Aside from the questions of concern such as "Where do you get your protein?" and "Where do you get your calcium?", a common question of vegetarians is "So, what do you eat?" or "What do you have for breakfast/lunch/dinner?" I have prepared this page for those of you who want to make a transition to a meat free diet, but just don't know where to begin. In addition to this information, please see Resources.
When you are asleep, your body shuts down to "minimal operation" while it is busy taking care of needed repairs, fighting off intruders, and eliminating the waste products accumulated throughout the day. When you wake up, your body is still working on these things, but now other processes need its attention, too. The digestive process, breaking down the food that you take into your body into usable material, is the most energy intesive process that your body does. That's why you often feel sleepy after a meal...all of your energy goes toward breaking down that meal.
For optimum health, when you first wake up, you want to make sure that the intensive elimination and repair processes from the night before have completed (they will continue to some extent during the day, but at far less efficiency). This phase usually lasts until between 10am and noon, so until then, you want to make sure that what you eat requires minimal energy to digest. This way, your body can get back to these very important processes.
The easiest food for your body to digest is fruit; sweet juicy fruits (such as apples, berries and citrus) being the most digestible, and heavier, starchier fruits (such as bananas and dates) being the least digestible. And, as mentioned previously, food combinists believe that fruit should not be eaten in combination with any other food. This is because other foods hamper the digestibility of fruits.
So, what's for breakfast? Until at least 10 o'clock...FRUIT, FRUIT, and more FRUIT.
Dan eats an apple and a banana every day. I eat according to the season: in the spring and early summer I generally make a fruit salad consisting of berries, bananas, melon, and whatever else is available; in the summer I love to eat a huge slice of watermelon for breakfast; and in the fall and winter, I eat apples, oranges and bananas.
Do we get hungry eating only fruit for breakfast? Not usually. But rather than just eating one meal, it is sometimes easier to stagger your fruit throughout the morning.
During the week, fruit usually does the trick until lunch time, though I will admit that since I have been pregnant I generally need a snack around 10:30 or 11. But on the weekends, we like to have a nice brunch to start off the day. This may consist of any of the following:
Any muffin recipe works well with egg substitute and soymilk (see Substitutions), but we particularly like Oatmeal Muffins
Homemade biscuits are also easy with egg substitue and soymilk, and since I still use butter, they turn out just luscious
All pancake recipes work with egg substitute and soymilk (see Substitutions), but we particularly like Cinnamon Pancakes
Use your favorite recipe, just eliminate the eggs and use soymilk
We have this only on special occasions or if we have guests. You can find them at any Health Food Store (we love Fresh Fields) or even in the regular supermarket. Be sure to get the kind without egg whites whenever possible.
Lunch should be the largest meal of the day. That's when your body has the most energy to devote to breaking down the food efficiently. Unfortunately, with work schedules (and the fact that you want to spend time with your family during dinner) that's easier said than done.
Lunch for us usually consists of leftovers from dinner the night before. But we also have sandwiches or chips and dip. You might be thinking, "Sandwiches? What on earth do vegetarians put on a sandwich?" The answer is just about anything! Here are some of our favorite lunch ideas:
Sandwiches:
Amazingly enough, I grew up on these! Simply spread your bread
or toast (bread is a little more digestible if you toast it first) with
a little veggie mayo (see Substitutions)
and/or mustard, then pile on lettuce, tomato, cucumber, avocado, etc.
The old stand-by! (I can't stand them personally, but Dan likes them.) If you have one of these for lunch, be sure to also eat a salad or lots of raw vegetables. The bread and peanut butter together are a little bit of a challenge to digest (though not as bad as ham and cheese!).
Anyone who hasn't yet heard of this mediterranean chick-pea dip that is sweeping the country must be living under a rock! Eat with torn pita bread.
Unfortunately, the beautiful avocado has gotten a bad rap over the last several years. While high in fat, it is the "good" fat, and it is extremely easy to digest. You can even eat it with fruit! Mash an avacado and eat with corn chips. Or, for an extremely easy guacamole, add a little salsa.
If you're craving a dose of protein, mash one drained can of beans (I prefer black beans), add salsa, and heat. Serve with tortilla chips.What's for Dinner?
So you've read all of the above and you think, "Well, that sounds pretty simple, but I can't believe dinner is that easy." Well guess what? It is!
In general, your meal is going to consist of three parts:
Throughout the day, you should strive to have half of all you eat be fresh, raw fruit and vegetables. Freshly prepared raw food that still has "life force", provides you with an abundance of energy, not to mention critical roughage necessary for the effective elimination of waste. (Don't believe in "life force"? Plant a potato and it will grow potatoes...plant a baked potato and what do you get?) If you eat only fresh fruit for breakfast and pile lettuce and tomatoes on your sandwich for lunch, you are well on your way to making this goal.
Here are some ideas of how to prepare some starch/carbohydrate foods (for recipes and more ideas, see Remmers Recipes):
Potatoes
Dressed Down:
Dressed Down:
Dressed Down:
Dressed Down:
Fortunately, there aren't many desserts that contain meat products, so vegetarians can eat just about anything. If you are trying to eliminate dairy, however, it's a little more challenging. Here are some of our favorite dairy free desserts: