Vegetarian.

[Rainbow Dash]

I've decided to stop eating meat for moral reasons. I like the taste of quorn and I think I could live pretty happily without meat.

Who here is a vegetarian? Did you find it hard to stop eating meat to start with? What food would you recommend to eat instead of meat (other than quorn)?

Please don't use this thread to debate about vegetarians. If you have an opinion you would like to express post it here:

http://www.teenhelp.org/forums/f38-c...vents-debates/

[Thirteen]

Hey Ceilidh!

It's awesome you've decided to stop eating meat. As well as the moral issues behind eating it, meat is also not really healthy (nor necessary). I've been a Vegan for about 1 1/2 years now, so I can give you some insight hopefully.

Personally, I didn't have a hard time giving up meat. I was never much of a meat-eater anyways, except a few things. But, it'll definitely help you if you can find any good meat substitutes.

Some grocery stores carry various imitation meats. Here in Canada, there is one called "Yves", and they make mock ground beef, mock chicken nuggets, veggie burgers, and various other things. I don't know what brands you have in the UK, but you should try to check out the nearest grocery stores to you. Yes, I mean more than one. You'd be surprised at what different items you can find at a couple different stores in the same town/city.

But also, there are foods like tofu (which, if made right, can be delicious), certain mushrooms prepared certain ways can imitate meat (i.e. Portobello Mushroom Steak ), there's seitan (which is a wheat protein), tempeh (a different processing of tofu, pretty much), nuts, and beans. These are all good meat alternatives, and can be extremely versatile in many foods.

If you'd like to ask any more questions, feel free to reply to this thread, or even PM me.

[Rainbow Dash]

Thanks ^____^ ASDA (it's the UK Wal-Mart) has quite a nice range here too I used to eat some for the hell of it The only thing I wasn't fussed on is the sausages they tasted weird.

Sadly I quite like the taste of meat. I know I shouldn't but I do.

Should I take any vitamin tablets? in case I lack certain vitamins/minerals in my diet.

[Fictional]

I've been vegetarian my whole life and never had to take vitamin tablets, so if i were you, i wouldn't bother xD My family eat a lot of pizza :P Rice and noodles are good if you fry some vegetables to go with them, and sweet potatoes and butternut squash are really nice roasted. Pasta with a tomato sauce is good =) In the summer my mum makes a lot of tarts and quiches, with sald and boiled potatoes too ^^

[Thirteen]

As Jessy said, vitamins aren't really that necessary. If you eat the right foods, you'll get everything (nutritionally speaking) that you need.

I don't eat meat, dairy, eggs, or any of that. I don't take any vitamins, unless I'm sick (but, that's because when I'm sick, I don't eat). The meat alternatives I listed are a good source of protein, and Nutritional Yeast (which is cheap and can be found at health food stores) is a versatile ingredient, as well as a good source of Vitamin B12 (which you'd normally get from meat).

I'd suggest just, eating healthy. Basically, make sure to have meals with the food groups covered, and perhaps learn some new vegetarian recipes (either online, or cook books).

[Satine]

I'm (almost) a veggie, too!

I gave up slaughtered meat for moral reasons, but I'm still okay with game. So long as it's lived wild and just had the bad luck to be caught out one day by a hunter, I'm okay with it. That said, I suspect I'm going to evolve into a vegan within the next couple of years. I'm not comfortable with the milk industry but I love cheese; something's got to give, and I can already feel I'm eventually going to give cheese the heave-ho.

I'm not sure what the moderators feel about product endorsement here, so to any moderator reading this, if I'm about to do a bad thing, sorry and please, by all means delete it. But Linda McCartney make some very convincing meaty-flavoured things. My favourite is their sausages but I haven't tried everything they do yet.

I tried Quorn and quite liked it myself, but my other half had a severe toxic reaction to it. We spent several hours of one evening with me stroking his back while he retched away. We did a bit of research online and it turns out that about 1 in 10 people have this extreme reaction to Quorn. I think it's appalling that they don't mention this on their packaging and I now refuse to eat Quorn on principle, even though it doesn't seem to have the same effect on me.

I'm the main cook of the house and I actually find veggie days really good fun - I've learned so much about cooking! What works for me is to make variations on themes: potato cakes (try sticking some broccoli and chilli in there, or spinach and nutmeg, or fried onions and a fried egg on top...) or pasta sauces, or risottos, or soups... Once you know how to make the basic thing, you can go nuts on the variations!

Mmmm, nuts...

[XxMallyPrydexX]

Hi Ceilidh!

That's awesome that you've decided to become a vegetarian! ^-^ I am a sincere animal loving vegetarian (trying to go vegan), I don't know why exactly you became a vegetarian, but if you wanna see my post on the effect the meat industry is taking on the environment, here's the link http://www.teenhelp.org/forums/f38-c...eat-dangerous/ . You have no idea how excited I am right now all I can say is tofu re[places everything. I love putting tofu in my stir fry don't let myths get in you way of trying it, tofu is delishh PM me anytime!

[Dream]

I reduce meat intake, but I'm not a strict vegetarian. In general I prefer vegetarian or vegan food if possible, but also I need to learn to cook more and have more control over what I eat, which should happen very soon. In the future I will probably become full vegetarian, but right now I just eat only like 10% as much meat as I used to eat a few years ago.

I eat nuts, peanut butter, cheese (feta on salads is good), beans, rice, other legumes, tofu, lots of eggs, and whatever ever else I can get for protein. I eat at least a few of these every day.

I don't approve of eating meat for several reasons. One is the suffering of the animals. Another is the damage that CFOs (concentrated feeding operations) do to the environment. The third is that much of the meat that we eat is processed and high in saturated fat and sodium, which isn't healthy. Forth is that the antibiotics used in raising the animals strengthen and breed new diseases by building up their resistance to the drugs. Finally, I personally just find that if I think about it too much, it is kind of gross to eat meat, especially pork. I really don't like pork.

[Revolution]

I'm a veggie. However, I might go against what a few people say, so...just prepare for that.

Really avoid the pizza and mac and cheese diet. By choosing to eat milk, you are giving yourself a lot more nutrients. However, too much milk can be very bad for your health. Most of your PROTEIN should come from vegetables, such as beans, lentils, nuts, and soy products. Calcium can come from the milk, but milk is not terribly filled with protein and using it too much for the protein causes a high amount of carbs eaten, and it isn't the greatest idea.

I've gone off and on vitamins, you're fine without them, but taking them isn't the worst idea if you start feeling bad. You also can think about easing in, but I didn't, and it's not a big deal. Good luck! You're welcome to PM me if you ever need.

[Nicole!]

I've been a vegetarian for about a year now. Tofu is really common, and I love mixing it in things because it absorbs the flavor of the other foods and it makes a good add-in substitute for meat. I've actually found that I eat a bigger variety of foods since I went veggie

[Rainbow Dash]

I was thinking the same thing. I think I will also eat healthier as I will be more careful what I put in my mouth.

Daddy said next time we go shopping we'll buy more quorn and shizz