Are vegetarians smarter than grass?

Made you look! :-D

And since you have, please post to say whether you're a vegetarian or an omnivore. Just interested to find out whether the title is provocative enough to get a response from people in both groups.

Thanks!

(And bonus points if you have some good ideas for vegetarian sandwich fillings; I think my son is getting tired of peanut butter, hummus, and cheese! That's three different ones, BTW, not one sandwich with all three...)

I'm ovo-lacto vegetarian. have been since i was 12 years old; I'm smarter than grass tho. I'm a college student majoring in chemistry/math. 

I was actually vegan for a few years and may go back to it yet. It's wild tho how many vegetarians don't read labels and/or don't know what some of the ingredients are! Stay away from the gummy worms, folks. 

 

I'm a veggie, but am FORCED to eat chicken and fish. (yes really!) by my parents, young girl, need protien ect. I HATE IT.  sorry, rant over.

I have veggie-chocolate spread on sandwichs sometimes, and theres one which has very little sugar and no fat. I can't remember what it's called though. Haven't had it in while :( Also hallumi cheese with pine nuts and lettuce on a doorstep piece of bread. or in a bagette.

Cant beat it.

(Slainna - What's a oct-lacto vegetarian? I'm definately dummer than a piece of grass! :D)

LOL, ya got me!  I was vegetarian for 13 and a half years, starting when I was 13. Prior to that,  I was mostly vegetarian, because my mom preferred fresh fruits and veggies, and honestly we were too poor to buy meat!  We grew up eating mostly soup, and sandwiches, and our favorite (and probably hers as well) was during summer she would make a huge veggie and fruit tray with a few different dips, hand us plates and let us have at it!  Easy prep, easy clean-up, and perfect for feeding 6 kids. 

One of my favorite sandwiches to this day (although I wasn't willing to admit to it when it was packed into my lunchbox and I caught hell for being a wierdo) is the cream cheese and alfalfa sprout on whole wheat. Sometimes with a couple slices of tomatoe, or red onion.  Or both, it's pretty versatile. I'm making me hungry! Grilled swiss and peanut butter sounds strange, but that is another of my favorites, one born of having nothing else in the house but the two ingredients and bread.  :)

Today's sandwich is somewhat like last night's dinner, just arranged differently. :-) I took a pita pocket and spread the inside with roasted red pepper hummus, then filled it with lentil bulgur salad. I topped that off with more hummus just to hold the filling in.

Yum!

I made one for myself, too, and with the red-onion breath I'm now sporting, have ensured that all my afternoon meetings will be short ones! :-D

One of my favorites is a toasted pita half with any kind of hummus( i like it with horseradish hummus) and feta cheese both on the inside I will heat it up in the micro after that. It's good and healthy

Busted.

Omnivore.

I wonder if anyone's suggested Boca Burgers to Athena yet? 

ok grilled swiss and pnut butter? sounds hella weird but then again I come from a family tht eats pnutbutter sandwiches with spaghetti and I think that is a mighty odd combo.

Mostly veggie: eat fish sometimes, but I try not to go to town on it.

Does he like eggplant? I like eggplant parmesan sandwiches. One nice, round slice of eggplant cooked in a skillet 'til done. Slap it on bread with a dab of marinara sauce and lowfat mozzarella cheese. 

Vegetarian. Lately I've been using Yves deli slices on my sandwiches. I just use two slices per sandwich which is plenty because they have lots of sodium. I think the best in the Veggie Turkey. They aren't too expensive if you shop around--I buy mine at Winco.

Hmmm, maybe stillbreathing is thinking of Nutella--that's a chocolate-hazelnut spread that's really good. Too good for me as I end up devouring the whole jar if I buy it :(

Two sandwiches for him today, one a PB&J, and the other an avocado, mozzarella, and tomato, both of these on whole wheat.

My rationale was that if he doesn't like the avocado, mozzarella, and tomato, well, at least he has the PB&J to sustain him!

Original Post by stillbreathing:

 

I'm a veggie, but am FORCED to eat chicken and fish. (yes really!) by my parents, young girl, need protien ect. I HATE IT.  sorry, rant over.

I have veggie-chocolate spread on sandwichs sometimes, and theres one which has very little sugar and no fat. I can't remember what it's called though. Haven't had it in while :( Also hallumi cheese with pine nuts and lettuce on a doorstep piece of bread. or in a bagette.

Cant beat it.

(Slainna - What's a oct-lacto vegetarian? I'm definately dummer than a piece of grass! :D)

Hi Still Breathing,

That is a drag that your parents force you to eat chicken and fish.  There is a book that would be good for you and your parents to read called 'Disease-Proof Your Child: Feeding Kids Right', which promotes a 'plant-based' diet for optimal health.  The book talks about the relationship between childhood diet and adult disease, and about the most healthful foods to eat when you are growing.  The book also discusses the issue of protein, and the most healthful ways to get it (and its not from fish or chicken).

I don't know whether or not you could get your parents to read it, but it would be good for you to read anyway.  If they see that you are taking a major interest in your health, perhaps they will be interested to read what you are reading?  

