Vegetarian and/or vegan members of BYC!

[fldiver97]

Thanks for the recipes....Have to try the carrot dip and the veggie burgers. I usually bring my lunch to work, nice to have more ideas and options.....

One thing I used to make when I lived in Florida, friends and co-workers liked them too:

Veggie wraps - one day I had a bunch of Tortilla left over and I started throwing stuff together:
large Tortilla/whole wheat tortilla
spread some cream cheese (or Tofutti fake cream cheese) on it
sprinkle with shredded cheese,
shredded carrots,
sprouts of your choice
Cut marinated and sauteed Portobello mushroom in finger size strips and place a couple of strips in center of Tortilla
a couple of spears of asparagus (steamed&marinated or canned will work) next to the mushroom

Fold the ends over a bit and roll/wrap. Don't overload the tortilla, otherwise it'll 'explode' and be messy to eat
I used to refrigerate them and eat them instead of sandwiches, they can be warmed a bit though.

 

[DianeB]

By design we are slightly modified fruitivores. Meat is something we can include in our diet but not a requirement.

 

[AngieChick]

Thank you Lady for that recipe, I am going to copy it down and make it.

Tonight I made crepes for the first time, we had them with a filling of small fried potato pieces and cooked broccoli rahb (sp), topped off with a nice white sauce. Yummy and very simple. Consensus was that it's definitely a repeat meal.

 

[mom'sfolly]

I'm omnivorous, but I try to eat what I consider an ethical diet. This includes sustainably raised fruits and vegetables, beef and pork from farmers I know and trust, fish from wild, well managed sources, etc. While I can't do this completely, I try. I also have many friends who are vegetarians for various reasons; ethical, religious and health. Many of my friends are from India, where for thousands of years people have been raising families without meat. I also have several friends with gluten intolerances. When I have a party, we always have a variety of food choices, meat and vegetarian, and wheat free. I want my friends to have fun, to eat well and to not get sick from what is served.

I've never understood the hostility some people have to vegetarians, especially to raising veg-head children. It simply isn't that hard to eat a healthy plant based diet. The only way I've ever managed to loose weight is to eat a low fat vegetarian diet, and the lowfat is definitely the harder part of the equation.

I'm off to work on my veggie garden. I've got to fence it off from the dear little chickies, who regard it as prime dust bathing territory.

 

[77horses]

1. How long have you been vegetarian?
All my life so far and I plan on being one for the rest of my life...Haven't had a piece of meat ever (not purposefully anyway, maybe once in a great while by mistake...)


2. Why did you choose to go vegetarian?
At first I didn't choose. I was born a Vegetarian and I just went along with it because my siblings and parents were also. Then I learned more about it and now I stay Vegetarian for not only my health but also because I just can't bring myself to eat meat when I know that it used to be a living, breathing animal that had to die in order for it to be there on a plate for someone to eat when there are so many other-better-options. It's my choice because I just can't help feeling bad for the animals and it just makes me feel guilty and I choose not to. I do it for my health because a study was done to a group of people (one group were Vegetarians, the other were meat-eaters). They recorder what they ate and everything for a certain amount of time (I don't know the details, I just read it somewhere a while ago in an article) and the results were that most everyone in the Vegetarian group were much healthier than most everyone in the meat-eaters group. The Vegetarians were less likely to become obese, get diabetes, have heart disease (which is linked to eating meat, I have heard), etc etc etc... Where do I get my protein, you might ask? Yes, I have had many people say that meat is full of vital proteins and everything and if you don't eat it you won't get enough protein. True, meat does have a lot of protein. But "veggie-meat" has just as much protein as real meat, only "veggie-meat" is way healthier and more natural and organic. Also, the Vegetarian food made today is delicious! I absolutely hate it when people accuse it as being "nasty and disgusting because it's made of soybeans" and I hate it when they claim that "tofu is disgusting-looking and tastes plain and nasty". True, eating tofu plain isn't very appetizing, but when you make it with something else and add seasoning and everything, it will taste much better, just like many other foods (duh!). Most all of the Vegetarian "meat" made today is delicious. Some may not be as much as others (I've tried different brands of veggie burgers and some of them aren't very tasty to me, but others are really good!), and it also depends on how it's cooked. My mom is a great cook and makes amazing food with Vegetarian "meat". Some people who are trying to become a Vegetarian for the first time will buy a meat-less Vegetarian product, such as veggie bacon, and will cook it until it's completely dark brown or black. I've learned that Vegetarian bacon tastes horrible, in my opinion, when it's burned or overcooked. It tastes best when slightly browned and crispy, but not completely hard and dark brown/black. But someoene who is just beginning a Vegetarian lifestyle won't really know that and will try that cooked bacon and discover that it tastes horrible. And if they've heard people say how bland and disgusting veggie "meat" is (which is really a lie!), they will believe it and think that all veggie "meats" are nasty, like they've heard. Trust me, I've seen it before. First impressions when trying to be a Vegetarian for the first time are important, in my opinion.
But anyway, I am a Vegetarian and always will be because I believe that the food is delicious (better than real meat, my mom says...she used to eat meat and now she says that veggie "meat" is way better-and healthier-than real meat!), it's a healthier lifestyle and I refuse to stand by and let millions of animals suffer everyday just to fulfill people's taste buds. I know I'm not a major activists person and that by not eating meat it isn't a major help to animals who are killed everyday for meat, but it's at least some help(especially when combined with other people who are Vegetarians) and it's a million times better than eating meat and contributing to the killing and suffering of animals. But I'm not only a Vegetarian because animals are killed. It's the way they are treated at factory farms before they are killed. It's horrible, wrong, and something that I won't contribute to.


