Welcome to new member Lamanda Rhodes

[Guest guest]

Hi Lamanda and welcome to the group. This is a good place to be if you are

transitioning as you will get lots of encouragement both from other members

(though it's rather quiet at the moment) and from the material we have in our

archives - there's an enormous library of vegetarian and vegan recipes under

Files on our website, and searching the message archive gives the opportunity to

find what members have said about all possible subjects including any particular

ingredient (you could try vindaloo, I've never looked it up myself but it has

pleasant memories for me of my student days in London (England) where I really

learnt to eat hot and spicy food in the Indian restaurants there, and I don't

think that's changed much in almost 50 years since that time. Wow!).

 

I'm not sure what you mean by flexitarian, is that the same as what we would

call " omnivorous " (no restrictions on eating). If you " really don't care for

meat that much " this is a good start for your transition,

as the difficulties to be overcome are mostly social ones, especially convincing

friends and relatives about your determination to follow this course, but our

members have lots of experience about this.

 

We're very flexible but do insist on no discussion about meat, fish or poultry,

even in the negative sense of saying " I don't eat that " (though sometimes it's

unavoidable!) as many members don't enjoy hearing about these subjects. Likewise

any recipes you post will be carefully combed for hidden animal ingredients and

these will be removed or replaced, accompanied by a gentle comment from the

moderator.

 

Finally, vegetarian food doesn't have to be expensive or complicated, in most

cases it works out cheaper unless you go in search of unusual ingredients, but

I'm sure you'll find the way there.

 

Enjoy the group! Piers (co-owner with Pat)

 

Lamanda's Questionnaire

 

1. Which description BEST fits your situation?

- I am planning to make the transition to vegetarian (I think I want to start

with being flexitarian then pescatarian then, probably, vegetarian.)

 

2. What are your reasons for choosing a vegetarian way of life? These might be

one or more of:

- Personal health and well-being

- Concern for the environment

- Personal economy

 

Which one is your MAIN reason?

Personal health and well-being (to be honest, I really just don't care for meat

all that much)

 

3. Do you cook vegetarian food yourself? For how many people do you cook?

I do cook it on occasion so far. I make it for my husband and myself, but my

husband usually has meat with his (he would never go veggie.)

 

4. Do all the members of your household follow a vegetarian diet? If not, do you

cook non-vegetarian meals for the others?

Given my husband's preference to include meat in his diet I do cook

non-vegetarian meals. I, myself, am not yet a full vegetarian so I do eat meat

on occasion. However, I am planning to make the transition.

 

5. a) Are you careful to ensure no hidden animal ingredients are present in

prepared foods or packaged foods you buy in a store?

I hope to become better at it.

 

b) Are you careful to ensure no hidden animal ingredients are present in

food you eat out (e.g. in a restaurant or at the home of a friend or relative)?

I hope to become better at it.

 

6. Do you find you need to make an exception to your diet for medical reasons

(e.g. gelatine in capsules) or other reasons? Could you give an example?

None that I know of.

 

7. Have you any recipes which you would like to post on our list? Are you

looking for any recipe in particular?

I will probably have some to post and would love to get some recipes that are

relatively simple and don't require a lot of ingredients or ingredients that are

very expensive.

 

8. Do you like hot and spicy food? If so, what is your favourite? If not, what

kinds of food do you enjoy?

I LOVE hot and spicy foods!! I guess I would say that salsa or chili is my

favorite, but I would love to try vindiloo.

 

9. Do you read a lot about vegetarian topics (in books, magazines, on the web)?

At times.

 

10. What is your MAIN reason for deciding to be part of our group? (eg. access

to vegetarian recipes, information about vegetarianism, support for your

vegetarian decision, chatting with like-minded people, other.)

Support. Explaining all of this to my family is going to be very hard as almost

all of them are very much carnivores. I am honestly afraid of hurting the

feelings of my parents.

 

11. What is your age group? Teens? Over 20? Over 40? Over 65?

Over 20.

 

12. Is there anything else you would like to tell us (such as your country or

region, household pets/companion animals, hobbies, activities, interests, indoor

and outdoor sports, etc.)? Let's hear it!

I live in Georgia. My husband and I have a black tabby cat and a chocolate

long-haired chihuahua puppy. My favorite hobbies are reading and knitting. I

also love to be ooutdoors! I work just down the street from the Silver Comet

Trail in Georgia and am dying to hike it sometime. I am interested in getting

my own vegetable and herb garden started. I would also like to become regular

in a practice of yoga.

 

AND NOW, PLEASE *SIGN* WITH YOUR NAME OR A NICKNAME SO WE WILL KNOW WHO YOU ARE.

 

 

Lamanda Rhodes, M.A.

678-787-6867