I just finished visiting Peta's site. Now I've been donating and taking part in the WWF and the ASPCA against animal cruelty, hunting, and homeless animals. I have always been a huge meat eater.... I just finished reading about each animal and it broke my heart to pieces. I was crying, I feel so guilty (I just had a bowl of cereal...cow's milk... and who knows what the cereal has in it...) and I've eaten chicken almost every night. I can't do it anymore, the guilt is too much now that I know what is going on. I mean, I always knew it was horrible, but I guess I was still ignorant about it. So I've decided to never eat meat or anything with a face again. This includes fish....and eggs, because how the chickens are treated.
So I have like, a million questions. I've been eating veggie burgers for awhile now, I bought a package by mistake and when I got home I thought I would hate them, well I wouldn't have known they were veggie burgers if I didn't read the box! They're delicious! I was never a fan of beef or pork anyway, chicken is my weakness...and seafood. I eat seafood rarely because it's quite expensive, so no loss there. But chicken is my favorite...I'm having no problem saying good bye to it after what I read. I'm also dying to try some of those veggie chicken patties and nuggets, I'm sure they'll taste great.
I hate vegetables. I don't like them, at all. I also don't like rice. I know I'm very picky but if there are ways around it, I will find it/try it.
How many servings of veggies are in a veggie burger etc? Do they count as getting enough vegetables?
Also... I love milk. Well... only in cereal. I don't like drinking it straight. I've tried plain soy milk and I literally almost threw up, I guess I was expecting it to taste like cow's milk. For those who have had cow's milk, liked it, became a vegetarian/vegan and decided not to drink it... what did you use in your cereal? What's the closest thing to cow's milk in cereal? I don't plan on drinking it in glasses.
Also... cheese. I love cheese. What cheese is best (that melts) for grilled cheese sandwiches, cheeseburgers, pizza?
Eggs... I know egg-beaters exists, but it's pretty tasteless... are there any types of eggs where the animal isn't used as an egg factory that's safe to eat? Don't suppose there's anything similar for milk/cheese either...? If not, then egg-beater omelette's it is. I'll just miss fried/poached eggs.
I can't think of anything else right now...but I'm sure I'll have more questions.
Sorry if I'm extremely noob... I'm still learning/researching. :) Thanks for reading. 
Original Post by gi-jane:
You're just going to take the PETA stuff at face value?
You're telling me these things do not happen? I know it came from peta's site, but it doesn't make it any less true, am I right?
Hi! I can try to answer some of your questions. I'm not sure what kind of veggie burgers you're getting, but most of them are made from soy protein and don't contain many veggies. I don't really like vegetables either (especially raw ones), but I eat a fair amount in sandwiches and stir-frys. Obviously vegetables are healthy for you, but I wouldn't worry too much about not eating enough of them if you're eating other healthy foods, like fruit, beans, nuts, and whole grains.
I transitioned from cow's milk to non-dairy milks about a year ago. I started drinking Silk Chocolate soy milk while I was still drinking cow's milk. The chocolate soy milk definitely tasted different and watery at first, but I grew to like the taste. I would recommend getting a lot of different types of milk to try - soy (maybe sweetened soy milk?), rice, almond, hemp, oat, etc.). None of them taste like cow's milk, but hopefully you can find a type that you like regardless.
I used to really like cheese. Although it was tough, I just stopped eating it altogether rather than looking for alternatives for the first 6 months after I went vegan. Eventually, I started eating some soy and rice cheese. At that point I didn't really remember what cheese tasted like so I thought the vegan versions were really good. I like Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet cheese and Galaxy brand Rice Cheese slices. Both of these will melt if put in the microwave, but for me won't melt if put in the oven.
I used to really like fried eggs. However, if you are really concerned about animal welfare, I would suggest not eating eggs of any kind. Egg-beaters are the egg whites from real chicken eggs. It takes a chicken 26 hours to produce one egg, and they are killed when their productivity declines after about two years of egg-laying. Even "free-range" and "organic" eggs aren't cruelty-free. Instead of eggs, I eat scrambled tofu. It's definitely an acquired taste, but if you use lots of tasty spices on it (I like cumin, onion and garlic powder, salt, and pepper), scrambled tofu can come out pretty good. I haven't had a problem baking without eggs. Here's a helpful link: http://theppk.com/veganbaking.html
There are a lot of online resources for tasty, healthy vegetarian recipes. Try to focus less on replacing meat, cheese, and eggs with vegan alternatives, because they definitely taste different. Try to find recipes that are centered on beans and whole grains. Best of luck with your transition!
um, not to burst your bubble, but egg-beaters actually have eggs in them. Just not whole eggs.
