread in half
put fried eggplant on top of bread
cut raw onions and tomatoes, cuccumber, lettuce
you might want to top it off with cheese.

you can also make a sandwich out of it to handle it better

A simple yet yummy idea.

Hope this helps.

One of mt favorite meat-less dishes is cheese ravioli with spaghetti sauce. I usually get the garlic sauce and add my own veggies to it. I know it's not much of a change from spaghetti....but at least it's something. Also my husband is a fan of Ramen noodles in the mac n cheese. He learned to mix them when he was in the Navy...it always seemed gross to me, but your crew might like it.

Try going to www.kraft.com they have a lot of free recipes their and all you have to do is type in the things that you have and it finds the recipies for you.

Hi T.,

The veggie lasagna idea sounds delicious.... don't forget to add spinach so you get your iron. ;) I have a couple veggie dishes that I like to make, but probably too much info to post here. They might be considered "ethnic" dishes, so definitely a change from the mac & cheese.

One is made with rice, split yellow lentils & onions. You can eat it with plain yogurt and/or cucumber & tomato salad (or both!), and once you're back to eating meat it tastes great with ground beef, too. Another recipe is made with eggplant, tomatoes, onions (you can also add zucchini if you want).

Let me know if you're interested and I can e-mail them to you. ____@____.com If you feel like "experimenting" you could also search the internet for mediterranean or indian recipes. I'm always amazed what kind of yummy foods you can make without meat!

Cheers,
E.

Hi T.~
Try making egg noodles with chicken broth then add cream cheese. Boil the noodles in water, then drain em, after add the chicken broth and boil that in the noodles for a short. Then add ur cream cheese. Its filling and good stuff.
It should be creamy like noodles when its done.
Let me know how it turns out for you.
The other idea is, elbow noodle with tomato sauce. It dont require any meat either.
Good Luck with it all! I make this all for my kids and they love em both.
C.

I made vegetable lasagna last night - super easy! I didn't even have to boil the noodles before I used them! I might try a mexican version of meatless lasagna next week and use black beans instead of carrots, broccoli, and zucchini.

I had the same issues when pregnant with my little girl. I highly recommend frittatas. It's very easy. All you need is some red potatoes, broccoli, (you could add turkey or chicken or even seasoned tofu!), cheese, 8 eggs, some cream, salt and pepper. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and cut up the potatoes in quarters. Roast potatoes for 20 minutes then add broccoli and roast until potatoes are fork-tender. You'll need a pan that is broiler safe, fyi. Whip eggs with 1/2 cup cream, a little salt, and a little pepper. Add 1/2 cup cheddar cheese to this. Lightly spray the pan with oil and put the pan on a burner on low heat. Once potatoes/veggies are done, put them in the pan and pour egg mix over them. Set broiler on low. Cook egg mix on low burner until it starts to set (isn't real runny and you can see it start to set). Put about a foot under broiler and cook until light brown and set. It sounds hard, but it's fairly easy. I used to add little pieces of seasoned turkey sausage or tofu to it and even my husband liked it. You can also pack it full of veggies and top it with salsa. It's also nice for the kids (once they're over a year old). Good luck!