New Vegetarian :)

Yay & welcome & thank-you for going veggie . A link here may be helpful http://www.unleashed.org.au/community/forum/topic.php?t=8945. It's about vegan changes, but some advice may still apply to going vegetarian.

This is a lolly link because a lot if lollies are made using gelatine (animal bones, hooves, skin) & therefore isn't vegan http://www.unleashed.org.au/community/forum/topic.php?t=7895

This is where someone asked for new vegetarian recipes, so may be helpful too http://www.unleashed.org.au/community/forum/topic.php?t=6480

http://www.unleashed.org.au/change_the_world/go_veg/what_to_eat.php
That's the unleashed recipes that may help you figure out some things to eat. Try googling vegetarian recipes too. The thing I loved about going vego, was I got to try so many different foods

http://www.unleashed.org.au/community/forum/topic.php?t=8906  A thread about fake meat. Usually eating fake meat is more expensive than chickpeas or lentils, but sometimes I like to treat myself to sanitarium bbq sausages or not burgers (two of my faves, that most people think taste like the real thing). Fake meat can be great for the transition period though.
Quorn is a great vegetarian fake meat. I'm vegan now so can't have it, but when I did eat it I fooled my whole family time and time again by feeding them this

Just do lots of online research on food and health on a vegetarian diet.
Prepare for a lot of stupid comments and maybe stupid fights. Lots of people won't understand and will want to put you down for your diet. Lots of people will try to argue. Its best not to get too involved

Woohoo! Good on you! Did you know that every year you are vegetarian 100 or so animals lives are spared..? People think their choices don't make an impact but they certainly do! Like said above, prepare yourself for everyone around you to suddenly become nutritionists. Do your own research and have respectful answers at the ready and eventually people will respect your choices. Unfortunatly as soon as anyone goes against the 'norm' people think they have a right to judge but it's your body and your life.

Hi Steffy!

Welcome to the other side!

I did not think I would succeed because I loved steak, BBQ chicken, Ribs etc.
It's been a year and my senses are still aroused by those smells unfortunatley.

But I went through maccas to get a hashbrown and egg wrap, the wallys put bacon in it. I tasted meat for the first time in ages and it tasted 'tinny' and yuk. I spat it out. So I think just because I like like the smell doesn't mean I would fall back into eating it.  

Start by going Veg, replacing your meat with 'mock' meat. There is a lot of stuff at Woolies in the cold section and frozen section. Quron, Macro, Toffuti. Vege Delights.

To make it easier I just google receipes that have say sausage in them, and use the vege sausages. It's a bit better than vege sausages with 3 serves of veg LOL

Try eating more veges! What I mean by that is not leaning too much on pasta based dishes. Or if you do, put lots of veges in them.

Changing milk out is pretty easy - There is almond, rice, or soy milk, available at woolies, IGA.

So Good Soy Ice Cream - Yummy. Just found Coconut Icecream and Chocolate Tofutti Icecream.

Vegan Chocolate - Loving Earth, so yummy!

Cheese, Cheezly, Notzorella! But don't just cut a block of it off and expect it to taste like cheese. It works best in cooking.

I put a lot of beans in things, so anything you used mince for such as spaghetti, tacos, nachos etc... Just use beans. Yum!

When eating out, Chinese and Indian will give you the most vegetarian options. Or look at a places menu before you go so yow know in advance what is on offer. Many times it will be one single thing and it could have diary in it. Some places will put something together for you.

Hope that helps, Good luck, stay strong!

Hope

Wow thank you everyone for the great advice.

I really appreciate it and I'm super excited to try those Lollys (yummy) and I never thought to use beans instead of meat

Also thanks for posting links I'm excited to try these new ideas out!

I'm not eating meat again .

Steffy  

Hi Steffy,
If you still have cravings for meat type products, try the Lamyong range. I am certain the products were made by the monks as they wanted to know what all the fuss was about with meat products. They home deliver, and the ones that we get now (this is really for my wife) my favourites are pork riblets, they have a great flavour with a sugarcane stick that is sweeeeet as the rib, plus a sweet and sour sauce. Try Salted crispy chicken, also known to some of us as vegan heroin. Taste better than KFC nuggets and if you get the KFC sweet and sour sauce, no one will know the difference. Just don't overcook them, leave everything floppy not crispy. The Roast duck fillets as well. Unfortunately all these products taste so much like the real thing, that I cannot eat more than a few mouthfuls as I start feeling nauseous from them. So the dogs get mine