Vegetarian Living

[LAX]

For those of you who are on the line between meat eater and vegetarian, you might like the cookbook Almost Vegetarian by Diana Shaw. I've tried most of the recipes in the book and haven't had a failure yet. Most recipes can be meat or vegetarian according to choice.

[pinkdog]

Oh, I'm so glad to have found this thread! My husband and I went vegetarian in 2002, and my father joined us a few years later. My mom still eats a little meat here and there when she's at other people's houses. We did it for ethical reasons, and hope to one day work up to veganism...but we may not succeed. We went veg because we live here, in America. If Americans wanted green cheese scraped right off of the moon, we could have it. We have access to so much different food. It's not like we live in a rural 3rd world country and need to eat chickens to sustain our lives.

Anyway, we don't eat any seafood, but there IS (depending on what your personal ethical boundaries are) a class of seafood that vegetarians could eat, and that is bivalves. Bivalves, like oysters and scallops, are single-sense organisms, meaning they only possess the sense of touch, just like plants. And the thinking is that if you are an organism with only one sense, you're not well-developed enough to feel fear or pain. So, Mulva if you really have a breakdown try eating a few scallops.

By the way, I really hate the term vegetarian because we eat all sorts of things that aren't vegetables, right?? It's such a misnomer.

[Deleted]

True (re: the term). When people give me crap about not eating fish, I say "Fish is not a vegetable." Half the time, it shuts them up. The other half, it just emboldens them to keep fighting with me: "Well, neither is cheese, pasta, etc." Blah. People are annoying.

Hmmm... that's interesting about the bivalve thing. I had never heard that. I'll have to look into it more... Not that I'll have a breakdown any time soon, though. It's been over 12 years and if I ever do start eating fish, it wil be after a lengthy talking myself into it process, not talking myself out of it.

[Deleted]

I work at a technical college. Our student lounge has several vending machines. Two are for refrigerated beverages, one is for sweet and salty snacks, and one is a refrigerated vendor for sandwiches, soups, and microwaveable meals.

We're surveying the students to see what things they'd like stocked in the machines. Several have asked for healthier snack foods -- not the usual salty chips, candy bars, and pastries.

Our students are mostly adults who are juggling full-time jobs and families along with working toward degrees, so they are frequently grabbing snacks on the run.

They are tired of eating the usual processed foods, but they are constantly running and it's hard for them to find time to prepare fresh veggies to take with them each day.

Does any company make packaged veggie snacks suitable for vending in a refrigerated machine?

Thanks in advance for any info you'd care to share.

[Deleted]

Amy's Kitchen makes wonderful burritos and entrees. They're a bit pricy though.

[LAX]

Amy's in the vending market Its an old article, so maybe by this time they've expanded to the school market.

Maybe they can get some Odwalla bars, which are a healthy way to fill the gap. Taste of Thai, has some tasty vegetarian noodle dishes which might be vendable. I noticed some of the larger warehouse stores like Costco have individual serving of packaged baby carrots, celery and sliced apples. Those might be a nice option too.

A question for the vegans out there. I'm cutting back on the eggs in my diet (free range eggs are getting might expensive these days) so is there a way to effectively bind dishes like veggie loafs and patties without eggs? I've unsuccessfully tried using oil and veganaise.

[butternut]

Alchemy, I am not vegan, but alot of vegan recipes use silken tofu as a binder. I bought some Ener-g egg replacer at Whole Foods awhile but haven't tried it. Here is some info on other methods.

[hamhock]

Tofu works really well in baking as the "egg". So do flax seeds and water blended together.

[Deleted]

Alchemy, you can use Ener-G Egg Replacer in many recipes. It works very well. I have made many cakes and cookies with it. I don't eat eggs.

I found a link about egg substitutes.

[Deleted]

alchemy said:

Amy's in the vending market Its an old article, so maybe by this time they've expanded to the school market.

Maybe they can get some Odwalla bars, which are a healthy way to fill the gap. Taste of Thai, has some tasty vegetarian noodle dishes which might be vendable. I noticed some of the larger warehouse stores like Costco have individual serving of packaged baby carrots, celery and sliced apples. Those might be a nice option too.

Thanks for the leads, Alchemy. You've given me a good start.