https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 04 Jun 2026 05:15:10 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vegetarians-vegans-etc-your-input-and-experience-please#post-2907675 Mon, 06 Jan 2020 15:22:24 +0000 caitcat 2907675@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm excited to check out some of the recipes above! I was vegetarian for years, before I started eating chicken again while I was pregnant. Oddly, chicken sounded good...shocked me at the time. I still eat mainly vegetarian now, though I'll eat chicken from time to time (mainly if I'm out to eat though and I don't have to deal with preparing raw meat myself. I have no interest in that!) </p> <p>I don't really like the texture of tofu or tempeh, so we mainly rely on lentils, chickpeas, and beans for a protein when cooking. I make a lot of soup, and we do a lot of bowls with some sort of grain, beans or lentils, veggies and easy toppings - we had mexican burrito bowls last night, and we're doing a thai curry lentil bowl tonight. My youngest loves indian curries, so we make those sometimes too. </p> <p>I made this over the weekend, and it was good for some variety - <a href="https://www.nospoonnecessary.com/chickpea-piccata-parmesan-cauliflower-mash/" rel="nofollow">https://www.nospoonnecessary.com/chickpea-piccata-parmesan-cauliflower-mash/</a></p> <p>I didn't make the cauliflower mash though since I've had bad luck getting my two year old to eat anything too mushy, instead I just served some roasted cauliflower on the side and served it over rice. It was tasty! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vegetarians-vegans-etc-your-input-and-experience-please#post-2907658 Mon, 06 Jan 2020 13:15:25 +0000 cake2017 2907658@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@karenbme: @LCTBQE: @foodiebee: @MoonMoon: I don’t think I could do vegan but vegetarian with fish etc is something i’m leaning towards! </p> <p>We eat all of the mentioned customers so it’s definitely looking like a potential change! we shall see! thank you! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vegetarians-vegans-etc-your-input-and-experience-please#post-2907657 Mon, 06 Jan 2020 12:50:09 +0000 karenbme 2907657@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@LCTBQE: I did not know that! Very cool. 😃 </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vegetarians-vegans-etc-your-input-and-experience-please#post-2907646 Mon, 06 Jan 2020 11:03:52 +0000 LCTBQE 2907646@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@cake2017: I've toggled back and forth between not-much-meat and vegetarian all my life. If you look to other cultures and start off trying to make dishes that don't rely on meat in the first place, it's easier and tastier than using meat substitutes to fill in for "chicken" or whatever. My favorite cookbooks are Ottolenghi, Jerusalem, and Plenty (same authors) for middle eastern, and Madhur Jaffrey Indian Cooking and her vegetarian cookbook are probably the two I use most. For new American, the Alison Roman books are amazing and there are a lot of veggie dishes in there that are so delicious and accessible. ETA to take it further, if you were to go vegan you could do tons of Indian, Thai, or Chinese--I've never been vegan, seems like it's pretty easy to be a vegetarian but a lot tougher to omit something as ubiquitous as butter and still be eating American/western European food.<br /> @karenbme: I am obsessed with Madhur Jaffrey. Did you know she used to be a Bollywood star?! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vegetarians-vegans-etc-your-input-and-experience-please#post-2907641 Mon, 06 Jan 2020 09:46:35 +0000 foodiebee 2907641@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was vegan for the year before becoming pregnant and vegetarian before that. I was sick or nauseated almost every day of pregnancy and meat actually helped, so I ate it during pregnancy and now have continued to during breastfeeding, but I plan to return to vegetarianism after weaning. I wouldn't say it was easy to eat out in our city as a vegan, but it was truly the best I ever felt in my life, health wise. Sites I loved:</p> <p>Minimalist Baker<br /> Cupful of Kale<br /> The First Mess</p> <p>This is an easy vegetarian stuffed shells recipe that we love:<br /> <a href="https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/spinach-and-ricotta-stuffed-shells" rel="nofollow">https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/spinach-and-ricotta-stuffed-shells</a></p> <p>And this is a delicious butternut squash-kale pasta recipe:<br /> <a href="https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/bacon-butternut-pasta-0" rel="nofollow">https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/bacon-butternut-pasta-0</a></p> <p>We love this three sister chili! I use frozen squash and put it in at the very end to make it easier:<br /> <a href="https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/three-sisters-chili" rel="nofollow">https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/three-sisters-chili</a></p> <p>I recommend Kite Hill brand for almond milk-based dairy substitutes. Their "ricotta" is amazing!