How hard do you find it, being a vegetarian?

june89

Even as an omni, there's nothing worse to me than getting to a buffet and finding it's predominately meat. I'm not a carnivore! The last two I've been to haven't even had a token plate of plain vegetables or salad, just potatoes or chips. I now refuse to go to buffet events, or even restaurants where I can't evaluate the menu ahead of time.

As for the original topic, I wanted to become a vegetarian a few years ago but I can't have dairy. So I would have had to go vegan instead, which honestly did feel too hard at that point in my life, as my work schedule meant I was eating out a lot. Even a veggie friend agreed it would be hard, as cheese was in every meal he was given. Now vegan options are starting to become available even in chain restaurants, it feels a lot easier. So it is something I am considering again, and I will choose the vegan meal when out if it is available.

ETA: At home it is easy to avoid meat. I do still have some omni meals as I'm working my way through the freezer, but I have a lot of fully vegetarian (95% vegan) days now and don't miss it.

DTB80

What a stupid question!!

How hard do you find it to eat rotting dead flesh??

The majority of meat eaters eat meat from only 4 animals - chickens, cows, pigs and lambs and yet they can't seem to understand how people survive without these four ingredients.

There are thousands of other edible food sources from around the world, so much so, that you need never eat the same meal twice in your entire life!!

The question of whether you eat a kebab when you're drunk should surely be whether you would eat one when you're sober!

Grow up people!

deadrobot

I have been veggie for 2 years and it's been great. We now do a lot more cooking and finding and following recipes and trying new things. My husband eats meat but only if he is cooking it, which he can't be bothered with, so it's a veggie house more or less. Sometimes he keeps salami in the fridge to put on top of his half of a pizza.

I'm not strict, I don't mind him putting salami on half the pizza, I eat pesto and I eat cheesy pasta from time to time and who knows what is in that! lol

I didn't become veggie due to animal walfare etc (tho I do like animals and prefer them alive!) I just don't like meat. It got to a point where I was eating so little meat that it was just easier to become vegetarian as without a 'label' on it it seems to confuse people too much.

If I had to have the 'so what don't you eat again?' conversation one more time I was going to kill someone haha.
Round at family's houses every time someone put a plate down of anything on the table, someone would go, oh wait do you eat this? Literally anything - meat - cheese - fish - crisps - chips! Rarrrr. So veggie I became!

I am also a fussy veggie, I don't like mushrooms or aubergines and quorn does not agree with me at all (did you know you can be quorn intolerant? lucky me!) and I still find it quite easy to cook and eat out. Tho in some places the veg option does *just* seem to be mac & cheese - sigh.

I never trust buffets or waiters with platters of nibbles these days tho. Last buffet I was at I asked what was veggie and was directed to the plate of salmon, eh naw. Then a plate of tomatoes, that was literally it. I ate bread, oh yum. Another time a waiter with a plate of nibbles also assured me the spring rolls were vegetarian, they were duck, yuck. So I make my husband try a bite of things first if I'm not sure what's in them, tho his taste buds are pretty poor, he never can tell!

So yeah, I'm a fussy, quorn intolerant, 'bad' vegetarian and I find it quite easy! (Maybe that's due to me being not strict tho!! Don't burn me at the stake!)

Justamum

deadrobot wrote: »

My husband eats meat but only if he is cooking it, which he can't be bothered with, so it's a veggie house more or less.

When DH and I first moved in together about 25 years ago I told him that he could eat meat, but I wasn't going to cook it for him, so he decided to give it up. I went vegan 16 years ago which he thought was a step a bit too far. However he decided a couple of years ago to become vegan too To be honest once I'd become vegan, I was only cooking vegan recipes (they could have eggs and cheese if they wanted - but everyone in the house thinks eggs are revolting anyway) so they were eating a 99% vegan diet. He could eat a kilo block of cheese a week on his own. You never know, your DH might decide to become a vegetarian too :j

Justamum

deadrobot wrote: »

Tho in some places the veg option does *just* seem to be mac & cheese - sigh.

When I first became vegetarian the only thing chefs seemed to be able to cook was omelette - but they'd charge the same for that as they would for a steak!

deadrobot wrote: »

I never trust buffets or waiters with platters of nibbles these days tho. Last buffet I was at I asked what was veggie and was directed to the plate of salmon, eh naw. Then a plate of tomatoes, that was literally it. I ate bread, oh yum. Another time a waiter with a plate of nibbles also assured me the spring rolls were vegetarian, they were duck, yuck. So I make my husband try a bite of things first if I'm not sure what's in them, tho his taste buds are pretty poor, he never can tell!

