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Veg Mamas Tribal Roll Call and Veg Support: August Thread

2K views 50 replies 21 participants last post by  rainbowmoon 
#1 ·
Hey, I've got to get my Senior Status somehow! And no one had posted in a few days. So here it is ladies (and gentlemen???)

How are you vegetarian and vegan summers going?

We wanted to have a BBQ (we actually have a brick pit) but we have no friends to invite to it! My best friend (former vegan who now eats fish too
: ) and her boyfriend are coming to stay with us for over a week. Maybe that would be a good time...

We did GO to a BBQ at this environmental education ranch here in CA and we had a lot of fun - made Gardenburger Riblets, talked to lots of interesting people around a campfire, and someone rescued a little Field Vole that was caught by one of the cats and I kept it overnight and took it to the wildlife rehab for some antibiotics before releasing it. Perfect opportunity to let everyone there know what to do in such a situation. (keep it in a box with something soft to sleep in and put the box on a heating pad on low. If it's active, give it a shallow jarlid of water and get it to a wildlife rehab ASAP.)
It was fine and we released it the next day. (Cats carry lots of germs on their claws and animals caught by them often get infections.)

Today we're going to this great veggie/vegan Vietnamese/Chinese place in Oakland (called Golden Lotus) where their food is extremely authentic.

How is everyone doing?
 
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#2 ·
We used to grill out a lot but we no longer have a grill.
: The summer is HOT here and we had some flooding here last week. Not too close to my house, thank goodness.
I have been trying to eat healthier, it's going okay. I really want to start sprouting and hopefully will take the plunge soon!
We have gotten some juicy peaches, yum. I could eat them all.
I really wish we had a vegetarian chinese place here. We do have one vegetarian restaurant here, SWAD (Indian food) the food is sooo spicey, although very good. I wish we had more.
 
#4 ·
Hi mama's

I rarely post here. I am trying to work toward a more whole food cooked by me vegan diet. We do pretty well but I know we should be trying more new recipes.

I have been struggling and thinking of just going back to veggie. Sometimes I feel like I have too much on my plate and it is just one more thing that makes me feel like an outsider in life. Then I just remember the animals and come back to my senses.

Rainbowmoon try looking for some new fun recipes maybe that would help. And think of the poor animals.
 
#5 ·
i need some veggie mama support!

i've been veg since i was in high school (i'm 26 now), and i made the mistake of letting it slip to my mom that i have eaten meat a few times during my pregnancy when i was having really bad cravings for it. at no point did i say that i was off the wagon for good or that i was eating meat regularly...

and she told me today that she is NOT planning on having any vegetarian food at my baby shower! i told her that meat is making me sick again, that i can't even stand the smell when my boyfriend eats it, and she was like "well, the shower's not till october, you'll probably be over it by then".
:

i had to remind her that almost all of the friends i am inviting are veg (since my being veg for ten years has apparently been made null and void by my having eaten meat a few times in the last five months), and she finally said ok, that she would order a vegetarian lasagna from a caterer. knowing my midwestern family, that means that even the salad is going to be an antipasto salad covered in meaty meat products, like the one at my cousin's wedding that everyone told me to just "pick the meat off" so i would have something to eat. i said i would just make a few veggie dishes and she said i couldn't use her kitchen to do that, that she and my aunt barb are throwing the shower and i have no input!

now i feel terrible that i ever gave in to those cravings, much less that i told my mom about them, and i have no idea what to do about the shower food situation- my mom lives a 12-hour drive from here and wants me to be there two days before the shower, so i have no idea what i can take that will keep that long and i won't need to use my mom's kitchen to serve it.

don't even ask me about the two vegans i am inviting who are apparently just going to be going hungry!

 
#6 ·
Aww, that is too bad. As vegans we rarely expect to eat if we go to functions. Unless we are bringing our food. I would imagine your vegan friends have the same expectations. You could make sure they know. They will probably even offer to bring something.

Maybe you could make something that freezes well to take. Or something that is easy to toss together at your mom's. Hmmm, let me think.
 
#7 ·
Who says your friends have to go hungry? Ask your mom to make a salad, maybe get some hummus, make a fruit salad, get some veggie meats and cheeses, have crackers and Italian bread- this is enough to satisfy even a pregnant woman for a few hours!!!!!!!!! Good luck and stay with a healthy diet!!!

We always eat before going to potlucks or picnics at school or other functions too. it just cuts down on whiny kid problems!!!

It is great to see all the interest in healthy vegan diets..my kids have all been vegan since conception and they truly are extra healthy, i attribute it to a strong natural immune system backed by good eating!!!
 
#8 ·
I agree about the healthy kids. Our DD who "should be sick alot" due to her down syndrome had two small colds this past winter. She is super healthy and our son who has been vegan for just over 3 years now is super healthy too.
 
