Vegetarian / Meat Free Meals...

[scrapperjade]

Does anyone have any suggestions for some GOOD meal ideas? I want to cut back our grocery bill, and not eat so much meat all the time.

The only thing I refuse to eat is "artificial meat", like tofu & veggie ground stuff. That is just as expensive (or more so) than actual meat, thereby defeating the purpose of cutting back my food bill, lol. Plus I think it's gross, haha!

But serisously! I would love some good meat-free recipes to add to my meal plan!

[mariewilcox]

I've been a vegetarian for many, many years and I have tons of recipes but I'm not sure what your family will eat in terms of grains, beans, lentils, mushrooms, etc.

Some easy ways to cut back are meatless pasta sauces, meatless chilis, hearty stews and soups made with lots of veggies, beans, and rice or lentils.

Some meals that we make when nonvegetarians are over are:
Veggie stir frys
Bean and cheese enchiladas or burritos or tacos
Chili
Black bean cakes with mango salsa
Minestrone
Pasta bakes
Chickpea curry
Peanut butter noodle bowl

If your family is adventurous there are tons of things you can make - www.vegetariantimes.com has tons of recipes. If you want any of the above recipes let me know or if you are looking for something specific let me know and I'll try to hook you up

[MissKim]

My son is a vegetarian and I sure don't think I'm saving any money on groceries. Then again, he's still a 17 year old male and eats a lot. I mostly make what I'm going to make for the family and then thing how I can adapt it for him. Lots of beans and eggs. We do buy the veggie burgers because he still needs to get protein and it's easiest to throw one of those on the grill when we're making our burgers and that way he's eating almost the same meal as us. There's also quite a few soups and frozen meals that are meatfree, but again, those things can get expensive.

[lovely1m]

Well, being a vegetarian and having a family that is not, I do know I save a ton of money on my food. I do the same as Marie though. I just take the meat out of most recipes. If I find a recipe that looks good, I just make it without the meat. I make lots of soups, chilis, stir fries, fajitas, burritos, pastas, etc. Lots of beans, lots of veggies. If you want some good soup or chili recipes, I have tons.

Marie, can you give me the peanut butter noodle bowl one?

[mariewilcox]

Here you go Mari - it's so easy and it's good cold or hot (Cheyanne will take it for lunch at school and eat it cold).

1/2 c. peanut butter
2 Tbs. soy sauce
Crushed red pepper (we use about 1/4 teaspoon to give it a bit of kick - use more or less depending on how spicy you like - just a pinch is all you need if you don't like spicy food).
1 Tbs. brown sugar
1/4 c. boiling water
2 Tbs. chopped peanuts
Juice of 1/2 lime

Cook pasta (spaghetti, vermicelli, or linguine work well). Melt peanut butter and mix in everything else with a whisk. Top pasta and eat!

[mummytothree]

We are totally not vegetarians but I make 2 meatless meals a week to help cut down the grocery bill and I do what some of the others do...just take the meat out. I look for meals that call for beans and then I just leave out the meat and up the beans. My kids have learned to love all kinds of beans and they are so CHEAP!!!

One of our favorite winter meals!!!

Lasagna Roll Ups
boil lasagna noodles
chop up a container of baby bella mushrooms (I chop mine up really fine in a food processor...almost to a paste but not quite).
Mix the mushrooms with a container of ricotta cheese
Use a spatual to spread it on the noodles
roll up the noodles and place seam down in a pan
pour [any kind of) sauce all over them
bake for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees!

Server with big green salad and garlic bread!

I can make this for my family of 7 for about $5 bucks!!!

[mummytothree]

Here is another one...my kids can not get enough of this!!! You can skip the bacon but I usually just buy a bag of the "real bacon pieces"...my walmart carries a small bag (maybe 2.5 ozs) for like $1.50!!

Pasta Carbonara
* 4 Servings
* Prep/Total Time: 30 min.

Ingredients

* 2-1/2 cups uncooked mostaccioli
* 8 bacon strips, diced
* 1 jar (4-1/2 ounces) whole mushrooms, drained
* 3/4 cup half-and-half cream
* 1/3 cup butter, cubed
* 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
* 1 teaspoon minced garlic
* 6 to 8 drops hot pepper sauce
* 1/2 teaspoon salt, optional
* 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
* 1/4 cup sliced green onions

Directions

* Cook mostaccioli according to package directions.
* Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Using a slotted spoon, remove to paper towels to drain. Brown mushrooms in drippings; remove to paper towels. Drain drippings from pan.
* Add the cream, butter, parsley, garlic, pepper sauce and salt if desired to the skillet; cook and stir over medium heat until butter is melted. Drain mostaccioli; add to cream mixture. Stir in the bacon, mushrooms and cheese; heat through. Remove from the heat. Sprinkle with green onions. Yield: 4 servings.

