No I don't
but if hard pressed I could probably come up with a vegetarian sausage roll ....... it wouldn't be sausage of course but it might look similar from the outside.

I'm a dab hand now at making various veggie quiches. All trademark fillings but sometimes I cheat with the pastry and buy the ready made stuff !!!! Saves me lots of time and always comes out "puffy" !

Iron in the Vegan Diet
by Reed Mangels, Ph.D., R.D


http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/iron.htm



Table 1: Iron Content of Selected Vegan Foods

Food Amount Iron (mg)

Soybeans, cooked 1 cup 8.8
Blackstrap molasses 2 Tbsp 7.2
Lentils, cooked 1 cup 6.6
Spinach, cooked 1 cup 6.4
Quinoa, cooked 1 cup 6.3
Tofu 4 ounces 6.0
Bagel, enriched 3 ounces 5.2
Tempeh 1 cup 4.8
Lima beans, cooked 1 cup 4.4
Swiss chard, cooked 1 cup 4.0
Black beans, cooked 1 cup 3.6
Pinto beans, cooked 1 cup 3.5
Turnip greens, cooked 1 cup 3.2
Chickpeas, cooked 1 cup 3.2
Potato 1 large 3.2
Kidney beans, cooked 1 cup 3.0
Prune juice 8 ounces 3.0
Beet greens, cooked 1 cup 2.7
Tahini 2 Tbsp 2.7
Veggie hot dog 1 hot dog 2.7
Peas, cooked 1 cup 2.5
Black-eyed peas, cooked 1 cup 2.3
Cashews 1/4 cup 2.1
Brussels sprouts, cooked 1 cup 1.9
Bok choy, cooked 1 cup 1.8
Bulgur, cooked 1 cup 1.7
Raisins 1/2 cup 1.6
Almonds 1/4 cup 1.5
Apricots, dried 15 halves 1.4
Veggie burger, commercial 1 patty 1.4
Watermelon 1/8 medium 1.4
Soy yogurt 6 ounces 1.1
Tomato juice 8 ounces 1.0
Green beans, cooked 1 cup 1.2
Kale, cooked 1 cup 1.2
Sunflower seeds 1/4 cup 1.2
Broccoli, cooked 1 cup 1.1
Millet, cooked 1 cup 1.1
Sesame seeds 2 Tbsp 1.0

thank you for that, Ironporer.
My daughter eats eggs and all dairy produce, but all the info for vegans is useful and I know she eats a lot of what is listed. She's still a bit anaemic, though....

Why go for meat type products if a vegetarian??????? Sorry, but something that "tastes" of meat, i.e. Linda McCartney products, are to me taking the p*ss, if you are vegetarian you do not eat meat, nothing more need be said !

Those Quorn products are in my view just convenience food. They are made from mushroom myco protein apparently, and are supposed to be good for you (low in fat).
Why the big hoo-haa about a vegetarian product in the shape of a sausage?
I've eaten jelly bean bears, it doesn't mean I hanker after eating bear. (I wonder though...)

My missus is a veggie and we tend to eat mostly veggie at home, quorn occasionally but it's about €4.40 a bag so a bit pricey.
Where we are there are a lot of good restaurants that cater for veggies too so eating out is fine.
If you want the best veg too, go to a market. The supermarket veg stays on the shelf until it's gone black. Other than that, buy a good veggie cookbook and you're away, everything's here!

Good luck with the move!

Ste.

They are marketed to new veggies who initially find it hard to adjust.

Simlar to products for people who want to give up smoking.

There are different levels of veggies, not all buy/use products seen in major retailers.

Best veggie dish i`ve had in Spain was a Paella in Valencia.

Trouble is a lot of people do say 'I am vegetarian' when they really mean they don't eat a lot of meat, or they only eat fish. The only products I eat that are not vegetable are dairy and eggs I would not class myself as vegetarian - eggs don't grow on trees and milk generally is not a plant extract. I sometime wish people would just say 'I don't eat a lot of meat' then there would be less confusion. I rarely eat out having worked as a refrigeration engineer in the 80s I know how disgusting the food behind the scenes in restaurants can be. I did eat out in Italy a few years ago on a work related trip and puked all night after eating a couple of forkfulls of a vegetarian cheese pasta dish that had a distinct taste of pigywiggy, that brought home just how little tolerance I now have to bacteria..not sure that is a good thing. I really don't care if my food is sausage or burger shaped as what it looks like is irrelevant but I can't get my head round the Linda McCartney stuff either - I have never liked the taste of meat and it seems daft to try and make vegetables taste like meat but I guess a lot of vegetarians must like the stuff or they wouldn't keep on making it. I have brought up 4 children who were free to eat meat but have not done so, not had any problems with iron deficiencies at all apart from a few supplements during pregnancy but that is not unique to people who don't eat meat. I have only eaten out once in Galicia and was served a green salad without any fish or meat and with rather nice English shaped chips. Eating at home we do miss the convenience of veggie hotdog sausages and quorn pieces for our kids but personally I prefer meals made from raw ingredients. Some of the locals here tell us we are very sensible as their doctors often tell them to cut down on the amount of meat they eat but they do still think we are mad for not wanting to eat meat - their big fella gave them dominion over the beast so the beasts are there to be abused and eaten as they wish seems to be the heart of the matter. It is a shame really that the attitude does not extend to caring for the beasts very much - pretty much every house has a horrid corner with a dozen half feathered skinny hens squashed into a little cage barely big enough for a couple of finches, ducks and turkeys etc get to wander about in a little muddy patch but rarely look to be in good condition, pigs sheep cows etc do a little better...why the poor treatment of birds I don't know, the locals ay our gallinas libre are muy guappa but still treat theirs appalingly. A friend asked what their scabby threadbare neighbors donkey was called recently - 'no name it is a work tool' their tiny little excuse for a dog is treated with much more respect as it is a status symbol. Being vegetarian in Spain is not a problem unless you like eating out a lot however being an animal lover can be.