#9 ·
love2all,

the problem is not that my mom doesn't know what to serve. i've been veg for 10 years and in the past, she has always made something vegetarian, or at least allowed me to bring some of my own vegetarian food to parties that were being thrown for me (birthday, graduation, etc). for some reason - i think it's because i told her i ate meat a couple of times during this pregnancy- she is refusing to do it this time. i even said i would make the veggie food myself, and she said i couldn't use her kitchen to do it!

apparently she is having the thing catered (which terrifies me, because that must mean she's inviting a TON of people i don't really know that well or care about that much), and the only thing she is willing to tell the caterer she wants vegetarian is one of the lasagnas.

my mom has always been embarrassed of me at family functions, and i think when i told her i had eaten meat a few times because of pregnant cravings, her brain processed that as "my freak daughter is no longer vegetarian so i don't have to worry about that embarrassment at her baby shower", so now her mind is closed on the topic of the food for the shower.
:

i'm definitely at least going to bring some hummus, baba ganoush, and roasted red pepper dip with chips and raw veggies for the vegans. i know that's going to p*&! her off, but oh well, it's just one day of my controlling mom being mad at me about something ridiculous. if she won't let me set it up in her kitchen, i'll just take it out on the porch!
 
#10 ·
lynsage - I think there is a much bigger topic here that you need to address.

IT IS YOUR BABY SHOWER, NOT YOUR MOM'S!

You should have who you want, and what you want to eat. Otherwise, how will you enjoy it, and what's the point of going?

This happened to our veg/vegan friends who's parents were paying for the wedding and didn't want to have vegan food there (only vegan food, btw, which turned out to be wonderful and everyone enjoyed it.) Our friends said, "This is OUR wedding, and OUR reception. If we can't have it the way we want, then we'll do it ourselves."

I think you REALLY need to be assertive on this issue. You are vegetarian. The shower is for you. Your friends, also veg and vegan, will be coming. It is not a shower for your mother's friends who aren't pregnant.

There isn't any reason why your mother should have this power over you. Why should you and your friends be miserable at your own party? I say that if she can't do it for you, then you shouldn't go. I can't believe other people here aren't as outraged as I am. Bringing your own food to your own shower is crazy! And it lets your mother have this control over you that she doesn't deserve if she can't even respect your food choices.

Yeesh. And if she does agree to have veggie and vegan food, you should talk to the caterer to make sure it is actually vegetarian, since we all know that some people consider fish and chicken to be vegetables !?!? or putting chicken broth into food somehow is vegetarian if the actual chicken isn't in there.
 
#12 ·
i appreciate the sentiments, i really do, but i'm still stuck on convincing my mom that it's not her BABY, much less her shower!

i even tried to back out last week, once i realized how awful it was probably going to be, saying i didn't think my car would make it to detroit and i can't afford a plane ticket, but she solved that by saying she will drive down here and get me. she just has her heart set on a big, girls-only baby shower, with meat-based food, and party favors and games and all that crap like my aunts got to have for my cousins, and i don't have the energy to fight with her about it.

my mom is just an extremely controlling and conformist person. i have been going through stuff like this with my mom ever since i moved out of her house when i was 13- every family function that has something to do with me, she tries to make it as "normal" as possible to take the family's attention off of how "weird" i am. she never takes what i would want into consideration because i wouldn't want anything "normal" and it would embarrass her, which is why my vegetarian friends and i all ate nothing but potato salad and cake at the BARBEQUE my mom threw to celebrate my high school graduation in 1995. the funny part is that nobody else in the family really cares what i eat or don't eat, what color my hair is or if my tattoos are showing- it is all just her bizarre issues that she projects onto everyone else.

i did tell her this afternoon that i'm bringing vegetarian food, period. she said fine- i guess all that nonsense about not letting me use her kitchen was just an empty threat to try to keep me from bringing "weird" food.

i'm not really willing to battle her about making sure she has vegetarian food from the caterer there when i could just bring food and have done with it. she did say that she will specifically say "vegetarian" and not just "vegetable" when she orders the lasagna, but i worked in food service for several years and i'm aware of all the stuff that goes into supposedly vegetarian meals. which i really see as just another reason to bring the vegetarian food myself- that way i know it's safe and i won't have to worry about the caterer or my mom lying about chicken broth in the marinara sauce or whatnot.

plus, i kind of feel like i brought it on myself by a) eating meat during my pregnancy and b) being stupid enough to tell my mom about it, so there's no way she will listen to a word i say about being vegetarian for the next five years, just like she did when i originally went veg in 1993. i'm back to the drawing board with her, and bringing my own food is all i have the energy for at this point.

thanks everyone for your support, it really means a lot to me. now let's all get ready for how bad she's going to wig out when i tell her we're raising the baby vegetarian!
 
