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[Hedley Lamarr]

Sorry I am late to the party....I am also a vegetarian....Have been for three years....I was driving down the highway one day and seen a semi load full of cows being lead to slaughter.....Being an empathetic person, it made me tear up.....Quit eating meat that night....Dont miss it one bit.....I dont judge those who eat meat though as i know its the "way of the world".....I like knowing that I am doing my part in sparing an animals life here or there....On my spare time i like to advocate for dog shelters/animal rights.....I realize i am the minority in these parts of the woods (South Dakota).....Take it for what its worth, not here to argue with anyone on how to live their life....Just responding to the OP

Nice to know I'm not alone! I am fairly new to being a vegan/vegetarian. Been about 6 months total. I started out vegetarian and slowly transitioned to being a vegan. Surprisingly I don't think I could go back to cows milk after drinking almond milk for so long. Any good recipes etc you have come across? I have become a fan of throwing a can of rotel and a can of kidney beans into a pan with a chopped onion and a minced garlic clove and serving it over brown rice.

The beef substitutes aren't too bad either. Still struggle with tofu though!

 

[HuskerFowler]

I had to dump Carrie Underwood because she is a vegetarian.

 

[Ulty]

 

[PuttinUp6]

I haven't done a whole lot of research on it so maybe one of you can inform me, but I have heard that for women, having a vegetarian lifestyle, especially during pregnancy, can be somewhat detrimental to the baby's future health. In that the child doesn't receive all of the proper nutrients that a young one should. Any truth to that?

I am not 100% sure on this...My wife is a vegetarian also....She was forced upon it kind of....I think it is healthy for pregnant women, but it is something that has to be done correctly and monitored.....Even as a 30 year old, physically active dude, there are times that i can tell my levels (B12, etc) are getting low....If i "skip" a meal it affects me by quite a bit......If you strive to hit your daily goals in protein, vitamins, veggies, fruits, etc it will all balance itself out......

 

[PuttinUp6]

Sorry I am late to the party....I am also a vegetarian....Have been for three years....I was driving down the highway one day and seen a semi load full of cows being lead to slaughter.....Being an empathetic person, it made me tear up.....Quit eating meat that night....Dont miss it one bit.....I dont judge those who eat meat though as i know its the "way of the world".....I like knowing that I am doing my part in sparing an animals life here or there....On my spare time i like to advocate for dog shelters/animal rights.....I realize i am the minority in these parts of the woods (South Dakota).....Take it for what its worth, not here to argue with anyone on how to live their life....Just responding to the OP

Nice to know I'm not alone! I am fairly new to being a vegan/vegetarian. Been about 6 months total. I started out vegetarian and slowly transitioned to being a vegan. Surprisingly I don't think I could go back to cows milk after drinking almond milk for so long. Any good recipes etc you have come across? I have become a fan of throwing a can of rotel and a can of kidney beans into a pan with a chopped onion and a minced garlic clove and serving it over brown rice.

The beef substitutes aren't too bad either. Still struggle with tofu though!

I honestly use a lot of protein shakes to supplement some meals.....i am a big fan of steamed vegetables with quinoa......i use quinoa in about everything.....we also like a lot of vegetable quesos and vegetable casseroles....my wife is the cook in our family, so i would just advise hitting up a website like sparkrecipes.com and putting in vegetarian recipes.....thats where we get the majority of our ideas.....but i would definitely check out quinoa if you havent already

 

[PuttinUp6]

If you can eat tofu, you are a better man that i am.....I cannot stomach that stuff.....Beans, legumes, nuts, quinoa, protein shakes are my source of protein.....I am not 100% vegan also so i will allow myself to eat organic eggs and cheese also.....but i hate eggs....so

 

[Hedley Lamarr]

If you can eat tofu, you are a better man that i am.....I cannot stomach that stuff.....Beans, legumes, nuts, quinoa, protein shakes are my source of protein.....I am not 100% vegan also so i will allow myself to eat organic eggs and cheese also.....but i hate eggs....so

The cheese substitutes aren't as bad as I thought they would be. Do you do soy protein or stick with whey and casein? Since you are vegetarian I imagine you may use whey. Trying to go full vegan I will only be able to use soy. Silk makes a fruit & protein drink you will find next to the milk at Walmart. I will definitely check out the website you mentioned. I honestly feel like I have a lot more energy since going vegan. But you are right about skipping a meal. Heck even if I'm a few hours late in terms of eating I wear out rather quickly. Nice thing is I don't have to feel bad about snacking as I usually go for carrots, broccoli, celery etc. I actually do not know ANY vegetarians or vegans so it is nice to be able to hear from another person regarding it.

I am also the biggest fan of Whole Foods Market. That place being just down the road from my home has been a lifesaver!

 

[The Dude]

Any vegan or vegetarian I've ever met has been exactly like you. A pompous, judgemental person, who thinks they are better than everyone else because they are "saving animals".

Yes, it seems like that. To be fair, I'm sure most vegetarians aren't like that. You just don't know they're vegetarians because they don't feel the need to tell you about it and look down their nose at you.

 

[ADS]

Any vegan or vegetarian I've ever met has been exactly like you. A pompous, judgemental person, who thinks they are better than everyone else because they are "saving animals".

Yes, it seems like that. To be fair, I'm sure most vegetarians aren't like that. You just don't know they're vegetarians because they don't feel the need to tell you about it and look down their nose at you.

Spot on friend, +1.

 

[knapplc]

If you can eat tofu, you are a better man that i am.....I cannot stomach that stuff.....Beans, legumes, nuts, quinoa, protein shakes are my source of protein.....I am not 100% vegan also so i will allow myself to eat organic eggs and cheese also.....but i hate eggs....so

It's a texture thing for you, then? I like tomato products, but I don't like eating tomatoes plain. Just don't like the texture at all.

