Vegans/Vegetarians

[Dinkin_Flicka]

Not sure if it's been answered in the thread, but the Seattle area has TONS of organic/natural food selections and is very vegetarian/vegan friendly.

I was a vegetarian for about 4 years in my early 20's, and honestly the first year was the hardest when I didn't really know what to eat. I had read a few neutrition books prior too, but was still really limited on what I cooked. I ended up eating a bunch of Boca/Garden products. Thankfully my mom is Philipino so I learned how to cook a bunch of stuff from her since growing up for her, meat was a treat. That along with learning more and more recipies from vegetarian cook books I cut out a lot of the imitation meat products. I still ate them since they still taste pretty good, but I went from eating them every day to once a week.

I quit being a vegetarian when I started getting serious with my wife. There was no way she was going to be a vegetarian with me so I made the choise to go back to eating meat. Since I was only doing it for health reasons, it wasn't a big deal going back.

 

[Slick_36]

^^^^

I'm extremely happy to hear that. Seattle was actually number one on the list of where I plan on moving to. If the Seahawks win the Superbowl, it's basically guaranteed I'll be moving there by next year.

 

[Dinkin_Flicka]

One tip I learned with tofu that I wished I learned a lot earlier is freezing it prior to eating. When you freeze it and and defrost it a little in the microwave it totally changes the texture. Even with firm tofu unless you deep fat fry it, it has kind of a slimy texture. When you freeze it it takes more of a spongey texture and completely takes away any slimyness that it had. One thing to keep in mind with putting tofu in a sauce is that it will absorb a lot of the liqued, so you have to compensate by adding more so it doesn't end up really thick.

Then you can cube it up in small bits and replace any type of meat in sauces like spaghetti or stroganoff. My favorite tofu dish that I still make from time to time is tofu parmesan. Instead of cubing the block of tofu, slice thin and throw it in an eggwash and then some breading, and fry it in a little oil.

 

[Slick_36]

^^^^^
Great advice, I never would have thought of that. I'm a big texture person so that definitely helps a lot.

 

[KurtDee2000]

My Brother's girlfriend is Vegan because of her love of animals.

I am a meat eater, hunter, once a year slaughter my own organic chickens type of guy and I just can't help myself but bring up stories that I know will gross her out....

I literally give my self a pep talk before I see her to not be an absolute asshole then she shows up and it happens. I really like her and my brother is very happy so I really need to work on this....

It makes me giggle just thinking of all the conversations we have had....

Another thing that I would like to bring up is when we have them over for supper my wife always makes sure she has Vegan things to eat out of respect for her but when they invite us over it's a 100% vegan meal which really irritates me. What's up with this?

 

[Slick_36]

^^^
Morally, you don't have a problem with someone not killing an animal. Morally she has a problem with someone killing an animal. Doesn't seem too hard to figure out. You kind of owe her for being a dick anyways lol.

 

[Slick_36]

I remember reading a mac danzig article back in the day, he was all about some brown rice protein meal replacement called Vega. Here is an article where he breaks down whats in his diet.

That's great man, thanks for the link! And I might be taking up fishing during the summer to get me some protein. I figure that's fair.

 

[PolishHeadlock]

That's great man, thanks for the link! And I might be taking up fishing during the summer to get me some protein. I figure that's fair.

fake vegetarian

 

[Slick_36]

fake vegetarian

I never claimed to be one. I've said I switched to the diet. I don't oppose eating animals. I oppose the mistreatment of them for convenience and profit.

 

[jefferz]

My Brother's girlfriend is Vegan because of her love of animals.

I am a meat eater, hunter, once a year slaughter my own organic chickens type of guy and I just can't help myself but bring up stories that I know will gross her out....

I literally give my self a pep talk before I see her to not be an absolute asshole then she shows up and it happens. I really like her and my brother is very happy so I really need to work on this....

It makes me giggle just thinking of all the conversations we have had....

Another thing that I would like to bring up is when we have them over for supper my wife always makes sure she has Vegan things to eat out of respect for her but when they invite us over it's a 100% vegan meal which really irritates me. What's up with this?

Doesn't have anything to do with being her being vegan. It has to deal with her personality, she expects you to compensate her but won't do anything for any one else. It's a sad trend that seems to be gaining fast in America, it's all about me and screw anyone else.

 

[PolishHeadlock]

I never claimed to be one. I've said I switched to the diet. I don't oppose eating animals. I oppose the mistreatment of them for convenience and profit.

So fishing is ok if you catch it yourself because there is no profit?

 

[Dinkin_Flicka]

Doesn't have anything to do with being her being vegan. It has to deal with her personality, she expects you to compensate her but won't do anything for any one else. It's a sad trend that seems to be gaining fast in America, it's all about me and screw anyone else.

It's not quite that simple. Asking her to prepare something that she is morally against doing herself should not be expected. Now if she is coming over to someones house and expecting them to accomidate her is selfish. When I was a vegetarian I always assumed there wouldn't be anything to eat so I would bring a dish for everyone to share, but since I wasn't a vegetarian for health reasons when I had company I would cook up meat dishes along with meatless.

