Following up on my post the other day about Vegetarian Awareness Month, I thought I would write today on a few easy recipes and some other ideas to get you motivated to give up meat for a month. It’s only a month, after all…and I know you can do it.

I realize that it might be pretty hard to give up meat cold turkey (no pun intended, ha!) So to begin with, you’re going to have to plan a little bit. If you’re like me, you can still have your eggs at breakfast, and milk products as well. This is a personal choice, but I find most women don’t get enough calcium so I do try to keep milk in my diet. Eggs are also a great source of protein, and I consider them “pre-meat”, so to speak, although I know a lot of vegetarians won’t eat them. I do try to get organic, free range eggs whenever possible, however.

It’s also important to know that there are several products on the market that mimic meat products. These are generally made out of soy, tempeh, or TVP (textured vegetable protein), and believe me, they’ve come a long way since I became a vegetarian. It’s now possible to get soy bacon, soy hot dogs, and soy chicken fingers that really taste a lot like the real thing. In fact, I have a friend who actually prefers the soy hot dogs to the real thing – he says they taste better! And he’s a die hard meat eater, so that’s a pretty good review.

A few of my favorite vegetarian items include Amy’s Kitchen products, Smart Dogs, Boca Burgers, and Gardenburgers. You can find these at almost any large grocery store chain in the health food aisle and/or the frozen food section. They’re healthy, convenient, and completely delicious.

A few other things you can do to help yourself go “no meat” – when eating out, order certain things without the meat, if it can be. For example, if I see something on the menu that lists bacon (like a salad, for example) I’ll ask for it to be made without it. I’ve even asked for a “cheeseburger without the burger” before! To most meat eaters, a cheese sandwich can sound pretty dull, but topped with some delicious roasted veggies and some yummy sauce, it can be amazing.

This is something you can try at home as well. If a recipe calls for ground meat, search for crumbled TVP instead, and add it in. I often do this with tomato sauce or pasta dishes, as it really does add some flavor and knocks up the protein content a bit.

This is also a great time to try some new recipes. Here’s on of my all time favorites – I’ve been eating this since I was 6 years old, and before I became a vegetarian, and it was my favorite meal then (I guess I was destined to be a veggie!) but it’s a tasty quick meal that you can put together in no time. And despite the skeptical looks from your family, I promise you, they’ll like it.

Tofu Sloppy Joes
1 cup of diced onions
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 14 oz pkg of firm tofu, drained
1 ½ cups of your favorite tomato sauce
4 English muffins, cut in half and lightly toasted
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Grated parmesan cheese
Basil leaves (optional)

First, put your oven on the broil setting. Then, spray a non-stick pan with an oil spray like Pam, or warm up a little olive oil, on medium heat. Cook the onions until they become softer, about 5 minutes, then add the garlic, and cook for another 5 minutes or until they start to brown. Add the tofu, and break up the tofu with a fork in the pan, so the block becomes completely dissolved. Then add the tomato sauce, turn the heat down to low, and cook, covered, for about 15 minutes so the flavors meld together. Toast your English muffins at this time, and place those on a piece of tinfoil on top of a broiler pan or baking sheet. Place a few big spoonfuls of the tofu mixture on each English muffin, enough so they’re covered but not so it’s not falling off too much. Sprinkle on a little bit of the mozzarella and parmesan cheese on each, and top with a basil leave, if using. Place them under the broiler for around a minute, until the cheese melts.

And voila! An easy vegetarian meal everyone will enjoy. If you really want to go hard core, use soy cheese. Yum!