My new thing: Vegetarian Wednesdays!

[Axlis]

Howdy all. :)

I've made the decision to go meatless one day a week, just to see how long I can hold up! No ethics or anything involved, just a realization of how boring my diet is. It was a challenge for me to go just ONE day without meat, but I'm already planning ahead for next week.

Am I the only crazy person here, or has anyone else tried this?

[The Deacon]

Depends on how strict your definition of "vegetarian" is. I've done meatless days, not as a "one a week" thing, but on a fairly regular basis, for a few years and for the same reason you're trying it. Not nearly as often if you count eggs and cheese on the "meat" side of things. Cereal for breakfast, salad for lunch (which generally has a bit of blue, cheddar, or parmesan cheese in it and sometimes a hard boiled egg), and most often a dish which combines beans and grain for dinner, with other veggies on the side. Eggplant parmesan, ratatouille, pizza, an omelet/fritata, or good old mac and cheese :D are other dinner options. I will sometimes use beef or chicken stock for flavor, so it's not always strictly "vegetarian".

[Dr. Snubnose]

I met a girl recently that was a vegan...but she ate tons of Ice Cream...LOL....Macrobiotic is the way to go...after a while you won't even be able to stand the smell of meat!......Doc :D

[Peter1960]

Dear Axlis,

Try it and look if you will feel yourself better after some time or not. I myself have been vegetarian (lacto-ovo, not vegan) for the last +20 years and still I enjoy it a lot as I don't miss meat in my life. Most important thing is, that you don't make "a battle"with your food.

[Axlis]

Depends on how strict your definition of "vegetarian" is. I've done meatless days, not as a "one a week" thing, but on a fairly regular basis, for a few years and for the same reason you're trying it. Not nearly as often if you count eggs and cheese on the "meat" side of things. Cereal for breakfast, salad for lunch (which generally has a bit of blue, cheddar, or parmesan cheese in it and sometimes a hard boiled egg), and most often a dish which combines beans and grain for dinner, with other veggies on the side. Eggplant parmesan, ratatouille, pizza, an omelet/fritata, or good old mac and cheese :D are other dinner options. I will sometimes use beef or chicken stock for flavor, so it's not always strictly "vegetarian".

Not too strict, lacto-ovo. I don't think I could ever cut out cheese, eggs, shrimp, and steak, but I think I'm going to steer clear of sausage, ground beef, and poultry for while. I am soooo burnt out, my body and sprit needs a change!

[Axlis]

I met a girl recently that was a vegan...but she ate tons of Ice Cream...LOL....Macrobiotic is the way to go...after a while you won't even be able to stand the smell of meat!......Doc :D

The ICE CREAM DIET, now that sounds like a winner! All the carbs and calcium, non of that clogging grease. :D

[Axlis]

Dear Axlis,

Try it and look if you will feel yourself better after some time or not. I myself have been vegetarian (lacto-ovo, not vegan) for the last +20 years and still I enjoy it a lot as I don't miss meat in my life. Most important thing is, that you don't make "a battle"with your food.

Do you eat the meat substitute stuff, or just go with prepared veggies and grains?

[Clawhammer]

Dear Axlis,

Most important thing is, that you don't make "a battle"with your food.

I'm curious....What do you mean by "battle with your food" ?

[Don Ellis]

Am I the only crazy person here, or has anyone else tried this?

You're not alone... my wife has been vegetarian for about 25 years, and grew up as a vegetarian. She eats eggs and dairy products, though. And I've been vegetarian at home for the last 17 years.

I say "at home," because it's often quite difficult to find anything beyond salads, boiled potatoes or vegetable lasagna in restaurants. Despite the increasing awareness of vegetarians, chefs are pretty clueless and unimaginative.

I don't know if you eat all your meals at home, but when you're out, you might try Indian restaurants. Vegetarianism is very strong in their culture and even the McDonald's in India have a variety of vegetarian foods.

The Deacon had some excellent suggestions -- just remember you don't have to be a salad-eater and you'll be fine. For a change, we sometimes use some of the soy-based "meats." Vege-Farm is a good brand. Leela makes a Malaysian Fish Curry with their "fish steaks" that's brilliant -- a fisherman friend of ours couldn't tell the difference. Not only do the steaks have the right taste, but also the right texture (which strikes me as pretty incredible)... it even has a "fish skin" around it. :p

Try the Vege-Farm chicken patties -- a little chili powder on them and pan fry with a little oil. They also have the texture of chicken. Amazing.

Veggie life is not all carrot sticks and celery.

Good luck.
Don

P.S. Here's something that will help your resolve: watch the documentary Food, Inc. No slaughterhouse scare tactics, no vegetarian manifestos... just a thoughtful look at where the food in our groceries comes from. It's recently released and definitely worth a look. (Monsanto owns your soybeans. Period.)

[grunt0331]

i've been vegan for about 7 years, now. it is a very healthy lifestyle. i am 6'1", 210 lbs. (for the non-believers.) i would suggest not replacing meat with a processed meat-wanna-be soy product, but learn how to incorporate vegetable proteins, beans, etc. for a healthier alternative. we make a cheese replacement out of cashews that never fails to impress our non-vegan friends and family.

i suppose you'll have some extra toilet time on thursdays to play with your knives due to the extra fiber.

