Most vegetarians I know are very healthy. Even my friend, Gyll, who was a junkfoodarian was pretty healthy. She was a vegetarian who would rarely if ever eat anything that was green and/or leafy. She hated lettuce and other things. She made up for it with vitamin supplements. As long as you eat what you crave, your body will take in most of the nutrients it needs since your body really knows what is best to go into it. If you have a wide and varied diet before going vegetarian it is a lot easier as it gives your instincts more of a palate of meals to choose from to obtain all the nutrients it needs. This was knowledge passed on from my college biology professor and the collective wisdom of several nutritionist majors in school (I never talked to the nutritionist professors but I am sure that is where they got that information from.) It makes sense to me as your body won’t let itself starve if given options with what it will eat.
I don’t know how I would cook for a mixed household. I know he eats a lot of the same veggie dishes that I eat and is satisfied with them but he sometimes just wants the heaviness that meat brings. I also have a ton of chicken recipes that I would hate to see be laid to waste. Is there a non-tofu type of substitute that I could use? I can see changing out the chicken for eggplant but that would soak to much of the juices up. I could also see maybe making things more like ratatouille (YUM!) but not something that could totally replace it for a similar texture that wouldn’t completely soak up the marinade.’
I was vegan for four years, until I moved to China. Being a white-boy there meant I attended a lot of state banquets which involved 99.9% meat and the veggie dishes that were served were expected to remain almost untouched. Besides that, everything was cooked in pork fat. I got fairly sick at first, let me tell you.
After that I went back to being vegeterian (about 3 years later) and remained that way until I ment my previous girlfriend and started eating meat again. That’s a total of 7 years as a veggie! I’m thinking of going back to it again, but I don’t have the time to cook for myself and it’s difficult finding a good vegeterian restaurant near where I work. Plus I love seafood.
Some cooking hints? Sure!
*Tofu is amazing stuff if cooked properly! Try cutting medium firmness into small cubes and then frying it in a small amount of veggie oil until it’s brown and crispy on the outside. These cubes taste pretty good on their own, but they’re even better if put into various sauces. Great in tomato sauce for pasta, or in chili. Remember that tofu is a food that takes up the flavour of whatever it’s in! Make the sauces well-seasoned and the tofu will be great as well. Soya beans are an amazing source of… well… everything. It’s a good idea for vegeterians to get as much of it as possible.
*TVP (texturized vegetable protine) is a good thing to put into chili or soups. It is dried, and you have to rehydrate it, but it ads a great texture to whatever you happen to be making.
That’s it for now. I really should get back to work. =P
Peta Tzunami and I have both been vegetarians for about nine years.
When we first were married, we didn’t eat a lot of meat because, frankly, we couldn’t afford it. Then we started looking a bit into farming practices, and got somewhat disgusted. (THis was prompted by, of all things, the movie City Slickers. I was really bothered by the idea of that poor calf being turned into food.)
Peta and I differ on some matters of principle. We both drink milk, and eat eggs, mostly out of pragmatic reasons. We don’t wear leather or fur or other animal-derived clothing, and try to not buy consumer products tested on animals. Where we differ is that I concede the basically omnivorous nature of human beings. However, to the extent that I am able, I refuse to contribute money to the large-scale factory-farming industry that perpetrates so much cruelty. And, since I can deny myself meat that much, I deny it to myself completely. Plus I feel healthier without out.
Exactly what did you intend to add to a thread entitled “Vegetarian Dopers Check in”, anyway? Are you “checking in” as a vegetarian? Do you want to mention how you once were vegetarian? Do you eat a predominantly vegetarian diet? Are you interested in adopting a vegetarian diet? Do you want to share a vegetarian recipe? What?
Close- I eat vegetarians.
damn, there goes that medal…
five: my 1st big battle, here, “oh-so-long-ago” was with Yosemitebabe and others over vegetarianism, however, this is not the thread to restart that war.
Obviously it is, or you wouldn’t have posted that first cryptic, provocative comment. You would’ve just lurked in the thread, as we all do when we don’t want to post. Don’t be disingenuous.
If you think vegetarianism is unhealthy, morally wrong, contraindicated by the Bible, or otherwise hold anti-vegetarian positions, I for one would love to hear more about them, and this thread seems a perfect soapbox for them.
I’ve been a total vegetarian for about 20 years.
I have very weird blood (one of 13 people on
the planet) and iron gives me trouble. Liver
makes me throw up, and any meat gives me
terrible stomach aches.
I do eat dairy and occasionally eggs (mostly
in restaurants). I look about 10 years younger
than my age and feel great.