3. Has raising and caring for poultry changed your opinion of farm animals, or helped affirm your vegetarian lifestyle?
It has helped affirm my Vegetarian lifestyle (lifestyle, not diet...many people think of it as a diet, but it's simply a lifestyle choice), because now I better understand that chickens aren't just there to lay eggs and be killed for meat (I already knew this, but now I can better explain why it is true). They aren't just birds that walk around and peck at the ground and eat and lay eggs and aren't useful for anything else. They are wonderful pets that not only help by giving us free eggs (which I eat rather than store-bought eggs, which mostly come from those poor battery hens...), but they also help me have more fun and enjoy more things. For example, I enjoy coming on BYC to talk about my chickens and other things and if I didn't have chickens, I wouldn't be here. I also have so much fun with the chickens that we have because they all have different personalities and each day I am with them, I learn something new about them and they all do small things everyday to make my day better. If I'm having a bad day, I just go out to the chicken coops and visit the chickens and they cheer me up. Their friendly clucking and humorous antics make me happier and I just love spending time with them. And I would never be able to eat any one of our chickens, even if they were the last thing in the world to eat. This may sound silly, but the bond I have with them is too strong and killing and eating one of them would be like killing and eating one of our dogs. It just wouldn't be right for either one. But it's not only for our chickens that I have that soft spot for; it's for all chickens everywhere, whether I know them or not. But even the chickens that are killed at factory farms and sold at stores that I never and will never know, it feels wrong to eat them because I know that if my chickens have different personalities and deserve a happy life, so do other chickens everywhere. A production battery hen in a cramped cage is no different than my favorite Red Star hen, Cinnamon. The only difference is how they live, how they are treated, their personalities, etc. But they are still both hens and if I care so much for my little Cinnamon, I'm sure that I can care for that poor battery hen whether I know her or not. And if I refuse to eat any of our beloved chickens, I refuse to eat any chickens-or any animal, in that case-at all. This may not be the same for many people, but it's true for me. For some who don't own chickens or other livestock, they may not understand why I feel this way. But that's because they've never had the experience of raising chickens and caring for them and bonding with them. With caring comes respect. And I care for my chickens and have respect-and care-enough not to eat them.

4. What are some of your favorite foods?
Some of my favorite veggie "meat" foods are the veggie chik'n nuggets, veggie "Wham" (it's not sold in many places but we get it every here for the holidays and it's so good!),veggie chik patties, veggie hot dogs, veggie burgers (especially the grillers prime kind by the Morning Star brand), veggie sausage patties (again from the Morning Star brand), veggie bacon, etc etc etc.........there are sooo many varieties and I'm getting hungry just thinking about them!

In fact my mom showed me a recipe of Vegetarian hot pockets that looks really good and we're going to try it.

Sorry I write so long, lol I just start typing and things pop into my head that I think I should mention. I don't really remember a lot that I write until I go back and look it over. But you guys have inspired me to write a lot now and I couldn't help getting it all out.

Anyone making a Vegetarian dinner tonight?

Have fun and I didn't know there were so many Vegetarians/Vegans on BYC!

 

[77horses]

I've never understood the hostility some people have to vegetarians, especially to raising veg-head children. It simply isn't that hard to eat a healthy plant based diet. The only way I've ever managed to loose weight is to eat a low fat vegetarian diet, and the lowfat is definitely the harder part of the equation.

I agree. "meat-eaters" have been raised to believe that eating meat is "the normal thing to do". They have been raised on meat and believe it's what everyone does and that Vegetarians are "different". Yeah, sure Vegetarianism is fairly new and there are probably more meat-eaters in the world, but more and more people are becoming Vegetarians and I hope that someday there will be more Vegetarians than meat-eaters.

 

[PurpleChicken]

After eating KFC for dinner tonight my body is saying it wishes it was a vegetarian.

Sorry people. I was desperate and in a rush. Oh God I ate KFC!! I'm going to hell for sure!!!!

Oh my poor stomach. It's been hours and I can still taste it.

To make all of you really laugh my dog was stomach sick today so for dinner he's having Basmati rice and spinach cuz I wanna go easy on his tummy.

 

[DianeB]

I use to work at KFC. There were coachroaches running in and out of the kitchen, raw chickens being dropped on the floor and put back in the pressure cooker and many other things I do not want to mention. Lets just say that it was the final push for me to be a vegetarian. I would never eat fast food. If you knew what was going on back there, you wouldn't touch it either.

 

[Soph xo]

Hi

Well I've been vegetarian (lacto ovo) for only about a month but I love it so far

I chose to go veg because of the animals. I hate factory farming and felt kind of hypocritical loving animals and then supporting their murder.

I haven't actually got any poultry yet, but I'm getting four silkie hens and a pigeon next month! I'm so excited

My favourite food would probably be veggies in bolognese (meatless) sauce and pasta

And chocolate of course yuuuuum

Thanks for the thread

 

[JP33]

Yes, things have to die if we're going to eat, even vegetables.

Killing an animal to eat is called feeding yourself. I'm trying to be nice here but its not fair to the omnivores to insinuate that we are cruel for killing the animals we eat.

I don't like the idea of CAFOs anymore than the next person and I hunt and buy free range and wild caught meat/fish.

I choose animals that have lived a happy life and when I hunt I practice clean kills. God knows I don't want any animal to suffer any prolonged death.


...JP