#15 ·
Rainbowmoon - the trick for you, if the dairy thing is what's stopping you, is not try finding lots of non-dairy substitutes, but to find other things you like instead of, say, cheese. (BTW - have you tried the Follow Your Heart vegan gourmet cheese? It's great and it really melts.) So while you may have some dairy-free stuff, don't try to replicate the things you really like with ingredients you KNOW won't give you that same craving-stopper. Find new things to crave.

Hey everyone - let's keep these threads going. I have a question - what can we do to get more new members to notice these threads? I've seen several vegan and vegetarian questions go virtually unanswered while we sit here chatting. I've also directed people over to these support threads, they haven't come, and no one else answered their posts! If we want to support people in becoming more veggie, then we've got to either respond to their posts or figure out how to get them here.

Any ideas?
 
#16 ·
Just wanted to say hi, I haven't been posting much since the first thread! I hate typing one handed, and Iris is too much "help" these days...

I am seriously frustrated, we are in the middle of remodeling our kitchen so I don't even have a sink in there right now! We have the microwave, toaster oven and electric griddle out on the back porch, as well as a camping burner, but there isn't much room to do prep work and I am just not motivated to go out in the heat and make something. We are eating a lot more processed foods right now, and I am sick of it! It's been several weeks, as we are doing it all ourselves, but hopefully tomorrow I will at least have running water in the kitchen... I need to try to motivate myself to at least fire up the crock pot. *sigh*

Just got back from a family vacation to see my brother, along with my mom, whom I love dearly... BUT, she is a "vegetarian" who eats chicken, fish, and sometimes pork... Makes for confusion when people who know us both are trying to feed us!

I am tired and rambling, so goodnight!
 
#17 ·
Sheesh! I was wondering why noone was posting on the other thread! Just found y'all.
lynsage~ That sucks!! I'd probably be crying if I was in your shoes. Even my husband rolled his eyes when I told him (that's a big deal, seeing that he derives most of his nutrition from pork chops)! If I were in your situation, I would do one of two things:
- Don't make excuses as to car not working, etc. for not going. Tell her flat out you won't go if the whole thing isn't vegetarian. Surely your relatives have met other vegetarians, and won't find it that 'weird'. I mean, if you've not lived with her since you were 13, surely you can't be worried about offending her.
- OR - go to the shower, but right NOW call the caterer yourself (no need to tell your mom you're doing it) and let them know that this will be YOUR vegetarian event. Find out what she is planning on serving, and what vege. options she has to offer. Insist that the majority has to be veg. If she's uneasy with it, suggest things like fruit trays, veggies & dip, eggless desserts, etc. ALSO, you'll be there 2 days before hand, so you'll have plenty of time to go to mom's local health foods store, take the food to a friend or relative's house, and cook up a storm! Good luck!

On a different topic: Has anyone else checked out the Tofu Tollbooth?? I just found the latest edition (1998) at the thrift and had never heard of it, but it ROCKS!!!! If you've not heard of it, it's a guide to Natural Food Stores & eating spots all over the US. It's so great! It's a bit outdated, but they have a website (www.tofutollbooth.com) that you can go to and order a book, or suggest new stores that have opened since this publishing, for their next book

Go check it out y'all!!
 
#19 ·
Hi all!
I am an ethical vegetarian and mama of 2 veggie kids. Although my 8 1/2 year old has informed me she is now going to be an "omnivore"


Here is what I have been up to lately!:
I have been helping a research associate at PETA to track down some "doctors" and petition them to halt their experiments and application patent for a new "process".

The patent application in the US Patent & Trademark Office is called, ( hang on to your hats)

"Human milk produced by human mammary tissue implanted in non-human host animals and uses thereof." application # 20030213007 by Dr. Charles Slattery et al Loma Linda University ( the 7th Day Adventist Univ)

( to read more about this researcher, see
http://www.llu.edu/llu/medicine/bioc...ery/index.html )

A PETA action alert is forthcoming on this topic (http://www.peta.org/alert/index.asp) as there will be a campaign starting to halt this cruel experimentation and to encourage breastfeeding support and research that will BENEFIT mothers and babies.

I have read the letters that PETA has drafted to send LLU and the Doctors applying for the patent and it is, in true PETA style, strong language to say the least. However, they have been very gracious to hear some of the points I made about the artificial baby milk industry and have included great wording about breastfeeding advocacy in the correspondance.

Back to your regularly scheduled veggie mama chat
 
#20 ·
Last night, we went to a family gathering (my father's side of the family) and visited with people I haven't seen since I was a child. My husband was about 10 ft away from me, introducing himself to my aunt, as someone was helping me find a spot to put the pasta salad and cookies that I brought. I heard the conversation that follows, I promise it is TRUE!