I'm good with tofu, with eggs, stuff like that. I don't eat tofu a lot, but if I go to Hu Hot, for example, it almost always goes in my bowl. The great thing about tofu is that it's just about flavor-neutral, and it takes on the flavor of whatever it's cooked with, so you can pretty easily bulk up a dish with tofu and not gain a ton of calories, but also not lose/alter the flavor much.

I worked with a lot of vegetarians when I lived out in San Francisco. It's worlds easier to be a vegetarian out there than in the Plains, but it's getting easier here. Out there it was as much a fashion thing as anything else, especially with the Americans. The foreigners and expats whom I knew were vegetarians were easy-going about it - like The Dude said up there ^^^, you didn't know they were vegetarians unless you happened to notice what they were eating. They didn't announce it any more than I'd announce the brand of socks I wear.

Funny thing about tofu - in San Fran, there are a TON of "Persians," Iranian expats living in America. They speak Farsi, and the Farsi word for snot is "tof," (and I'm probably spelling that wrong) which sound like the first syllable of tofu, so they would get a big kick out of people eating "snot" when they ate tofu.

 

[CornHOLIO]

I'm a secondhand Vegetarian.

I eats stuff that eats veg's

 

[BigRedBuster]

I helped cater a wedding one time in the Sandhills. There were some relatives that came in from back east and two of them were vegans. They didn't make a big deal about it but it was very noticable when they went through the line to get food. They didn't have much on their plate. We laughed pretty hard when we realized why.

 

[PuttinUp6]

If you can eat tofu, you are a better man that i am.....I cannot stomach that stuff.....Beans, legumes, nuts, quinoa, protein shakes are my source of protein.....I am not 100% vegan also so i will allow myself to eat organic eggs and cheese also.....but i hate eggs....so

It's a texture thing for you, then? I like tomato products, but I don't like eating tomatoes plain. Just don't like the texture at all.

I'm good with tofu, with eggs, stuff like that. I don't eat tofu a lot, but if I go to Hu Hot, for example, it almost always goes in my bowl. The great thing about tofu is that it's just about flavor-neutral, and it takes on the flavor of whatever it's cooked with, so you can pretty easily bulk up a dish with tofu and not gain a ton of calories, but also not lose/alter the flavor much.

I worked with a lot of vegetarians when I lived out in San Francisco. It's worlds easier to be a vegetarian out there than in the Plains, but it's getting easier here. Out there it was as much a fashion thing as anything else, especially with the Americans. The foreigners and expats whom I knew were vegetarians were easy-going about it - like The Dude said up there ^^^, you didn't know they were vegetarians unless you happened to notice what they were eating. They didn't announce it any more than I'd announce the brand of socks I wear.

Funny thing about tofu - in San Fran, there are a TON of "Persians," Iranian expats living in America. They speak Farsi, and the Farsi word for snot is "tof," (and I'm probably spelling that wrong) which sound like the first syllable of tofu, so they would get a big kick out of people eating "snot" when they ate tofu.

It is exactly a texture thing...Like you said, tofu is just a protein filler and grabs the taste next to it...I just cant stomach it....I do however throw it in the bowl at HuHot...Which is the greatest place in the world (or at least South Dakota) for someone with my dietary preference....

I do understand exactly why people think vegetarians act more arrogant about their diet than other people....It reminds me of guys who go to the gym.....It is possible to go to the gym and to eat a certain way without letting the world know about it....All my friends eat meat, the only reason they know I am a vegetarian is when offered a grilled burger in the summer, i would pass and focus on the sweet potatoes/vegetables....I tell people who ask, but i dont expect people to feel the need to accommodate me......

 

[BigRedBuster]

Hmmm...I'm not a vegan and I actually like tofu.

 

[JJ Husker]

I'm not saying it is "wrong" I am saying I won't eat meat or animal products that are butchered in today's current industry. A small town farm with a dozen hens and a few cattle isn't what turns me away from meat. The commercial slaughtering etc is where I'm against it. If that makes any sense?

I happen to be ultra familiar with commercial slaughtering practices. I would be interested to know what you "think" happens in these places.

Beef plants processing 5,000+ head per day- calmly guide the animal to the "knocking" area, a captive bolt stunner is shot into their brain rendering them unconscious, and they are then hung upside down and a knife is inserted into their heart releasing gallons of blood. They are dead. Processors go to extraordinary lengths to keep the animals calm and comfortable prior to stunning them A) because it is the humane way to do it and B) because if the animal becames excited or agitated it causes adverse chemical reactions within the meat. Very infrequently, the stunner will miss with the first attempted stun and have to do it again. I've seen it done hundreds of times (in fact I did it myself twice) and I find nothing inhumane about it.

Some large pork processors use a CO2 oxygen deprevation stun to render the animal unconscious. Basically, the hog passes out/faints and never regains consciousness. It would be like you going to bed and never getting up. I am not overly familiar with this or the other ways they render them unconscious but, the ways I know of, are very humane and they also try to keep the animals extremely calm prior.

A turkey processor I know of would simply hang the live bird upside down (a position that actually sort of puts the bird to sleep and they do not resist at all) by it's legs, on a conveyor chain, and then they run them through a neck slitter. It may sound a bit gruesome but the birds do not seem to know it has happened and, of course, they are dead extremely quickly.

A lamb processor I know of uses a wet electric stun with current passing through the heart and brain rendering them unconscious in fractions of a second.

If I had the choice of how I wanted die, any of these methods would be at the top of my list. Now, if you want to argue that humane killing is inhumane simply because the animal ends up dead, I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. But, if you want to try to claim that large commercial processors are doing it in an inhumane manner, well then you would just flat be wrong.