If you are vegetarian...

[blackbirdmama*3]

What does a typical days meals look like? I am burnt out on trying to come up with ideas that keep us interested. We do eat eggs and dairy just not a whole lot of dairy.

[aflyingbuttress]

My DH and I try to be creative with our eating but sometimes its difficult. I've recently started cooking in larger quantities, from scratch, and freezing, which has helped a lot. By far, our most difficult meal is breakfast because I am not a fan of most breakfast foods and sweet breakfasts make me feel ill. Here are some of the things we do for each meal.


Breakfast

We made stuffed biscuits by using pre-made pillsbury biscuits in a can (next time we plan to make the biscuits from scratch) and cutting them in half, then stuffing them. We made 2 kinds, one with veggie sausage, onion, garlic, egg and cheddar, the other with goat cheese, pear, and grilled asparagus. I think you could literally stuff with anything you like.

We also sometimes make breakfast burritos with various ingredients, including egg, sweet potato, apple, sauerkraut, soyrizo, tofu, seitan, veggie sausage, rice, quinoa, eggplant, peppers, onion, cheese, cabbage, asparagus, mushrooms, and any other kind of veggie you could think of.

We also eat greek yogurt with frozen berries, granola, and honey sometimes.

Matzoh brei is a favorite here too.

Lunch

We do sandwiches a lot. Veggie meat with cheese, lettuce & tomato. Whole foods has a wonderful vegan chicken salad. Sometimes I make "chicken salad" with Quorn brand veggie chicken. Sometimes I prep sliced eggplant and portabello mushrooms so they are ready to go on a sandwich. I salt, pepper, and oil them and bake until tender. Some favorite condiments are horseradish mustard, veganaise, mashed avocado, pesto, hummus, babaganouj.

The rest of the time we have left over dinner or soup. I always have a soup going because it is my FAVORITE thing to make and they are so easy. I make a mean Matzoh ball soup if you want the recipe.

Dinner

There are 3 things we make fairly often. Stir fry, pasta, and tacos. They are always based around what's in the kitchen or leftover. Taco's are even easier now that I learned how to make my own tortillas.

For stir fries, I cook rice until al dente and put aside, sauté up whatever veggies I have on hand and herbs and spices depending on the veggies. For sauce I sometimes use a pre-made stir fry sauce, or soy sauce with sesame oil, or just add in fresh tomatoes and vegetable broth, I've even done tomato sauce or a wine sauce, depending on what kind of veggies I am using. Then I add rice at the end to mix in. Sometimes I use quinoa or orzo pasta. Not a traditional stir fry but they can be fun. When I do go more traditional I usually add a couple of eggs.

For pasta I cook the pasta to 1 minute less than the package says and add whatever veggies I want to the boiling water 1 minute before its done. While it's cooking I make or heat a sauce in a pan. Sometimes its garlic and oil, sometimes marinara, sometimes just fresh tomato with garlic and oil, alfredo is really easy to make, or a mushroom sauce. When the pasta is done, I strain and add it to the sauce in the pan and mix. The heat from the sauce finishes off the pasta.

Tacos we eat a lot because avocado, tomato, greek yogurt, and onion are popular ingredients for us, so we usually buy too many and then need to eat them up. Super easy to chop up and wrap in a tortilla with whatever else you want. We do rice, beans, greens, veggie meats, and we like to change them up so sometimes so they are less traditional and do cabbage with lime, cilantro, and squash or zucchini, with marinated red onion.

We also make veggie burgers a lot, usually store bought, but I just started making my own and they are really easy.

We have at least 2 salads a week, usually more often than that. For me, the perfect salad is made with 5 ingredients (not including your greens or dressing). I usually choose greens, 2 vegetables, 1 fresh fruit or dried fruit, 1 cheese, 1 nut or something to provide texture like croutons. But if I really want simple my favorite is warm mushrooms (sautéed in oil and garlic) put on top of a salad with lemon and shaved parmesan. Otherwise I use a whole slew of random dressings.

Snacks

Homemade popcorn, really easy to do in a big pot with coconut oil and I love to put brewers or nutritional yeast on top for flavor. Fruit and veggies. Tortilla chips and hummus or bean dip. We make a lot of whole fruit juices and smoothies. Crackers, granola bars, chips.

Ok, I'm sure that was way too much information, but I feel I often struggle with what to eat (I know it doesn't sound like it) so I figure hearing what other people do would help. I'd like to see what others are doing as well.

