[LeatherFace]

Hey guys, I just finished reading Fast Food Nation and I have stopped eating meat because I am so traumatized by what finds its way into meat. I'm thinking if I really get a craving, I'll do some free range chicken or something, but moos and oinks are out of the picture. So my question is: Now what?

How do I eat?

 

[VTinCT]

In all seriousness, pm Sista Kreep. By far one of the best veggie cooks I've known! She loves to hook up the good eats!

Lucky me!

 

[spokedwheel]

Welcome,

Now be prepared to ask what's in everything at a buffet and studying the ingredients on a can/box of anything. There are quite a few great cookbooks out there for vegies, and now it's becoming more"popular" so it's alot easier to eat out and shop for.

I personally eat alot of fish and tofu for my protein source, I also eat alot of beans like rice&beans and peanut butter. Pick your vegies for iron also,I think brocolli(sp?) is a good source of iron?

I'm no expert on nutrition but I have been a fish eating vegie for 12 years and have found what works for me. You'll figure out your own needs as you go along.

Originally posted by LeatherFace
Hey guys, I just finished reading Fast Food Nation and I have stopped eating meat because I am so traumatized by what finds its way into meat. I'm thinking if I really get a craving, I'll do some free range chicken or something, but moos and oinks are out of the picture. So my question is: Now what?

How do I eat?

 

[RideMonkey]

Leatherface Vegetarian Phase ----> 5 days left.

 

[LeatherFace]

Originally posted by RideMonkey
Leatherface Vegetarian Phase ----> 5 days left.

What do I get if I make it past the 5 days? Should we have a countdown ticker?

 

[JOJO]

I was a veggie for 9 years... but couldnt get enough calories or protein (due to my own laziness about cooking ) but it is important to make sure you are getting complete proteins if you are not eating any animal source.... So beans alone wont do it... you need to combine beans and rice.... Grains and legumes.....etc etc etc...


A really good book to read about nutrition in general is Eating Well for Optimal Health by Dr. Andrew Weil.... not vegetarian specific but still a good source.

I think BMXMan is another good source for vegetarian info

 

[Sniper]

Originally posted by spokedwheel
Welcome,

Now be prepared to ask what's in everything at a buffet and studying the ingredients on a can/box of anything. There are quite a few great cookbooks out there for vegies, and now it's becoming more"popular" so it's alot easier to eat out and shop for.

I personally eat alot of fish and tofu for my protein source, I also eat alot of beans like rice&beans and peanut butter. Pick your vegies for iron also,I think brocolli(sp?) is a good source of iron?

I'm no expert on nutrition but I have been a fish eating vegie for 12 years and have found what works for me. You'll figure out your own needs as you go along.

this is very encouraging. i've been vegetarian for about a month now, the longest i've ever managed to stick with it. i still eat fish though and was not sure if i could get away w/that. what about shellfish? shrimp, crab, lobster, oysters.......that fall under the fish category?

 

[ReardenMtl]

Originally posted by astral


this is very encouraging. i've been vegetarian for about a month now, the longest i've ever managed to stick with it. i still eat fish though and was not sure if i could get away w/that. what about shellfish? shrimp, crab, lobster, oysters.......that fall under the fish category?

Congrats on your current veg state! This is kinda weird, but technically shrimp, crabs and lobsters are part of the arachnid family (basically they're sea spiders). But I consider them "of the sea", hence seafood (kinda like I call all carbonated beverages "Coke"). But that's just me.

I'm not sure there are officially sanctioned (or even "hard-and-fast") rules on being a vegetarian because some people are totally no-animals-or-animal-byproducts (which would rule out fish and cheese), and some just give up land animals, and some just give up red meat. It think there was a HUGE thread on "meat is murder" that covers the finer distinctions.

I'm not a vegetarian by any means (maybe a "binge vegetarian" because I'd give up meat for Lent and just get used to not eating it, so it would stick for a few months. Or just whenever I feel like giving up meat), but I DO know it's easier to be a "vegetarian" in some places than others. I used to live in Texas, and even though they started putting up a lot more Whole Foods stores, you used to have to drive across town to get some decent options. Now that I live in SoCal, it's like every grocery store has tons of vegetarian fare.

It's kinda cool to think that maybe primo vegetarian cooking is being passed down secretly, like a closely-guarded, deadly martial art, practiced in dark, steamy kitchens by only a handful of masters and their most trusted students (a veritable culinary veg-fu)--but hopefully there are some decent cookbooks/guidebooks and websites to help.

