So in a month, I'm moving in with new flatmates. We've resolved to eat out of a flat food budget, and one is a vegetarian, so naturally wishing to respect his desire to take an economic vote against the way meat is produced, we'll be following suit. At dinner time, at least. I lived in the central city and mostly ate fast food last year, so eating more fresh veggies and less processed meats might make my stomach happier.

Even if it's just dinner, this is a huge diet change for me. Most meals I know how to cook revolve around a meat portion. I don't particularly want to eat fake meats because then it just feels like an inferior substitute for something I'd rather be eating. I want to find some staple meals I genuinely like that happen to not contain any tasty dead animals. I'm also concerned about what I need to change about what I eat to meet protein and iron requirements. This would probably involve finding out a bit more about what kinds of vitamins and minerals and other matter is supposed to go in my mouth and down my throat in general.

This boils down to two questions:

• What are some tasty vegan/vegetarian meals that you have cooked? Where did you learn them from?
• What is a reliable source of information about ingredients and their nutritional value? How do I avoid scurvy and/or going mad?

Also, which of you are vegetarians? Is it just dok? Do any non-vegetarians here regularly eat vegetarian food?

eat a vegetables

Textured vegetable protein is OK

well, you sort of need to decide if you're going FULL vegetarian (that is cutting out certain beers, anything with gelatin in, that sort of thing, as they're made from animal parts/filtered through animal parts, and aren't considered vegetarian). other then that, tofu, falafel, and quorn products are all delicious and great meat alternatives. pick up a vegetarian cook book, and just make a few simple things. it's not too difficult, really. unless you are massively carnivorous.


oh, and some delicious vegetarian foods:
- frittata (full of protein, packed with vegetables, and is delicious)
- three-bean chili
- veggie burgers (so good)
- falafel wraps
- there's a whole host of pasta dishes, all great
i'm sure some of the vegetarians on the board can provide you with better advice (i'm not a vegetarian, but my last three relationships were with vegetarians, so i learned quite a lot).

Becoming a vegetarian is easy. Just change your fav recipes to contain vegetables instead of meat, and/or buy meat substitute like veg burgers, meatballs, bacon, ham etc.

veg burgers suck but the ribs from morning star and there bad ass... If you don't mind the sodium also good on protein what vegetation seem to lack the most.   http://www.morningstarfarms.com/products_hickory-bbq-riblets.aspx

veg burgers suck but the ribs from morning star and there bad ass... If you don't mind the sodium.   http://www.morningstarfarms.com/products_hickory-bbq-riblets.aspx

no dude, veggie burgers are delicious. they don't have that horrible dry, chewy texture that a bad burger can have. 9 times out of 10 i prefer veggie burgers to regular burgers.

found this link about growing meat BTW http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110130/sc_nm/us_food_meat_laboratory_feature

I've been a vegetarian for five years now, and it's honestly not that hard.  The first thing I did was stop thinking of meat as an option whenever I went to eat, so I just bypassed the meat aisles and looked for food elsewhere. 

There are tons of vegetarian microwavable meals (I don't care where you live, they are there).  You just have to look for them.  Peanut butter and beans are great sources of protein, and it's not hard to find stuff made of soy to like as long as you are willing to try lots of different things. 

But really, pasta is my best friend.  It's easy to make a protein-rich meal with most pastas, and they are just as tasty as pasta without meat.  Try changing it up by throwing bits of morningstar sausages or burgers in if you're craving that meat texture.  That company makes awesome shit.

Oh, also eggs.  Eggs are loaded with protein.  You don't need to eat meat if you can eat eggs. 

But don't you need to eat like a dozen of eggs to meet your daily protein intake requirements? Also aren't they not vegetables? (I still consume them anyway)

Whey and soy are good ways to keep protein in your diet. Whey in particular is especially good because its got a lot of BCAAs and your body absorbs almost all of it. Put a scoop in your milk a couple times a day and you'll get all the protein you need.

eat lots of KAKAROT

but why have your friends desires become your desires? it seems you don't have any qualms (quorns) about eating meat

I thought from reading the original post that he was only going to be eating vegetarian for dinner, not doing it 24/7.

It usually makes you pay more attention to your diet which is probably what's going to help you lose weight more than the actual fact you cut out meat.

Does becoming a vegetarian help anyone to lose weight?

A lot of vegetarian seem to eat a lot of junk food.