Vegetarian Living

[Oxynia]

Thanks to dichterin for the thread suggestion...

Are you vegan, lacto-ovo, pescatarian, or want to become one? Here's the place to talk about vegetarian issues, get advice or share experiences.

But please, if you have recipes, you can post them in the Recipe thread so we keep 'em all in one place. Thanks.

[newnewyorker]

I was veggie for four years, and then one day I just couldn't do it anymore. The desire for meat completely overwhelmed me.

I still don't eat very much meat, but a little lamb every now and then is heaven.

[Deleted]

Being a vegetarian really isn't hard for me. I've never really liked meat; when I was a kid I always ate my vegetables, and Mom had to make me eat meat. I've been a vegetarian since 1999. I was vegan for two years. Now I'm semi-vegan/lacto; I don't eat eggs or drink milk, but I do eat cheese if it's organic and doesn't contain animal rennin or hormones.

At some point I would like to try veganism again. I try to avoid animal products as much as possible (with the exception of the cheese I mentioned). I use cruelty-free products and avoid animal ingredients as much as I can. But I'm realistic enough to realize that it's almost impossible to totally avoid animal products.

[WitchyPoo]

I was vegetarian (with a bit of fish now and then) for 14 years. About four years ago I worked in a gourmet kitchen store that held cooking classes in the evenings. We had local chefs come in a prepare dishes and I would help with handing our food, filling wine glasses and cleaning up afterwards. Chef after chef would prepare these amazing dishes and one day I had to try a bit of meat. That was it. I still prepare a lot of vegetarian dishes and I try not to eat too much red meat.

I have to say that being a vegetarian really challenged me to be more experimental and to try new things. I discovered a lot of ethnic foods and meat alternatives.

[Oxynia]

newnewyorker said:

I still don't eat very much meat, but a little lamb every now and then is heaven.

That's me as well. Then again, I'm Greek and we consider lamb to be a food group all by itself.

Some of the best dinners I've ever had have been in vegetarian restaurants, so I've always been interested in exploring it more. At least in terms of finding good red meat alternatives.

[ownlife]

Meals in vegetarian restaurants are always yummy but I usually end up with an unappetizing clump when I try to cook veg.

[NappingAthena]

While I'd never become a vegan because I eat so much chicken its shocking I don't have feathers, I go days and days without red meat. However, sometimes you just need a burger. Plus, my grandfather is a retired butcher and would kill me if i went totally veg

[chonies]

I was veg and not tempted to eat meat for more than ten years, until I moved to the deep South, where pork is considered a condiment. It wasn't worth the hassle, and since I wasn't really aligned with any of the moral affiliations that a lot of veg. folk are (religious, ethical, dietary complaint), it's more of a general frustration. That said, I don't cook meat and don't really order it. Except for that time I had to get the steak tartare, but that's a different story.

Anyway, can anyone recommend a good mail-order site for tempeh? Also, I just have to say Madhur Jaffrey and Deborah Madison rock my cookbook world. I recently bought Dirty South Vegan cooking, and it was kind of a disappointment. It was mostly "use Braggs, and did you know Funyuns are vegan?"

[susyhomewrecker]

I've been a pescatarian for almost a year now. I wanted to give up meat entirely, but it's hard to get fats otherwise. And I love sushi.

My skin has been so dry lately it's almost painful. I've started taking flax seed oil supplements, and that's helped a little, but my shoulders and neck are still yucky. Any suggestions?

[ladyvorkosigan]

I wanna know, too, Susy California! I'm lacto-ovo, and my skin is horrible these days. I haven't tried flaxseed oil yet, I think I will. But any other suggestions will be much appreciated!