</p> <p>ETA @karenbme: Can't live without my smoked paprika!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vegetarians-vegans-etc-your-input-and-experience-please#post-2907593 Sun, 05 Jan 2020 18:08:29 +0000 MoonMoon 2907593@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@karenbme: I second the Ottolenghi recommendation! I've never tried a recipe of his that let me down.</p> <p>This lentil soup recipe seemed really counterintuitive in its technique but was amazing. My 6 year-old gobbled it up. </p> <p>(scroll down to 'sour lentil soup') </p> <p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/feb/23/soup-recipes-yotam-ottolenghi-chicken-parmesan-lemon-lentil-burnt-aubergine" rel="nofollow">https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/feb/23/soup-recipes-yotam-ottolenghi-chicken-parmesan-lemon-lentil-burnt-aubergine</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vegetarians-vegans-etc-your-input-and-experience-please#post-2907567 Sun, 05 Jan 2020 03:44:57 +0000 karenbme 2907567@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Funny, I was vegetarian for 18 years until I got pregnant and started CRAVING meat. Since DD, I’ve gone back to mostly vegetarian with some fish thrown in about once a week for the DHA, and will probably go back to full vegetarian once I’m not breastfeeding. We eat lots of beans, tofu, eggs and fresh veggies and grains. As a general rule, I find I dislike things that are trying to imitate meat and take a lot of inspiration from cuisines that naturally use less meat like Thai, Japanese, Indian, and Mexican. Tofu can be tough to get the hang of, but it tastes like whatever you cook it in and pre-marinated store bought tofu can be a really good solution. Best bet for cooking tofu is high heat, either in your most non-stick pan, roasted in the oven, or grilled, so that it gets crunchy on the outside and isn’t just mush. Some favorite meals are: </p> <p>—black bean tacos<br /> —homemade summer rolls with fresh veggies and either tofu or shrimp and peanut sauce to dip. (We made this for my 7yo niece recently and she LOVED it, used red and yellow peppers, carrots, basil and mint leaves, and red cabbage and called them “rainbow rolls.” She liked to help roll them and dipping was a hit.)<br /> —bbq tofu (press the tofu and cut into 1/2 inch slabs and marinate in bbq sauce for 30 min up to 24 hours, rub your grill grates with oil and throw on the grill at ~450, cook about 10 min per side, or until there are clear grill marks and the tofu releases easily, basting with sauce when you flip, we usually flip three times—cook each side twice—to get the tofu crunchy on the outside) serve with your normal bbq sides or in sandwiches<br /> —Crunchy roasted chick peas and broccoli with your fav starch, we usually do baked potatoes but works with quinoa and probably other starches too (so easy, toss the broccoli and chick peas the oil, salt, and pepper and put on a sheet pan in a 425 degree oven for 30-40 min until chick peas are crunchy stirring halfway through)<br /> —Chana masala or lentil dal (if your LOs will eat Indian food, the cookbook Vegetarian India by Madhur Jaffrey is amazing)<br /> —Veggie stir fries with egg<br /> —Three bean chili</p> <p>I also really like the blogs the Kitchn, love and lemons, and Cookie and Kate and cookbooks vegetarian India byMadhur Jaffrey, Afro Vegan by Bryant Terry, and Simple by Yotam Ottolenghi for recipes. One other tip, get some smoked paprika, it will add richness and umami to anything you’re cooking. Good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vegetarians-vegans-etc-your-input-and-experience-please#post-2907565 Sat, 04 Jan 2020 23:39:22 +0000 MoonMoon 2907565@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I've been a vegetarian for many years and LO has been vegetarian since birth. Recently he said he wanted to try some salmon and tuna sushi and liked it, but other than that he's mainly veg. We eat a lot of beans, veggies, tofu, tempeh, and dairy. Lately, LO has been loving things like veggie chicken patties or chicken nuggets, which he never cared for before. Gardein veggie crab cakes were a big hit too! