veggie meal for one tired Mum?

planetX

Any ideas welcome! Basically I'm a single mum with a non-veggie child, so every night I'm cooking a meat meal (yuck). We don't have the same tastes, so I can't make similar meals and leave out the meat. I find that I don't have the energy to make something else from scratch, so my diet has become terrible, and now I have even less energy. Most nights I just have pasta with tomato sauce from a jar, maybe some quorn mince. I have loads of veggie cookbooks with yummy recipes, but I find that most of them take a long time to prepare, and then I have to eat the same meal for the next 4 days:(
Anyone know any quick easy healthy meals for one? I'm just basic vegetarian, but don't like eggs or cheese much. I think I need some protein. Thanks!

-lala-

Try making stewy-type freezable things in large quantities - I generally only cook about five or six times a month, but in massive quantities and I freeze the rest in single portions. I find that if you cook for a few nights straight then you have enough variety to keep you going for a month, and you won't end up eating the same thing 4 nights in a row. In my experience, going for quick, easy meals for one doesn't really work - everything takes longer than you think to prepare and you're left doing loads of cooking every night for just one meal. As for the protein issue, use lots of beans and lentils and other such things.

Here are some reasonably easy and fairly quick recipe suggestions, in large quantities!

Courgette Curry

Ingredients:

Sunflower Oil
1350g courgettes
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 onions, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
½ tsp ground turmeric
½ tsp chilli powder
2 tsps ground coriander
2 tsps ground cumin
A generous pinch of salt
2 tbsp tomato purée
2 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
200ml water
2 tsp garam masala

Method:

• Trim the ends from the courgettes and then cut them evenly into 1cm thick slices.
• Heat the oil in a pot and fry the cumin seeds and mustard seeds for 2 minutes until they begin to splutter.
• Add the onion and garlic and fry for about 5 minutes.
• Add the turmeric, chilli powder, ground coriander, cumin and salt and fry for 2 minutes.
• Add the sliced courgettes all at once, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring so they do not burn.
• Mix together the tomato purée and chopped tomatoes and add to the pan with the water. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes until the sauce thickens.
• Stir in the garam masala, then cook for 15 minutes or until the courgettes are tender.

Serve with brown rice/ basmati rice




Black-eyed Beans with Mushrooms

Ingredients:

Sunflower Oil
2 x 400g tin black-eyed beans (with the liquid)
450g fresh mushrooms
2 onions, chopped
8 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
6 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground turmeric
A pinch of sugar
½ tsp cayenne pepper
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

• Cut the mushrooms into 3mm thick slices.
• Heat the oil in a pot and fry the onion and garlic until the onion begins to colour at the edges. Put in the mushrooms and fry until the mushrooms wilt.
• Add the tomatoes (drain the liquid off one tin before you add it in, otherwise it can be a bit too liquidy), 4 tsp of the ground coriander, ground cumin, turmeric, sugar and cayenne pepper. Stir and cook for a minute. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Add the beans (with the liquid), the salt and pepper and the remaining 2 tsp of ground coriander.
• Bring to the boil, cover, reduce the heat and simmer for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve with brown rice




Lentils with Tomatoes, Herbs and Spinach

Ingredients:


2 cups green lentils
1 cup red lentils
1200ml vegetable stock
2 onion, chopped
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried marjoram
2 tsp dried basil
2 tsp dried parsley
A few handfuls of baby spinach

Method:

• Put all the ingredients except the spinach into a large bowl. Cover and leave for a few hours.
• Transfer to a saucepan. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes.
• Stir in the baby spinach and continue cooking for a minute or two.

Serve with pasta or bread








Sorry for the extremely long post!

sweet-rasmus

I'm surprised that you don't have the odd night where you use no meat but both eat a different protein.

I would recommend making bean burgers for yourself. Very easy and full of protein. There are many many recipes, but here is one i've been making recently
1 tin kidney (or other) beans, drained and rinsed
1 small onion chopped
1 tsp of vecon
whizz these up together in a food processer then place in a mixing bowl
add in one grated carrot
and bread crumbs made form 2 slices of bread.
stir together. should make about 6 burgers for you to fry in oil. If the burgers turn out too wet, add more bread crumbs. They will keep well in the fridge for a few days.

Quinoa and cous cous are other great protein sources I'd recommend. Both are easy to cook and replace rice/spuds in a meal.

Also - have a look for minestroni on vegweb. it's very filling and you can cook with all sorts.

flikflak

Why are you cooking meat? If there are only the 2 of you and you are the adult doing the shopping and cooking then the child living with you should eat what you cook. If they want to eat meat then they are out and about or at other relatives houses then no problem but while living with you they should eat what you are cooking.

Make the spag bol with quorn mince and serve it up to them. Veggie fingers with peas, sweetcorn and mash, Homemade chickpea burgers - dead simple to make - even the child could make them! In fact they are great to make together.

planetX

Thanks for the recipes everyone. I think you're right, I need to spend a weekend cooking and freezing rather than trying to cook for one. Do cooked lentils freeze ok? Now I just need to make some space in the freezer drawer:o

Flikflak - my son was vegetarian, and had a really good diet, until age 4 or 5. Then he went completely off food, and lived on toast for a few years, and now at 7 he really likes chicken. As far as I'm concerned it's a decision for himself - i buy meat for my cats, so why wouldn't I for my son. I only buy free-range chicken, and have had many talks with him about how animals are farmed intensively and the cruelty involved - that's the main issue for me.

sweet-rasmus

yes, lentils freeze well i find that 2 cups of lentils (before cooking/soaking) makes a huge pot and usually divide it into at least 4 and freeze in little tubs.