want to be vegetarian- any tips or advice?

[MaybeSparrowMaybe]

alright.. so we only eat meat at home 2-3 x a week and it comes from a local known butcher who is hormone chemical free.

we try not to eat meat at restaurants unless it is organic, or hormone chemical free.

with a lot more research and documentary watching (hah) i would really like to be vegetarian. this means my husband most liekly even if not by choice will be as well (an my 2.5 yr old daughter) our daughter likes meat... sigh.

i think i suck at veg cooking, its pretty plain and simple, i hate soaking beans and feel as a veg you should probably like that sort of thing. ;)

i also work, so i need simple easy quick things to make sometimes, and i feel its easier to cook meat since you dont have to do much to it...

anyways any words of advice or tips? thanks everyone!

-meg

[Jim Corcoran]

The Vegan Lifestyle Resolution is easy! Go vegan for a week, a month, or a whole year - whatever works for you. Do it for your health, the animals, or the environment. Check out this website for all the tools and resources you need. Then spread the word! http://veganresolution.org

[meemee]

you know something - food is such a huge part of our life that trying to change requires a lot of work. A LOT.

if you want to succeed it isnt just about being a vegetarian, but making big changes in your life. and let me tell you i have discovered that it usually takes people on an average of two years before they can change over completely.

now here's the thing. one of the things that one replaces the proteins with are beans. so you cant have the excuse that you hate soaking and cooking beans. one quick thing i do is cook a bunch of beans and then freeze them in portion sizes so i dont have to go through the whole process of soaking and then cooking.

yes veggies sometimes take more prep time. however if you are serious you can pick a day and decide to do the chopping for the week. of course it means you'll have to plan your meals a bit. and yes you need to watch them too so they dont overcook.

for me what helped was looking at cooking differently than before. to look upon it not as a chore but as a way to relax and a way of contributing healthy food to my family. THAT made a huge difference and soon after a long hard day at work, i really enjoyed coming home to cook a meal for my family. while my other friends watched TV to relax, i discovered i cooked to relax. esp. when you factor in the presentation of the food itself too. it actually became family time as dd started helping with cooking.

the key with cooking is experimenting. what kind of cook are you? do you follow recipes or do you 'throw' things together?

what is your personal feelings towards vegetarian cooking. i recall when i was becoming a vegetarian, i was disgusted by the amount of cheese that was used. almost all veggie recipe books had every second recipe full of cheese.

my goal of becoming a vegetarian was to enjoy the taste of the vegetable itself - without drowning it in other flavours.

one of our favourite quick dishses is to throw in chopped veggies for the last 5 mins in the rice cooker and then bring it out and season with soy sauce or tamari and use this. http://www.asianfoodgrocer.com/category/furikake-seasoning

or i stir fry veggies and toss with garlic and pasta (no sauce)

now in winter i roast root veggies in the oven with salt and oil and maybe rosemary or thyme.

one thing i always try to do is balance my meals. that is - include both cooked and raw veggies. maybe a leafy salad, maybe a veggie salad. i always make my salad dressings in big batches and have them in the fridge.

the key with having my child eat veggies - i have found is going ethnic. i have found dd likes asian spices and a drizzle here and a drizzle there really quite changes the flavor. also what was funny while she helped me in the kitchen she ate more while helping - even eating a couple of raw potato slices, than actually eating at the dinner table.

honestly though i agree with what the Secretary General of the UN said - he implied you dont really have to stop eating meat. he said 'just eat less meat' which you guys are doing already.

[MaybeSparrowMaybe]

Ahh youre so right... And i cook a lot if the things youre suggesting already. For example when i was working last night my husband made roasted veg and rice for his and dd supper. We do a lot of asian, indian, and thai cooking all veg. I think we will continue to do what we do and ill try to adopt better habits such as going back to meal planning and prepping at the beginning of the week. I guess my biggest fear is when we go to non veg friends homes and refuse to eat the meat which is usually a big part of the meal. I know husband wont refuse but thats where i would like to stop when it comes to meat eating... I think we will jit continue to do our best in not eating meat and replacing with better proteins. Thanks for your reply!

[meemee]

Originally Posted by MaybeSparrowMaybe 

 I guess my biggest fear is when we go to non veg friends homes and refuse to eat the meat which is usually a big part of the meal. I know husband wont refuse but thats where i would like to stop when it comes to meat eating... I think we will jit continue to do our best in not eating meat and replacing with better proteins. Thanks for your reply!

always take a dish with you as an offering that at least you can eat. it is going to be an adjustment for them too. one of the things i do (because i find many of my non veg friends really freak out over cooking vegetarian food) is pick out the meat from the dish they made and eat the rest of it.

for me too i've cut down the amount of food i eat. i found i really ate a lot and really when you do a calorie count, you dont need that much of food. it helps others to see all that. so the whole thing is not just about just being vegetarian.

however for myself i will say this - being a vegetarian and trying to be vegan - i will never be a pure vegan/vegetarian. i have gone to v. v. v. poor houses and not refused the meal they served me - because that is all they had. and yes it had meat.

[MaybeSparrowMaybe]

Yes. Good points. I think we will do our best to eat meat free where possible. I just need to eat healthier as a whole because i really went off the bandwagon after having some very bad things occur this year. Im signed up for a veg cooking class next week to help motivate and inspire!

