Welcome to Aussielungs Recipe Corner

This is my recipe blog of vegan, vegetarian and pescatarian culinary delights.

The majority of the recipes on this blog are my own and a few are adapted from other peoples recipes. Give them a go and mess with them. If you do something different that works better than my original recipe then post your changes so I can give them a go to.

I will try my best to tag all the recipes based on which dietary class they fall under, Vegan, Vegetarian or Pescatarian. Also keep in mind that I am wheat intolerant so all the recipes will be wheat free but not always gluten free so if there are any celiac sufferers out there please share your gluten free adaptations with the rest of the readers. I will do my best however to mark the recipes that are celiac friendly.

WHATS THE DIFFERENCE.

Now I'm sure there are some people out there who are new to the whole meat free, or limited meat diet so lets talk about the differences for a moment.

VEGAN:

A vegan is someone who does not eat any animal flesh or animal by products. Vegans are strictly vegetable, grains, nuts, legumes, fruites etc etc only. A vegan sub types Raw Food Vegans who don't heat food over a certain temperature.

VEGETARIAN:

Vegetarians is someone who does not eat animal flesh but will in certain circumstances eat animal by products like milk, cheese, honey and eggs. There are four types of vegetarians

Lacto Vegetarians will eat dairy but not eggs

Ova Vegetarians will eat eggs but not dairy.

Lacto-ova Vegetarians will eat both dairy and eggs.

Vegetarian are those who don't eat dairy or eggs but will eat honey. The reason this group does not fall into the vegan category is due to the fact that honey is an animal by product although many don't know this.

PESCATARIAN

A pescatarian (which can also be spelt pesceterian) are people who avoid all animal flesh except for fish. Many people who are new to the vegetarian diet get Pescatarian and Vegetarian diets confused as they are so similar or they do not see fish as meat. There are also some that argue that Vegetarian and Pescatarian are the same due to those that eat either dairy or eggs is no different to eating fish. A Macrobiotic diet would also fall under the Pescatarian diet as although it is closer to a Raw Vegan Diet in most instances they are allowed to eat fish on occasion.

FLEXITARIAN

This is a new dietary class that has been brought to my attention recently. Basically if you're one of those people who love vegetarian food but simply can't give up at least one or two servings of red or white meat a week you're part of this group.

WHY BECOME A VEGAN, VEGETARIAN, PESCATARIAN

There are a lot of reasons why people decide to change from a traditional western meat heavy diet to a meat free/limited diet. Most common one you'll hear is that animals are a beautiful living creature and have as much right to live as humans do. The next most common is for health reasons, maybe a person wants to loose weight or their blood pressure or cholesterol is to high. Then there are those who are allergic to animal protean and have to avoid it at all costs.

There is no right answer as to why someone decides to stop eating meat or limit their meat but there are many health benefits to a meat free diet. My personal recommendation is to see a doctor to make sure your body can handle the meat free diet of choice and to move into it slowly. Don't go and throw all your pork and rump roast and replace it with tofu straight away.

HOW TO MAKE A MEATLESS KITCHEN

First I want to point out that this section is from personal experience. Some people I know have been able to go from carnivore to vegan with no in-between periods. Others I know have tried to quite the meat cold turkey (excuse the pun) and been back into the lamb chops a week later. I took the slow and steady method, cutting out different types of meat and then cutting down the servings per week. This was the easiest method for me as my body didn’t go into dietary shock and I was also able to avoid most meat cravings.

Now it's time to get your kitchen ready for a meat free diet. There are some essential food staples that all meatless kitchens need. Green leafy vegetables are high in iron so stock up on them along with as many different types of mushrooms you can find. To keep your protean levels up have a large supply of different types of beans, peas and tofu. Go to your local market and buy the beans dried and in bulk, they will last for months as long as you check them every now and then to make sure no fungus has gotten to them. If you feel that your going to miss the texture of meat then there are a number of meat substitutes out there in your local super market. You're also going to need a fully stocked spice rack or, if you're anything like me, spice cupboard. Potatoes and pumpkins are also a must have as most people who are on a meat free diet get hungry easily and potatoes are filling and pumpkins, especially butternut pumpkin, are a low GI food.

Here is an example shopping list to get you started. *

Tofu

Mushrooms

Broccoli

Potatoes

Butternut Pumpkin

Onion

Spring Onion

Cabbage

Spinach

Zucchini

Capsicum (Bell Peppers)

Cucumber

Asparagus

Tomatoes

Baby Tomatoes

Celery

Carrots

Lettuce

Green Beans

Peas

Corn

Butter Beans

Borlotti Beans

Red Kidney Beans

Chick Peas

Barley

Garlic

Ginger

Oregano

Basil

Garam Masala

Thyme

Parsley

Bay Leaves

Cumin

Coriander

Safe

Rosemary

Paprika

Curry Powder

Chili Powder

Nutmeg

Cinnamon

Marjoram

Mint

Tarragon

Star Anise

Sugar

Soy Sauce

Mirin

Lemon

Lime

Long Grain Rice

Arborio Rice

*Depending on which diet group you fall into you can also add dairy, eggs, fish and honey. This is just a basic shopping list that assumes the fridge and cupboard are completely bare. Many of the items like the beans and herbs will not need to be purchased ever week and some of these foods can be bought in bulk.