Looking for Easy Vegetarian Cookbook

I am not vegetarian but love this book!

http://www.amazon.com/001-Low-Fat-Vegetarian-Recipes-Grea...

One of our favorites (both the family's favorite to eat and mine to prepare) is this rice dish that I got from my aunt. It is titled Mexican Stuffed Peppers because that's how she prepares it. Since my kids don't like the peppers that way, we just eat this "filling" with tortillas, chips, cornbread, or whatever.

1t. olive oil
1c. brown rice
1t. salt
1carrot, shredded (optional)
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic
1/2 t. chili powder
1/2 t. cumin
1 c. salsa
1 c. chicken broth

I just mix these all together and bake covered at 325 for 2 hours. My aunt prepares it in the peppers in her rice steamer. I would think that it could be cooked on the stove-top like a rice dish.

Then we stir in 1c. frozen corn, 1 can black beans (we've tried drained and undrained and don't really care) and 1/2 cup shredded cheese.

Then we eat it all up!
I don't know if you do cheese, but when we were doing a Daniel fast we made this without the cheese and liked it that way, too.

Some other suggestions might be to try a good chili recipe and leave out the meat. We've found that it isn't really necessary. I've done the same lately with my spaghetti sauce recipe. We love this recipe, and it's so loaded with veggies and flavor that we don't miss the meat. But it isn't exactly quick and easy. It does make a ton, so the effort lasts through a few meals. And we also like our chili mac. I'll put our recipe here, but the basic idea is that you cook the macaroni in a soupy chili on the stove-top for about 20 min. until the mac is done. Like the other, it could go with or without cheese.

1 onion, chopped
1c. dry macaroni
2 1/2 cups tomato juice
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1/2 t. chili powder
1t oregano, crushed
1 can beans with Mexican or "chili" seasoning
(note: I just use plain pinto beans)

Cook the onion in a little oil. Turn down heat to simmer; add other ingredients and stir; simmer, covered, for 20 min.; Remove from heat; stir; sprinkle cheese on top, if desired, and cover to let cheese melt.

You might try the Moosewood cookbooks (from the vegetarian Moosewood Restaurant in Ithaca, NY). The low fat one is really good, but the others are good too.

I'm not a cook either, but we manage. At regular grocery stores, I simply buy food and prepare it. When I say we buy food, that means I stick to the perimeter of the store where the real food is (veggies, fruits, meats, dairy), and stay away from the middle part of the store where all the prepackaged stuff is (when I read the ingredient lists, I saw that lots of it is not actually food!) Again, I'm not a master cook by any stretch, but I've found that when I invest in the high-quality ingredients, I'll get a high quality product. That means buying organic in lot of cases.

(I'm not a purist, though. One must go into the middle of the store for chocolate!)

However, like another poster suggested, are you are imposing your diet on your kids? They are not fully-formed adults , they are still growing and developing. Growing brains need the "good fats" and nutrients that come from real food.

Everyone has different reasons for being vegetarian. (I was once.) Today, I'm back to eating some meat. However, I can't support feedlots and animals raised in inhumane conditions. This philosphy excludes brands like Golden Plump, Hormel, and all fast-food, etc., but frees me up to invest in buying high-quality meat from friends of mine who hunt, or from the Farmer's Market. Grass-fed, free-range anything is going to have more good fats, good protein, less chemicals, and taste A LOT better. Same thing with dairy and eggs. Yes, it's more expensive, but also more satisfying--we don't need to eat so much meat.

I do think God made animals for us to eat, but we are also responsible for respecting what He made and how animals and people can live together sustainably. Humans have evolved to need high-quality meat, eggs, and dairy in our diet.

P.S. thanks for the tip on the "Disease-Proof Your Child" books!

Moosewood Cookbooks are great!

A.,

I would highly recommend that you read Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon.

As a nurse and a mother I have great concern that your children are malnourished on what you are feeding them. Not because you are vegitarian, but because I'm not seeing any protein, essential fats, nutrient dense foods or vitamins and minerals in what you have described. Where is the substance?

It is your obligation to get these girls fed in a manner in which they can flourish and succeed in life. The diet you are describing is what I see in children with ADD/ADHD and other spectrum disorders. I'm not saying that your children have this, I'm just saying that if you continue to feed them this way, you WILL be dealing with a very early onset of a chronic illness.

Nourishing Treaditions is a great place to start. If you're going to raise children in a vegitarian environment than you are morally obligated to educate yourself even more about how to meet their body's nutritional needs.

One of my favorite vegetarian cookbooks is Paulette Mitchell's 15-Minute Vegetarian Gourmet. I have the 1992 version, but she also has a 2000 version: http://www.annies.com/uploads/479fa568616be.jpg .

The recipes are quick and easy and very yummy.

I'm vegetarian too. My kids and husband eat meat a couple of times a week (maybe). I like the Moosewood cookbooks, but I find a lot of stuff online, by just searching a couple ingredients that we have or that I know they like. This time of year is bringing out a couple of standard favorites:
Chili (with black beans, sweet potato, zuchinni, and peppers: cumin and chili powder and garlic are the main seasonings.)
I kind of feel like if I start out sauteeing onions and garlic, by the time those are ready, I usually have some sort of plan - either a simple veggies and rice dish or a curry (coconut milk is often a hit), or a chili. I also like the crockpot for making a barley stew with whatever (diced) veggies I have on hand (I like to throw lentils or pinto beans in there too), usually potatoes, green beans, tomatoes... whatever. We add Liquid Aminos (or soy sauce) at the table.

Another favorite is a bunch or two of kale (washed and chopped) with a can of crushed pineapple and a cup of peanut butter (added to sauteed onions and garlic of course), and a little hot sauce (a very little in our case - couple of shakes). Serve it over brown rice.

Another fun thing for the kids is a taco salad with a beans and rice or tomato rice mixture and lots of fresh veggies & cheese on top & they can eat it all with chips. Salsa & sour cream or french dressing are good toppings!

I'd love some more ideas myself if you want to pass any on!

Hello - it sounds like we have very similar dietary restrictions as my son (3.5) and I do not eat meat and primarily use eggs and dairy only in items but not by themselves. On a side note, I have found that Trader Joes has the best price on almond and rice milk and probably soy as well, but we usually do the almond/rice.

I have a couple of cookbooks that I love, the first is the Vegetarian Times cookbook, it is like my bible. It is a lot of recipes and no photos but pretty much everything I try from it is fantastic. Also for kids, there is a great one called Better Than Peanut Butter and Jelly, recipes for veg kids. The other thing I do is subscribe to Veg Times and they always have fun new things to try. Good luck!
T.

There's a cookbook free, on line, called Low Budget Vegetarian. Around here we call it "Eve's Dad's Cookbook" because the author's daughter was one of my daughter's friends in college. It's clear, thorough, and has yummy recipes. Enjoy! http://www.lbveg.com/

Hi A.,
I was a vegan for about 8 years until it no longer was the best choice for me. I still lean that way and am lactose intolerant, so I also do the soy. My favorite cookbook of all time it the New Farm cookbook. They show you how to make everything from scratch with easy ingredients. It is a vegan cookbook, but you could easily substitute or add cheese and dairy products to the recipes.

http://www.amazon.com/New-Farm-Vegetarian-Cookbook/dp/091...

Also, I really love using VegWeb. There are tons of great recipes and ratings too, so I can decide if one is worth trying or not.

http://vegweb.com/

Best of health to you and your family!