Vegetarians ( and Vegans ) Thread!!!

[yankeedoodle300]

Vegetarians And Vegans Alike, Discuss your Troubles and Triumphs In this thread!

My Veggie Brethren, Unite!

 

[glowgirl]

Yay! I didn't think I would find a veg thread on BYC!!!! My whole family was vegan and we originally got the chickens to take care of a huge spider and slug problem we had. It is kind of funny because we gather the eggs but no one really wants to eat them. Luckily our pullets are not laying much. Maybe by next spring we will have acclimated to the idea of eating eggs.

Great to see some veg heads on here!

 

[mjbws]

My daughter and I are vegans!!! Yayyyy! I just found this thread

Lsky, you have GREAT information and I applaud you for getting it out there! Keep educating!!!

 

[AquaEyes]

I'm a "sorta" vegetarian/vegan. For me, it's about a combination of health and trying to do something to reduce my impact on the planet and its resources, as well as using my dollar to vote for how food is raised. I started a few years ago, basically eating vegan except that I'd eat animal products that were as close to being "pastured organic farm-to-fork" as possible. These sources of animal protein are naturally more expensive than conventional, so I balanced that by eating them much more rarely. In essence, if I used to spend X dollars on meat/dairy/egg eating conventional, I'd spend the same amount on the "pastured organic farm-to-fork" products but have less of it. I'd fill out the rest of my diet with a greater amount of vegan foods. So most of my meals were strictly vegan, but I'd do a meat-purchase once every month or two, and have occasional meat meals. I rarely touched dairy, mostly because I rarely did before anyway. And I was able to get some nice "truly" free-range eggs (as in, the chickens were on grass during the day and cooped at night), but I was never much of an egg eater before, and they were mostly for baking. I like eggs, don't get me wrong, but I don't really crave them. Oh, and I ate seafood, but tried to choose species that were low on the food chain and weren't among the species currently being overfished (finding those was rather hard).

When I moved to Buffalo and started school again, it became much harder for a myriad of reasons, so I cheat a lot more now -- and the effect on my waistline is ever apparent. I am looking forward to going back to my way of eating next year, when I'll have a car again and can make more of my own food.

My favorite breakfast was a multi-grain hot cereal, cooked in Vanilla Edensoy-Extra soymilk instead of water, and mashed banana in the cooking liquid. When it was done, I'd throw in frozen mixed berries. I also had a juicer and went through a lot of veggies that way, sometimes using the liquid with protein powder and fruit as a meal replacement if I didn't have time to make my hot cereal. I like to cook, and I'd often make big mounding plates of roasted root veggies, and I'd experiment with any weird grain or legume I'd find. I'd also make a pot of what I called my "weekend-fare" which was a big pot of two kinds of grains and two kinds of legumes, cooked in a vegetable stock and soup mix, with one or two kinds of dark leafy greens and one or two red/orange/yellow veggies mixed in. I'd vary it up with wine-reconstituted dried mushrooms, miso paste, tomato paste, or whatever. Oh, and truffle oil is a huge hit with me, as are many other kinds of oils and vinegars. It'd be a big, wet mess in a bowl, but it tasted sooooo good. I'd eat two or three bowls as a meal. In fact, the actual volume of food I'd go through is astonishing -- but it worked out to fewer calories when it was all added up than when I ate more meat. And, since I haven't been eating that way as much as I used to, that's how I gained about 20 pounds since becoming a student again over the last 2 1/2 years -- I was used to eating big portions, but now the food is higher in calories.

There's a book that taught me a lot about foods I hadn't really tried until I changed how I ate, and I have bought it several times over the years because I keep giving it away. It's called "Passionate Vegetarian" and the author is Crescent Dragonwagon. You can find it at Amazon.com.

So I know I'm not a true veggie, but I've tried to eat as many veggie meals as possible -- they're better for me, and better for the planet. I guess I'm kind of like a bear when it comes to my diet -- a mostly vegetarian omnivore who is opportunistically carnivorous.