Getting enough protein on a vegetarian diet really isn't a problem, but maybe you already know that, and your parents just don't want to hear it?  If you don't already know that protein isn't really a problem, just tell me, and I will enlighten you further on the subject!

An Ovo-lacto vegetarian is one who eats eggs and dairy products.  Personally, I am a vegan, which means that I eat no meat, fish, eggs, poultry, or dairy products (no animal products at all).  I am 49 now, but originally went lacto-vegetarian when I was 15.  I actually didn't bother to tell my parents that I'd decided to go vegetarian because I knew that my stepmother would object and stop me, and I didn't want anyone interfering with what I had decided I would do.  The only thing my parents noticed was that I was becoming a pickier eater than I already had been, but they never made the connection that the meat was the stuff that I wasn't eating anymore.  Meanwhile, the first time that my favorite aunt saw me after I became a vegetarian, she immediately figured out what I was doing.  When she offered me steak and I wouldn't eat it, she immediately asked if I had gone vegetarian!

 

stillbreathing: ovo-lacto means you eat dairy and egg products. as for your parents......show them nutritional facts on things like spinach and beans (especially beans!!). also, don't' forget protein bars, hummus, legumes. emphasize how WRONG the practices of the meat industry are and how adamantly against them you are (assuming you're vegetarian for this reason). my parents were a little upset when i went vegetarian; they tried to force me out of it by saying they would not cook special meals for me. i took up cooking. btw if you would like some good recipes, hit me up :) don't forget to read labels and be creative; you'll be surprised at what you can make edible

I guess techinally I would be a pesco ovo vegetarian. I eat eggs a couple times a week or so, and some fish 2-3 times a week.


I find that a little mashed ripe avacado makes a good bread spread and a great mayo substitue sometimes. I also love Nayonaise {the regular, the fat free one is gros}. I 've made sandwiches on whole wheat bread {I'm also big on whole foods} with avacado spread and lots of spinach, onions, cucumbers, tomatos, onions, peppers almost any veggie. Somtimes I'll add a bit of  tuna or canned salmon and use some nayonaise instead.

Apple butter is a very low calorie and tasty spread for toast.

I didn't plan to give up dairy and meat, I just sort of started cutting back on it, and one day I realized I hadn't had any in weeks and I didn't miss it at all. I tried going totally vegan but I was so hungry all the time. I probably wasn't doing it right, or eating enough beans and lentils or grains {though I do eat a lot of whole grains, oats, wheat, qunioa, teff, amaranth, millet, corn, brown rice. etc..}

happy vegetarian here. i give my son a beefsteak tomato/fresh mozzeralla/lettuce/basil sandwich.  very good, kind of like salad caprese but on a roll. I also mix it up by doing bean burritos sometimes, but its cold so not always a kid fav. almond butter is a good trade out for peanut butter too to keep it interesting. Ill also do an all side item lunch when i think the pbj is tiring out, like some grapes, cheese and crackers, carrot sricks, raisins, and juice

I'm omnivore but you did make me look.

Love veggie burgers - note they are not a hamburger replacement, just good in and of themselves.

Need to check in again :-)

I have already told about my vegie-omni-terian etc. orientation.

Just wanted to point out how strongly dislike the aggressive vegan(terian) style from "cbullock" and "slainna". Guys it's so ridiculous and you'd be pretty ashamed from yourselves if you instantly got it (somehow).

Need to add - made me look at first, but frankly don't want to get "preached" again about the almighty benefits of veganism and the barbarianism of the everything else.

 

Good luck everybody!

Goodbye! 

Today's lunch for the boy was a wrap spread with a thin layer of roasted red pepper hummus, with feta cheese and a little shredded cheddar, thinly-sliced cucumbers, a little romaine, and chunks of tomatoes and a sprinkling of basil. He also had a yogurt and M&Ms for dessert. Three guesses what his favorite part of lunch was? :-D

ilia -

I really don't want to get into a political argument, but if people are seeing murder, moral people feel as though they have a duty to stop that. 

NOT saying it's "murder" per se, they don't have to be right, but I think the situation would be much, much worse if they were vegetarians because they thought eating meat was murder and didn't speak out about it.

For example, I don't agree with the whole pro-life movement (I think abortion is a very, very complicated thing, so don't lump me into pro-choice quite yet :), but if they view abortion as murder, I sure hope they're speaking out about it!!

This discussion isn't any different than any other political discussion; please don't take it that way.  Personally, I'd rather have my beliefs challenged over and over and over as much as they can be, because only that way will I know that I choose my beliefs because I think they're true; they're not some untested feeling I have.

geniuswaitress: I liked your eggplant idea. It works with grated cheddar and salsa too, I just had one!

I'm bookmarking this thread. I live on sandwiches and I don't know many good fillings with less-processed ingredients. Thanks, athena, for starting this one!

You're welcome, flamel!

Not my son's lunch, but mine today is a wrap spread with a very thin layer of hummus and filled with green pepper, swiss cheese, feta cheese, and tomato. I meant to add a little dried basil, but forgot, darn it! I think it'll be right tasty, however, even without the basil. :-)