Hi everbody
I'm new to being a vegetarian and I have got no idea wHat I can actually eat! I know I can't eat meat, and jellies - But what else?:confused:

Is meat and meat by-products the things you want to give up or do you want to give up eggs and dairy too?

I'm lacto-ovo which means I dont eat meat but I eat food with eggs & milk in them. I eat rices and pastas, veggies 9 million ways etc. Once we know what diet you are geared to, the more suggestions we can make.

I also suggest getting a book. Beleive it or not theres a book called Vegetarian for dummies and thousands of cookbooks & recipes online.

http://www.youngwomenshealth.org/vegetarian.html

browse the web for recipes and you'll find tons of stuff. Many of us use vegweb.com in addition to the recipes found here.

This sounds like a super-simplistic approach, but if it can be grown, then it's ok to eat as a vegetarian. Legumes, grains, veggies, fruit, nuts and seeds... that sort of stuff.

I'm not sure what country you're in, so it's hard to give a list of other ingredients to avoid but there are lots of lists round that give ingredient names and E-numbers that are vegan/not vegan.

Getting a book is a good idea. When you buy food from the store read the ingredients, and watch out for the term “natural flavors” as these can sometimes be meat related.

If you like Mexican food always check to see that the beans are veg. Many places use lard. If you eat soup make sure the stock is vegetarian. Minestrone is usually made with a tomato stock but check anyways.

If you mean jellies as gelitan, then no. But, if you mean just regular jelly, then yes you can!

Just to clarify, if you're going to call yourself vegetarian that you don't eat seafood or fish too. That's something I didn't learn until my 3rd year of vegetarianism. Being a vegetarian doesn't mean you have to eat just veggies. You can have fruit, grains, soup, pasta, dairy (if ovo/lacto) nuts, beans, veggies.
Basically, you CAN'T have anything with animal meat (stuff like beef stock in soup and I actually found beef tallow in biscuits the other day as well as fish gelatin in balance bars!) or gelatin. I just wanted to highlight those things as the list for what you CAN eat as a vegetarian is much, much longer!! The thing is, you will have to read labels, and doing so you'll probably be surprised at all that you can eat!! Are you going vegetarian for animals' sake or for other reasons such as health? If your doing this for animal reasons, I would also suggest picking up a books on vegetarianism and the benefits of becoming vegetarian (sorry I don't have a recommendation off of the top of my head), so if your friends or family member ever give you any crap, you can totally tell them off with some of your "did you know?" facts! If doing this for health reasons, you'll be amazed at how much a vegetarian diet can help you establish a healthy weight and healthy body.
Lastly
Good for you and good luck!

Definitely read every and anything you can get your hands on! I did a lot of research on the internet, but found out so many things that I was doing wrong as a so-called "vegan" by reading all of the posts on this message board! Everyone here is sooooo knowledgeable, I'm humbled. I don't think I can call myself "vegan" anymore. But every day I find out something else that I need to eliminate from my diet. So read on!!! And good luck.

i'm just eating fish and seafood and stuff like that until my body stops growing. My Parents were concerned about that when I told them I wanted to be Vegitarian. After that i'm gonna stop. I wish they would take up vegitarianism... :bobo:

Well..if your eating seafood, youre not a vegetarian. Your menu is easy. Fish, veggies, whole grains tec.

i'm just eating fish and seafood and stuff like that until my body stops growing. My Parents were concerned about that when I told them I wanted to be Vegitarian. After that i'm gonna stop. I wish they would take up vegitarianism... :bobo:

What does seafood do to help you while you're growing?? The only thing I can think of is Omega-3, but you can get that from many other sources (flaxseed, pastas, and breads). I don't see how all the chemicals in fish can help you any. I think you should educate your parents a bit, and maybe they'd change their minds.

If you mean jellies as gelitan, then no. But, if you mean just regular jelly, then yes you can!
Yeah, gelatin is not considered vegetarian. But in some countries other than the U.S jelly is better known as 'jam'(you know that slimey color rich paste that peanut butter would be nothing w/o) and jam is in almost all cases vegetarian safe, it's just made up of fruit pectin and the like.