Trouble sticking to it

I've made a couple failed attempts at becoming a vegitarian but I've got several obstacles in my way, such as: Being vegetarian is definately more expensive than being able to eat a hamburger. Also, no one else in my family (I live with 9 other people) is a vegetarian. One meat I have been able to abstain from is pork, and you wouldn't believe the looks I get for not eating hot dogs or salami. Does anyone have any advice on cheap veg. eating and how to deal with critisizing family members?

 

oh boy, are we in the same boat! i had to quit veggie during the summer because of the same reason-too expensive and too hot to cook in my house, which has no air conditioner. to be a veg you have to eat cleverly. fake meat is very expensive, yes. but lucky for us, vegetables are actually less expensive than meat! pick up a veg. cook book from the library, scan a few simple recipies (soup is probably the simplest thing to make, and there are tons of sandwiches and wraps) and start cooking. you could make cassaroles and soups ahead of time, put them in your fridge, and heat them up later when you don't have time to cook.
as for the fam, yeesh. try not to make a big deal about not eating meat. only talk about it when they bring it up. as long as you dont make them make you something seperate at dinner time and make your own meals, they shouldn't have much of a problem.
and one more thing, portabello mushrooms are less than hamburger patties, but taste just as good
hoped i helped you some! good luck!

 

Move out.

Gotta leave the nest sooner or later. Now you have more incentive to do so.


x

 

easier said than done these days.
then again, if you go to college and live on campus, who's to stop you from being veggie?

 

pound for pound, veggies are cheaper than hamburger meat. I dont eat much 'fake meat', most of my diet is vegetables and my grocery bill is very low.
I'm sure your family eats things other than hamburgers that are vegetarian.
Learn what you can about eating vegetarian...usually people shut up when they realize I know a lot about what I eat and they know hardly anything about the junk they eat. Enlighten them.

 

I don't know where you all live, but meat is MUCH cheaper than veggies here. My grocery bill has shot up double when I dropped chicken and fish. Especially because I live in a city and have to go to either a farmer's market or upscale grocery store to find veggies that aren't rotting off the shelves (and don't eat most canned on prepackaged because of worry about cross contamination with allergens).

Anyway, the easiest way to make the switch to veggie without criticism is to not tell people. Just don't eat the meat. If you make a big stink out of it, you're just annoying to everyone (like the people who freak out when they see someone else eating junk food) so unless there are health issues that would cause any of your food touching meat to cause you to be sick (some people are deathy allergic to turkey for instance and they need to let everyone around them know for their health), then just avoid the meat. People are less likely to bring it up.

 

^ i can see why veggies would be more if you lived in a city. i live in the country, surrounded by corn (yay.) and other veggies, so it's dirt cheap

 

yep, i think you need to widen your horizons as far as food goes, the more options you have, the better your chances of sticking to being a veg. and not sinking back into what you don't want to do.

 

I've never gone veggie, but I've cut down considerably in the past. When I ran into the, "it's too expensive," issue, it wasn't because the veggies were actually more expensive. It was because I overbought. That's the same problem most of my friends have too. You're not sure how much of it will be eaten. A week later you're throwing away greens, etc. Here is what I do to make sure I'm not throwing things away: I plan the meals I can, and then I buy other things to keep on hand for other meals and snacks, but only what I'll eat in a week. I'll write up a meal plan and hang it on the fridge (or in your case, maybe in your room) and then I'll also make a list of the other things that I bought as fillers. I'll try really hard to stick to the meal plan and use what I have rather than going to subway or something. Here are some of my staples that I think are pretty cheap and filling: Pasta, bread, potatoes, corn, apples, carrots, rice, beans/legumes, eggs (just for veg of course). I love making all sorts of pastas. Sandwiches are great. Potatoes really fill you up. Soup soup soup! You can make a HUGE pot of it and then portion it off and throw it in the freezer. NICE.

 

Hi

Personally It's not about the expense but the suffering involved. Pork is very inteligent. Do you know that when pigs see other pigs being slaughtered for the meat industry, they try to run away because they anticipate. I have been a Veggie for over 25 years ,a Vegan now for Two, and I also have had to deal with many of the issues you raise, even as a student. I am just trying to do the best I can to elieviate the suffering we induce on animals on this planet, who are unable to communicate or defend themselves in many cases.

Good Wishes