GANEIDA'S KNOT.

Go mbeannai Dia duit.

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Quaker by conviction, mother by default, Celticst through love, Christ follower because I once was lost but now am found...

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

The menu merry~go~round

If vegetarians eat vegetables, what do humanitarians eat? ~Author Unknown

I do not like to cook & I do not enjoy having to think about food though I am not adverse to eating a good meal if I have had nothing to do with its actual preparation. That being the case it is taking Ditz & I some time to make a complete change from carnivorous habits to vegetarian ones.



Part of the problem is that Dearest is strictly a *meat & 3 veg* man. He is perfectly happy to get a good plain meal, minus all spices & condiments, on his plate 7 nights a week. Boring is the name of the game.



Liddy & Theo are actually quite adventurous but strictly carnivorous so whatever I cook has to be an acceptable side dish to the meat lovers so it has taken a while to get even 3 or 4 main dishes happening that everyone actually likes.

So far we have: quiche ~ though I often add shredded ham to this to appease the meat lovers. Theo doesn't think much of this. Shredded ham is not meat in his opinion; Ditz begs to differ but not enough to pull it all out & set it aside. Quiche however is something we actually all like. Fried Rice. I put so much veggie in ours as well as egg it makes a very hearty & substantial meal for Ditz & I & this is the one meal Dearest will eat without meat, especially if I sneak shredded ham in. [Like I said, going strictly vegetarian is proving a little difficult but we are persevering.] Nut Patties. This one I particularly love, being a huge nut lover! It has 5 varieties of nuts; I just use whatever is in the cupboard but it is time~consuming to prepare & I am reluctant to make it unless I know I have oodles of time. Dearest also loves these so I don't get leftovers! I have a mixed vegetable stir~fry swimming in ginger & coconut milk which is very yummy, very rich & nowhere near as healthy as it should be. No~one else is real keen on it. Spring rolls are a goer but again require more time than I often have. All us girls love a sweet omelet with fruit but again this requires lots & lots of time & time is a commodity often in short supply.



Then there are the not quite successes. Egg & potato dum was one of these. Everyone quite liked the potato & curry. No~one liked the fried eggs. I may try this again minus the eggs but without them it is nowhere near filling enough as a main meal & not really worth the preparation effort to make the curry. We have tried the nut meats & meat supplements on the market but they're pretty disgusting. Ditz quite likes the bacon alternatives & will fry them up with baked beans & toast. I don't really like beans so I opt for a poached egg on toast. Don't even mention tofu to Ditz!



I have been perusing cookery books ~ an unheard of pastime for me ~ but for every book I am lucky to get even one recipe we can use & that is plain disheartening. Food is difficult enough for me without it looking & tasting disgusting. No~one wants a plate of things that look like long brown worms, or baby spew or something the cat couldn't quite digest. I am going to experiment with vegetable crepes I think, especially coming into summer when we can do lots & lots of salads but with all the vegetarians around these days you'd think someone would have come up with plenty of healthy & edible alternatives! No, it's not going to be me. I have other fish to fry...no, not literally; I don't eat seafood, not ever. YUK! *sigh* Now who's idea was this again, Ditz?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Ganeida,
I could live on vegetarian stir-fry. ☺

I went vegetarian for a while, but I started to feel really tired, so went back to meat again.
Blessings,
Jillian
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seekingmyLord said...

When I am in the adventurous cooking mood--which is quite rare because I am not one to like cooking either--I love allrecipes.com! I like it because it has some excellent recipes and it is easy to search, but the thing I like the most is being able to read the reviews of others who add their improvements or tips on each recipe also. It doesn't cost anything, you can print off the ones you want, you can keep your favorites in your own recipe box online too.

Try this link:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Everyday-Cooking/Vegetarian/Main-Dish/Main.aspx

Sandra said...

I also have a meat-eater, but I have pulled him off from red meat. I too have wondered where the creative vegetarian recipes are.

Happy Elf Mom (Christine) said...

LOL Did you ever see the Twilight Zone episode titled, "To Serve Man?"

These aliens come down and feed the humans well, cure cancer blah blah blah. People go off in space ships to see the alien world.

Turns out, they're being eaten over there and earth is really just a people farm. YUM!

Ganeida said...

Jillian: protein & B12 are the 2 things I'm most concerned about Ditz getting enough of ~ especially as she doesn't like mushrooms [a *whole* food & high in all the Bs]or eggs.

Thanks for the tip, seeking.

Sandra: As a foodie yourself I'm sure you understand my frustration. I just want nutritious tasty food that is simple to prepare.


MrsC. lol Nor do I want to see it. That's gross. :P

Unknown said...

I personally would not mind eating meatless meals most every night, DH however would have a litter of kittens if I served meatless meals more than once a week.

Here on our local PBS station is a show called Christina Cooks, and she prepares fully vegan meals that look and taste delicious maybe you'll find some recipes there you like. She also keeps most things pretty simple so that's good too.
http://www.christinacooks.com/index.htm