Trying Out Vegetarianism

I always say it’s difficult to actually dive in 100%. So why say you have to label yourself a vegetarian, instead cool meat free at home and then go from there, it helps the process! My favorite is taco bowl, but no rice, ala Smitten Kitchen’s spaghetti squash tacos + a salsa fresca + hot peppers, it’s super easy and feels indulgent.

I’ve loved your blog for years, Joanna! I was excited when I saw this post, because I’ve slowly but surely been transitioning to a vegetarian diet over the past couple of years. It’s fun to hear about others who are giving it a go too. I think it really helped that I started out slowly, rather than cutting out all meat abruptly – it gave me time to figure out what vegetarians actually eat :) I now find it to be quite easy – I still have similar food to what I ate before, but now I use beans, nuts and veggies for protein sources rather than meat. I especially love Indian and Middle Eastern vegetarian meals!

http://orchardstreetkitchen.com

It`s looks wonderful, want to taste it cus I am in the way of vegeterian too.

Since moving to the UK my husband and I (meat lovers since birth!) have practically gone all veg (meat is more expensive here). What has helped is getting a box of organic and locally grown veg every week from AND River Cottage’s “Veg Everyday” cook book! I highly recommend it!

I’ve been a vegetarian for close to 10 years now. I have lots of recipes that I love, but one of my favorites is lettuce wraps/cups because they are easy and fast to make, the recipe is flexible, and the cooking is easy (basically chop, mix, and stir fry–anyone could do it). Here’s the abbreviated edition:

Wash your lettuce and set out to dry. I like to use romaine because it is flexible and more flavorful, but a butter or iceberg is good too.

Dice tofu and veggies into very small cubes (my go-to veg include carrots, kale, and spinach but add what you like) and add to large bowl. Add fried rice noodles (found in Indian stores) in small pieces.

To the bowl add soy sauce, toasted sesame oil and a chopped green onion to the above and toss. Add more sauce as needed and don’t skip on these 3 ingredients–they are the core of the flavor.

Stir fry this mix in a cast iron skillet on med-high with vegetable oil until toasted.

Scoop into lettuce cups or serve as lettuce wraps.

I recently began not eating meat, and I feel SO MUCH BETTER. Not only physically, but mentally. I have more energy and I’ve found I don’t even crave meat in non-meat dishes. My longterm boyfriend and I haven’t eaten meat in a couple of months, and life has never been better!
Jaime

“I have from an early age abjured the use of meat, and the time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look upon the murder of men.”
― Leonardo da Vinci
“By eating meat we share the responsibility of climate change, the destruction of our forests, and the poisoning of our air and water. The simple act of becoming a vegetarian will make a difference in the health of our planet.”
― Thích Nhất Hạnh

I’ve been a vegetarian now for 6 years with a bit of vegan in the middle. I really love the Moosewood Cookbooks and ForksOverKnives.

I find I eat a lot of bean and veggie soups with hearty bread and a great salad. I’ve also been on a bit of a lentil salad binge lately.

Here’s what works for us: we are “stay at home” vegetarians. This means that everything we prepare at home (which is most everything) is vegetarian with a skew towards vegan. THEN, whenever we go out for date nights or with friends, we give ourselves free reign to enjoy fried chicken, bacon, and burgers. We feel we got a lot healthier without giving up foods we love but didn’t need to be eating all the time. The “stay at home” thing gives us a super easy and flexible guideline to follow.

You should try 101cookbooks.com. Heidi Swanson has the best vegetarian meals. I personally love her super orzo pasta salad. These recipes were the only vegetarian meals I can get my boyfriend to eat!

I grew up vegetarian, and my partner has been a vegetarian for years. I know that many people who grew up eating meat cannot imagine life without eating animals, but I cannot imagine a life that includes eating another sentient being. My mom always told me that our bodies are not graves. My daughter is 18 months and will grow up vegetarian until she is old enough to choose her own diet. There is a world of vegetarian cooking to be discovered – the old “beans and rice” idea is pretty outdated. Have fun on your journey!

I have been a pescetarian for almost 2 years, and since I live in Kansas I don’t eat fish very often. My boyfriend isn’t a pescetarian, but we almost never buy meat. One of our favorites has been pita pizzas. Much healthier than regular pizzas, margarita is delish!

thanks jo, I try to cook at least 3 vego dinners a week. I’m trying to turn my family vego for ALL the reasons! ethical, environmental, personal etc. I think everyone should eat less meat.

