Food

Hi there,

I totally gave up meat about 10 months ago and have found it much easier than I thought. There are plenty of great substitutes around like Quorn or Linda McCartney’s range. A good source of information is available from the Vegetarian Society’s website, they’ve got some great & simple receipes too!

Hi
Thank you very much for your advice. Even though i don’t think i could give up meat entirely i will definatley try the substitutes you mentioned.
I think that not only will it be better for the environment but much better for my health to.
If anyone has any other thoughts on being a vegetarian or eating meat please let me know

Hi

I used to be a vegetarian for 5 years then moved to Spain where slowly slowly i started eating meat again (hard not to there as it’s a meat eaters country). Have been in London for about a year now and since my partner is vegetarian and loves to cook i’ve discovered so many other substitutes for meat. We do eat a lot of fish and cooked nicely you won’t even notice the lack of meat you eat. I’m not entirely a vegetarian but i only eat meat on a very rare occasion. I also feel so much healthier and can, once again, feel the difference from when i have a meaty dinner or one based on fish and veggies. I find UK a country where eating less meat is so easy as so many variety in meat-substitutes.

My advice would be take it slowly but do it constantly, this is the only way you will actually see the difference.

Good luck with it and keep us posted.

Thanks cfazacas

You do make a very interesting point that nto only is it our own personal preference which effects how much meat we eat its is also the influences of the areas that we live in. Depending on differnt types of culture and so on.

To be honest im really glad that ive found out that there ar many varieties of meat substitutes in the UK
Ive made it my next target to consume more meat free produce. But like you said its best to do things slowly and keep a balance with everything
I will be sure to inform you on how i get on.
Let me know if you or anyone else has any other thoughts about this topic.

I’ve started to pad out mince based meals with lentil (I use Organic Green Lentils, though my budget still won’t stretch to Organic meat!). It’s amazing how small a weight of lentil you need to remove a fair chunk of mince—and my sons (17 and 19) haven’t noticed the swap in 99% of the meals

I enjoy being vegan ^_

Having a well balance wholefood plant-based diet is good for you and for the planet… icing on the cake, it’s fun and easy:

http://picasaweb.google.com/tevege/Mindmaps#5276019270993583602

Hi this doesn’t surprise me at all. If only meat eaters knew the damage they are causing. I used to eat meat (sorry world) but I’ve been Vegetarian for a long time now. Meat substitutes are a good start but please investigate all the foods that you are missing out on as only then will you realise how wonderfully easy it is to be a Vegetarian.
Check out the Vegetarian Society website for more ideas and for even more reasons to turn Veggie … go on – we all need to accept the damage we are causing by our personal preference to eat meat!

Try making your meat last longer, perhaps by creating stock and using leftovers for homemade pies,soups or pasta based dishes. Thismakes it easier to afford organic meat. You can add pearl barley, lentils or beans when your leftovers are a bit sparse. I was brought up to eat meat every day as a child and although I have tried various vegetarian recipes, it always feels as if something is missing. I will persevere though.

We pad out meals like mince with more veg. My husband is also a dab hand at making veg curries which we all adore. We’ve even been known to have all the usual veg you’d have with a Sunday roast – without having the roast meat part at all!

One thing I would say about the veggie meat alternatives like Quorn is that some of them contain wheat, which means I can’t eat them as I’m allergic to wheat. But it also means that if you eat them alongwith pasta or bread then you could end up eating too much wheat. You may think you’re eating a balanced diet with plenty of whole grains, fruit and veg, but you could still be eating four or five portions of wheat a day too. It’s even in the gum on the back of stamps and envelopes! Look out for rusk, starch, modified starch and vegetable fat – these are all usually derived from wheat unless stated otherwise in the ingredients.

hi
we eat rabbit and fish that we have caught ourselves and if I need to use mince then I use the quorn mince which is very good.