Almond milk (I use Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze) is great in cereal. I can't drink the soy. You could also use, rice milk, oat milk, or even hemp milk -- but I can't vouch for any of them.
Reading PETA to get a balanced view on farming practices is like reading the Al Quaeda website to get the low-down on Islam. I'm not saying none of it is true. Mmeat = dead animals, always has done. Simply suggesting you do a little more research rather than swallow their propaganda as gospel and sit there crying with guilt. Visit a dairy farm, for example. Or go to your local farmers' market and make conversation with some of the vendors. Just a thought...
I know people who have their own chickens in their backyard for eggs. They aren't mistreated in any way and you don't have to kill them after they stop laying. Maybe you can find someone who has their own chickens and buy eggs from them. Though I agree with gi-jane that not everything PETA says is true, and I'm not a vegetarian, I respect anyone who chooses to become vegetarian, vegan, etc. Just do it for health, not guilt. Good luck!
You remind me so much of me a few years ago. I began vegetarianism as a joke. I wanted to see if I could keep it up for a week. During that week my science and technology class at university studied the Cincinnati pig slaughter houses. I was horrified! Horrified! I looked on-line to see if this could be real and it was.
I became a vegetarian for four years at this point. I hate vegetables too, well most of them. Honestly, you just gotta try different stuff. Before I was a vegetarian my daily diet would consist of burgers, steaks, fries, lunch meat... basic basic stuff. The variety of stuff I ate actually increased dramatically when I became a veggie. Some vegetarian stuff sucks. Some is really good. And after a while of not eating meat you actually forget what it tastes like.
What worked for me was making stuff with meat substitutes. So making lasagna (which is actually pretty easy) with beef substitute. Or pasta with meat substitute. As long as you eat cheese and milk you don't need to worry about complete proteins. I'd suggest making the switch to a vegetarian first before you go completely vegan. Before becoming vegan talk to a doctor to get a run down on the health issues involved. It's such a healthy life style if done right, but if done wrong it can be a disaster.
When I stopped being a vegetarian I gained 10 pounds and began feeling incredibility lethargic. I wish I never began to eat meat again because now its so hard to go back.
Tips
*Buddhists have perfected the art of fake meat. If you can find a Buddhist shop or restaurant in your area you will be surprised what you find.
* Indian food is almost all vegetarian or vegan. I never had the guts to try it but I'm told it's delicious.
* Not all soya milk tastes the same. If it's available in our area try Silk. I found it by far the best and I still drink it like crazy.
* If you don't like tofu don't worry. I never liked the stuff. Sometimes I could stand it if I pressed out most of the water and baked it in shake and bake.
Good luck! I commend your effort.
Sarah
I'm a vegetarian but more for health reasons which means I just don't eat meat but I'm not nitpicky about all the other little details, I eat cheese, whatever. I'm not a huge fan of PETA since they do a LOT of shady things that I don't agree with. (They actually euthanize a LOT of animals). Anyway be very wary because a lot of things that you think are vegetarian aren't (A lot of cheeses have meat byproducts in them, anchovies in some Caesar salads, Pop-Tarts, anything with gelatin). Also be sure to buy organic milk and eggs. New leather products...
I don't see how you're going to succeed as a vegetarian if you don't like vegetables.. lol.
Again with the PeTA thing...
