Brand new to being Veg - Recs needed...
Posted by concretejungle on Jul 28, 2008 · Member since Jul 2008 · 49 posts
Hi
I have been a vegetarian for a whole 4 days - so this is very new for me. I'm also new to this site.
I've ordered two veg cook books - "Cook 1.0" & "How to Cook Everything Veg" - so i figured that will get me stared on more complete meals.
I was hoping i could get some rec's on Veggie Burgers, Chick'n nuggets and other quick & easy type foods. (snacks, frozen or pre-made meals, etc.)
Thanks!!
Hi
I have been a vegetarian for a whole 4 days - so this is very new for me. I'm also new to this site.
I've ordered two veg cook books - "Cook 1.0" & "How to Cook Everything Veg" - so i figured that will get me stared on more complete meals.
I was hoping i could get some rec's on Veggie Burgers, Chick'n nuggets and other quick & easy type foods. (snacks, frozen or pre-made meals, etc.)
Thanks!!
I have the 'How to cook everything veg' cookbook. It's pretty good! Lots of simple recipes. I've been eating vegan at home lately though so I substitute alot of the cheese recipes with vegan cheese or something. You should check out the recipes on this site, there are tons of good ideas.
Welcome CJ!! Congrats on becoming vegetarian - what an exciting journey you're beginning ;)b
A few things I'd recommend are the Boca and Morninstar frozen products - they are good meat substitutions and help make the transition from meat eating to vegetarian much easier. Keep in mind that it won't taste EXACTLY like meat, so go into it with an open mind :) Amy's also has frozen and canned foods that are very good.
If you enjoy cooking, check out the recipes on this site . . . I wasn't much of a cook when I went veg, so I depended upon the pre-made and easy to cook stuff. You may want to initially add a lot of condiments to your "fake" meat in order to make it taste better - I found that also helped me transition.
Good luck and let us know if you have other questions!
-Jewel
If you're looking for convenience type of veggie burgers, chik patties and nuggets there are plenty of options. Boca makes a vegan grilled burger, chik patty and nuggets. They also have vegetarian products as well. So does Morningstar Farms. Personally I prefer the Amy's Kitchen Texas burgers when it comes to convenience veggie burgers. Yes, they cost a lot more but the taste is also 100% better. You can find all sorts of quick and easy type foods...usually they're all bunched together in the freezer section. Amy's Kitchen has just about every ethnic food meal you can think of...mexican, indian, italian and chinese. When I was in college and feeling to tired to cook I'd go pick up an Amy's pizza. Good Luck!
Welcome CJ!! Congrats on becoming vegetarian - what an exciting journey you're beginning ;)b
A few things I'd recommend are the Boca and Morninstar frozen products - they are good meat substitutions and help make the transition from meat eating to vegetarian much easier. Keep in mind that it won't taste EXACTLY like meat, so go into it with an open mind :) Amy's also has frozen and canned foods that are very good.
If you enjoy cooking, check out the recipes on this site . . . I wasn't much of a cook when I went veg, so I depended upon the pre-made and easy to cook stuff. You may want to initially add a lot of condiments to your "fake" meat in order to make it taste better - I found that also helped me transition.
Good luck and let us know if you have other questions!
-Jewel
Thank you!! - I am very excited about becoming vegetarian. I feel so good about it.
I am also not much of a cook (yet) - so i will definitely check out the suggestions you made. I'm sure I will have plenty of more questions to come...
:)
If you're looking for convenience type of veggie burgers, chik patties and nuggets there are plenty of options. Boca makes a vegan grilled burger, chik patty and nuggets. They also have vegetarian products as well. So does Morningstar Farms. Personally I prefer the Amy's Kitchen Texas burgers when it comes to convenience veggie burgers. Yes, they cost a lot more but the taste is also 100% better. You can find all sorts of quick and easy type foods...usually they're all bunched together in the freezer section. Amy's Kitchen has just about every ethnic food meal you can think of...mexican, indian, italian and chinese. When I was in college and feeling to tired to cook I'd go pick up an Amy's pizza. Good Luck!
I will check out that Amy's Texas burger - i thought it looked good from the packaging but was hoping to find out if it was actually good - thanks very much !
