The QOTW [question of the week] for April 8th-14th

[Guest guest]

The QOTW [question of the week] for April 8th-14th is:

 

What advice to you have for someone just starting a

vegetarian diet?

 

Tell us all something you have learned on your

vegetarian path that has made it easier for you. If

you are really quite new to vegetarianism, and don't

think you have any sage wisdom to share, just tell us

one interesting thing you have discovered since

becoming a vegetarian.

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

One of the big things facing anyone embarking on a new lifestyle is

wondering how they will manage and cope with the associated changes. I

think a big concern for people starting any sort of diet is 'how will I

manage without....'? No matter how committed you are it is rather daunting

to be faced with having to make the changes necessary to adopt a totally new

way of eating.

 

 

 

As well as being teetotal vegetarians, my husband and I now have many other

foods which we cannot eat or have to severely restrict for health reasons.

The list includes sugar or any other form of sweetener (including

honey/artificial sweeteners etc), all refined grain products, salt, oils and

fats, dairy products from cows, certain food additives, coffee,

chocolate/cocoa. It may seem quite a daunting list and as if there isn't

anything left that we are able eat!! Nothing could be further from the

truth. I am not trying to pretend that this new lifestyle is always easy

because I have to come up with lots of ways to adapt recipes to our new

requirements. However I can assure you that we eat an interesting and

varied menu.

 

 

 

My advice to new vegetarians is to forget the things you now choose to

exclude from your diet and to look at the situation from the point of view

of 'these are things which I/we CAN eat' and work from there. So, for

example, work on ideas of how to make your favourite vegetables into

delicious main courses rather than thinking of vegetables just as

accompaniments.

 

 

 

There are vegetarian web sites which have a search function to find recipes

including a particular ingredient. Here are links to just 3 of them but

there are many, many more available

 

 

 

http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Everyday-Cooking/Vegetarian/Main.aspx

 

 

 

http://www.ivu.org/recipes/

 

 

 

http://vegweb.com/

 

 

 

Of course this group is an invaluable resource. There are lots of great

recipes in the files section and the group is a wonderful place to ask

questions. We are always willing to share ideas, tips and recipes with each

other so go ahead and ask any questions you have.

 

 

 

Cheers from Marie in Haarlem, Netherlands

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_____

 

 

On Behalf Of

artichoke72x

Monday, April 09, 2007 6:16 AM

 

The QOTW [question of the week] for April

8th-14th

 

 

 

The QOTW [question of the week] for April 8th-14th is:

 

What advice to you have for someone just starting a

vegetarian diet?

 

Tell us all something you have learned on your

vegetarian path that has made it easier for you. If

you are really quite new to vegetarianism, and don't

think you have any sage wisdom to share, just tell us

one interesting thing you have discovered since

becoming a vegetarian.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

I would have to say the best advise I can give to people is don't try to change

how anyone else eats. I am a vegetarian my husband is not, my daughter is my

son is not. I don't cook meat however my husband does. When ever I go to

someones house to eat I bring a dish to share. I know have an 11 year old

cousin who is vegetarian so when I went to his grandmother's house for Passover

I brought 2 dishes to share.

I have had people try to argue with me about my choice, here's the thing I don't

try to get anyone to change what they eat and they think they have to argue with

me about what I eat, not family members people I have worked with. I take the

high road and don't argue back.

 

Gayle

 

 

 

artichoke72x

 

Mon, 9 Apr 2007 12:16 AM

The QOTW [question of the week] for April 8th-14th

 

 

The QOTW [question of the week] for April 8th-14th is:

 

What advice to you have for someone just starting a

vegetarian diet?

 

Tell us all something you have learned on your

vegetarian path that has made it easier for you. If

you are really quite new to vegetarianism, and don't

think you have any sage wisdom to share, just tell us

one interesting thing you have discovered since

becoming a vegetarian.

 

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with the Search movie showtime shortcut.

http://tools.search./shortcuts/#news

 

 

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[Guest guest]

I would find a good veg restaurant in my area and go have a meal. It

can be very inspiring to see all the menu choices and see all the

happy people eating. I was quite amazed when i went to my first veg

restaurant, it gave me lots of ideas.