So we have two “octo-lacto” vegetarians here…does this actually mean anything? Sounds like you eat milk and octopi, or something. Course, maybe I’m just ignant…
Ovo-lacto-pesco here. The newly veggie sometimes say “how can you call yourself a veggie if you eat fish?”…I say “because I have been my whole life, probably longer than you’ve been alive (in some cases, anyway)”. That shuts em up
I’ve been a lacto-vegetarian for 15 years. I started when I was in college. In the summers I used to work in a seafood restaurant. Every day we would get a delivery of live lobsters. My job was to cut them open in preparation for cooking. I hated it, and decided, “No more lobsters!” Then I started thinking about everything else I ate…
I have a question for the other lacto people here. How do you deal with rennet? A lot of cheeses don’t list whether it is from an animal or microbial source, and it’s a pain in the buttocks to find out. Is there a comprehensive list of companies that use vegetarian rennet?
With all due respect, please, please please. no. Just start a new thread! This has started out to be a “vegetarian dopers check in” thread, it needn’t mutate into a big debate. Then it’ll have to be moved to “Great Debates”!
Ellen, - if you eat a predominantly veggie diet, just say that! You are “mostly” veggie, or “virtually veggie”. Which is something to be quite proud of.
Well, with all due respect, I’ve been a veggie for 14 years, (so I’m not the “newly veggie”) and no - you are not a full vegetarian in my eyes, or in many vegetarians’ eyes. You can call yourself whatever you want, I suppose. And don’t get me wrong - your diet is something to be proud of, and I respect it. But no… According to Vegetarian Times and most other mainstream veggie organizations, “pesco” is not technically part of a vegetarian diet. And all the vegetarian cookbooks and restaurants I’ve encountered do not include any animal flesh in them at all.
I’m sorry, but it’s this sort of self-rightous nonsense that makes meat eaters (or anyone, really) get defensive and not listen to what you have to say. All veggie, part veggie, just-eats-caterpillars-on-Tuesdays veggie, it doesn’t matter. Anyone who forgoes as much meat as they see fit is doing themselves a favor physically and saving the lives of the innocent creatures they DON’T eat. So enough soapboxes, already!
I don’t think you’re reading Yosemitebabe very closely, MamaGeph. She applauds healthy diets and those that limit meat. But if you want to talk defining terms, she’s absolutely correct. A lot of people around here are sticklers for accuracy, you may have noticed. Her response to me very kindly balanced these two points. I see no problem with getting on a soapbox for something you believe in.
Moderator’s Notes: I’m going to step in here with a bit of advice as an attempt to head off what I see as an impending battle.
First, Daniel, I think your initial comment in this thread was totally inappropiate. It appears designed to re-start the exact argument you claim you should get a medal for avoiding. If you were truly showing the restraint you claim, you’d not have posted anything.
Secondly, Daniel, you were correct in noting that this is not the place for resuming that battle; the correct place for that would be the BBQ Pit. I’m sorry though, you still get no medal.
Thirdly, yosemitebabe is also correct in pointing out to Five, that the proper place to air views concerning moral or biblical adjurations against meat would be Great Debates.
Now, as yosemitebabe has asked, everyone just play nice. Don’t make me use the belt on you, it’s leather.
SqrlCub wrote, I also have a ton of chicken recipes that I would hate to see be laid to waste. Is there a non-tofu type of substitute that I could use?
Have you tried “chicken-style” seitan? White Wave brand makes one I like. It comes in irregular chunks that you can cut up or shred much like chicken breast, with a similar chewiness. Of course, the taste will be different, so I would recommend trying it in a highly flavored dish the first time.
Also, tofu can be pretty awful if it isn’t prepared properly. If you want it to absorb a sauce, start with the extra firm variety and press it between a couple plates with a weight to push out a much liquid as possible.
And, as a final warning, stay far away from Tofurky. It is (IMHO) the vilest meat substitue on the market.
Ellen,
I also became a veggie during pregnancy and, after the last one, never went back. (I had the same sort of “y’know, I don’t have to eat this if I don’t want to” revelation.) Do you think there might be some sort of hormonal thing going on? I went from a happy omnivore to being completely disgusted at the thought of ingesting meat. After my third child, it took me a year before a started eating it. Then after the fourth I decided there was no reason to force myself.
My husband gets veggie meals at home, but sometimes eats meat when he is out. He goes for periods when he eats meat frequently and poeriods when he eats almost npone at all. He says he feels healthier without it.
I thought of a good cookbook for people who want to experiment with vegetarian cooking or who are trying to please veg and non-veg diners. The title is Almost Vegetarian: A Primer for Cooks Who Are Eating Vegetarian Most of the Time, Chicken & Fish Some fo the Time & Altogether Well All of the Time. The author is Diana Shaw. Many of the recipes can be made with or without meat-options are given for various protein sources. You can also make things like soups, salads, or sautes and add cooked meat to only part of it.