[aflyingbuttress]

Oh, also... this week I started cooking from scratch and made a bunch of different stuff jumping off from one ingredient. I cooked up some black beans and used the broth to make a soup (I just cooked it down and added a little veg bouillon, cellery, peppers, escarole, whole crushed garlic, escarole and some of the black beans) and black bean polenta (http://www.vegweb.com/recipes/bean-style-polenta), and black bean rice. I also made black bean burgers. So I now have extra portions of all of that in the freezer to go too.

[MissyMia]

Okay, so in light of some health issues I am working out with my dr, I have decided to go vegan, and my family is following since I buy all the food and make all the meals. Dh gave his okay and is being a good sport. There are enough family parties to get his meat from.

Anyways, breakfast is usually cereal with soymilk or homemade oatmeal with chopped nuts and a little maple syrup. Vegan pancakes are good on some days as well.

Lunch for the kids is usually pb&j and fruit. We are on WIC until dh graduates, so they do get milk and cheese. Dh and I usually eat leftovers for lunch. Sometimes dh will make eggs though because he still eats those if they are in the house, which they are since WIC provides them. Plus one of my girls really likes the way daddy makes her eggs, so I am not saying she can't have them. Sometimes I get a can of refried beans, or even black beans, make some rice, and have rice and bean burritos with salsa for lunch. Very filling and cheap.

As for dinner, I got 4 vegan cookbooks. For the past month, we pretty much have had a new recipe each night for dinner. Most have been really good as long as I really watch the seasoning. If you use all the chili powder most call for, it is inedible for me, let alone my kids. I found my almost 2 year old loves soups, stews, and chilis. My 4 year old doesn't really like anything, but that was true before as well. Honestly we have never eaten so good and had so much variety. The books I bought were Chloe's Kitchen, Vegan on the Cheap, Everyday Happy Herbivore, and The Vegan Table. They are a range of books and I think they give me a variety of meals.

Check some vegetarian or vegan cookbooks out from the library and see what you like. That is how I started. I only worry about dinner because breakfast and lunch can easily be vegan without many changes.

[verloren88]

I love to cook and experiment with food so I wouldn't say I ever have a "typical" day. For breakfast I normally have greek yogurt with fruit, or an egg and cheese bagel. Lunch is normally leftovers. For dinners, I do "theme" nights throughout the week. It makes choosing a menu a little simpler, plus I get to experiment with new foods. So for example, our current themes are Monday-Mexican Night, Tuesday- Italian Night, Wednesday- Indian Night, Thursday- Mediterranean Night, Friday- Grill Night. Then I will change it around every couple of months.

I will say my favorite cookbook is Color Me Vegan. Have not yet found a recipe I did not like out of that cookbook.

[blackbirdmama*3]

Thank you all! I am on my phone so very hard to quote I will be back later.

[kismetbaby]

We go pretty basic here since I have an almost-three-year-old and a six month old.

Breakfast is either oatmeal (I love crockpot oatmeal!) or eggs and toast.

Lunch is often hummus with crackers and cut-up veggies and fruit. Or pb&j for the kid and salad for me.

Dinner is often stir fry with tofu, brown rice and veg, or homemade pizza, or soup (winter), or salad (summer--big salads with beans or tofu or quinoa), or if I have a little extra time and patience: risotto, or quinoa burgers, meatless loaf.

Snacks: homemade granola, muffins, apple slices and almond butter, cashews and raisins, kale chips, fruit.

[Chickpea's Mama]

For breakfast, DH cooks oatmeal a lot (rolled or groats). We add fruit to sweeten it up (and sometimes I add a little raw or brown sugar). DH also cooks polenta with cheese (like grits) for breakfast. I do whole wheat pancakes and DH does rye waffles (no sugar in either). For our once-a-month cooking this month, I also made cinnamon rolls (I know you don't like sweet things for breakfast but these are SO good), yogurt lime muffins (no sugar, no fat), and cranberry quinoa scones. What about quiche?

Lunches and Dinners: Mexican lasagna (with black beans, no meat)--one of my favorites, quinoa sloppy joes, polenta stuffed peppers, quinoa chili, whole wheat pasta with roasted veggies, pasta and lentil bake, split pea veggie burgers, meat-less meatloaf with lentils, Stovetop Mac and cheese...hmm that's all I can remember right now.

[angelika13]

We do oatmeal, cereal bard and peanut butter toast for breakfast. (sometimes all three, my kids are starving in the morning)

Greek yogurt and nuts as a snack.

