About TSV and Cooking Vegetarian

Welcome to your new favorite source of vegetarian cooking tips and recipes! The Savory Vegetarian is a growing source of information for new and established vegetarians as well as the veg-curious to aid in making the transition to and living a meat free lifestyle.

We've got a growing list of tasty recipes for you to try and helpful articles about vegetarian protein sources, what vegetarians eat on a day to day basis and how to use the vegetarian food pyramid to prepare balanced meals.

Who's behind The Savory Vegetarian?

That would be me, on the far right... Shami (pictured with my handsome husband, Aaron).

You're probably wondering who I am and why I started sharing recipes and information about cooking vegetarian meals on TheSavoryVegetarian.com.

Growing up, I was a meat eater, just as the rest of my family was. We ate all kinds of meat... chicken, turkey, beef, pork, fish (fried, of course because I couldn't bring myself to eat it any other way).

We ate pretty much your typical, low income American diet. Occasional fast food, but mostly grilled cheese sandwiches, our favorite hamburger helper meals and a few easy kitchen staples like spaghetti, goulash and chili.

It wasn't until just before I turned 28 in September of 2012 that I truly started thinking about going vegetarian, and started doing research on the lifestyle and the benefits of cutting out meat from my diet.

What Prompted Me to Stop Eating Meat?

My main motivation for the choice to become a vegetarian was a scary trip to the hospital my husband, Aaron had taken. They ran all types of tests, at one point thought it had something to do with his heart and that moment scared me enough to want to keep it from ever happening again if it was in my power.

From that moment, we both decided meat wasn't going to be a part of our diet anymore. Aaron has since incorporated some meat back in to his diet but the aim of my cooking remains his (and my) health above all else.

For me, that means definitely no meat and cut back on dairy and eggs as much as possible. For Aaron, it's whatever he thinks sounds good (prepared as healthily as as possible), God bless him... he's so easy to cook for.

Most of the time, he eats whatever I eat. Whether it's something new or something we've had a hundred times, he very rarely complains. He's just along for the ride and loving life.

How I made the transition to cooking vegetarian meals

The easiest way I could think of to convert to a vegetarian diet was to start by replacing the meat in all my favorite recipes

I looked online for vegetarian recipes and there are a lot that have ingredients I've never used before. I wanted something simple, straight forward and easy to follow, and I didn't find very many recipes that sounded 'good' to me.

Instead I researched the best meat replacements for vegetarians and started swapping in different types of beans and products like Morningstar Grillers Recipe crumbles in for the 'meat' component of all my old recipes.

If you've browsed the site, you will notice that a lot of our recipes contain dairy and eggs. At this time, I still eat both, however, I am hard at work putting together egg free, dairy free and vegan versions of all my recipes, as I am trying to cut way back on my consumption of all of the above.

When you first set out on your vegetarian journey there will be so many questions that need answering. What does it mean to become a vegetarian? What foods can I eat? What foods should I avoid? Where do vegetarians get their protein? What's the difference between a vegan and a vegetarian?

There is much more to it than just cutting out meat. Or there should be, at least. The general idea is to get healthier, so it needs to be about making a switch to whole, healthy, natural foods that are nutrient rich and good for you. You will be amazed at how great you feel when you nourish your body with a well balanced meat free diet.

The Why Behind TheSavoryVegetarian.com

In my search for information and tasty recipes for vegetarians, my eyes were opened to a whole world of food we never really tried before. When you cut out meat, you have to find ways to flavor the food and bring out the natural flavors in a blend that will tickle your tastebuds as much as your favorite meat flavors did.

The decision to create TheSavoryVegetarian.com came from my desire to help others like me find easy to understand information about becoming vegetarian, delicious vegetarian recipes and vegetarian cooking and meal planning tips.

I want to share everything I've learned over the past couple of years and everything I continue to learn as I embark on a lifelong journey to live a happy healthy life with my family for as long as I possibly can.

Our aim is to help you understand what vegetarianism is all about, answer your questions about recipes and nutrition and make your life in the kitchen as quick and painless as possible.

I hope you enjoy your stay on our site and that you'll come back often to visit.

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