what to eat if your a vegetarian
Hi. I am very new to this vegetarian thing. I, like many of you, decided to become a vegetarian after reading the book Skinny Bitch, which I absolutely loved as well. 
So I was wondering for those of you who have been a vegetarian or vegan for ahile So what exactly do you all eat? lol. I have been eating just fruit, veggies, granola bars and dried cereal, and although they are delicious and i am losing weight like craazy, i am getting a little bored with my current diet. So if anybody has any suggestions on things you can eat thats good for you and dont include meat
, poultry, eggs, fish, milk or white flour I would love to hear some. Thanks everybody!
Oh, and another thing I was wanted to know is if anybody has any suggestions on what to order when going to a restaurant and still be able to stick to the skinny bitch diet. Cuz my bf took me to outback sunday and like there was nothing on the menu that i could eat. i ended up getting a salad with honey mustard dressing but it still had some chicken in it and egg too. Thanks!
This is a good start: http://www.fatfreevegan.com/etl/index.shtml
Check out the book Eat to Live, it has some more recipes in it too. Look for other vegan cookbooks like Veganomicon, 150 Vegan Favorites, Everbody's Vegan Cookbook, etc.
About eating out. You'll have to become a bit more choosy about where you eat. I don't think Outback is really suitable for anyone let alone vegans. I've eaten at steak houses before, though. I ordered the house salad minus any meat, eggs, fish, etc and a baked sweet potato without anything on it (mmmm, I love them plain!). There are other places you can go and get lots of delicious veggies. Ruby Tuesdays has a great salad bar. But look out for other, locally owned places too. You may be surprised what you can find, many places have vegetarian menu items or will be more than happy to make substitutions. At a Thai place, try an all veggie curry instead of a chicken curry for example.
Hi! I put some good info here http://caloriecount.about.com/forums/post/807 73.html
You can learn loads about vegetarianism and recipes just from the internet alone. Loads of great food blogs to help you learn what to cook and how to cook it! Then you can move onto spending some money on cookbooks, this is what I did to start out and it worked for me.
Also, spend some time searching this vegetarian forum, loads of great threads in here!
I'm not vegan so I can't really help you with what to order in restaurants, I'm sure others will be along shortly with some great advice!
90% of the time I cook all my own foods, which is so wonderful! You just need to plan out some meals and set aside a day to cook and prepare foods for the week.
Beans, lentils, tofu, quinoa, nuts, seeds, dried fruits and of course loads of fruit & veggies will become your new best friends!!!
as for eating out... unfortunately you do have to be a little pickier. most places i can find something i can eat, but i'm sure as vegan this would be even harder. at steakhouse i usually end up with a salad and potato or some other combo of sides and a salad. but most other places should be more accomodating.
good luck!
For breakfast I love oatmeal w/ blueberries and soy milk.
I eat a lot of stuff w/ beans and rice: veggie chili, burritos, etc.
For eating out, I think Asian places are always good choices because tofu is almost always a "meat" option...I love tofu phad thai, tofu yakisoba, etc. I also love to get a taco salad at Mexican restaurants, but be sure to ask if the beans are vegetarian because they can be made w/ lard. I've pretty much gotten used to special ordering a lot of things....
my 'healthy' vegetarian way:
Breakfast: oatmeal with cinnamon and flax seed
Lunch: salad with canned beans (pinto, black beans, navy beans etc) as my dressing, an apple and a mini banana, steamed zucchini, raw almonds or walnut
Dinner: cooked vegetables (often Indian style w/ cumin, corriander, garlic, turmeric, tomatoes and onions); eggplant and/or potato dishes
Snacks: apples, orange
Original Post by csthomas:
A lot of Indian food is vegan, but beware the goat's cheese sometimes added. Whoever said Thai - good call. I really want to get the new Skinny Bitches cookbook - anyone read it yet?
Some Indian restaurants use a lot of ghee [clarified butter] in their recipes as well :/
I eat oatmeal cooked on the stove for breakfast almost every morning! I add a tablespoon of milled flax seed and thinly sliced banana as well, sometimes a bit of cinnamon. When I don't have oatmeal, I occasionally have cold breakfast cereal with high fiber and low sugar content with banana and bit of unsweetened soy or almond milk. Sometimes I'll have an orange or half a grapefruit as well.
On weekends, if I'm feeling fancy and a little gluttonous, sometimes a good tofu scramble with garlic, onions, green pepper, mushrooms, spinach, and various seasonings over toast with rosemary red potatoes and a side of fresh fruit will be in order, or vegan sausage and biscuits with white gravy if i'm feeling glutenous 
!
Lunch is typically an open faced sandwich on a slice of whole grain bread or whole grain pita pocket [I've been a huuuuge fan of "tuno" lately, made with mashed chickpeas, vegenaise, mustard, chopped celery, onion, pickle, and a bit of liquid aminos, nutritional yeast, and kelp powder] or a whole grain veggie wrap with avocado or hummus and as many veggies as I have on hand, or leftover beans and rice with a spinach salad and usually a steamed vegetable [zucchini, asparagus, Brussels sprouts are personal faves] or some raw veggies [carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, etc].
