Vegetarians ( and Vegans ) Thread!!!

[featherz]

Hey everybody! I'm a vegetarian (was vegan) and I found out a few tips about what to eat/what not to eat. Beware of gelatin. I once heard it contains animal parts (one may be cow hide) and I haven't been eating it. I did some research on it, and plenty of websites back it up. Just figured you would want to know that because I was steamed when I found out.(Haha. 'Steamed'; veggies) Sorry. Lame joke. But anyways, it's in a lot of stuff to: certains types of jell-o (most), gummy bears/worms/sharks/exc, (pretty much anything gummy (even some vitamins; on mine it was the third ingredient down the list)

Keep up the good work guys! Resisting meat and other animal products is hard and can be tempting. I know from experiance.

Gelatin doesn't contain animal parts, it IS animal parts . "Gelatin (or gelatine) is a translucent, colorless, brittle (when dry), flavorless solid substance, derived from the collagen mainly inside pig skin (hide) and cattle bones. "

So yes, I avoid it where possible (prescription meds not available without it being the exception). If you like jello, there are ways to do it without gelatin. Some of the kiddie snack packs are actually made of carageenan and it's easy enough to make 'jello' with agar agar. I have a jug of that here, I really should use it.

 

[Kevin565]

I've found Agar agar to be a pretty good alternative

 

[KristyHall]

what is agar agar?

 

[featherz]

what is agar agar?

It's a kind of algae/seaweed. Someone else probably has a better description. I got a big jug of it off amazon some time ago and occasionally whip up some 'jello'. You have to flavor it yourself, but it's actually pretty decent.

 

[Kevin565]

Featherz nailed it. It's a seaweed derived alternative that's actually pretty good with the right flavoring

 

[Crittercrazed]

Gelatin doesn't contain animal parts, it IS animal parts . "Gelatin (or gelatine) is a translucent, colorless, brittle (when dry), flavorless solid substance, derived from the collagen mainly inside pig skin (hide) and cattle bones. "

So yes, I avoid it where possible (prescription meds not available without it being the exception). If you like jello, there are ways to do it without gelatin. Some of the kiddie snack packs are actually made of carageenan and it's easy enough to make 'jello' with agar agar. I have a jug of that here, I really should use it.

Yeah. When I was vegan (for a short period of time), I didn't have as many options as I would have liked, so I ate jello a lot. Looking back I relized that I probably was consuming gelatine, so I went to Safeway and checked out the ingrediants. Surprisingly, there was no gelatine. So you just have to be careful about reading the ingrediants list.

 

[Crittercrazed]

Ooh! I forgot to say something! To all doughnut lovers and such, be careful. Read the ingrediants list of boxed doughnuts or pies. (like the ones from Safeway) You may be surprised to find ' beef fat' down the list. I was so upset to find out that some doughnuts have animal products in them. Not all doughnuts or pies have it in there though. I recently had a pie that didn't and found doughnuts at the store that didn't. Whether or not it's a preservitive, I don't know. I just know that it may be in there. So check closely.

(These pies are the ones I'm talking about.)

 

[Kevin565]

There are plenty of things people wouldn't expect to have animal products in that do. For instance most of the new Orange Juice products with Omega 3 have fish products in them. Quite a few Hostess products have beef fat in them.

 

[featherz]

There are plenty of things people wouldn't expect to have animal products in that do. For instance most of the new Orange Juice products with Omega 3 have fish products in them. Quite a few Hostess products have beef fat in them.

Yep, ya gotta watch for ANYTHING that says 'with Omega 3!!' as more often than not, that means fish products. I actually bought a 'crystal lite' type product once and when reading the ingredients saw that it had fish in it (!!). No, not all of them do - but this was 'with added omega 3!' - doh!

I'm not a complete loon - I don't go to people's houses for dinner and ask em if that cake they made me might have gelatin in it or if they bought cheese with animal rennet.. (although I'm not eating the steak LOL).. But I can avoid these things in my own household, that's for sure.

 

[Kevin565]

Yep, ya gotta watch for ANYTHING that says 'with Omega 3!!' as more often than not, that means fish products. I actually bought a 'crystal lite' type product once and when reading the ingredients saw that it had fish in it (!!). No, not all of them do - but this was 'with added omega 3!' - doh!

I'm not a complete loon - I don't go to people's houses for dinner and ask em if that cake they made me might have gelatin in it or if they bought cheese with animal rennet.. (although I'm not eating the steak LOL).. But I can avoid these things in my own household, that's for sure.

Wow Crystal Lite too? I usually just drink water but would have never guessed those packets people use could have fish products in them. I guess that's why I read all the labels before I eat anything. You never know what's in your food anymore