How to Find Vegetarian Substitutes

Although it may be slightly difficult, there are restaurants and frozen foods that cater to vegetarians. Read on to learn how to find vegetarian substitutes.

Instructions

1. Understand that it is common for a lot of people to not look forward to company food gatherings, family festivals and to dinner with friends because of the challenge of eating vegetarian. Usually the restaurants that are chosen are not vegetarian-friendly. However, some restaurants in Chicago are starting to cater to vegetarians, such as Soul Vegetarian East, Alice & Friends at 5812 N. Broadway in Chicago, Subway and Noodles & Company. If your friends, co-workers, and family members aren't willing to give vegetarian or vegan restaurants a try, your best bet would be to visit somewhere that has a surplus of food to choose from, not just that one veggie meal on the menu. Italian restaurants always have bread, and meatless spaghetti, mostaccioli and fettuccini to choose from. Mexican restaurants have items that use beans as a main course, and beans are an excellent choice for protein. Also, Chinese restaurants are notorious for substituting any meat-dominated meal for tofu.

2. If you are in the grocery store and want items to cook at home, the following items are recommended. For a fried bologna sandwich try LightLife Smart Deli, which makes great bologna sandwiches without the without the fat, cholesterol, nitrites and MSG. Other great veggie "meat" is LightLife Smart Deli baked veggie ham and turkey. For main dishes, try Amy's Kitchen's Chili and Cornbread, Amy's Kitchen's Country Dinner, Amy's Kitchen's Veggie Loaf and Amy's Kitchen's Southern Meal. For ground beef in spaghetti or tacos, use Morningstar Farms Meal Starters Grillers Recipe Crumbles; Smart Ground Taco and Burrito or Smart Ground Original.

   Breakfast food:
   Morningstar Farms® Meal Starters™ Sausage Style Recipe Crumbles™
   Morningstar Farms® Breakfast Starters Classic Scramble
   LightLife's Smart Bacon™

   Beef:
   Morningstar Farms® Meal Starters™ Steak Strips
   Morningstar Farms® Cheddar Burger
   Morningstar Farms® Grillers® Original
   Morningstar Farms® Philly Cheese Steak Burgers

   Chicken:
   For vegetarian chicken, try Quorn's Naked Chicken Cutlets
   Morningstar Farms® Meal Starters™ Chik'n Strips

   Pork:
   Morningstar Farms® America's Original Veggie Dog® links
   Morningstar Farms® Veggie Corn Dogs

   Tofu:
   For lighter texture (ex. eggs), try soft tofu
   For tough texture (ex. chicken), try firm or extra firm tofu

   Dessert:
   Antioxidants---SunSweet® dried fruit (blueberries, cherries, mangoes, cranberries, apricots, bananas, nectarines, pineapples, raisins)

   Milk:
   Silk® (highly recommended for everything from chocolate milk, cereal, and baked items)

3. Look for vegetarian food items in restaurants or in grocery stores such as bread and cheese for grilled cheese sandwiches. Lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and croutons make fro an excellent salad. Buying items from the produce section for fruit salads are also filling meals. Pea soup, lentil soup, tomato soup, vegetable soup and broccoli soup can also be found without meat products in it, although lentil soup sometimes uses bacon.

Resources

• Soul Vegetarian East
• Alice & Friends Restaurant Review
• Subway
• Noodles & Company