Survived my moment of weakness!

[LottaQuilts]

Ok... I'm about 2 months into this vegetarian thing and feeling great (thank goodness the gas is gone).

Now...I cook.. REALLY well. Menu planning and making gourmet meals is my thing.

I'm looking through my recipe book today planning next week's menu .... yes, I'm one of those A*** rententive people who plan ahead. So, anyway, ...
I'm thinking...oh... the Filet Mignon with the chili cured onions, Yukon Gold potatoes and horseradish cream.... am I really NEVER going to eat that again?

I thought... alright... everyone else in the house is an omni.... I'm going nuts trying to come up with food for them/food for me.... I'm giving it up!

Then I thought about actually putting a piece of dead animal in my mouth....and that did it!

I think I've had a victory! :nana:

Just wanted to share with those who have "been there, done that".... I don't know that I've made it without this support system (it's truly the only one I have):up:

[Tesseract]

Yay, go LottaQuilts! :bobo:

BTW, my mom is also into quilting. She made this for me:

PS: You haven't posted photos of any of your quilts here, have you? I'd love to see them!

[broccoli]

Good job! :nana: :up:

[Tom]

Congratulations! (and cute avatar!)

Meat and fish still smell good to me, too- which is wierd, since I originally became vegetarian because the whole "animal welfare" idea (where some animals are pets but others are food, and it's OK to eat animals so long as they die painlessly) never made sense to me. I thought it was inconsistent to kill and eat a being whom you cared about. (I'm glad that at least some omnis care about how food animals are treated, though!)

You're lucky that you're a good cook. I suck in the kitchen.

[froggythefrog]

(*pats you on the back*) I went through similar trials and actually failed a few before I became veggie. I just want to congratulate you!

[morthia]

I've been vegetarian for about 7 years now, and I would say the first year is definitely the hardest. Kinda like what you were saying, that the whole idea of what to make as a vegetarian meal can be confusing. Like...what do vegetarians even eat?

Well here is some advice of stuff that helped me out as a new veggie:

1. Go for the prepackaged vegetarian food. Yeah, it's not exactly the healthiest thing to be eating out of cardboard boxes all the time. But it really helps out when you may not be sure what kind of veggie food to buy. I ate alot of Gardenburgers when I first turned Veggie, alot of Morningstar Farm Chick'n Nuggets, etc. I'm totally not condoning eating this stuff all the time, because it is kind of like "vegetarian junk food." But alot of those frozen ready-to-go veggie foods can be a life saver when your not sure what to make yourself.

2. If you're still used to putting meat in dishes, think of a replacement to always put in your food instead of meat so you won't feel like "something is left out" of your food. For example, when making a sandwich, put on an extra slice of cheese instead of lunch meat. I've found that gives the sandwich more bulk.

3. When you go out to eat with omni friends go to places that are easy to order vegetarian at like Italian or Asian (order tofu in place of meat) places...

4. You can even order "fast food" as a vegetarian. (This will probably freak out some of the health food purists out there.) But Taco Bell is one of the better places to eat if you eat fast food. Just get used to saying "supreme chalupa w/ no meat" etc. You can do that for pretty much anything on the menu.

Well....that's how I did it at least. Not the healthiest way to go, but I'm still around. In time you will learn how to cook tofu and all sorts of other veggie stuff. Just don't feel overwhelmed by trying to learn everything at once. In time you'll see that being veggie is actually really enjoyable and easy.

Hope that helps. Good Luck!

[Poppy]

Just wanted to share with those who have "been there, done that".... I don't know that I've made it without this support system (it's truly the only one I have):up:

I know a lot of us feel this way about VB!

[SeaSiren]

Yay you! :nana: Doesn't it feel positively wonderful to be in control of your life and diet?!

[Katt Fink]

Good job! Now throw away that nasty old cookbook and get yourself a good, yummy veggie one and you'll never even dream of looking back with all the super-yummy dishes you can make :lick:

[Jennifer N]

What did you end up serving?

[bstutzma]

Good job! After a while, this will likely pass. The smell of meat doesn't smell good at all to me anymore!! I notice that when meat is cooking, its the herbs and seasonings that smell good, not the flesh. :P

p.s. - I also take a lot of pride in my cooking ability. Let me tell you - the vegetarian culinary world has no bounds. THing about it - pretty much the only ingredients you are removing are beef, pork, chicken, fish and shellfish - there are thousands of other ingredients out there that make up vegetarian cooking! Try getting into ethnic cooking, you'll blow away your friends and family the first time you serve them aloo gohbi with raita, basmati rice and naan! My husband is puerto rican, so I make a LOT of latino food - lots of good choices for filling meals! There are so many types of beans and different ways to prepare them, we could eat rice and beans every day of the week and never eat the same thing twice! (though we don't, hehe.)

Good luck!

[StellaBlue]

Congratulations!

I have kept it up, too... for about three weeks now. This is my second run, having been largely vegan for about a year and a half in college a few years back.

I, too, love the disappearance of IBS and the lethargy I used to feel. Walking two miles every morning has probably helped with this, too.

When I am tempted, all I have to do is remember watching 'Meet Your Meat'
- that's what finally did it for me. When my family offers me a burger, and I am tempted, I just remember that horrible image of the still-alive cow, hanging upside down, with a hook in its side, blood dripping from its mouth onto the slaughterhouse floor, and the low moans and moos in the background. When they offer me crunchy bacon on top of my stuffed poblano pepper, I just remember the baby piglets getting their heads smashed against the concrete floor until they were dead.

Sorry to be so graphic, but we must keep these things in mind. Very few people, especially people who lean naturally for either taste or ethical reasons toward vegetarianism, would be willing to personally commit these acts. And yet we turn our heads, and eat. Disgusting.

Then I think of all the happy, free animals I have been lucky enough to have encountered in my life. And it makes me feel great, all the way around!

[LottaQuilts]

Let's see...

Friday night we had Tostados. Mine with Pintos, kids had chicken on theirs. Yummy, yummy

Saturday dinner was steaks for kids & dad. I made a wonderful Veggie Frittata.... Chili peppers, tomatoes, garlic, etc.... not ready to give up eggs & cheese yet (though I seldom eat eggs)

Sunday dinner the omni-folk had Cornish Game Hens and I made the most wonderful roasted veggies (onions, asparagus, carrots and ****take mushroom roasted in olive oil with garlic and fresh thyme). We all ate the cousous (made with veggie broth, cumin, oregano and pine nuts).

One of my favorite dishes is a BBQ bean dish we've made for years that uses like 5 different types of beans plus corn and hominy. It originally called for sausage, but that's obviously easy to leave out. I could live on that stuff (though it does require a good dose of Beano to survive it!)

[LottaQuilts]

Oh, forgot to add.... I chose to become a vegetarian more for health and environmental reasons than animal rights (that's just a nice side benefit). So I eat very little pre-packaged food and almost NEVER eat fast food.

I did get stuck at an Arby's a couple weeks ago (we needed someplace fast for a late lunch after seeing Harry Potter). I discovered that, if you ask them, they'll make you up any of their salads without the meat on it.

We are heading to a Christmas party this Friday for DH's work. One of these "Do you want the beef or chicken?" things. He specifically asked if they could prepare a vegetarian meal for me.... we'll see how that goes.

[Tom]

Actually, you're not alone... there are others here who are vegetarian for health and environmental reasons too.