It's tough to know all sides of the story from the info given, but I would be willing to bet she expected her needs to be accomidated.

 

[Da Speeit]

It's not quite that simple. Asking her to prepare something that she is morally against doing herself should not be expected. Now if she is coming over to someones house and expecting them to accomidate her is selfish. When I was a vegetarian I always assumed there wouldn't be anything to eat so I would bring a dish for everyone to share, but since I wasn't a vegetarian for health reasons when I had company I would cook up meat dishes along with meatless.

It's tough to know all sides of the story from the info given, but I would be willing to bet she expected her needs to be accomidated.

You don't have to explain yourself; you're being honest about your reasons and arent disguising it as something it's not.

 

[Dinkin_Flicka]

You don't have to explain yourself; you're being honest about your reasons and arent disguising it as something it's not.

One of the most annoying groups of people I have ever met are the "holier than thou" vegans. I don't know if it's just my area, or if it's pretty across the board but most of the vegans I've met tend to be hipsters so the combination of the two really puts it over the top.

My old room mate was one of them, vegan for moral reasons. We parted ways and met up for dinner after a few years. I had gone back to eating meat and she started eating dairy so she wasn't a vegan anymore. She told me "I can't believe you're eating meat again." In which I replied "At least I didn't fall back on my morals.". She laughed it off but I could tell it stung. She lives in Portland now off all places and has completely fallen off the meat wagon. She's still a hipster though, so she fits right in, in Portland.

She was so cliche it was comical. She once told me that "I used to like Dashboard Confessional, but now they're to mainstream."

 

[Social Distance Warrior]

Great job TS...maybe I'll give it another go around.

 

[shockaholic12]

I just date a vegan. So without much effort a lot of meals are. Then I eat free range meat on my own.

 

[Sexy]

Meat is too good for me to give up.
I made a bacon covered meatloaf two weekends ago.

 

[lion paw]

I've recently decided to try out a vegetarian diet. It's been great so far. I've actually managed to spend less on food, have more energy, and I feel more clear in thought. I watched a documentary last night that has me considering going full vegan. I live in the biggest cattle producing area in the US so finding vegan friendly food isn't the easiest here. I plan on moving to Dallas, Seattle, or Denver pretty soon though so it's only going to get easier as far as availability goes for me.



Any vegans or vegetarians here? Why did you choose to do it? Do you have any advice on it?

I'm not a vegetarian but I used to eat veggie dishes for lunch.The energy it gave off was amazing.But unfortunately,I got tired of it due to my lack of vegetarain culinary skill.

 

[shunyata]

Living organisms that as far as we know dont think, and dont feel pain. Its not really the same as comparing that to levels of complexity of thought.


And, I dont know whether or not it is right or wrong to kill animals, or plants for that matter. The logic we use to say why its wrong to kill humans tells me its also wrong to kill animals. Most meat eaters seem to be convinced that they KNOW there is nothing wrong with it. If you say hey it might be wrong but I dont know and dont care, thats cool. But when you say its not wrong, then Ive got a problem.

Yeah, see, that's where you're wrong.

There is emerging evidence in botany that many plants do have a "neural web" of sorts. It isn't a centralized brain in the kingdom of animalia sense but there is some processing of external information and metabolic changes based upon the information that has been processed.

What is pain? Physical pain is ultimately tissue damage that signals the nervous system to make changes to prevent further tissue damage. Your hand gets burned, your brain tells you to remove your hand from the heat source as quickly as possible to avoid further tissue damage.

Consider this, there is a species of Acacia tree which when it's leaves are damaged by a foraging herbivore begins to release a toxic compound into it's foliage which starts to give the leaves a nauseating taste to dissuade the herbivore from continuing to feed on the tree. But it doesn't stop there.

The same tree that was attacked not only releases the toxin into it's own leaves but it also releases a pheromone into air. Other nearby Acacia trees will pick up this chemical through the air and it signals them to begin moving the same toxin into their own foliage even though they suffered no tissue damage.


So here he have a documented case where a tree has defensive response to tissue damage designed to prevent or reduce further damage, and then above and beyond that the same tree communicates via a chemical signal to other trees of the same species that are nearby so that they too CAN PROTECT THEMSELVES FROM PREDATION BY HERBIVORES!

Imagine that.




The important lesson here is that all life is precious. When you take life, whether it be the life of a head of cabbage or a striped bass, understand that you are killing so that you and/or your family can live. Do not take joy in the act of killing, but treat it with respect and honor the sacrifice that these organisms made against their will so that you can persevere.

 

[Tycho- Taylor's Version]

What is pain? Physical pain is ultimately tissue damage that signals the nervous system to make changes to prevent further tissue damage.

Sorry man, I'm a vegetarian sympathizer, and I liked your post, but I think you're off here. Avoiding tissue damage does not equate to the conscious experience of pain in plants, inviting that comparison is asking for trouble imo.