meat-eater, that is! Wow I'm kind of in awe of myself right now. I'm one of those people who said all their life (I'm 31) they could never give up meat. And the other day it just came over me, when I was thinking about my geneal health that this is what I should do. I think becoming vegetarian would be the most effective way to change my overall relationship with food for the better in the long run. The animal rights aspect is the cherry on top. I will be lacto-ovo. I'm not yet ready to face my cheese addiction. I'll be eating more raw foods too because I'm not big on cooked veggies. Also I wish I liked mushrooms. But I do like Mexican & Italian foods so that is somewhere to start. Anyway, I'm going to check the links I've seen posted in other threads, but I'm wondering if anyone knows of a site that lists common products and whether or not they are vegetarian friendly? Like I saw one post where somebody said Kraft dinner isn't veg-friendly. I live near a town with several health food stores, but on my budget groceries mainly come from food lion. Someone told me I should look out for enzymes? Can you tell me some good vegetarian cheeses (told y'all, I'm addicted). Finally, can anyone tell me if becoming veg helped you lose weight? I'm hoping that will be a side-effect, LOL. Looking forward to getting to know y'all Samantha
YAY!!!! Ok, as to cheeses, I don't know about where you live, but here in Aus vegetarian cheeses are available at the supermarket. Just look on the back, if it says "rennet" it is not vegetarian. If it say "non-animal rennet/microbial rennet" it is veg. If it says "enzymes" you have to ring the company and ask, as it could be either. (It's usually the non-veg sort though) Becoming lo-veg and then vegan did not help me lose weight, I stayed kinda the same. Heh, I should tell people it's a great weight loss thing to get them to convert, but then, I'd be lying.
moontime, take it one day at a time, and spend the $$ on whole food. I really understand the knock-off powdered cheese bit, as I 'm looking at $50 for three til payday. Whole wheat spag(fairy cheap in bulk) will fill you up faster than enriched durum/white pasta, but good veggies on either is a must. Perhaps staging down to the rennet question would help? I do get on rare occasion smoked mozzerella from Whole food that has no rennett. Soft cheeses usually don't have it. Now, i have cheese maybe once a month, so Ican swing it on occasion. Lots of root veggies, and go for frozen over canned. the liquid leeches the nutrients. Have a freezer? buy it in bulk may help you. I have a post about vegan on the cheep..i'll search for it.
moontime, take it one day at a time, and spend the $$ on whole food. I really understand the knock-off powdered cheese bit, as I 'm looking at $50 for three til payday. Whole wheat spag(fairy cheap in bulk) will fill you up faster than enriched durum/white pasta, but good veggies on either is a must. Perhaps staging down to the rennet question would help? I do get on rare occasion smoked mozzerella from Whole food that has no rennett. Soft cheeses usually don't have it. Now, i have cheese maybe once a month, so Ican swing it on occasion. Lots of root veggies, and go for frozen over canned. the liquid leeches the nutrients. Have a freezer? buy it in bulk may help you. I have a post about vegan on the cheap..i'll search for it.
dont give this girl a false hope people meat is just to irresistable http://www.geocities.com/joe_hard17/bacon.html
I love it when weak people inflict their values on others... how long til those nitrates give ya stomach cancer, eh?
Thanks to those who replied with helpful information and positivity. Kiz, were you healthy and in good shape to begin with? Hence no need to lose weight? Johnny ATL, I think its sad you have nothing better to do than troll around internet forums injecting negativity. Hey if that's how meat-eaters act then I guess going veg will be easier than I thought. *shakes head*
Haha ... Welcome to the veg*n community, moontime! Let's see ... we have plenty of vegan cheese here! There is a co-op grocery store near my college campus (luckily), and they sell soycheese slices there which taste exactly like regular cheese (of multiple kinds; American, Swiss, etc.). Our college cafeteria gets soycheese in the bulk, thanks to my roommate and I (), but that type is kinda nasty ... I know they have soycheese all over the place; I believe you can also get some at Wegmans! Don't forget to supplement! Replace milk with soymilk, replace meat with tofu (you'll probably be happy to know that there are tofu-based products out there like "Just Like Chicken Nuggets," which taste exactly as their name says, not to mention Boca burgers and Boca sausages), and you should also take some b-complex vitamins every now and again for good measure. Just be sure to keep your protein levels up, and you should do fine! Einstein himself said that the greatest change that will ever occur in the history of mankind will be the transition to a vegetarian diet.
In the longrun, you'll find that a veg lifestyle is cheaper. In fact, one of the reasons I've never been much of a meat-eater is the cost involved. I don't follow a super-strict all-whole-foods-everything-organic diet, but I manage to incorporate some of those by cutting costs in other areas. A few random cost-saving tips: - skip the convenience foods, Kraft dinner and the like. They cost far more, and are much less healthy, than making foods from scratch. - stock up on foods during sales. I bought 20 pounds of pasta last week during a buy one get one free sale. I'm still eating canned diced tomatoes from the Great Twenty-five Cent Sale of Aught-Three. A well-stocked pantry is a must if you need to keep your food costs down. - check out alternate food sources. Are there any farmers' markets or produce stands near you? How about a salvage grocery store? I buy a lot of organics at the salvage store near me. - some cheap staples, right off the top of my head: rice, potatoes (if you have a good place to store them, buy a huge amount when they go on sale), carrots (cheap even when organic), onions, cabbage, dried lentils... well, not many others are coming to mind quickly, btu suffice it to say, pretty much any meal I make is going to contain significant amounts of at least one of the above. Hoep this helps!
thanks dodger, that does help. I definitely need to stock my pantry. Potatoes, that reminds me, one time somebody gave us a huge tub of potatoes. We put them in a cabinet in the kitchen at floor level. One time when we were out, the dogs got to 'em and had a feast! We have an Earth Fare and a Greenlife Grocer here. Anyone have any opinion as to which one is better? Or are they pretty much the same?
i don't know either of those stores but shop and compare for sure... and congrats on going veg*n! i agree with artful_dodger that if you cook from scratch and in season whereever possible its much cheaper (and better tasting.) hit me up here or on knottylocks (blindgirlfriend) if you ever need recipe help - i'm a cookbook collectin' freak
hey jamaica/blindgirlfriend, I saw you on stitchin bitches too, I guess we are bound to run into each other! I hear you I like to collect books too, and don't think I havn't used this as the perfect opportunity to buy some new cookbooks and other books, LOL
i can't get into stitchin bitches yet but its funny how many people you do see / recognize on other forums. yeah, i love the veggie cookbooks its a serious addiction issue i have lol i have an dual of a vegan one i could send if ya want, i can't return it to chapters as it was a gift with no reciept and have considered swapping it but its still just sitting around since my bday last march. its not bad, theres a burger recipe that is really yummy...
Seems like I waited a bit before being "activated" on the SB board too. Sure I'd love to have the cookbook, send me a PM and we can hammer out the details. Awesome! hugs sam