Yes, they are a bunch of crazy jerks, but it you think you are going to learn about the meat industry by visiting a dairy farm or going to a farmer's market, you are either very rich, a big hippy, or live in a fantasy world. PeTA's view of what happens to the animals we eat is much more accurate, because most people don't get their meat from farmer's markets or their milk from local, family run dairies. Most eat lunchmeat, tyson chicken, taco bell, generic mass produced milk, yoplait, kraft singles, eggbeaters, McDonalds... these things are NOTHING like what you get at the farmer's market. Don't kid yourself into thinking that if you talk to a local farmer and he tells you he is nice to his cows that you can go out to chili's and get the beef fajitas. They didn't get the meat from that guy...they got it from some cow raised on corn that was grown in what used to be a rainforest and was probably pumped full of antibiotics so it wouldn't get a bunch of diseases and may-or-may-not have even been unconscious when it was sent to slaughter. If you can afford to be one of the very few who only eats animal products if they have seen where the animal came from, then good for you. Everyone else should probably just assume that their animal products came from horrible conditions, because that's most likely the case, and if it makes you feel guilty...well, then you have some thinking to do.
Yes, that's true GI-Jane, but you are talking about what "should be" and not what is. The fact remains that your views are not shared by most omnivores. The overwhelming majority of meat/dairy/egg-eaters (in the US anyway) would rather not know where their animal products come from. The cheapest and most horrible practices continue to be encouraged. While being a conscientious meat eater is a great step toward a solution, it is NOT the status quo and it is naive to suggest that it is. It is still valid to see a PeTA video and be horrified, because that IS the status quo.
I think your reaction to the horror of factory farming is just as valid as cptbunny's. A localvore/conscientious omnivore has a lot more in common with a vegan than with the average "eat big macs on autopilot" member of the public.
Anyway, to cptbunny, until all the farms are kind to animals, good luck with your vegan adventure! Here are my tips:
(1) Non-dairy milk doesn't taste anything like milk. It will probably take a while for you to get used to it (whichever kind you settle on, I prefer almond). I wouldn't even try to think of it as "milk" - consider it something completely new and different. After a while (maybe a month?) you will get used to the taste. I now like it quite a bit and love it in smoothies, coffee, and even just by the glass.
(2) Like others have said, eggbeaters are eggs (just very processed egg parts). Humane-eating-wise, they are probably even worse than whole eggs, because I have never even heard of cage-free egg beaters, and since people don't think of them as eggs, they escape a lot of scrutiny. Tofu makes a great egg substitute, both in scrambled form and crumbled up in "egg salad." But, again, don't expect it to taste like eggs! And be ready to use lots of seasoning. Tofu tastes like nothing, so you have to give it flavor. I use veggie broth concentrate, garlic, and onions on my scramble. Fantastic brand (they make as lot of dry mixes) has also reintroduced their version of tofu scramble, which makes it very easy because you just mix their seasoning with tofu and voila!
(3) I'm glad you have found satisfaction in the fake meats! I like them, too, but like others have said, they aren't really like vegetables, they are nutritionally closer to meat. To get the vitamins and fiber that veggies provide, you might just have to suck it up and eat veggies. I am confident that over time, you will grow to like veggies, but in the mean time, you might have to find ways to sneak them into things. You can blend some veggies (like spinach or carrots) into a fruit smoothie and you can barely taste them (Blend well!!). You can make veggie tofu dip (just blend cooked veggies with silken tofu and seasonings). Or just sneak veggies on to a sandwich.
(4) I don't have much advice on vegan cheese, but I have heard teese is good. All the photos I have seen of it in recipes make it look melty and delicious! You have to order online, though.
(5) Take a multivitamin - especially if you are still getting a taste for veggies. There are lots of ways to get your vitamins, but just starting out veggie, you might need a little help getting all the proper nutrients. Also, almost all vegans are b-12 deficient, so you need to account for that. And when you buy vitamins, check the "other ingredients" list. Most vitamins have gelatin, which comes from animals, so if you want to be strict about cutting out animal products, you should avoid it.
Original Post by gi-jane:
Reading PETA to get a balanced view on farming practices is like reading the Al Quaeda website to get the low-down on Islam.
Hahahahahahaha!!!! I almost wet myself here!
As Pumpkin said, the non-dairy milks taste nothing like cow's milk. BUT- They are quite delicious on cereal. The vanilla flavored varieties taste the best IMHO, but they are higher in sugar. At least they use evaporated cane juice and not HFCS. My personal fave is hemp seed milk, but nut milks are excellent, too. I tried unsweetened soy milk once... once.