[jgallagher66]

A veg cooking class is a great idea. If you want to be vegetarian I think that is great. I became vegetarian fairly suddenly but if it is easier to gradually eat less meat then try that. For me it is both about health and not wanting to eat animals or animal products. As for eating at other people's houses, I've never really had any issues. I eat before I go if I know there won't be a lot of things I like. I also bring something I like and just say no thanks to things I don't like. It never seems to be a big deal and the fact that I eat a plant-based diet rarely even comes up. Most people are too polite or too busy to notice what I'm eating and if they are persistent I either smile and say I'm not hungry or I don't care for that or that I am a strict vegetarian depending on the circumstances.I've never had to argue with anyone. I'm a grown up so I get to choose what I eat.

Good luck and have fun with the cooking class.

[MaybeSparrowMaybe]

Originally Posted by Jim Corcoran 

The Vegan Lifestyle Resolution is easy! Go vegan for a week, a month, or a whole year - whatever works for you. Do it for your health, the animals, or the environment. Check out this website for all the tools and resources you need. Then spread the word! http://veganresolution.org

thanks Jim, very interesting!

[MaybeSparrowMaybe]

honestly though i agree with what the Secretary General of the UN said - he implied you dont really have to stop eating meat. he said 'just eat less meat' which you guys are doing already.

YES! we so are. and we KNOW where our meat comes from, we TALK to the farmers we eat from, and only eat 2-3x a week, lately its been about 1x week and on occasion at friends homes.

i think what we are doing now is good.

[Greenlea]

Originally Posted by meemee 

always take a dish with you as an offering that at least you can eat. it is going to be an adjustment for them too. one of the things i do (because i find many of my non veg friends really freak out over cooking vegetarian food) is pick out the meat from the dish they made and eat the rest of it.

for me too i've cut down the amount of food i eat. i found i really ate a lot and really when you do a calorie count, you dont need that much of food. it helps others to see all that. so the whole thing is not just about just being vegetarian.

I call ahead to see what is on the menu when going to dinner parties or birthday parties. If there's nothing I can eat, I bring my own food or dish. I never expect anyone to cater to me and my food preferences. Although at this time, a lot of family already know we're vegetarians and will make sure there's something I can eat.  I just hate it when I go to parties expecting "something" to eat - like, oh they'll probably have a salad. But then every dish, including the salad has meat. I've learned my lesson.  

Also, I'm not the kind of person to just pick the meat out of a dish. I can't eat a dish that was cooked with meat, because then I taste the meat and the meat flavor gets on everything, etc. But that's up to you. Although I do agree that non-veg's have a hard time figuring out what to cook, or figuring out that vegetarians do not eat turkey...as that is still a meat LOL. Either that or its always a pasta dish.

[Earthmoma]

You should read the book Real Food

[EVEP]

I've been a vegetarian for a while and love it. I didn't eat a lot of meat to begin with so to me it was very easy making the switch. :)

[Neera]

To help you along you could also watch Food documentaries. Food Inc., Vegucated, FoodMatters to name a few. These helped me in my decision. I would probably not go to a place where I know there won't be veg options. I have declined dh's office party invite in the past. Some of our friends that invite us either to their house or to a restaurant will say things like Oh don't you feel hungry without any meat? Or You are vegetarian. You are vegetarian. Like it would make me change my mind if it was said more than once or that I might give in and say that I'll cheat this time. I dislike the taste of meat as it is so if it is a problem for the host I won't go or have said I'll have salad with bread.

[meemee]

Originally Posted by MaybeSparrowMaybe 

Yes. Good points. I think we will do our best to eat meat free where possible. I just need to eat healthier as a whole because i really went off the bandwagon after having some very bad things occur this year. Im signed up for a veg cooking class next week to help motivate and inspire!

oh i missed this. remember just turning into a vegetarian does not mean healthy eating. if you use a tonne of fats and a tonne of salt and sugar and a tonne of cheese - there is no difference. a glass of orange juice is almost the same as soda. yeah you get some vitamins and food value but you also get a tonne of sugar and throw out most of the fiber. even with fresh squeesed juice. 

you have to be careful too. figure out what body type you are and how much protein you eat. 

also set up portion sizes. 

vegetarian does not = healthy. just making that change in your diet is not enough. there are many more aspects which i am sure you know. one of them itself is drinking the amount of water your body needs. if you drank your 8 glasses and your calorie (most people eat way more than they are supposed to) you would not be hungry or wanting a snack. 

so really i read  ur focus to be - i want to get healthy - not just about i want to be a vegetarian. 

also another thing about health - check your genetics and see what your ancestors had. that should help you a lot with diet. it is amazing when i altered my diet to do that (and my dd's) how different we feel. i wish i had known this earlier. i would not have had my dd start bad habits and get addicted to certain tastes as a child. habits that are really hard for us to break now. 

if you really look around you - you will see how little of the real food you actually eat. <shudder> i see so many live on what i wouldnt even call food - not due to financial reasons, but due to lack of knowledge. 

[jgallagher66]

Forks over knives is helpful for heath aspects of a plantbased diet. Dr. Esselstyn was a doctor at the Cleveland Clinic and has lots of info. on getting and staying healthy. Here is the website. There are books and a video as well.

www.forksoverknives.com

I also like the happy herbivore which also emphasizes healthy eating.
happyherbivore.com

You do have to be sure you eat healthy and not just eliminate meat.