So in the UK it is National Vegetarian week, and as I have been veggie for, hmm, a long time now (I think officially 15 years, but really for longer!) I thought I should give it a mention. I am sometimes a little bit of a cynic with these National days and weeks, and this one is sponsored by Cauldron foods (who make veggie foods) so for them it is a lot of free press too. And some of the leaflets and information packs are a little full of scare tactics etc too. Aside from the ethical and health reasons (which I won’t go into), there are other reasons to eat less meat, as producing meat takes up a lot more of the worlds’ resources such as water (because you have to grow crops to feed the animals etc.), so I think it is worth even meat eaters to cut down a bit. But anyway, back to the food.
As some of you know, Andy is a meat eater, so some of our meals are separate(or we start with the same base, and he adds some meat in a separate pot. But, there are some meals we both eat now which are totally meat free, so maybe good for someone who eats meat to give it a try.
Mexican bean wraps served with a salad are a popular meal in our household. The beans are chunky and filling, and the spices give it a strong flavour (add as much chilli as you can take!), plus you could add whatever veggies you like to the wraps.
Roasted vegetable calzone is another popular one. If we eat out, Andy will often choose a (meat) calzone, but this one is also very tasty!
Lentil chilli is one of my faves (but you could use any beans/ pulses).
Chickpea stew is another one which I love.
I have also discovered silken tofu- I initially loved in in Pumpkin pasta bake, but I have had success using it in lasagne dishes too- it goes all creamy and really delicious so give it a go.
So veggies and non veggies alike, what would your choice of veggie food be this week?
Onto today. First of all thanks for all the wishes and huffing and puffing regarding the ash cloud (and thanks Rose for your good luck post– made me very excited!). I am trying not to worry because at the end of the day there is nothing else I can do. At Christmas we went to the airport the night before, just in case the motorways were too snowy (and it nearly worked) but here there is nothing like that, so I am going to try to chill!
I was sad to realise that my training plan has come to an end.
Look at all the ticks and stuff written all over. I even kept the same red pen by it because I wanted to keep it all the same. Except for the black pen in the bottom corner (this is about a local 5K in the Autumn that was advertised and I wanted to write the details down and this was my only paper option!).
It seems crazy that all those weeks have flown by, and all those miles have been run.
Dinner today was a veggie hotch potch- some roasted pepper, courgette, beetroot, with basil tofu (yum I have not had this for ages and I had forgotten how yummy it is), spinach and food doctor seeds.
Yum! Another good recipe for veggie week.
Last night I had a nice snack too- I heated some pumpkin puree with a little molasses and cinnamon, and then swirled it into some ginger yoghurt.
Scrumptious 🙂
In fact I might have some more this evening.
Night
I think I mentioned some of my favourite veggie eats in my blog post about national veggie week, I have to say I think the quinoa and edamame citrus salad I made tonight was pretty awesome! Your veggie and tofu plate looks delicious!
We’re very much meat eaters and will always be but when I do my food plan each week I’m always surprised by how much our meat habits have changed. My husband was brought up very much to be a meat and two veg man and wouldn’t have looked at a tomato but I’m happy to say that these days he doesn’t care what is put in front of him as long as it is tasty!
I think I’ll check out some of your recipes Laura, especially the beany ones!
I’m glad you liked my blog post. I’m soooo excited for you and wish I was coming (and running!) too!
Rosexx
All those ticks on the training plan 🙂 Love it!! That is something to feel proud of in itself – a lot of dedication.
And now you get to go to my favourite city in the whole world (I’ve not been to thta many but I feel sure it would still be up there even if I were better travelled) to run your marathon – awesome!
x x x
I’m so excited for you! You’ve put in loads of hard work and the day is nearly here 🙂
I love veggie food and it’s starting to rub off on my boyfriend and parents as well – I think that they’re starting to realise that you don’t have to eat meat to have a good time!
After having a slight wobble involving tuna salads and ensuing nightmares about the treatment of animals (it involved dolphins…my dreams can be horribly linear sometimes) I came to the conclusion that the guilt wasn’t worth it. It’s interesting that I’ve been vegetarian for eighteen years but there have been a couple of ‘wobbles’ along the way involving fish. So I’m not sure where to start ‘counting’ myself as being veggie to be honest. I think all of your recipes are awesome and really need to try out the others you have listed as the pumpkin pasta was such a hit.
There’s an amazing vegetarian restuarant called Sky Apple Café in Newcastle that does the best food ever (with huge portions, so it obviously suits me fine) and the best veggie meal I ever had was there: hummus, fluffy pita bread, salad and vegan chocolate brownie cake with dark chocolate sauce and vegan ice cream for pudding. It was heaven.
I love your meticulous training plan too.
xxx
Wow, it must be such a weird feeling to be nearly there! Good luck in advance… 🙂
They keep saying the ash cloud isn’t nearly as bad as it was last time so hopefully everything should be fine, everything crossed for you!
Thanks for the food inspiration! J is a meat eater, while I’m a vegetarian, and it feels like we’ve been eating the same meals for ages. We could do with something new 🙂
BEST OF LUCK! And have fun!
I’m not a veggie, though I did eat that way for half a year or so once, and probably don’t eat meat more than once a week. I’m not overly convinced by the arguments either way as regards health, sustainability or welfare as they take complex issues and reduce them to unhelpfully entrenched black/white.
Favourite veggie food is a tricky one. I was going to say Thai salad but that would have fish sauce on it! Its probably going to be a curry and overall I’ll probably opt for something involving tinda or doodhi. In fact, if anyone wants to try doodhi then this recipe is very healthy and very robust with its roasted spice base:
http://saffrontrail.blogspot.com/2007/05/dudhi-ki-sabzi-bottle-gourd-in-gravy.html
One word of caution if you do try it – the roasted dal will still be hard so pan roast and grind that ahead of the other spices so you know its reduced to a fine powder.
I didn’t realise you had a blog!! I only saw the link from Alisons page!
good luck with your race
x
Thank you! I thought I found your blog from a comment on here, but it must have been from Alison’s page. Thanks 🙂
National vegetarian week would have passed me by un-noticed if it wasn’t for the blog world haha I’ve been veggie for about 13 years, never a fan of the scare tactics either it makes us all look crazy imo!
Indeed- the red paint throwing brigade and all that!