Vegetarian/Vegan/Flexitarian

[Kurt Cocaine]

It would be nice to chat about this lifestyle because let's face it, we all like to eat.
I have to admit that those Wicklow twins (as insufferable as they are) The Happy Pear have some great easy, nutritious vegan recipes to share.
Tasty as hell......

[Kurt Cocaine]

I'll get the missus to share the recipes with me as her phone is full of them.....

[Kurt Cocaine]

Here's some Asian Sauces that you can handily make with stuff you should already have in your kitchen presses and fridge.
I swear by them because they're simple to prepare and you can sometimes just add them into the pan/wok with your veggies, soy pieces, tofo (or meat/fish) and not have to make a mess of other dishes/containers that will have to be washed afterwards. Simplicity is king....


https://www.justapinch.com/recipes/main-course/asian/asian-sauces-2.html

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

Funny the number of you talking about a weight drop in the other thread; afaik, there's no reason why meat per se should have been preventing you from losing weight, more likely whatever combinations you were eating it in.

[Kurt Cocaine]

https://thehappypear.ie/recipes/vegan-bombay-potato-tomato-aubergine-curry/

https://supervalu.ie/real-food/recipes/chunky-moroccan-harira-soup

https://supervalu.ie/real-food/fresh-magazine/banana-and-walnut-cake

https://www.happypearcourses.com/creamyblackbeanquesadilla

https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/falafel-wraps-with-grilled-veg-salsa/

Any ingredients you don't have you can always substitute with something else from your press or fridge. Like for instance, Harissa paste. You can use a hot chilli sauce or something similar.
Cooking should fun and simple and now is a great time to start experimenting in the kitchen with all this free time we have.
Feel free to share any of your recipe ideas too please.....

[Juggz]

I stopped eating meat around 26 or 27 years ago. It made a lot of sense at the time and, if anything, it makes even more sense now. The sheer choice available is staggering compared to even 10 years ago. I've never been a drum-banger, everyone has their own choices to make, but if anyone wanted to dip their toe in it, the likes of Quorn for meat replacements - particularly the mince and chicken nugget type of stuff - has fooled many a visitor to my gaff over the years. A lot of people miss the texture of meat, rather than the flavour given the amount of sauces and stuff they might use.

I gave up dairy a couple of years ago and lost a fuck-load of weight. Veganism is very hard, though, particularly if you don't want to be and awkward cunt when it comes to visiting mates, dining out with friends, etc, so I still eat cheese and the likes when necessary but, generally, at home I try to stick to a vegan diet as much as possible. If you read up on nutrition, it's quite easy to get almost everything you need without meat or dairy - should you choose that way of life. For me, the benefits are crystal clear. There's no doubt in my mind that veganism is one of the healthiest ways to live, regardless of how fashionable it is at the moment.

[Kurt Cocaine]

Funny the number of you talking about a weight drop in the other thread; afaik, there's no reason why meat per se should have been preventing you from losing weight, more likely whatever combinations you were eating it in.

Yep, a reason I gave up meat was for the aul cholesterol. I was bordering on the high level and decided that meat and shop bought processed products had to go.
The weight loss is probably down to more home cooking and not buying shite from the shops than meat elimination/reduction from the diet.

[Trev]

Those quorn nuggets are the business, not too mad about the rest of the stuff though. I find their sausages in particular are pretty shit, but I like the Linda McCartney ones

Funny the number of you talking about a weight drop in the other thread; afaik, there's no reason why meat per se should have been preventing you from losing weight, more likely whatever combinations you were eating it in.

Not sure the exact reasons but I've heard the same from loads of people, maybe I'm just shitting more! 😂

[Kurt Cocaine]

I stopped eating meat around 26 or 27 years ago. It made a lot of sense at the time and, if anything, it makes even more sense now. The sheer choice available is staggering compared to even 10 years ago. I've never been a drum-banger, everyone has their own choices to make, but if anyone wanted to dip their toe in it, the likes of Quorn for meat replacements - particularly the mince and chicken nugget type of stuff - has fooled many a visitor to my gaff over the years. A lot of people miss the texture of meat, rather than the flavour given the amount of sauces and stuff they might use.

I gave up dairy a couple of years ago and lost a fuck-load of weight. Veganism is very hard, though, particularly if you don't want to be and awkward cunt when it comes to visiting mates, dining out with friends, etc, so I still eat cheese and the likes when necessary but, generally, at home I try to stick to a vegan diet as much as possible. If you read up on nutrition, it's quite easy to get almost everything you need without meat or dairy - should you choose that way of life. For me, the benefits are crystal clear. There's no doubt in my mind that veganism is one of the healthiest ways to live, regardless of how fashionable it is at the moment.

Yep, the 'cheat meat' choices are unreal nowadays.
We swear by the Linda McCartney range too. The vegetarian sausages and mozzarella burgers are unreal. Available in Lidl and Aldi at good prices by the way.
I sometimes chop the cooked sausages up into small pieces and sprinkle them onto whatever Asian meal or whatever I've cooked. Definitely feels like meat when you chomp down....

[Kurt Cocaine]

The Vegan Surfer on YT is a great channel for recipes too....

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCakrBxLo63s-KH-qiiC_euA

[Juggz]

Those quorn nuggets are the business, not too mad about the rest of the stuff though. I find their sausages in particular are pretty shit, but I like the Linda McCartney ones

Not sure the exact reasons but I've heard the same from loads of people, maybe I'm just shitting more! 😂

Yeah, the quorn sausages are dire. The Linda Mc ones are vastly superior. The mozzarella burgers are fantastic for sure. I use the Quorn pieces as well as the mince. For bolognese or chilli, the mince is superb and the nicest of the fake-meat minces I have tried.

[Carnage]

Funny the number of you talking about a weight drop in the other thread; afaik, there's no reason why meat per se should have been preventing you from losing weight, more likely whatever combinations you were eating it in.

This is true, less stodge and more fresh veg./salad in my case I reckon.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

I ate quorn last year once and I thought I was suffering with a hernia afterwards, was KO the rest of the day and into the night. It really seems my digestive tract is determined to keep me turning to animal products for protein!

[Kurt Cocaine]

Holland&Barrett do Soy Chunks and Mince at a decent price. Just soak them first and add them to your meal just before it's finished cooking, otherwise they'll get soggy.
Very tasty....

https://www.hollandandbarrett.ie/shop/product/holland-barrett-natural-soya-protein-chunks-60082095

Tempeh too....

https://www.hollandandbarrett.ie/shop/product/biona-organic-tempeh-60041915

[kiehozero]

Over a decade vegan now, I was veggie for a few months that coincided with a summer job in a dairy and after that is was game over. It has been weird seeing the explosion in substitutes from people like KFC over the last 18 minutes, this and the move towards the term "plant-based" is the surest sign of the original climate and animal rights messages becoming suffocated by the healthy/clean living stuff. There's a lot more vegan festivals than ever before and while the focus seems to be based on food, particularly meat substitutes, than ever before, it's good to remember that there's plenty you can do without using shit loads of processed food, as much as we all love that stuff. The Denny's sausages are a guilty pleasure of mine, they're something else.

I'll never bang anyone's head over food choices though, I'm not sure how people work up the energy to confront random strangers about eating meat near them, especially when we all see meat nearly every day anyway. Always found the easiest way to turn someone off anything is to proselytise about it.

Fair play to anyone who is willing to give it a go with an open mind, whether it's just a day a week or the rest of your life, you're making a tangible difference somewhere along the line.