Vegetarian Starter Guide

[Ruth]

There is a free starter guide for vegetarians at Mercy for Animals.  This is a real good website:

http://www.mercyforanimals.org/

Scroll down to "Eat With Compassion" and click on it.

[Catherine]

So, I have been reading the info for the last half hour. I got some good cooking tips. I think I am on the right track.

I am familiar with Mercy For Animals, but I hadn't checked out their vegetarian starter guide yet. Thank-you for posting it.

I will need to look through the information more than once. I am working on cooking vegetarian/vegan.  I haven't even looked at some of the products they suggest.  The possibilities are endless. There are a great many foods that are plant based.

I am glad they talk about which restaurants have vegan options. I already know some of the pizza places have vegan choices.



I like the way they suggest that you start slow and do a meatless day and then expand it. It is hard to completely change eating habits over night. I am having to restock my cupboards with a different type of food and restock my freezer too. I still haven't figured out how I want to use quinoa yet. 

I am going to try the parmesan substitute made from walnuts and nutritional yeast flakes. Now I know what to do with the nutritional yeast flakes I bought. 

I may even try the egg substitutes in baking. Apple sauce should work in muffins.

[Tobi]

If you decide to try quinoa, Catherine, cook it with a tasty stock rather than just water. You can add some garlic too if you like. It will be nicer that way. It would be better to have a more tasty introduction to it.
Also, usually it recommends using 5 parts water to 1 part quinoa. But I find this makes it too mushy. I use 4 parts water instead, and for the last 5 minutes put the lid on so it steams rather than boils at the end. That way it has a little more texture but is fully cooked.
Half a cup of quinoa is usually enough for 1 portion. It doesn't look much in the cup but it expands.

[Catherine]

Good advice about the quinoa. I tried it plain just to see if I can eat it. It was fine, but tasteless. Flavouring the water is a good idea.  I bought the white, red and black. I must try them all soon. I am sure some day I will be making tasty dishes using all three colours at once with a cashew gravy and some chickpea balls or lentil mix as a side dish.

I bought the powdered veggie broth mix so I can add as much or as little as I need. The cubes are too big and it gets messy when you break them up. Someday I will be making my own broth mix and freezing it.  I seem to be adjusting to eating mostly vegetarian. I can't picture how I used to eat the way I did.

[Ruth]

I have to look for powdered veggie broth. I have been using tomatoes and tomato sauce for my flavoring and I like it a lot.

I can't picture the way I ate either anymore. It was mindless eating. I smelled someone cooking meat where I live and it was not pleasant, smelled bad, yuck!

[Catherine]

How much we have changed in so short a time!

I actually had quinoa in my meal tonight. The powdered veggie broth was just enough flavour

I think if I go through the guide again I will get more ideas. This is great. There are lots of things we can eat and we can still have the meals we like.  I use Portobello mushrooms as burgers when I want a "hamburger". They are healthier than regular burgers. I have not yet tried any of the veggie meat substitutes. I does help to read what experienced vegetarians are eating.