Someone here recently gave us a terrific tofu/ soya noodle/ peanut butter dish.

What do your kids like and dislike?

With kids, it often helps to make familiar foods- just without meat. Lasagna, mac and cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, tacos with veggie “ground beef,” quesadillas, spaghetti with frozen veggie “meatballs,” etc.

We love this recipe:

2 medium to large butternut squash
1 heaping cup of chopped onion
2–3 cloves of garlic
1 heaping cup of mixed green and red peppers, chopped
3 tbs. butter for saute
1 tsp salt
2 beaten eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
½ cup sunflower seeds (for the top)

Cut squash down the middle lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and place it face down on an oiled tray. Bake at 357 for about 35 minutes, or until soft. Cool until handle-able, scoop out and mash.

Saute onion and garlic, lightly salted, in butter. When onions are translucent add the chopped peppers. Saute until peppers are just under-done.

Beat eggs with buttermilk or yogurt. Crumble in the feta cheese. Combine everything and mix well. Add salt, black pepper and red pepper or hot sauce.

Spread into a buttered casserole dish. Top with seeds or nuts. Bake at 375 (covered for 25 minutes, uncovered for 10 minutes.

I find this recipe tastes strangely like bacon but YMMV.

I would HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend you read this blog. This is the second time I’ve publicized for her today, I think. It’s loaded with yummy recipes, and if you’re a mom, you’ll appreciate her stories.

It’s about a once-omnivore who went vegan and transitioned her husband and kids to a vegetarian diet… And kept the peace while doing so.

Easy black bean lasagna

I would also highly recommend Mark Bittman’s How To Cook Everything Vegetarian

ratatouille

Simple and good, summer or winter.

Cashew Cole Slaw

Mix shredded red, green cabbage and shredded carrots with home made or store bought Cole Slaw dressing,& add one can of halved cashews.

Delicious, nutritious and fast. :-)

Naan bread – pan-fried with a little bit of butter until lightly browned.

Place the following on the bread:
Tomatoes – sauteed until soft.
Uncooked, sliced mushrooms.
Olives.
Lettuce.
Cesar dressing.
Feta cheese sprinkled over the top.

This is one of my favorite things to eat, and I can never turn it down.

@Taciturnu, your link doesn’t work.

We once went through Lent without eating meat or fish on Fridays; it became easy to do by eating ethnic dishes instead our normal fare.

Indian food has a lot of vegetarian dishes – vegetable korma is great!
Vegetable fried rice
Italian food also has a lot of choices – eggplant parmesan, cheese manacotti, vegetable lasagna, cheese ravioli with marinara sauce, cheese tortellini in chicken broth with spinach, zucchini, tomato and onion with bow tie pasta.
Cheese, vegetable or margharetta pizza
Black bean burritos
Szechuan green beans with rice
Hummus and pita sandwiches
Fallafel

Chick pea burgers, with lettuce, tomato, cheese, black olives, chilis, whatever strikes your fancy on a bun of course!

Thanks, @BarnacleBill.

It’s peasandthankyou.com So cute!

Here’s the peanut butter, tofu, soya noodle recipe. Thanks to whoever found it. http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/lazy-day-peanut-noodle-salad-recipe.html

This one is a good starter meal for meat lovers transitioning to veggie meals. It is basically a vegetarian version of sloppy joes made with Morningstar Farms meal starters veggie crumbles. You thaw out the “burger crumbles” then take a big pan and sautee about a cup of diced onion in a little bit of olive oil until just softened, then add a cup and a half of sliced mushrooms (cook for about 3 minutes more), then add a cup of diced tomatoes (fresh or canned) and then add about a cup (or more to taste) of your favorite barbecue sauce. Mix thoroughly and heat through then load up onto hamburger buns. You can also add shredded cheese if you want.

Serve with a side of potato salad, chips and a pickle and you’ve got dinner.

You can use the same burger crumbles for burrito and taco filling (add a little taco seasoning and diced tomatoes with green chilies and heat through (add refried beans to the burritos). Or you can roll it up inside corn tortillas with grilled onions and peppers and shredded cheese for enchiladas (pour your favorite canned enchilada sauce over the bottom of a baking pan, roll up your tortillas and filling, pour more sauce over the top, sprinkle on some cheese and then bake at 425 for about 20 minutes.

You can also make a Minestrone Soup and eat it as is, or add some “fake meatballs” like Trader Joe’s meatless meatballs (which are also very good for making fake meatball sandwiches—thaw the balls, add some marinara sauce, heat through, put onto big french rolls and add shredded mozzarella cheese) or you can add crumbled Morningstar Farms sausage patties to the minestrone soup. The sausage patties also make for terrific “fake McMuffins” if you put a fried egg on top of a toasted English muffin, the patty and a slice of cheese. They’re really good if you put them under the broiler.

A real vegetarian diet should not consist entirely of fake meat products, but they are good to use for some dishes and as a helpful transition from meat to vegetables. Let me know if you want some great recipes that don’t rely on fake meat, but your family may need some time having vegetable side dishes added into the mix before they’ll want to eat that way. Have fun.

Thank you guys for all the ideas.

I was walking through the grocery store and automatically went to the meat section… What can I say I was raised by a butcher.