Sticking Vegetarian?

[MatchaCosmos]

I'm a southern born and raised white girl. We love our meats.

Two years ago I decided to stop eating red meat, but I still eat chicken.

Well, I'm wanting to cut back to maybe two or three chicken-meals a week... and staying vegetarian the rest of the time...

The problem? When I eat just veggies and grains, I'm always hungry. It doesn't matter how much I eat or how frequently.

I also am only making meals for myself, and most recipes are made for more than just one person. (I share a fridge with two other people so there isn't a lot of room for me to store left overs)...

Can anyone give me some pointers to some filling vegetarian meals-for-one?

I'm also trying to eat less carbs, but I'd prefer to leaveout any processed grains or pre-packaged food in general... I'm really trying to avoid added chemicals in my food as much as possible

[Song of the Century]

Eat more protein: Beans, soy, quinoa, nuts, and animal products.

Stick an egg over pasta or rice with veggies. Heat some beans to mix with your rice. Mix black beans and cheese into your salads. Make yourself black bean veggie burgers. Fry up some tofu, if you go that route. Add nuts to everything.

Quote:

I also am only making meals for myself, and most recipes are made for more than just one person.

Just portion them down and experiment with times.

[MatchaCosmos]

Oh I should mention I can't have dairy. I'm lactose-intolerant with dairy allergies to boot...

Quinoa looks really good and I've been wanting to experiment with it, but I don't know how to cook it or ways to fix it with stuff.

That's my problem with cooking. I lack the creativity to mix foods together to make a meal. I usually just steam up veggies, and microwave a sweet potato and make a salad. BOOM! dinner.

[XxNASTOFFxX]

if you can't have dairy, then looking for vegan recipes would be best smile at least where i live, thai restaurants are all over the place. generally you have your choice of chicken, beef, or tofu with your noodles. A lot of people don't like the texture of tofu, but it's something you get used to xD i love it cooked, but i can't eat it raw. i haven't got the hang of cooking it myself either razz i could imagine how just vegetables wouldn't be as satisfying, so saute them in a stir-fry sauce and serve over rice c: when i'm lazy i'll just heat up a veggie burger cx I've found homemade burger recipes that sound great, but i've never gotten around to trying them myself. good luck! biggrin

[XxNASTOFFxX]

if you can't have dairy, then looking for vegan recipes would be best smile at least where i live, thai restaurants are all over the place. generally you have your choice of chicken, beef, or tofu with your noodles. A lot of people don't like the texture of tofu, but it's something you get used to xD i love it cooked, but i can't eat it raw. i haven't got the hang of cooking it myself either razz i could imagine how just vegetables wouldn't be as satisfying, so saute them in a stir-fry sauce and serve over rice c: when i'm lazy i'll just heat up a veggie burger cx I've found homemade burger recipes that sound great, but i've never gotten around to trying them myself. good luck! biggrin

also, do you eat fish? because that's always good and easy to just put in the oven with some seasoning. i usually don't eat much fish anymore, but i eat a lot of sushi, which is another one of my favorites c:

[xKhaIeesi]

It's a lack of proteins.
Like others have suggested, beans and nuts are a great, quick, easy way to add some to a meal.

I haven't tried it, but if you can't have real cheese, I've seen soy cheese.

"An easy rule of thumb is that your daily protein requirement is the same as your weight in kilograms. (Simple divide your weight in pounds by 2.2. For example, if you weigh 150 pounds, you weigh 68.2 kilograms and should consume about 68.2 grams of protein daily.) "

some protein estimtions/suggestions

More info

Take all information with a grain of salt, this differ from person to person with needs and what's available.


You can add nuts/seeds to just about everything.

And I'm sure there are a lot of veggie patties out there(home made, or pre made).

[jvscnns]

It's because meat is the best source of calories.

You're getting your calories from starch, which fill you up, but you're hungry an hour later.
500 calories of starch won't fill you up. 500 calories of steak keeps you full for 4 hours.

[Silvyee]

If you're cutting out carbs, that's your problem. (You don't have to eat processed foods to get your carbs.)

[matadorfiend]

Everyone else is right. You need to load up on the carbs and proteins. Potatoes, you mentioned which is good. Lots of carbs there. What kinds of foods are you having for breakfast? And how much water do you drink? Sometimes your body sends hunger signals when all it really is is just thirsty. So make sure you're always loading up on water too. Quinoa is amazing, easy to make, and can be a side dish or mixed with a lot of things. Some food stores will sell pre-seasoned quinoa or you can buy plain and experiment on your own.