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vegetarians-vegans-etc-your-input-and-experience-please#post-2907563 Sat, 04 Jan 2020 21:38:19 +0000 bhbee 2907563@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@cake2017: tofu is definitely my least favorite to cook with, hence using the TJs premade you just slice and throw in. I first tried seitan and tempeh at restaurants and was so surprised how satisfying they can be! Seitan you buy often comes flavored so it’s easy to add to something. Here’s a good simple tempeh recipe if you’re looking to try it:</p> <p><a href="https://www.budgetbytes.com/sesame-tempeh-bowls/" rel="nofollow">https://www.budgetbytes.com/sesame-tempeh-bowls/</a></p> <p>She has some other good recipes for it too. The focus of the site overall is budget (obviously :silly: ) which often means using a protein other than meat, so tons of good and flavorful non-meat recipes. I’m with you on never being the same about meat after kids!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vegetarians-vegans-etc-your-input-and-experience-please#post-2907560 Sat, 04 Jan 2020 20:32:36 +0000 cake2017 2907560@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@bhbee: I love TJ. Its not that close to me though. Another topic for another time hahaha. I need to try the things you listed. I have only tried Tofu </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vegetarians-vegans-etc-your-input-and-experience-please#post-2907558 Sat, 04 Jan 2020 19:59:32 +0000 bhbee 2907558@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>The site isn’t specifically vegetarian but budget bytes has a lot of tasty veg/vegan recipes - I think you can search for that category. I don’t eat vegetarian all the time but I also love beans and we eat tofu, seitan and tempeh also. I love the baked sriracha tofu from TJs! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vegetarians-vegans-etc-your-input-and-experience-please#post-2907557 Sat, 04 Jan 2020 19:27:48 +0000 Petitduck 2907557@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@cake2017: sounds like it will be no problem for you then! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vegetarians-vegans-etc-your-input-and-experience-please#post-2907556 Sat, 04 Jan 2020 19:24:48 +0000 cake2017 2907556@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Petitduck: Thank you! I have tried nutritional yeast before and it was delicious! We had it on popcorn!</p> <p>My toddler eats a lot of veggies and fruits, coccus, rice etc. I’m going to try a few bento boxes for work that are geared towards more veggies and plant based recipes. We drink coconut, almond milk and I am going to try oat milk for breast milk supply! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vegetarians-vegans-etc-your-input-and-experience-please#post-2907555 Sat, 04 Jan 2020 18:58:23 +0000 Petitduck 2907555@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@cake2017: pescatarian is where you don’t eat meat, but eat fish. </p> <p>I have been a vegetarian my whole life and my kids are also. I do vegan eating every once in a while. I also love cheese! My current babe seems to do better if I skip dairy so I have been majorly limiting for the past few months and now I’m totally cutting it while I breastfeed and eating vegan. It makes me feel better physically to cut dairy and I feel like it’s a nicer choice for animals and the earth so bonus. I dint feel limited because this is all I have ever known and I’m learning to not crave cheese as much. We ordered pizza the other day and I just ordered mine without cheese and it still tasted delicious. </p> <p>I love Nora cooks vegan recipes. They’re delicious and easy. She has a website and Instagram. </p> <p>I find it very easy to cook stuff because there are so many meat substitutes and restaurants are coming around to it more than they were in the past. There’s no reason not to make the switch! I’m really glad my parents raised me vegetarian and I hope to switch to fully vegan at some point in my life. My eldest, who is 4, was talking about trying it at dinner tonight too.</p> <p>ETA: I have been using unsweetened almond milk for smoothies and cooking for about a year and I throw nutritional yeast in a lot of food or sprinkle it on top to taste cheesy. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/vegetarians-vegans-etc-your-input-and-experience-please#post-2907554 Sat, 04 Jan 2020 18:20:31 +0000 cake2017 2907554@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Hi! So since I had LO1 I cannot stand to cook raw meat anymore. The smell, textures, looking at it... blood from cooking makes me feel queasy. It hasn’t improved and I just had Lo2. Therefore I only buy cooked chicken. I can do salmon or fish with no problem. Shrimp etc is fine (most seafood) it’s the meat that grosses me out.<br /> Well we eat a lot of legumes, fruits, pastas , fish and cooked chicken and turkey. </p> <p>Lately, I’ve been thinking about going vegetarian or(not too sure) what it is called with eating seafood too but no meat?.... I do love cheese though... </p> <p>Anybody else a vegetarian, vegan etc? If so how has it changed your life?</p> <p>Please share any links for easy recipes too! TIA </p>