A restaurant near us has their vegetarian menu online. It has all the fish dishes on it! There really is no excuse for that kind of ignorance these days. If they're not sure of the definition, google is quite handy. My daughter got vegetarian spring rolls from a Chinese restaurant, and they had chicken in them.

I once went out for Sunday dinner with my family to a restaurant which said they had a vegetarian option. I was directed to their 'risotto' which was plain boiled rice with a bit of red pepper chopped into it!

Tiddlywinks

Not hard at all now.

Back in the 70s I remember getting super excited when some veggie sausage mix came to the local health shop - it was a revelation .

Supermarkets didn't stock TVP, tofu etc. Nothing was marked as vegetarian so everything had to be read thoroughly.

All jelly sweets had gelatine as did the majority of deserts.

Pies - even desert pies - were made with lard. Soups had chicken stock etc, etc, etc.

Today, we've got it easy in comparison .

My pet hate is people who think vegetarians eat fish and then insist that it's vegans who don't :mad: - twice recently I've had that disagreement with a waiter.

I tend to eat out at Italian or Indian places as they are more likely to have the greatest choices for veggies.

Chinese restaurant chefs seem to have difficulty catering for non-meat eaters. Even veggies can be fried in chicken fat which is crazy in this day and age.

VfM4meplse

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

Today, we've got it easy in comparison .

My pet hate is people who think vegetarians eat fish and then insist that it's vegans who don't :mad: - twice recently I've had that disagreement with a waiter.

I tend to eat out at Italian or Indian places as they are more likely to have the greatest choices for veggies.

Chinese restaurant chefs seem to have difficulty catering for non-meat eaters. Even veggies can be fried in chicken fat which is crazy in this day and age.

People's own ignorant "interpretations" of what constitutes a vegetarian diet drives me nuts. It seems that catering staff are sensitive to everyone's fads, but not true vegetatanism.

The choices in Italian restaurants can be limited though. Chinese is best for vegans, as they don't do dairy. Although they eat anything with legs, culturally they do understand the concept of meat-free. Make it clear to the staff and you will get something suitable.

Thai is harder due to the heavy reliance on fish sauce.

consumers_revenge

to me its no different than killing and eating the family dog. What right to I have to take something elses life for my needs.


now 44 and have been veggie since 5 or 6. You think its hard now try being a veggie late 1970s/80s. Remember sosmix anyone?


finding foods much better now and for the past few years. Im a healthy 17 stone so cant say I struggle to eat.


only once did I get tempted to the dark side again - didn't happen :-) but there is some girl in magaluf circa 1995 who has no idea how lucky and close she was to getting literally mugged by me to take a sausage and brown sauce sandwich out her hands....


CR

Tiddlywinks

consumers_revenge wrote: »

Remember sosmix anyone?

You can still buy the original recipe Sosmix here:

http://www.alternativestores.com/vegan-vegetarian-shopping/protoveg-sosmix-1kg-bag.html

Ben84

I've been a vegetarian since about 1992, when I was first old enough to object to it, because meat tastes bad to me. Really stale and pungent. Even gelatine tends to taste meaty. Just my sense of taste I guess. My mother always wondered why I'd hardly eat anything when I was little, but it was the meat in it.

Anyway, I cook most everything I eat, so I get to make it how I want it. That part is easy enough. Eating out is another matter though. Some places seem to think everything has to have meat in it to be any good. However, good vegetarian food can be enjoyed by vegetarians and people who eat meat - because they don't always eat meat in every meal, so I think it doesn't have to be confined completely to one token option. The other thing is fake meat. Some like it, some don't, it's a divided thing and I think because of this not an ideal choice for the only vegetarian option. Gravy is another dubious thing, because although it's often actually vegetarian now, it's still meat-like flavour and won't appeal to everyone. Yet vegetarian food often has gravy on it. Fortunately I love curry, and curry places seem to be the best for vegetarian food. It's nice to be able to choose just about anything on the menu for once, and not a drop of gravy in sight.

Unfortunately, my diet has become more limited recently as I'm realising I shouldn't eat high GI foods. They make me very tired and can trigger migraines. So even though I never much liked them, the baked potatoes and pasta dishes that are often the vegetarian option that I used to just eat anyway are a bad choice now. The dessert menus that used to give me more freedom are now difficult to choose from too. I don't consider my diet limited, I eat lots of different things, in fact I think more than some people I know who aren't considered 'limited', the difference is that I eat less of the conventional, popular stuff. It's a choice that suits me, but it comes with good and bad sides. Eating out can be more the latter unfortunately, but I do, when it goes well, really enjoy eating out.