I like quorn nuggets alot. I'm not crazy about their roast, but if you want an alternative to soy, it's pretty tasty. Welcome :)>>>
Hi - glad to hear the book is simple, and good - i need simple, i am not much of a cook at all. I know being vegetarian will mean i need to cook more at home - so i want to start off with the more basic stuff and work my way up. i will defintley check out the reciepes on the site - and hopfully find the "easy" ones :)
before I went vegan I ate the quorn brand "chicken" breast, they are great. But seriously, you don't even need a cook book when you can find any recipe on vegweb
Hey CJ and welcome!
There truly are a plethora of awesome recipes on this site, but for the quick and easy frozen stuff...
Amy's has some really tasty items. I've only tried the veggie burgers, but they are all really good.
Gardenburger has a lot of tasty items. I really like their original gardenburger and the bbq riblet. Also, their grilled chick'n patties are good as well.
Boca has been a hit or miss for me, but I like their "meat" crumbles. I like to put them in rice and make a quick casserole.
Mourningstar...well, let's just say that I'm not the biggest fan. I do like their corndogs, chick'n strips, and I tried some of their buffalo wings and chick'n tenders last night. They were pretty good.
I haven't tried Quorn or Veat, so I couldn't tell you about those.
If you are not vegan yet, these should be fine to start you off with. Of course, make sure you are checking the labels...sometimes grocery stores like to put the frozen organic meat next to the fake frozen meat, believe me, I know. >:(
One awesome, quick snack is roasted soybeans. Here's the vegweb link: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=22518.0
Waaay awesome 8)
I think sunshine veggie burgers are way awesome and they are vegan. They come in 4 diffrent flavors too :D BBQ, Garden Veg, Original and Tex-Mex or something like that!
welcome & good for you for going for it! amys california burger is delicious, as are gardenburgers riblets and smartlifes bbq shreds(those are usually located in the produce section and come in white baggie packages). i also love morningstars chikn and steak strips.. i saute them up without even any oil and throw whatever other veggies i have in too, then i put it all in a tortilla and wrap it up. also, even just microwaved canned black beans with some salsa in a tortilla is great and takes about 1 minute. the strips are also good if you pour some marinade (store bought is fine) over them and the veggies and serve it over (microwaved if you want) brown rice. the chickn ones are also yummy added to a spinach salad with strawberries and cashews. theres also tons of recipes and great reviews to learn from on this site that helped to make me a better and more confidant cook, and gave me the courage to go vegan - i realized everything i wanted to eat i could make vegan-style! you won't miss out on anything!
another easy option: the mock tuna/chickn chickpea salad on this site.. so delicious and all you need is a can opener. good luck!!
Welcome CJ! You came to the right place!!!
I totally reccomend Vegan with a Vengence! That is a sweet cook book and a ton of the recipes are simple--I mean if I can make them...if you have a local library check to see what they have for veg cookbooks--there are soooooo many out there and you should spend that hard earned cash on yummy ingredient to make the yummy food! I don't know about ya'll--but I only ever get a handfull of recipes out of cookbooks--so if you don't have to pay for them it helps! Plus--vegweb has about a billion super fantastic extra beyond yummy and FREE recipes!!! (of course it's always great to have a few really good cookbooks on hand--I'm just a big ole thrifty gal--I hate paying for stuff!)
I think everyone above me put in kuddos for some of the faux-meats, I'm not sure if I saw a plug for Eves though--they are pretty good, I like their pepperonni!
Welcome again!!!!! :)>>>
Congrats on going veg. It makes me so happy to know more people saving our animals and earth.
Try to find litelife chicken strips. They are really good in fajitas and stuff. When i first got them I had to double check that they were vege. I could not beleve the taste
before I went vegan I ate the quorn brand "chicken" breast, they are great. But seriously, you don't even need a cook book when you can find any recipe on vegweb
Point taken. I don't use the cookbooks I've bought. I find all of my recipes on VegWeb, or a link to another site posted here.
wow, thanks for all the great suggestions ! i can't waiting to go shopping and try everything.
and thank you all so much for all the warm welcomes !! :)>>>
before I went vegan I ate the quorn brand "chicken" breast, they are great. But seriously, you don't even need a cook book when you can find any recipe on vegweb
Point taken. I don't use the cookbooks I've bought. I find all of my recipes on VegWeb, or a link to another site posted here.
good to know! I won't waste any more money on cook books - i just bought 2 veg books and that should be plenty.