 

[Athaid]

1.5 acres can produce 37,000 pounds of plant-based food.​

1.5 acres can produce 375 pounds of meat.​

 

[Athaid]

Sounds like you have it tougher than me. My sister has been vegetarian for a few years now, and my mother has never really eaten meat, or dairy (It makes her sick). And we have never used real leather of fur. Nor do we go to "shows" or events which exploit animals. So, we've always eaten a lot of vegi/vegan food anyway. I have struggled a lot with giving up dairy. Meat and eggs were easy, but giving up cheese and cream has been a real struggle. When my sister does the shopping and buys cheese I get really angry with her, as she knows what goes on in the dairy industry. She has cut it back quite a lot though and hopefully one day will make a full transition to a vegan diet. I'm a teenager, so I still live at home. I had a really great vegi curry for lunch, which I made with my mum. I think it's important to cook good food, to show other people that there is a lot of different options available, besides "just salad". My other family members are okay with it, but I live right next to my aunt, uncle, and younger cousins - who live on a farm. I think they think I'm just fussy or over-sensitive. But I know that what I am doing is right, so I don't really care what anyone else thinks.

If I had children and someone fed them animal products I would be furious with them. Maybe if you wrote down some vegan recipes and food you and your daughter could eat and gave it to your MIL that would help? She's your daughter, and your MIL should respect that. If someone lets you babysit their child and tells you not to let them watch horror films, then you shouldn't let them watch horror films. Why is this any different?

We're rescuing some ex-battery hens in a couple of months time. I too have been doing a lot of research on them. I think they're beautiful and interesting creatures, why not just keep them as pets? I am going to try to feed the eggs back to the hens before my family reaches them lol

 

[VeggieGoneEggie]

Hi all! Vegetarian since 2009, vegan since 2010. Have my first flock of 3-week-old and 2-week-old chicks! Eggs will be fed back to chickens, my dogs, any friends and family and neighbors who want them, my vegetarian husband - and honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if I eat some too, we'll see (I still won't eat commercially produced eggs!). I actually read somewhere that a new "label" for vegans who eat eggs is "veggans." Ha!

 

[iAye]

I've been a vegetarian for about 7-8 years now? I started some time between when I was 8 or 9 years old so I don't remember when really. I didn't find it that hard to do especially after seeing certain pictures and videos if you know what I mean. I know there's humanely raised animals for meat now but it still doesn't sit right with me. Trying to be vegan was a whole different story though, it was too hard to be that strict with everything but I still think about it once in a while. I find people are more uptight about eating meat around me than I am about them doing it which is definitely weird. It's always them apologizing for it even though it doesn't bother me since it's their choice and as long as they can respect mine too we're all good. I have gotten the panic stricken faces though when people have offered me meat forgetting that I'm a vegetarian. The only time it really gets in the way at all is when I'm out with friends and McD's/Burger King/DQ etc are the only places around and I haven't had a thing to eat for 20+ hours. Slim pickins on those menus and not a lot of alternatives most of the time.

 

[bella1210]

i am one i have been for a few weeks

 

[Mattemma]

I went vegetarian a few weeks ago.I tried vegan but slipped on 2 basic things-milk in my coffee and Lifeway Kefir. I am back to vegan.Been browsing the Everything Vegan book,and there are a lot of good recipes in there.I also got a book on the best veggie burgers since I love the bean and grain sandwiches. I have not found it hard to be meatless. I still do the chicken for dd,cook eggs,or make stuffed grape leaves with meat for dh. Not a big deal.

I have read a lot into what animals go through.It does make me sad,but I won't lecture anyone on it.I have mentioned it to family,but not to make them ill during their meat meals,lol.

I am liking all the alternative *milks* . I have yet to try hemp *milk*,but so far my favorite is homemade oat *milk*.Unfortunately nothing has been good in my coffee,so I am trying to drink that black. I will try to grow some kefir in one of the alternative milks.

I have been checking out indian,asian,and middle eastern stores and trying their recipes. I love making vegan crepes and stuffing them with a variety of things from preserves to veggies. I like honey,especially honey comb even though it is not vegan,but agave is good too.Have not tried the rice syrup.I like sweet miso too.And UME paste(ground pickled plums) is good mixed onto steamed veggies.Makes a good salad dressing too.

Looking forward to checking my cholesterol numbers in a few months even though I know not everyone on a meatless diet drops numbers.I did drop last time I was meatless....then summer came and barbacues.Anyone see a drop in their numbers or other health benefits?