I recently had the most amazing vegan risotto - I would not have

attempted making this before now.

 

Donna

41' 21 " N

72' 09 " W

USDA zone 6

AHS heat zone 4

 

" If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would

only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination,

no more plants, no more animals, no more man. " - Albert Einstein

 

On 9 Apr 2007, at 12:16 am, artichoke72x wrote:

 

The QOTW [question of the week] for April 8th-14th is:

 

What advice to you have for someone just starting a

vegetarian diet?

 

Tell us all something you have learned on your

vegetarian path that has made it easier for you. If

you are really quite new to vegetarianism, and don't

think you have any sage wisdom to share, just tell us

one interesting thing you have discovered since

becoming a vegetarian.

 

________

8:00? 8:25? 8:40? Find a flick in no time

with the Search movie showtime shortcut.

http://tools.search./shortcuts/#news

[Guest guest]

This is a good question!

 

My best advice is to create a mental framework for your meals;

it's easier to plan that way and always have food on hand.

 

Here's my framework/structure:

 

Breakfast: 2 pieces of fruit

 

Lunch: usually 2 open-faced sandwiches (soy cheese or nut or bean

spread with greens/cabbage and tomato) + fruit

(I never leave the house w/o eating my lunch.)

 

Dinner: Protein + carbohydrate + 8 oz veggies (often frozen) and/or

salad;

for dinner, my mom always served meat, potatoes, & vegetable and it

makes sense

for me to do the same (w/o meat).

 

I hate cooking and do it rarely, so, knowing that I want a strong

protein source for dinner ( & lunch), for example, helps me to always

plan to have something decent on hand (pasta & nuts or beans & rice

or whatever). It also helps with portion control.

 

In the past, I'd come to dinner time and be confronted with only a 2

pound bag of peanut M & Ms in the house (because I'm not very

creative about my food at the last second). Those M & Ms went down

just fine

(and there's lots of protein there!) but nutritionally it was a bad

strategy.

 

Having a framework for my meals also helps me to load up on better

things. I need to feel full/satisfied, so that means having greens

and tomatoes & lots of veggies on hand and ready-to-go.

 

Living w/o meat (and/or dairy & eggs) isn't hard at all if you can

plan ahead a little. There's a lot of good food in the world I

would've missed if I'd been focused on meat as a necessary ingredient

of most meals!

 

 

 

 

 

 

, " artichoke72x "

<artichoke72x wrote:

>

> The QOTW [question of the week] for April 8th-14th is:

>

> What advice to you have for someone just starting a

> vegetarian diet?

[Guest guest]

What advice to you have for someone just starting a vegetarian diet?

 

Check around your location and find a good food co-op or natural food

store (or stores, if you're lucky like I am) and start buying a new food

to try each week. I lived in Madison, WI during the good old hippie

days, and my vegetarianism started when I lived there. I worked briefly

at a food co-op when anyone could walk in off the street and they would

put you to work cutting cheese or stocking the shelves. When I moved to

Milwaukee in the late 70's, I started frequenting the food co-op and

that is how I got into many new kinds of foods. I still will often find

new things at my food co-op. There have been foods I thought I would

like, and didn't, but I've also found many things to eat that I'd never

had in my family growing up. Some co-ops, such as mine, actually off

cooking classes for a modest price.

 

Another good thing to do if you have any other veg friends, or friends

willing to be veg for a day, is to have a " vegetarian eating club. " I

had one in the early 80's. Every week or two, 4-5 of us would gather at

a friend's house for a vegetarian meal. I can't remember if the sponsor

of the week did the cooking, or if we did a potluck--either way works

fine, as long as the people actually know what is vegetarian and what

isn't.

 

[Jello is not vegetarian and many people don't know that. I had to

laugh recently when a work friend asked me why her cat might be so

obsessed with jello. I told her it was an animal product, that's why.

She didn't know until I told her. I still laugh thinking about that cat

freaking her out by eating jello. And seeing her kind of turn up her

nose when I told her what jello really is.....]

 

mrf