If you don't eat meat and fish you are classed as vegetarian, even if you eat eggs and dairy products.
If you don't eat food which has anything to do with animals etc then you are vegan. My son is vegan and will not wear animal hide products or silk shirts, will only drink beer or wine, use toothpaste, soap and soap powders etc that he thoroughly researched the contents of.

I'm female and have been veggie for 32 years now, have never taken any iron supplements and have never suffered from anaemia. I also have low cholesterol and have never been overweight either, even tho I eat like a horse and always have done! I eat loads of iron-rich vegetables, pulses etc, all as Ironporer has given you above.
For me, even in Spain, home catering is not an issue, it's the eating out that presents problems.
With regards to "meat substitute" type products, they are useful if, for example, you go to a BBQ and have to "bring your own" or if you are catering for a non-veggie partner/guests. I guess most of us veggies became so after x number of years of meat-eating and so the use of something that looks like a sausage/burger is sometimes convenient...not for the taste...but for bulking out a casserole or making a veggie toad-in-the-hole or something. The ones I buy eg Quorn, LM veggie burgers etc don't actually taste of meat...they just take on the flavour of whatever you are cooking with.
Eating out in Italy when I went last year was an absolute dream for me!

You don´t say where in Spain you´re moving to. I´ve been living in Madrid for over a month now, and I´ve found it pretty easy! Admittedly, there have been the predictable meals in restaurants where I´ve found ham (remember that to the Spanish, ham is not a "meat", it´s a whole food group all of its own!), but otherwise I´ve found plenty of tapas and raciones. Then there always pizza places!

I´ve found soya milk in lots of little convenience stores and most supermarkets.

I´ve also found a mini supermarket called "NaturSi" which, whilst not being totally veggie, is completely organic and has stacks of veggie stuff. Tofu, soya mince, fake meats, veggie cheese, lots of vegan stuff, brown rice (also hard to find in normal supermarkets). Needless to say, it´s more expensive but...!!

It´s difficult but not impossible I guess. The hardest thing is trying to get through to the Spanish that yes, vegetarian really does mean that you don´t eat meat, fish or HAM!!!

I know that a vegetarian, a true vegetarian, don't eat meat, nor fish nor ham etc etc etc, but in our gastronomy, and mainly in a sector of our gastronomy as it is the mediterranean diet (Dieta Mediterranea) I believe that a vegetarian would not have problems. The mediterranean diet is usually composed of green vegetables, vegetables, legumes and fish. With the fish,l the great abundance of vegetables in our gastronomy I don't believe that it supposes problems for a vegetarian. I am omnivorous, I eat of everything, I love vegetables, fruits, but for me, for example, it is inconceivable a plate of lentils without chorizo

By the way, all the meats are not same thing. I have a special predilection for the chicken meat or turkey, without " grasa ", more light. Another meat, and this if that don't have " grasa ", it is the rabbit meat. The fish not has " grasa ". These are the meats that more I consume. There are other types of meat, as the hunt meat that is darker and energy

And there we see eexactly why vegetarians can find things so difficult here - the absolute inability to accept that fish doesn't count as vegetable matter....despite having apparently understood that in the opening sentence.

In the mediterranean diet, is tradition that there is fish or shellfish in some plates, but it is not necessarily obligatory. It is something similar to France with the cheese. What you want to eat fish it is your personal decision. Like I said, I am omnivorous, I eat everything, but if I wanted tomorrow I make myself 100% vegetarian. No problem, a visit to the local market of the Wednesdays (or to any supermarket, but I prefer to buy outdoors) in my city and I already have vegetables for the whole week

Noone is questioning the fantastic range and quality of fruit and veg available in markets.

However that choice is unfortunately often not reflected in the options available at bars and restaurants.