TTB

Hi Kris,
This forum sure does not see much business! My DH is veg. Years ago there were strict rules about what to eat with what to get complete amino acid profiles. People discovered over the years that this was not necessary, however. Current thought is that if you get your protein from a variety of veg sources and make sure you get your B12, it is hard to have trouble with protein unless you eat a limited diet or mostly junk food. If you eat a variety of whole foods, including legumes and whole grains, you should be fine. There is a train of thought that says that the American diet is too high in protein, that our excess meat consumption actually weakens bones as the protein leaches calcium or phosporus or something. All I know is that DH is healthy and enjoys lots of foods. These days, there are so many soy convenience foods that he actually watches to be sure he does not get too much protein or all of his protein from soy sources.

Try investigating the Vegetarian Resource Group for good info on how to eat veg. They have well-researched info and a professional approach.

Thanks Nancy!!!
Kris

Hey Chris, how is it going? Did you find the info? Have you tried going Veg? is the whole family interested, or just you? Or maybe one of the kids is doing it and you are simply trying to ensure s/he is not going to starve. This forum is so ignored, I just wanted to get an actual conversation going!

Hey Nancy. I was just curious. LOL And with the price of meat I thought maybe we could have some meatless meals.
Saw you over at the energy forum! Do you go to the KT..I think I recogized your name from there.
That forum moves fast!!

I have been to KT occasionally, but they have their own little world over there and it took too much time to read enough to figure it all out. It does move fast, which makes it especially hard for someone to occasionally jump in. I did stop by looking for something a few weeks ago.

I enjoy popping over to Cooking. They have an "official" page where you really do talk about cooking, and the discussions page where any old conversation can take place. It is a fun place to visit.

For some reason, I find the Building a Home and the Home Buying forums facinating. I think that is because we do both so rarely that we never get a chance to get good at it, and I am learning so much reading about others' experiences that I just might know what I am doing next time around. Plus the Building a House forum has the added advantage of keeping me from ever considering doing it!

I know what you mean about experimenting with meatless meals. I thought I ate a lot of them and that I would have no trouble adjusting to DH's routine when we married. But he is not only Vegitarian, but also Vegan - no dairy. So no eggs in my wholegrain muffins, no stuffed pasta shells, no cheese at all! He relented on the muffins because I just got tired of his powdered egg substitue and refused to use it. I told him he could take or leave the muffins. He took them. Usually I am careful to honor his choices, but that was just not easy - stopping evrything to deal with lumpy powder that won't mix. We don't use it often enough for it to stay fresh.

Have a ball trying out new recipes!

A great way to "stretch" is to add textured vegetable protein to your diet. It's really cheap, and you re-constitute it, so you can soak it in stocks. Add it to ground meat or use it instead of meat.
I'm vegetarian, and we re-constitute it in a mushroom broth with some Dr. Bronners thrown in. I mix it with spaghtetti sauce for pasta (gives nice texture), or macaroni and cheese...it pumps up the protien in these foods without adding too much of an odd texture like tofu is to some people or the beany taste from beans that some folks don't like.
Lentils are another huge staple of our diet. There are tons of different kinds, and they have a very pleasant taste. Of all dry beans they are fastest to cook. My mom makes a great lentil salad with cooked brown lentils, diced celery, tomatoes, black olives and a bit of feta with a clear Italian or vinagrette dressing. You can throw them into a simple broth, with carrots, potatoes and celery and have a great soup....
Nancy mentioned B12 and nutritional yeast is a great source of B vitamins.
If you like tofu, here's a cheesy tasting tofu recipe from The Grit, in Athens, GA.
Using super firm tofu, (or press it with a book to squeeze some water out), cube it small and fry it in a non-stick skillet (don't use oil, this browns it better). Then turn off your heat. Sprinkle it with some soy sauce (about a teaspoon for a whole box of tofu ) and then throw the nutritional yeast right in on top of it - it will stick. We put this on salad as our "croutons" and it is YUM!!!! Also excellent on stir fried veggies over brown rice (the Grit calls this their "Golden Bowl".

GGG

I am Indian and many hindus have been vegetarians for a long time. Protein is available in many foods and mainly in dairy. I heard in my chemistry class that we do not actually need meat. Basically protiens are chains of amino acids. There are something like ten(i forget exactly how many) necessary aminos. Corn and legumes contain all but one necessary amino which can be found in many other foods. Dairy, legumes, and several other sources will have all the protein required to be healthy. Check some search engines for protien content in nuts and veggies. Hope this helps you

"and we re-constitute it in a mushroom broth with some Dr. Bronners thrown in. "

Isn't "Dr. Bronner's" soap? I used to have Dr. Bronner's peppermint and chamomile soaps and there are several others I have seen at whole food market but none that I would want in my spaghetti sauce.

:)

Sunny