Lunch is beans and rice, sandwiches, burritos. My kids eat lunch at school so we only do this on the weekends.

Dinner- whatever I am cooking. I write a vegetarian food blog- so I usually come up with at least one or two new things to cook a week. In between we eat a lot of lentils and quinoa with some sort of veggie.

[blackbirdmama*3]

Originally Posted by aflyingbuttress My DH and I try to be creative with our eating but sometimes its difficult. I've recently started cooking in larger quantities, from scratch, and freezing, which has helped a lot. By far, our most difficult meal is breakfast because I am not a fan of most breakfast foods and sweet breakfasts make me feel ill. Here are some of the things we do for each meal. Breakfast We made stuffed biscuits by using pre-made pillsbury biscuits in a can (next time we plan to make the biscuits from scratch) and cutting them in half, then stuffing them. We made 2 kinds, one with veggie sausage, onion, garlic, egg and cheddar, the other with goat cheese, pear, and grilled asparagus. I think you could literally stuff with anything you like. We also sometimes make breakfast burritos with various ingredients, including egg, sweet potato, apple, sauerkraut, soyrizo, tofu, seitan, veggie sausage, rice, quinoa, eggplant, peppers, onion, cheese, cabbage, asparagus, mushrooms, and any other kind of veggie you could think of. We also eat greek yogurt with frozen berries, granola, and honey sometimes. Matzoh brei is a favorite here too. Lunch We do sandwiches a lot. Veggie meat with cheese, lettuce & tomato. Whole foods has a wonderful vegan chicken salad. Sometimes I make "chicken salad" with Quorn brand veggie chicken. Sometimes I prep sliced eggplant and portabello mushrooms so they are ready to go on a sandwich. I salt, pepper, and oil them and bake until tender. Some favorite condiments are horseradish mustard, veganaise, mashed avocado, pesto, hummus, babaganouj. The rest of the time we have left over dinner or soup. I always have a soup going because it is my FAVORITE thing to make and they are so easy. I make a mean Matzoh ball soup if you want the recipe. Dinner There are 3 things we make fairly often. Stir fry, pasta, and tacos. They are always based around what's in the kitchen or leftover. Taco's are even easier now that I learned how to make my own tortillas. For stir fries, I cook rice until al dente and put aside, sauté up whatever veggies I have on hand and herbs and spices depending on the veggies. For sauce I sometimes use a pre-made stir fry sauce, or soy sauce with sesame oil, or just add in fresh tomatoes and vegetable broth, I've even done tomato sauce or a wine sauce, depending on what kind of veggies I am using. Then I add rice at the end to mix in. Sometimes I use quinoa or orzo pasta. Not a traditional stir fry but they can be fun. When I do go more traditional I usually add a couple of eggs. For pasta I cook the pasta to 1 minute less than the package says and add whatever veggies I want to the boiling water 1 minute before its done. While it's cooking I make or heat a sauce in a pan. Sometimes its garlic and oil, sometimes marinara, sometimes just fresh tomato with garlic and oil, alfredo is really easy to make, or a mushroom sauce. When the pasta is done, I strain and add it to the sauce in the pan and mix. The heat from the sauce finishes off the pasta. Tacos we eat a lot because avocado, tomato, greek yogurt, and onion are popular ingredients for us, so we usually buy too many and then need to eat them up. Super easy to chop up and wrap in a tortilla with whatever else you want. We do rice, beans, greens, veggie meats, and we like to change them up so sometimes so they are less traditional and do cabbage with lime, cilantro, and squash or zucchini, with marinated red onion. We also make veggie burgers a lot, usually store bought, but I just started making my own and they are really easy. We have at least 2 salads a week, usually more often than that. For me, the perfect salad is made with 5 ingredients (not including your greens or dressing). I usually choose greens, 2 vegetables, 1 fresh fruit or dried fruit, 1 cheese, 1 nut or something to provide texture like croutons. But if I really want simple my favorite is warm mushrooms (sautéed in oil and garlic) put on top of a salad with lemon and shaved parmesan. Otherwise I use a whole slew of random dressings. Snacks Homemade popcorn, really easy to do in a big pot with coconut oil and I love to put brewers or nutritional yeast on top for flavor. Fruit and veggies. Tortilla chips and hummus or bean dip. We make a lot of whole fruit juices and smoothies. Crackers, granola bars, chips. Ok, I'm sure that was way too much information, but I feel I often struggle with what to eat (I know it doesn't sound like it) so I figure hearing what other people do would help. I'd like to see what others are doing as well.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by MissyMia Okay, so in light of some health issues I am working out with my dr, I have decided to go vegan, and my family is following since I buy all the food and make all the meals. Dh gave his okay and is being a good sport. There are enough family parties to get his meat from. Anyways, breakfast is usually cereal with soymilk or homemade oatmeal with chopped nuts and a little maple syrup. Vegan pancakes are good on some days as well. Lunch for the kids is usually pb&j and fruit. We are on WIC until dh graduates, so they do get milk and cheese. Dh and I usually eat leftovers for lunch. Sometimes dh will make eggs though because he still eats those if they are in the house, which they are since WIC provides them. Plus one of my girls really likes the way daddy makes her eggs, so I am not saying she can't have them. Sometimes I get a can of refried beans, or even black beans, make some rice, and have rice and bean burritos with salsa for lunch. Very filling and cheap. As for dinner, I got 4 vegan cookbooks. For the past month, we pretty much have had a new recipe each night for dinner. Most have been really good as long as I really watch the seasoning. If you use all the chili powder most call for, it is inedible for me, let alone my kids. I found my almost 2 year old loves soups, stews, and chilis. My 4 year old doesn't really like anything, but that was true before as well. Honestly we have never eaten so good and had so much variety. The books I bought were Chloe's Kitchen, Vegan on the Cheap, Everyday Happy Herbivore, and The Vegan Table. They are a range of books and I think they give me a variety of meals. Check some vegetarian or vegan cookbooks out from the library and see what you like. That is how I started. I only worry about dinner because breakfast and lunch can easily be vegan without many changes.

