Sunday, April 5, 2009

What Do Vegetarian's Eat?

By Masil Nosacki

Cooking for a family of meat eaters and a vegetarian child was difficult in the beginning. I had to ask the pediatrician what to feed my son when he refused to eat meat, cheese and dairy products. As a mom of 4 it seemed like a silly question to ask but I was a meat eater and didn't know any different. But with time I have been able to cook 1 meal for both types of eaters.

Vegetarian cooking is actually simple. It only requires a few easy changes to the meal without giving up the familiar textures and tastes of meat.

* For Meat Texture - try the soybean based Temphe without any animal by product

* Taste - We use Tofu the most. Its easy to find and offers a great variety to your meal.

* Using Beans -healthy, cheap and full of variety

* Flavor and Snacks - Use Nuts, adds flavor to your meal or holds you over until dinner time

* Legumes - focus on what's in season to create the "cheap" vegetarian meals

A well stocked Vegetarian kitchen requires a few basics. I promise having these few ingredients will make the Vegetarian lifestyle easier:

* vegetables and fruits - purchase whats in season to save money

* spices - this is where you can get creative

* noodles or pasta

* brown rice and white rice

* variety of whole grain cereal

* lots of various nuts/seeds

* black beans, red beans or any variety but lots of beans

Get creative. These are just a few examples of what we use when creating easy vegetarian meals. Try different items and recipes to get a variety of new vegetarian meals. And if like my son dairy is also excluded from the diet, there are so many soy based substitutions available for that as well.

Add in a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables and you can create tasty vegetarian recipes with ease. Go on a shopping trip through your local health food store and you will see exactly what I mean, the aisles will create even more possibilities for your perfect easy vegetarian meals.

These are just a few of the things we have found with variation in our house. Answering the question: "What Do Vegetarians Eat?" should be simple now. They eat everything just with a bit of variation! Find great resources for cooking meals for both types of eaters, vegetarian cookbooks and much more at your local library or on the internet.

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