Joanna, I tried this exact challenge (30 days with no meat) about 4 years ago and I actually never went back to my meat-eating ways. Much to my surprise!

One thing I’ve learned since becoming a vegetarian is the importance of being open-minded to everyone’s eating habits. Vegetarians have a rap for being preachy or holier-than-thou, and it can make others feel defensive.

I wrote about my experience after two years of vegetarianism on my blog. The article was Freshly Pressed (featured on WordPress’ home page) and lots of people reached out to me to say they were going to try the challenge too. Very cool to have even a minor impact on others!

Here’s the essay if you’re interested:
http://themidwestmaven.com/2012/06/05/why-i-became-a-vegetarian/

Went vegan-at-home about six months ago. Meaning, my family and I can eat whatever we want, but the meals I make at home were going to be vegan.

It took a great cookbook to help me make the transition – I was lost at first trying to make dinners w/out at least an egg or cheese.

And, you’d be surprised how many opportunities one has to eat animal products outside the home: Work lunches, dinner parties, etc. Being vegan-at-home has made me more aware of obvious vegan choices while out of the home too.

Now, animal products are a treat, if we’re in the mood for them. I still nosh on a burger once in awhile :)

I’ve gone vegetarian 3 time since I was 17 years old. But never worked for me, cause I didn’t make it well. I’ve always been very thin and all the three times I tried I lost 5-7, which is a lot for me, and I got anemia. Plus, the last time –which was 5 months ago– I was carrying with seriously health issues and my homeopathic physician, who is a vegetarian herself, told me to stop for a while. I’ve hated meat since I was 15 –but my parents didn’t allow me to be a vegetarian till 17– and I’m not a big fan of fish, but I’m eating turkey/chicken one day a week and fish another day. Dairy is just the dead for me, it gives me the worst mucus, but sometimes I eat a little of cheese and of course I use butter and cream when I bake –I know I can bake without these ingredients but my favorite treats recipes include them–. I eat some eggs too. In fact, I consider myself a vegetarian in spirit haha. I’m healthy now and in a few months I would give it a try again, I wish it will be the right one. Going vegan is more difficult but I think it’s a natural evolution of vegetarianism. But that includes avoiding honey and animal-derived items as leather shoes and bags and also wool. I think you have to be very convinced to do that.

Echoing suggestions for Smitten Kitchen, indian food in general, and Isa Does It. Isa’s book is really great for weeknights and you only have to get a can of nutritional yeast and a bag of cashews to be ready to go. I’m not a vegetarian, but my partner is. So I only really eat meat at restaurants and have no idea how to cook it. It’s actually fantastic. I feel good, it’s cheaper, I never worry about cross-contamination except for eggs, and its YUMMY.

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Yes Joanna!!!! I love that you’re giving this a go! My boyfriend was also a big carnivore which made me nervous about going Veg but now I’m really pleased with it and I think of it as an added bonus that he eats less meat. There are just so many good reasons to lower our meat intake. Good luck!

Oooohh.. The food looks really nice. I am NOT a fan of veges. I love my meats but this might just turn the tide for me.. ^^

I’m a pescaterian, but we rarely cook seafood. There are lots of good cookbooks–we never eat rice and beans! For easy recipes, we use Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian or some Moosewood books. Deborah Madison’s book is great for more complicated stuff, and we just got Plenty and Ottolenghi, which have several beautiful options.

From blogs, Smitten Kitchen has lots of veggie stuff. Also try 101cookbooks by Heidi Swanson (for example, this is a winter staple of mine: http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/winter-pasta-recipe.html).

I’ve been a vegetarian since I was about 8 or 9 – and I’m 21 now! My favorite thing to cook for myself (especially with my busy college schedule) is the simplest sauteed veggies. It is so easy and quick – chop up zucchini, yellow squash, mushrooms, onions, saute for a few minutes in Olive Oil (preferably garlic infused) and toss in some sesame seeds, sliced almonds, and season with salt and lemon pepper! SO glad you are trying out the vegetarian lifestyle. It is so delicious and so much better for the environment.