Thank you! I will check those books out.

Originally Posted by verloren88 I love to cook and experiment with food so I wouldn't say I ever have a "typical" day. For breakfast I normally have greek yogurt with fruit, or an egg and cheese bagel. Lunch is normally leftovers. For dinners, I do "theme" nights throughout the week. It makes choosing a menu a little simpler, plus I get to experiment with new foods. So for example, our current themes are Monday-Mexican Night, Tuesday- Italian Night, Wednesday- Indian Night, Thursday- Mediterranean Night, Friday- Grill Night. Then I will change it around every couple of months. I will say my favorite cookbook is Color Me Vegan. Have not yet found a recipe I did not like out of that cookbook.

Will check out that book and I like the idea of theme nights.

Originally Posted by kismetbaby We go pretty basic here since I have an almost-three-year-old and a six month old. Breakfast is either oatmeal (I love crockpot oatmeal!) or eggs and toast. Lunch is often hummus with crackers and cut-up veggies and fruit. Or pb&j for the kid and salad for me. Dinner is often stir fry with tofu, brown rice and veg, or homemade pizza, or soup (winter), or salad (summer--big salads with beans or tofu or quinoa), or if I have a little extra time and patience: risotto, or quinoa burgers, meatless loaf. Snacks: homemade granola, muffins, apple slices and almond butter, cashews and raisins, kale chips, fruit.

Thank you! Basic I like!

Originally Posted by Chickpea's Mama For breakfast, DH cooks oatmeal a lot (rolled or groats). We add fruit to sweeten it up (and sometimes I add a little raw or brown sugar). DH also cooks polenta with cheese (like grits) for breakfast. I do whole wheat pancakes and DH does rye waffles (no sugar in either). For our once-a-month cooking this month, I also made cinnamon rolls (I know you don't like sweet things for breakfast but these are SO good), yogurt lime muffins (no sugar, no fat), and cranberry quinoa scones. What about quiche? Lunches and Dinners: Mexican lasagna (with black beans, no meat)--one of my favorites, quinoa sloppy joes, polenta stuffed peppers, quinoa chili, whole wheat pasta with roasted veggies, pasta and lentil bake, split pea veggie burgers, meat-less meatloaf with lentils, Stovetop Mac and cheese...hmm that's all I can remember right now.

Thanks I will definitely be adding mexican lasagna to our menu!

Originally Posted by angelika13 We do oatmeal, cereal bard and peanut butter toast for breakfast. (sometimes all three, my kids are starving in the morning) Greek yogurt and nuts as a snack. Lunch is beans and rice, sandwiches, burritos. My kids eat lunch at school so we only do this on the weekends. Dinner- whatever I am cooking. I write a vegetarian food blog- so I usually come up with at least one or two new things to cook a week. In between we eat a lot of lentils and quinoa with some sort of veggie.

I love your blog! Thank you!!