Sorry, I'm rambling . . . sleep deprivation wreaks havoc on your monologue control.

Oh, and I'm still not a vegetarian, because I fly Fatburger when I'm way out west.

 

[Jr_Bullit]

Okay...I'm an ex-veggie (I still can only stomach white meat on a small basis buttt...)

Anywhoo, my leaving the meat-eater family while I was in highschool because the meat itself was making me sick...body couldn't handle so much of it, got my parents thinking about eating healthier...

As a side note...have you looked into the new all natural beef and pork and venison and ostrich products available for meat eaters that want to be healthier. Supposedly (and I don't eat this stuff so this is all 2nd hand) the free range beef/pig/chicken/ostrich/venison etc is actually preservative free and wayy better for your body than store bought stuff.

Just a thought, there's a place about 50miles away from me that does this, and my parents are going to get me some free-range chicken and maybe pork from there to try and see if I like it any better.

 

[hellokitty]

Good luck with going veggie. My experience with trying to be totally vegetarian started with reading Upton Sinclair's The Jungle. It ended with an enormous taco craving about a year later.

I don't consider myself a vegeterian now, but I don't like red meat and I only occasionally eat chicken and some other meats. My body just doesn't digest animal proteins well. I get a lot of my proteins from dairy and nuts or legumes, which when combined make a complete protein. (A peanut-butter sandwich and a glass of milk is the most basic, and my favorite, combination.) I've also started getting more protein from soy. I add soy protein powder to shakes and smoothies. (Since moving to Southern California I've discovered Jamba Juice. And what's great is they provide the nutritional values, so you can see your calories vs. fat.) My most recent quick-and-easy breakfast has been no-fat vanilla yogurt with Kellog's Smart Start w/ Soy cereal mixed in. I have a very high metabolism and need the extra protein in the morning; if I have just carbs, like a bagle, or the cereal alone, I'm hungry again in an hour.

Spinach is a good veggie source of iron. I get the baby green leaves and add them to my garden salads. A salad with a bit of feta cheese and some almonds or walnuts thrown in is yummmmy. I also like peanuts or cashews mixed with rice (and a bit of Thai spicy peanut dressing.)

I'm not a huge fan of tofu, but I will eat it occasionally.

Oh, and for my fried-food cravings, Better Homes and Gardens' Vegetarian Recipes cookbook has a crispy eggplant thing. There's also a stuffed shells recipe that uses a tofu and cheese mix, and lots of good salads.

There are so many options out there for vegetarians. Diners and places like Denny's offer veggie burgers now, that, at a place like Denny's, taste just as fatty and delicious as a real burger. I think Burger King even has a veggie burger now, but I've heard it's pretty gross.

Does anyone else have any suggestions?

 

[syadasti]

One of the more famous veggie resturants is the Moosewood Restaurant in Ithaca, NY. They have several very good cookbooks you can order online. When I lived in Ithaca, I often ate there. I, however, am an omnivore by nature and do not think I can defy 2 million years of evolution in less than 1 generation I do eat healthy and the healthfood store is my favorite place to shop (damnit, why won't they built a Whole Foods Supermarket in my area ) I wonder if most veggie's know that processed food can legally have a certain percentage of by-products (things like insects, insect eggs, etc...). For example, if you ever look at things like juice nutrition labels, they also contain some insects and this is listed as protein (but not listed as an ingredient - its legal too hard to eliminate things like worms in apples). Isn't it fun to learn about food processing

 

[MtnBikerChk]

Originally posted by VTinCT
In all seriousness, pm Sista Kreep. By far one of the best veggie cooks I've known! She loves to hook up the good eats!

Lucky me!

hhmmm, I've seen her eat beef!

 

[monkeywrench]

Originally posted by hellokitty
but I don't like red meat

I've got only one thing to say...IN 'N OUT BURGER DOUBLE DOUBLE, mmmmmm. :love: :heart: :heart:

 

[BMXman]

Originally posted by JOJO
I think BMXMan is another good source for vegetarian info

why thank you...as for more info on eating healthier, just go to google and type in vegatarian lifestyles and you will get over 10,000 hits...I frequent a few but they are Vegan sites so I can't really recommend a vegetarian site but I'm sure there's a ton out there......D