A day in the life of a vegetarian diet

So I’ve been vegetarian for around 7 years now and it has been a really interesting time to discover new recipes and meals which I enjoy and are easy to make.

I’m very much the type of person who likes to use as few pots and pans as possible, and even though I love to cook, I don’t like to spend a long time preparing something to eat and messing about with lots and lots of ingredients – this of course makes my weekly shop a lot cheaper too.

Here we have my three main meals for a day and how I make them! Also be sure to head over to Student Life’s TikTok to see the three main meals of the day being created!

Stick around until the end of this article to see a few top tips for making cooking quicker and easier, plus some vegetarian snacks I have in the day too!

Breakfast – Yogurt, Cereal and Fruit

For breakfast I like to have something light and healthy – I’m not the biggest morning person but it is still important to eat breakfast!

My breakfast usually consists of:

• Greek yogurt (about 4 dessert spoons) – you can use fruit yogurt if you prefer or add a little bit of golden syrup to your Greek yogurt
• Fruit (grapes or strawberries)
• Bran flakes (about a handful)
• A glass of fresh orange juice on the side

Lunch – Lettuce, Cheese and Tomato Pitta Melt

At lunch time, I like to do something which is simple to make.

At the moment I am enjoying using pitta bread rather than normal sliced bread at lunch time. The ones I use say they should be used within 24 hours of opening so I keep a few out and store them in the fridge to keep them fresher, and I put the rest in a sandwich bag and freeze them for another day – you can then either pop one straight in the toaster on the defrost setting when you need it, or leave them out to defrost overnight – once they’re defrosted I wouldn’t recommend refreezing, so put them in the fridge to keep them fresher.

To make this super simple lunch I use:

• Pitta bread (1 ripped in half)
• Lettuce (as much as you like really!)
• Tomatoes (I use 1 salad tomato)
• Cheese (a few thin slices)

It’s as easy as chopping everything up, putting it inside the pitta bread, and then microwaving it for around 45 seconds – leave it to cool for a little bit at the tomatoes get quite hot!

Tea/Dinner – No-Pastry Quiche

There lots and lots of things I like to cook at tea time, but here is one really easy example of something nutritious and simple which will make you feel like a pro chef when it’s done!

You will need:

• Cooking oil
• Vegetables (I used some pepper, onion, aubergine, mushrooms and tomatoes) – you can use any veg really
• Eggs (I used two medium eggs)
• Seasoning (herbs/black pepper/salt)
• Grated cheese (I used about half a standard sized mug of grated cheese)
• Milk (about half a standard sized mug)

1. Chop up the pepper, onions, aubergine and mushrooms into small pieces and stir fry them in some oil until they go a little soft
2. Chop the tomatoes into larger chunks
3. Transfer the veg into an oven-safe dish and add the tomato chunks
4. In a separate bowl whisk together milk, eggs, cheese and a teaspoon of herbs – season with a little bit of salt and pepper
5. Pour the eggy mixture over the vegetables in the oven-safe dish
6. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes on 180°C (fan) or until golden brown

I served mine with mini baked potatoes and salad – to make the mini baked potatoes:

1. Wash a few potatoes and rub them with a little bit of margarine and a sprinkle of salt
2. Bake them in the oven for about 30 minutes – this depends on the size of them so keep checking if they are soft by sticking a sharp knife into them

I let the other half of the quiche cool down completely and then covered it with clingfilm, and put it in the fridge – I had it cold with plain crackers the next day for lunch!

Snacks

• Rather than having crisps with my lunch I like to save them and have them as a snack at another time in the day
• Having a piece of fruit like an apple, banana or a big tomato (everyone thinks I’m odd for eating a big tomato like an apple, don’t worry lol!)
• After my tea I sometimes like to have a hot chocolate and a chocolate treat – I find Cadbury’s to be really reliable at stating whether their products are suitable for vegetarians
• Don’t forget to drink LOTS of water, especially now it’s getting much warmer

Top Tips (to make your cooking life easier!)

• I always try to wash-up and clean as I go – having a tidy workspace makes cooking much easier + you don’t have to do as much tidying after you’ve eaten!
• I like to save time later in the week by chopping up vegetables when they’re fresh from the shop – things like broccoli, pepper, aubergine and cauliflower are so much easier to store in the fridge if they are in tupperware boxes as they stack so easily in the fridge
• Also don’t forget things like sliced bread and pitta bread can be popped in the freezer and either toasted or defrosted when you need them = much less yucky mouldy bread

Don’t miss out on my other article with a ‘week’s meal plan’ (both meat options and vegetarian options available!) – linked below…

Remember to check out the Student Life TikTok page to see the meals being created!

Enjoy!