[butch]

this is all crazy talk the real fun is all the days that are no veg. at all
bring on the meat (maybe fruit if im feeling crazy) :)

i could do a day of no meat i think but not planning on it any time soon

[Peter1960]

I'm curious....What do you mean by "battle with your food" ?

I'm sorry, my native language is German and English is foreign language, I try to explain what I meant:
Better you eat with pleasure, than salad/vegetables (and so on) with disgust. Your body, and/or your ability in life will show if you are on good, healthy way or not.

[Clawhammer]

Better you eat with pleasure, than salad/vegetables (and so on) with disgust. Your body, and/or your ability in life will show if you are on good, healthy way or not.

Ahah!!! I'm with you now! :) By battling with your food, I had images of wrestling down a wildebeaste with ones bare hands! ..or swallowing down an unchewed lamp-chop (Labrador-style) :p

...and I totally agree with you...eat as best you can and be happy :cool:

[Peter1960]

Do you eat the meat substitute stuff, or just go with prepared veggies and grains?

I eat meat substitute stuff maybe once or twice in a week, as side dish. You see, my proportions are upside down over the years and all this bare of any inner constraint.
Yesterday evening we have had spiced oven-potatoes with green salad. My wife loves cooking on the fly and I love my wife :D

BTW my wife isn't vegetarian

[Peter1960]

Ahah!!! I'm with you now! :) By battling with your food, I had images of wrestling down a wildebeaste with ones bare hands! ..or swallowing down an unchewed lamp-chop (Labrador-style) :p

...and I totally agree with you...eat as best you can and be happy :cool:

LOL ... people are different-minded, aren't they :D :D :D

[The Deacon]

The one thing I've never had any desire to try is "immitation" meat or fish. It's very existence implies that, while meat tastes good, it is in some way bad, that's it's ok to have the desire to eat it, but wrong to indulge that desire. I think that's wrong, human beings are omnivores. Our teeth and our digestive tract are designed for a diet which includes both animal and plant material. Among other things, our bodies need protein. As a species we learned, probably the hard way, that combining grain and beans in a single meal can allow us to get that protein when meat is unavailable. Almost every culture on earth, even the most primitive, has one or more such dishes. But that doesn't make it natural or better than eating meat. If I want the taste of meat, I get it the old fashioned way, I eat meat.

[butch]

cow is just 2nd hand salad right :D

[Don Ellis]

The one thing I've never had any desire to try is "immitation" meat or fish. It's very existence implies that, while meat tastes good, it is in some way bad, that's it's ok to have the desire to eat it, but wrong to indulge that desire.

I don't come to that conclusion at all.

Food is often about taste -- in fact if we ate for our stomachs and not for our tongues, there would be a lot less obesity in the world. So I don't see anything wrong with someone's wanting a new taste (or texture) and deciding they'll enjoy that experience without killing an animal to do it.

I'm an omnivore, but I sympathize with people who prefer not to kill animals. Once upon a time, I even conjured up the Meateater's Philosophy that argues that eating animals is more moral than eating plants, because animals kill to survive (making them guilty), whereas plants generally live by photosynthesis (sorry mushrooms), making them innocent. Logically following that is that it's more moral to eat animals that are vegetarians, since they're killing innocent plants... which, in turn, makes carnivorous animals the last item that should be on the menu, because, like us, they're killing the guilty.

But all that doesn't really matter to me... we must all kill living things of some sort to survive, and I believe it's up to each individual to decide what those living things will be. So I don't begrudge someone a taste of meat without the killing of the animal if that's what they choose to do.

Almost every culture on earth, even the most primitive, has one or more such dishes. But that doesn't make it natural or better than eating meat.

I know I didn't suggest that. :)

If I want the taste of meat, I get it the old fashioned way, I eat meat.

I do both. But I'm also aware that if we kept doing things the old-fashioned way, we'd still be using latrines and washboards. At some point in history, we won't have the ability to sustain meat diets for everyone because of the increasing population and the amount of grain it takes to produce meat. Plants will need to go from grain to human directly, without passing through an animal -- at least for most of the population.

That doesn't mean we shouldn't enjoy meat while we have it. We should be wildly grateful to live in this era of computers, air-conditioning, indoor plumbing and animal diets. But it's worth noting that things will someday change for our descendants.

Don

[The Deacon]

Don, it appears you took my answer rather personally. All I can say is, it was not directed at you in any way.

As for your rebuttals, I think I'll just note that both Axlis and myself mentioned we were not doing meatless days for ethical, religious, or philosophical reasons, but merely as a change of pace. I won't presume to speak for him, but perhaps you can understand why eating meaty tasting non-meat products on days I elect to go meatless might be less appealing to me that to someone who chose never to eat meat. I don't begrudge the vegetarian or vegan their right to not eat meat, or the Jew or Hindu their right to be selective as to which meats they will, and will not, eat. But I am non of those.

[araneae]

Go for it. I have been an ovo-lacto vegetarian for over 10 years. And remember, there's more to not eating meat than salad. As others have said try an ethnic place you may not have tried before or try cooking up something different yourself. I would suggest Thai or Indian.