Hubby: Hi, I'm Annie's husband, (then pointing) and that's our daughter.

Aunt D: Well, hi there. I'm so glad you took the time to make the drive and come see us! There are still plenty of Brats and Weiners on the grill. Can I get you one?

Hubby: Oh, no thank you. We're vegetarian, actually Annie is a Strict vegetarian.

Aunt D: (sadly)Awwww, well…can you eat vegetables??
 
#22 ·
Annie... its sad but im actually cracking up about that one... ive heard similar stuff or i get the how does you and your daughter survive off salad.. or i couldnt eat salad that much... :LOL some ppl r soooo naive its not funny...

ok ladies im back and need support and feel horrible... i actually ingested some veggie cheese slices with casein, some real cheese, and ice cream... i feel sooo horrible... and i got sick from it all... and i was soo proud i never got into temptation and feel soo horrible... im jus waiting to hear from someone telling me its cuz im lacking nutrients or something... have any of guys who are vegan messed up?? how have u dealt with the guilt?? im going to visit the PETA site and get back on track... and i actually started thinking how much easier it is to be lacto/ovo and i felt soo bad having those feelings... im soo glad i have my veg family website to go to and here and i jus hope nonveg's dont come in here and start pming me tellin me i need to go back to being omni... i actually was thinkin twice about posting it.. but i need to hear about similar slip ups.. ive only been vegan since oct 2003...

ok done rambling.. now going to the corner to
: and
 
#23 ·
ive never really liked leather.. always bought pleather so nothin i own has leather and easy to avoid for me...

some ppl will only buy used leather products like belts and stuff nothing new or will keep the leather things they had b4 they went veg and then will throw them out and buy non leather stuff after being veg and some ppl jus throw them out and start fresh right off the bat... depends on what u wanna do.. its a very personal situation... i wish you good luck on going veg
 
#24 ·
Hi L2L - congrats on your journey into veggie-land!

All of the (ethical) vegetarians I know (except one) do not buy new leather items. However, many of them, including myself, either wear leather items they bought before becoming veggie, or buy used items. I am currently wearing a pair of shoes I bought for $5 at the salvation army. I'm not supporting the leather industry and my money went to help people in need. I also have non-leather shoes but these are often only available new and can be quite expensive if you want quality.

I believe that to buy new leather products while not eating meat, if you are vegetarian for the animals, is competely hypocritical, since you support the death of the animals either way. But some people do it. I have a friend who buys new leather shoes because all the pleather ones make her feet smell and she won't wear used shoes. While I don't agree with it, I'm not one to judge, and besides, she is doing a lot already by not eating meat.

However, I would draw the line between shoes and other leather items that are not essential, like furniture, organizer covers, car seats, clothing, etc. Belts are easily gotten in non-leather versions and they hold your pants up just as well as non-leather ones.

You may well go off dairy one day but I would recommend making the transition to vegetarianism completely first. Otherwise you may find yourself overwhelmed and just give up on the whole thing. It does take some time to get used to new recipes and ways of cooking, your family and friends' reactions to it, finding restaurants, etc. Being simply vegetarian will make this transition easier - after which you can go vegan much more easily.
 
#25 ·
I too will wear shoes of leather that I bought 2nd hand. That is it though...no other items of leather in this house.

tricia- do not be so hard on yourself.life happens and we should have no regrets. you ate it and that is it.. if it bothers you, try not to eat it again. dh and i have been vegan for 13 years and i have learned to relax sometimes- ie at my moms she buys us cheese with casein, what to do? she tried her best and it won't kill my kids to eat that just once. what is important is that we do the best be can in any given situation. please do not take this to be belittlig your experience, trust me i have been there and hope my dose of reality can simply help you ease your mind.
peace all- maria
 
#26 ·
Thanks maria.. it can be hard... since i was doing so well.. i guess cuz some ppl judge others and ur not quite vegan if u dont do it properly all the time without the slip ups... (if that made sense).. and im getting out of the term vegan.. cuz i do drive in cars, and have a comp, and its impossible to be 100% vegan right now...

ok ladies (since no guys have come on here)... i have a question...dont you hate it when ur a vegetarian looking for support with ur vegetarianism and u get ppl who differ and tell u that u need to eat meat etc???

if u do then pls dont bash others... im sick of seeing the veg vs omni debates here... if a person is looking for support.. dont go on their thread and bash them... now we have our viewpoints about blood type diets and crap but to go on a thread where someone is specifically looking to not get bashed and ends up being bashed is not nice... and we wonder why ppl are constantly saying the veg's are taking over good eating and how mean and judgemental we are... i know its not everyone here.. but i wanted to speak my mind.. and i hope none of u take offense...

ok thats my .02
 
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