I'm not fully digging on the veggie burgers, the ones I tried tasted like stove top stuffing shaped like a burger. Likewise, I tried some veggie slices (non-dairy cheese) and found it horribly disgusting. I just omit it from my diet altogether, and I don't miss it at all. I should say that I'm not into processed foods at all, so my veiws might be somewhat biased.
Anyway, you're at the right place for support and ideas. Read through many of the threads. There's lots of good advice everywhere. Good luck to you!
Well thank you all for your replies, they were extremely helpful! Right now because this is a huge step from eating meat every day to straight not touching anything from an animal (which leaves me with not much to eat atm) I'm going to still drink milk when I have cereal...which is rare. Eggs and cheese. I'm slowly cutting cheese out, I don't really need it, I just enjoy it...so since I don't physically need it, I'm going without it.
I realized my egg beaters were eggs when I bought them (after first post was made) and felt like an idiot, lol. So I will be eating scrambled eggs for awhile till it's gone. Glad I bought a small carton.
I do have a question about eggs. What is the safest, for lack of a better term, egg to buy? Since you guys said egg beaters are worse than commerical eggs. See... it really bothers me what happens to chickens, maybe because that was one of my staple meats. I was never a pork or beef eater. I live in Rhode Island and the only farmer's market I knew of closed down years ago. I'm willing to omit eggs but I can't do it cold turkey because I'm still adjusting to new foods.
As for veggies, I dislike eating them raw or steamed. But I do like things like lettuce, pickles, and onions on my sandwiches. I like garlic too. I also like green pepper, but not alot of it. I like corn. I like carrots...but only when it's cooked a certain way... my grandmother used to make these ham dinners (ham shoulder ugh..) with the carrots, kale, potatoes, sweet potatoes etc all together in the oven and the carrots would taste so good. But I don't know why it tasted the way it did.
I know it came from PETA's site, and they're not very creditable(sp?), but those things do happen and are happening. And I seriously cannot look at any meat the same again. And when I read that chicken's suffer the worst because people eat their meat the most, I almost died. Because I was one of those people they were being tortured for. But they also lay eggs... and I feel really bad, I haven't bought any eggs this week because I can't bring myself to do it. I only have some egg beaters left.
Maybe I should buy a chicken, lol. :) I heard they can play fetch... something tells me they're probably better at it than my dog, haha. :)
Tofu. I looked at it in the store. It...kinda grosses me out, to say the least. Maybe there's a restaurant or something that serves tofu in a meal I can order as not to waste money if I don't like it/fail at cooking with it.
I haven't had any meat or milk since I made that post and don't miss it at all. It's not that hard and I haven't been tempted to eat any meat (my husband is an omnivore). There's a website I found that lists alot of the foods in supermarkets that 100% vegan, simple things that most people don't even realize. I don't have much junk food or alot of food in my house (keeps me from binging).
Those Morningstar Farms, Chik'n Patties...are...so...GOOD. They taste better than real chicken patties! I also got chik'n nuggets which I'm sure will be just as yummy. Only thing is that over here they're $4.99 a box and you only get 4 patties. I mean...that's expensive. I don't know if/where I can buy them in bulk for less. Like a Sam's Club type store (ours doesn't carry it... :(). They do carry the vegan burgers, so I'm lucky with that, just can't eat only that cause I'll get sick of it real quick (I'm not a beef person...even if its fake beef haha).
Don't know what to eat for lunch/breakfast. Any ideas? Nothing that involves tofu...milk...or eggs unless there are safe eggs out there (which I doubt :/). I love most fruit also. Is it safe to have a big bowl of chopped up fruit for breakfast? Like pineapples, strawberries, grapes, maybe some blueberries/peaches? I know they're 'sugary' fruits, but it's a natural sugar, isn't it? I'm sure it's better than eating fruity pebbles or corn pops (which I still have a box each of). Breakfast is something I eat only because I will get shaky and weak before lunch time if I don't have it. I can eat the same breakfast every day and never tire from it. Don't know what to eat for lunch, it needs to have substance. Which for me, used to be eggs. Right now I do scrambled eggs with the beaters but when that's gone I don't know what to eat. Salads don't fill me up...or maybe I need to make better salads, don't know. I don't like tomatoes.