Snack is usually a piece of fruit [I sliced a pear and some strawberries today and tossed together, mmm] and some days a small palm full of raw or dry toasted unsalted almonds additionally. Unfortunately, it is not legal to sell truly raw almonds anymore; they have to be pasteurized chemically or by steam processing at a certain temperature, which essentially renders them unsuitable for the "raw" label. Sometimes I'll indulge in a Luna or Clif bar!
For dinner I like to be more creative and spend a bit more time preparing a good meal. mikelane gave excellent suggestions, I second his recommendations!
As far as eating out, I make a point to avoid chain restaurants in general and go for more independently owned nooks. Their wait staff is often times less rushed and more accommodating, as they are more likely to have fresh ingredients on hand rather than mass produced menu items made in a commissary kitchen that just require the restaurant to heat and serve. You can also do a bit of research to find what vegan friendly restaurants may be in or near your town! Check here and here.
Hope that helped! Just get creative and comfortable in the kitchen, educate yourself, be willing to try new things, and it will be a breeze!
There are some great examples of what we eat everyday...Since we all have a variety of tastes and varied diets, you should be able to find some things that work for you. 
Check out this post:
woah! I'm confused about what a vegitarian CAN and CANNOT eat. Some people I have talked to (not vegietarians by the way) say you can eat eggs and fish, but others say you can't. Can somebody set me on the right track please:)
Hi, funindasun :)
Basically there are a few different labels that can describe one's habitual dietary intake; here are the most common.
An omnivore will eat pretty much anything edible; all meats, eggs, dairy, fruit, vegetables, beans, nuts, etc are included under this label.
A pescetarian abstains from most meat but will eat fish from time to time, and may or may not partake in dairy and eggs, and eats fruit, vegetables, beans, nuts, grains.
A vegetarian, or ovo-lacto vegetarian, does not eat meat or flesh, not even fish. Many vegetarians still consume eggs and dairy in varied amounts. Sometimes daily, occasionally, or rarely. There are many mock meat products like burgers and sausages, etc, made of vital wheat gluten, texturized vegetable protein, soy, grains, seasoning, etc that make nice substitutes for meat, which many vegetarians opt for.
A vegan does not eat meat, dairy, fish, eggs, gelatin, or sometimes honey [depending on the individual]... basically vegans do not eat any meat or any product derived of animal origin. Many, but not nearly all, vegans are pretty health conscious and eat a mostly minimally processed, plant based, whole foods diet. But there are still many vegan "junk food" options available on the market, from mock meat to cookies to candy and beyond, and there are a multitude of fabulous cook books available and recipes accessible which are not only suitable for, but geared towards vegans.
I hope that answered your question!
I make a lot of spaghetti, baked sweet potatoes, bean and cheese enchiladas, stuffed peppers, boca sloppy joes, boca burgers, stuffed pitas, and taco salads for dinner at my house. Of course most of those contain trace amounts of milk/egg, so you have to be careful if you're watching that.
ok - someone here mentioned liquid aminos. I hear that in a lot of American recipes. Anyone from UK know where to buy this from?? I am in "meat and dairy loving Staffordshire" and I struggle to even buy nutritional yeast - the usual reply is "you don't get much call for that round here!!" 
Anyway - can I also recommend www.vegweb.com (while at the same time tagging this thread for the great suggestions - thanks!!)
Anyway, as for going out to eat, sometimes resturants serve a bunch of vegetarian options that aren't listed on the menu. My sister wanted to go to Chili's once and she's a vegetarian and I'm vegan and when we got there we were struggling to find something suitable. The waitress asked if we needed suggestions and when we told her we were looking for something vegetarian she listed off a bunch of options not on the menu! Still, they weren't my idea of good food(too greasy for me!) but it was better than nothing.
I tend to eat oatmeal almost everyday for breakfast. My lunch is usually a huge salad with fruits, vegetables, you know. Stir frys, lentil soup, hummus, sauteed brussel sprouts with garlic and slivered almonds, and rice and beans are what frequent my dinner table. Mmmmm. I constantly am snacking on grapes.
Original Post by csthomas:
A lot of Indian food is vegan, but beware the goat's cheese sometimes added. Whoever said Thai - good call. I really want to get the new Skinny Bitches cookbook - anyone read it yet?
With Indian food, you have to watch out. Just like any other country, it depends on what region its from. I was in India last winter and some of the ladies there were trying to show me how to cook Indian food. They used ridiculous amounts of butter and milk in many of their recipes. So much of it is vegetarian but not vegan.
Cheers!
Just checked out Fat Free Vegan Kitchen - can't wait to try the macaroni and cheeze!! Looks like a great site - thanks.
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