family favorite recipes

A bountiful salad, complete with edible flowers

Vegetarians eat salads and tofu, right?  Well, not exactly.

Browse through our family favorite recipes intended to inspire!

I grew up on a varied diet filled with family favorite recipes. These usually included meats from our own farm, bread baked by my very talented mother, and a huge supply of vegetables from Mom’s garden.  I became a vegetarian almost 30 years ago and cannot imagine ever returning.  At that time, eating vegetarian at a restaurant meant salad bars, cheese pizza, or pasta.  Home cooked meals were a challenge.

However, with the help of my first vegetarian cookbooks, The New Laurel’s Kitchen Cookbook, New Farm Cookbook, and The Moosewood Cookbook.   I learned to remake old family favorite recipes and tread into new frontiers creating completely new ones.  These books, along with Dean Ornish’s, Eat More, Weigh Less, and Dr. McDougall’s, The McDougall Program, were great starting points for me and gave me a springboard from which to dive into exploring into even healthier choices.

 

 

family favorite recipes

Swiss Steak (vegan)

Our family has chosen to continue a vegetarian lifestyle.

In fact, we feel it is the original diet chosen for man by God. Research and studies, including the Blue Zones and China Study, further confirm the overwhelming health benefits.

Additionally, vegetarians find the food costs less. And many believe it is better for the planet. However, we didn’t want to lose our family favorite recipes.

So what exactly do vegetarians eat?

In fact, we do eat a lot of salads.

However, not pale iceberg lettuce dripping with oily dressing. Our salads often contain a blend of various greens including lettuces such as leaf, butter, and romaine. Add to that greens such as spinach, mustard, chard, and kale. In fact, our family often sets up our own salad bar with separate dishes containing sliced mushrooms, beets, onions, celery, olives, garbanzo beans, and so much more. Also, our selection needs to include seeds, pumpkin, sunflower, and sesame, and a few alfalfa sprouts or bean sprouts. Dressings might include a raspberry walnut vinaigrette, an Asian ginger, and a vegan ranch.

Our salad bowls surprise guests. We prefer to use bowls more the size of a serving bowl, rather than the typical small side salad sized. Everyone enjoys creating their own custom salad!

However, salad is just the beginning.

Our main course might be vegetarian swiss steak, served with your choice of brown rice or noodles. Meatless chili appears often during the winter months, while grilled pita bread pizzas might make an appearance on the summer dinner table. Some of our family maintains a vegetarian lifestyle, eating no poultry or meats, but including some eggs and dairy products from our own dairy goat herd and free range chickens.

Some of our family maintains a vegetarian lifestyle, eating no poultry or meats, but including some eggs and dairy products from our own dairy goat herd and free range chickens. However, some of us gave up the dairy and eggs, preferring a truly plant-based or vegan lifestyle. The two merge together well in our home.

Our family favorite recipes represent some of each. In fact, either modifies quite easily to the other with the use of substitutes.

However, even if you consider yourself an omnivore, our recipes may inspire you to try a meatless Monday or perhaps a vegetarian week. Indeed, you will find that you save a little money on the food budget. And you may find some healthy choices to weave into your lifestyle. Experiment with these and those from our sister site, Vegan Globetrotter. 

Family Favorite Recipes

Vegan Globetrottervisit our sister site for authentic recipes from around the world, all healthy vegan

Christmas Country Mom vegetarian recipes

(click on a recipe name)

 

SOUPS:

Broccoli Soup

Vegetable Barley Soup

 

ENTREES:

Swiss Steak (Smothered Steak)

 

 

 

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