I also want to say that those vegan meals, the ones I like so far anyway, are very low in calories! Even the egg beaters are insanely low (I had no idea...I'm so noob, haha). I eat 1200 calories a day and I'm full! My target is 1550, but I always went over 1600-1700 and losing weight was so slow. I have over 100 pounds to lose and this new change in my diet has made it easy. I mean... I could never be full at 1200 calories. Now I'm very full at 1200 calories and I don't wake up starving.
I love all animals very very much. I'm a Pantheist and love this planet and the universe very much. I'm extemely 'green'. Any changes that I was told/read I could make to help this planet, I have done.
I really had no idea this was going on, I guess I was naive, but if I knew years ago, I would've been much healthier now.
I take part in the ASPCA and WWF, I donate whenever I can, I'm a monthly donor to both of them. I have volunteered in the past to help the ASPCA and whenever they have benefits locally, I am there.
Anyway, thank you for all the suggestions, I guess I should call myself a vegetarian until I can become a true vegan.
Edit: Vitamins, I take Centrum Multivitamin from A-Zinc, is that an okay vitamin to take? I'm a noob....sigh.
Edit2: Many typos/grammar errors.
Edit3: I read there are cage-free eggs? How are the chickens treated? And can I find them in a normal supermarket/whole foods store and how much more are they than commerical eggs? Google does not answer me! haha. :)
Hey, I'm not a vegetarian, but I wanted to give some insight on your cheese question. I babysit for a family who are vegans and we many times make pita pizzas with "Veggie Shreds" for the cheese replacement and I LOVE it...might be worth a shot. It melts pretty well too. Not so much that it's stringy when you pull it apart, but it does melt as in does not stay in the shreaded shape after being in the oven.
I started the transition to soy milk by drinking chocolate (my husband's a little kid, I swear) and then vanilla, and then plain. It made the transition easier.
If you live in a big city (or a rural area, for that matter) you may be able to find a farm/farmer's market stand where you can meet the farmer, look him/her in the eye and ask how they treat their animals. I buy all of my eggs from a farmer's market stand, and I have zero ethical qualms about it. Being able to hear how they treat their animals has made me OK with eating small amounts of meat, too (small amounts because it is expensive, but worth it). Bonus: the eggs are freaking delicious. The yolks are bright orange because the chickens eat grass, which is a leafy green veggie=full of beta carotene. So they're full of vitamins, omega 3's, blah, blah, and they're not from factory farms. It's pretty awesome. So I would google search "your city" and "farmers market" or something similar. I live near Dallas, and the Dallas (big city) farmer's market has meat/dairy/eggs, the Grand Prairie (medium city) just has produce, and the Mansfield (small city) has meat, etc. too, so it's a crap shoot whether your town will have a good selection, but it's worth a shot.
The only thing with "Veggie Shreds" cheese is that it contains Casein. Watch out for that in all "Dairy Free" cheeses!
Good luck on your venture. It can be hard but continue to tell yourself that no animals are having to die for you to enjoy a meal! :)
People don't need to fill up on bacon, sausage and eggs everyday. It's ok to do this once in a while if omni, but not daily.
I like oatmeal in the cooler months (anxious for autumn to come upon us). Cereal with hemp or nut milk is awesome, too. Fresh fruit is great. If you're in a rush, how about a smoothie? Don't buy them. They are usually sweetened. Just throw some fruit (fresh or frozen) in the blender with hemp/soy milk. Whirl and go! I don't even bother to take the green tops off my strawberries. Drink this and you will quickly break a dependence on coffee. You won't even miss it.
For lunch, I like soups in the cooler months. Have a roll with it if you like. Check the "health food" freezers at your local grocer. Amy's burritos and frozen meals are pretty good. Not all are vegan, so read the labels for keywords such as "contains milk" and such. Do you have a Whole Foods or Earth Fare near your work? They have great salad bars, hot food bars, and make sandwiches/wraps to order.
Bring a small handful of nuts with you to snack on between breakfast and lunch. Bring an apple or some grapes, whatever, to snack on after lunch.
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