I have been trying to eat healthier for a while now, and have been perusing lots of vegetarian recipe books looking for ideas. Recently I decided I would pledge to go meatless on Mondays. I've learned in previous conversations that there are some here on the forums who eat a vegetarian diet, and thought maybe it would be good support to post ideas for meatless meals...especially for those (like me) who are kind of new to the idea. I'm trying to supplement with a lot of beans and nuts. I think it's a good way for me to up my veggie intake and is therefore a good step towards improving my overall health. It's also a bit cheaper on the budget for me to use beans instead of meat one day a week. Anyone else do Meatless Monday?

For tomorrow, so far I'm planning oatmeal for breakfast, a bean and cheese quesadilla with avocado for lunch, and maybe some meatless pasta and marinara sauce for dinner....fruits and nuts for snacks in between. My only doubts here are the dinner....I'm concerned about getting enough protein.  

When we're having a meatless dinnertime meal, we often enjoy breakfast foods, so don't be shy to try that out! We've done pancakes and scrambled eggs, for instance, or French toast with berries, or omelets or quiches. It's always yummy, and we'd eat that even if we weren't specifically trying meatless. :) As a bonus, it's really easy for the cook to prepare (usually), compared to some more traditional dinner foods that have a lot of steps involved

When we go meatless for a meal, we like portabella mushroom burgers. We use the large portabella mushrooms as the patty so no meat is involved. You just take the stem out, scrape all of the gills out of the underside of the mushroom, rinse it off and place in a ziplock bag with some Italian salad dressing to marinate for a few hours in the fridge, then grill until tender. Place on a toasted bun with lettuce, tomatoes, onion and cheese. They are really good. I also like black bean burgers on meatless nights.

mechanika:

When we're having a meatless dinnertime meal, we often enjoy breakfast foods, so don't be shy to try that out! We've done pancakes and scrambled eggs, for instance, or French toast with berries, or omelets or quiches. It's always yummy, and we'd eat that even if we weren't specifically trying meatless. :) As a bonus, it's really easy for the cook to prepare (usually), compared to some more traditional dinner foods that have a lot of steps involved

I do like that idea....I have a hard time incorporating enough veggies when I do breakfast, but I can see having pancakes with a side of egg whites that have lots of veggies in them. I have been putting spinach in a lot of dishes lately, and eggs are a good place to put it.

LifeofRiley:

When we go meatless for a meal, we like portabella mushroom burgers. We use the large portabella mushrooms as the patty so no meat is involved. You just take the stem out, scrape all of the gills out of the underside of the mushroom, rinse it off and place in a ziplock bag with some Italian salad dressing to marinate for a few hours in the fridge, then grill until tender. Place on a toasted bun with lettuce, tomatoes, onion and cheese. They are really good. I also like black bean burgers on meatless nights.

I haven't tried the portabella's, and hadn't thought of marinating them first. That's a good idea. Last week I made my own black bean burgers, using some good spices and peppers to flavor it up. I may try to pick up portabellas at the grocery this week to use for next week's Meatless Monday.

[and maybe some meatless pasta and marinara sauce for dinner....fruits and nuts for snacks in between. My only doubts here are the dinner....I'm concerned about getting enough protein.]

We like cottage cheese with (or in) our pasta dishes and that would add some protein. If you don't like cottage cheese may a few pieces of mozarella or string cheese, or even cheddar on the side.  Or you could do apple slices dipped or spread with peanut butter for some extra protein.

Margo

ogram:

[and maybe some meatless pasta and marinara sauce for dinner....fruits and nuts for snacks in between. My only doubts here are the dinner....I'm concerned about getting enough protein.]

We like cottage cheese with (or in) our pasta dishes and that would add some protein. If you don't like cottage cheese may a few pieces of mozarella or string cheese, or even cheddar on the side.  Or you could do apple slices dipped or spread with peanut butter for some extra protein.

Margo

Oh, that's a good idea. I usually sprinkle some parmesan cheese on my pasta, but I have plenty of mozarella on hand that I can use. That should give my protein a decent boost.

Your first two meals along with your nuts as snacks will probably provide enough protein for the day. Even so, you might want to use whole grain pasta which, combined with the cheese, will round out yet another protein for you. Do you know that you do not have to have both beans or nuts and grains together; the body can "save" one for a while? AM

I'm not really vegetatarian, but I do make a lot of meatless meals, just because it's cheaper, easier, and I migrate more to grains. I'm wondering if BB can provide info on how  beans, grains, nuts, dairy products, tofu and veggies  can be used for a complete protein and how much is needed in a day.

 

Bernie, you make me laugh. I could be here all day on this topic and in the past pretty much have in past comments trying to help with these kinds of questions. I go from a simple sentence to a novel and an hour later I'm hitting "post" lol I will simplify this one. Go to google and keyword search for vegetarian protein sources and charts. They will teach you about how many grams of protein certain vegetarian foods have. Foods that are not complete proteins need to be combine with other proteins to make complete proteins. Keyword complimentary proteins for this topic. It will show you how and what to combine to make complete protein sources. If your meals are balanced and contain variety then I would not worry. People need a lot less protein than they thin. Many vegetarians and vegans meet their protein needs daily because they know how to do it. Education is everything here. If you are only doing 1 vegetarian day/night a week then I would not even be concerned with too little protein intake that way. Most people exceed their protein needs as is in a day... Still educate yourself on this though so you can apply it to your dietary lifestyle when need be. A good food to work with on vegetarian days (or any day) is quinoa. It is a complete protein and can be used in many ways. Fresh, frozen or dried beans, peas and legumes are also good to work with. Load up on fresh greens. Include avocado and proper portions of raw/unsalted nuts and seeds. If you like dairy, eggs and cheese in moderation. Green smoothies are something I encourage for everyone. If your other meals of the week are dense you may want to allow this day as more of a clean eating day with less complicated meals and the ability to really honor and taste the flavors of minimal foods added to create each meal. Sometimes simple is more enjoyable and tastier or setting out a variety of very simple dishes to choose from. Some of my favorite meals have been on Monk Mondays where I make a simple healing soup for the day/evening and set out a dinner table with simple communal table dishes in seperate dishes. Then plates can be created and individualized to one's liking. This is actually REALLY fun and great clean eating. Imagine a bowl of brown rice, a bowl of fresh steamed broccoli, a bowl of garlicky sauteed greens, a platter with some colorful raw munchin' veggies.... it's really quite gorgeous. Ps. Table top salad bars also rock.