[scrapperjade]

Thanks for the ideas ladies! I will look at that site, Mary! I'm sure I will find lots that appeal to us!

None of us are picky, and I am *learning* to like beans, lol. My mom didn't like beans, and never cooked with them, so those are something that as an adult, I am having to try. At first the texture killed me (SO GROSS), and then a friend told me to think of them like "a pop of mashed potatoes", lol. Now I like them just fine, haha!!

We love stir-frys! I don't know why I didn't think of that! And apparently, portabello mushrooms have a very meaty texture, so if chopped fine, could pass as "meat" in sauce. Has anyone tried that?

[mummytothree]

We have this 2 to 3 times a month!! Love it!! This feeds my 7 for a dinner and a lunch left over so you all with smaller families could definitely get away with halfing it!!!

Velveeta Macaroni and Cheese
16*ounces macaroni*(uncooked)
1/2*cup margarine*or butter
1/2*cup all-purpose flour
4*cups milk
14*ounces Velveeta cheese, cut into chunks
salt and pepper
8*slices Velveeta cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook macaroni according to directions and drain.
Melt margarine in a large saucepan.
Add flour and whisk together.
Whisk in milk and cook over medium heat until mixture starts to bubble and thickens.
Stir constantly.
Add chunks of Velveeta and allow to melt.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Pour macaroni into a 13x9 oblong baking dish.
Pour sauce over macaroni.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, then put extra slices of cheese on top.
Bake for another 5 minutes until cheese melts.
Allow to cool for a few minutes, then serve.

[mummytothree]

I;m looking for one more that we use with and without meat..can't find it!!!

[mariewilcox]

Jaedyn - yes, portabellos are very meat-like - we even eat them like a burger on buns

[mummytothree]

It's basically:

Kidney Beans
Black Bean
Pinto Beans
Can of tomato sauce
Italian spices
Kielbasa -if you are making it with meat

Cook in the crock pot on low for several hours and serve over rice!

[ripal]

Being vegetarian my whole life, I've never used anything to substitute meat(as in buying TVP to replace meat), but as I run into new recipes that do have meat, I either replace meat with refried beans(in mexican food) or just skip the meat and add more vege.

From what I've heard of other people's grocery budgets, I'm assuming that my grocery budget is VERY low because of being vegetarian. I've been tracking my grocery budget for last 3 months, and it's been average of $450 for family of 7. I do cook everything from scratch though. However, big chuck of it goes to my morning green smoothie. lol I make about 60 OZ of green smoothie every morning that includes sprouts, fruits and greens(spinach, celery, kale, romaine lettuce... ). You'd be surprised at how much protein greens have! Beans aren't the only thing to give you the protein.

Here are few ideas:
You can convert just about any dish by substituting with beans.

Quesadilla - with refried beans and vege
Lasagna - lots of vege
burritos
Tacos
Pasta
pizza
tortilla soup with black beans
enchiladas
black bean burgers ( I make huge batch of these and freeze them)
Lentil burger
Meatless muffalettas

Oh.. and you can check out my Pinterest for more ideas. As my SIL pointed out, most of my pins are about baking... lol but there are some meal ideas too.

[lovely1m]

Marie, that sounds excellent! So gonna make it this month.

[scrapperjade]

Originally Posted by ripal

I'm assuming that my grocery budget is VERY low because of being vegetarian. I've been tracking my grocery budget for last 3 months, and it's been average of $450 for family of 7.

That is low! We are a family of 4, and I'm sure I spend that in groceries a month. BUT I know we are very wasteful with our groceries, and we buy a lot of processed stuff that costs more than "real food". Which is ending ASAP. I am trying to cut out the bad stuff and eat clean (only eating unprocessed, whole foods, cooking from scratch). When I meal plan for my family, I can cut down my $200 shopping trip to $50! It's insane!!

[mariewilcox]

The processed stuff does add up and making your own is better anyway Cheyanne and I eat clean 95% of the time and are bodies and wallets are better for it I would suggest picking up a copy of Clean Eating magazine - lots of really good recipes - meat and non-meat - and some great ideas too.

[scrapperjade]

Originally Posted by mariewilcox

The processed stuff does add up and making your own is better anyway Cheyanne and I eat clean 95% of the time and are bodies and wallets are better for it I would suggest picking up a copy of Clean Eating magazine - lots of really good recipes - meat and non-meat - and some great ideas too.

I have a few of them now, I grab them whenever I find them (not very often). I've been meaning/wanting to get a subscription for it!

I also have 3 of Tosca Reno's Eat Clean books, and regularly make recipes from it. My favorite book is her Family & Friends one!

[mariewilcox]

Yay! I have all of Tosca's books and the Clean Eating cookbooks as well. I adapt a lot of the meat meals to be veg. The CE magazine recipes are amazing I'm so thankful that my daughter will eat just about everything, except olives