The Vegetarian & Vegan Thread

[lost_in_chaos]

I'm not even a vegetarian but I prefer the vegetarian diet. I know it sounds weird but I don't have ethical motivation to cut meat/dairy etc from my diet but I always do prefer to eat like a lacto-ovo vegetarian if I can CHOOSE. The thing is that I still live at my parents' house and I just haven't wanted to bother my mum to make me seperate food because it's not a necessity for me. But when I move out and start cooking for myself I will definitely leave all meat out of my diet, it just doesn't appeal to me.

I haven't eaten red meat in years. I actually don't know why it started to disgust me so much but I just realized I really, really had to struggle to get it down. Just seeing it almost made me feel nauseous. So I cut that off but I still ate chicken and fish. Actually now my whole family eats only white meat. And of course there's the fact that it's much more ecological and healthier to leave red meat out of your diet so that just made me much more certain that I will never eat it again. Why would I put myself through eating something if it almost makes me sick?

Right now I eat dairy products and eggs(don't think I'll leave those out at any point)but I still occasionally eat fish and turkey or even chicken... But I have to say I'm starting to struggle with those as well. Luckily my mum and I often choose to do something with soy/tofu/beans/lenses etc especially if dad's not home. I love vegetarian cooking and I don't know if I'm imagining things but I feel a lot better if I don't eat any meat...

Anyway, that's how my diet is at the moment. I can't wait to be able to cook all by myself!!

 

[oiselet]

I was at a wedding which was supposed to be vegan friendly and the server asked if I wanted steak or chicken. I told her I didn't eat meat and so she put me down for fish so I repeated, "no, I don't eat meat." She just looked at me like I was an alien.

Why is fish not considered meat?

 

[before]

That irritates me so much, fish is meat, but I believe that being a pescetarian is a stepping stone, some need for daily supplements, and many people substitute it for red meat. But that doesn't excuse food companies for labeling products as vegetarian when they infact include seafood.

 

[chanelnumber5]

^^It drives me insane when people think fish is vegetarian. Pescetarian, yes; vegetarian no.

 

[northernsky]

I don't know too much about religious traditions but I always thought this goes back a long time, when Lent season and other fasting times where strongly supervised by the catholic church. Even milk and eggs during Lent season were forbidden until late in the middle ages. But there are always ways to bend the rules, if you defined fish as "not meat" you could eat it even if meat was forbidden. Ingenious. There was fake meat like today's vegan stuff but also made of fish (because in the literal sense it wasn't breaking the fasting if you were having a five-course menu made of fake meat) It is said there were the wildest excuses for eating ducks or other animals living in the water (following the logic 'if it lives in the water it is fish, if it is fish, I can eat it - awesome) If you were Pope and liked chocolate too much, you decided that chocolate did not break a fast, if people were too unwilling to follow the very strict fasting rules you made concessions and decided fish was okay. I think that's why the meat/fish difference seems so random. (It is random)

 

[couturecouture]

I was at a wedding which was supposed to be vegan friendly and the server asked if I wanted steak or chicken. I told her I didn't eat meat and so she put me down for fish so I repeated, "no, I don't eat meat." She just looked at me like I was an alien.

Why is fish not considered meat?

I don't eat fish either and have to deal with that all the time. It's funny (annoying really) because my mom is a vegetarian too (no fish either) and people will still be like "oh but you eat chicken right?" and we'll both be like "no", and then they'll ask "oh but you eat lobster/shrimp/fish right?" and we'll say "no" and people will be so surprised. To me the concept of no meat/no fish doesn't seem so far fetched but I guess a lot of people think we are crazy.

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ It all comes from people who say they're vegetarian but really aren't. I had an office mate who told people she was vegetarian, but actually ate chicken ... under certain circumstances. Not if it was still on the bone, for instance I picked a restaurant because it served chicken, and then she couldn't eat it, and there weren't really good vegetarian options ... oh dear.

 

[oiselet]

I don't understand: why bother being one if you aren't going to give up meat? That's just silly!

 

[-Veda-]

It's easy to use and attach yourself to that label, especially if you want to make a statement that you generally eat healthy

 

[fashionista-ta]

I don't understand: why bother being one if you aren't going to give up meat? That's just silly!

In her case, she was trying to convey to people that she likely won't eat any meat dishes she is served. My outlook is, every vegetarian meal helps ...

 

[northernsky]

I know a few people who don't like to eat meat they haven't prepared personally, so they say they are vegetarian while eating out to avoid discussions. Just an example. It seems to be difficult to explain that you just don't want to eat a steak right now if you are not a vegetarian. Being vegetarian is the only acceptable reason to not have the meat dish. It is weird that the vegetarian options (in cafeterias or canteens) are supposed to be only for vegetarians, as if omnivores would eat meat with every single meal. When I was in France there was rarely a vegetarian option, in the residence where i lived you were obliged to eat in the cafeteria (a fact nobody mentioned to me when I moved in) so you were supposed to have meat with at least one meal a day, if you had lunch and dinner, with two. (Oh, don't ask about the side dishes...) Even hardcore meat eaters like to have the option, no?

 

[northernsky]

Okay, I have a slightly stupid question... How do you find out if the patches indicating the brand and the size on a jeans are real leather or fake?

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ I would contact the company. I think the ones I've seen are real. Either that, or just buy jeans without those patches ...

 

[northernsky]

I read on the internet that Kuyichi uses leather patches. I don't know about the other two pairs of jeans I own, the brands are probably too off-brand to be discussed on the internet.

Contacting the company would be a good idea, but I don't have a certain pair in mind yet, I was just toying with the idea of buying another pair of jeans and wasn't sure where to look for leatherfree jeans. Oh well.

On another topic: Has anyone of you tried Lopino (like Tofu but made of lupine seeds instead of soy beans) before? The original Lopino is off the market but I ordered lupin stuff from another company and made a great casserole (lupin, tomatoes and polenta, with lots of Italian herbs) I never thought it would taste that good because the stuff is awfully bitter but in combination with the tomatoes and the polenta it was just right. (It fell apart when I took it out of the casserole though)

 

[oiselet]

I know a few people who don't like to eat meat they haven't prepared personally, so they say they are vegetarian while eating out to avoid discussions.

Haha, I say "I just don't like meat" when eating out to avoid discussions. There's only so many vegetarian jokes I can take.

 

[northernsky]

Three vegetarians walk into a bar... no, I'm just kidding

Around where I live it seems like vegetarians are more accepted then 'picky' eaters. Weird.

 

[oiselet]

While I was in boot camp the females noticed I never ate any meat and asked if I was a veggie, my friend said yes for me but I quickly covered up and said no, and what would give them a thought?! Lol.

I get a lot of stigma here, I think everyone assumes I'm a PETA recruiter.

Haven't tried Lopino but I'm eating veggie straws in rosemary olive oil from Sensible Portions and OMG they are so good! They have sugar so they aren't vegan friendly but yum yum!

 

[fashionista-ta]

northernsky, one would think a brand like Loomstate would be leather-free ...

 

[Tuesday]

I'm so happy to find this thread! I am looking at making the transition to veganism. For the past few weeks, I've been researching foods and recipes and seeing what is available when I eat out.
This will be a work in progress...

 

[northernsky]

fashionista-ta: The loomstate jeans aren't labelled vegan on the page I looked (they normally do label the vegan stuff as such)

Btw, these are my new shoes Totally clash with the rest of my clothes but I love them, supremely squishy, thehe, and very comfy.

Hello Tuesday