Any Vegetarians/Vegans?

[Sirus The Virus]

Who on here is a vegan or vegetarian? And what are you eating for Thanksgiving? I'm a vegetarian headed towards vegan, I'm eating a vegan nut roast with dressing. How long and why are you a vegetarian?

[EricNau]

I haven't eaten Beef for several years (mostly for health reasons). ...Does that count for anything?

And, errrrrr, I'll be eating turkey for Thanksgiving.

...Actually, turkey is really my least favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner. Who needs meat when there's mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, bread, veggies, and pumpkin pie?


If anyone wants a quick, makeshift recipe for veggie gravy, I made some the other day...
1 cup water
1 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. flour
2 vegetable bullion cubes
---Boil water, dissolve bullion cubes, add butter, and combine flour slowly until you have the right consistency. Then add spices as you see fit. (In all honesty, it was somewhat bland, but it's the best I could come up with at the time. Try it before you ruin your thanksgiving meal. )

[SkyBell]

Been thinking about going veg for about a year now.

But chicken is sooooo good.

[Sirus The Virus]

Originally Posted by Cassie

Been thinking about going veg for about a year now.

But chicken is sooooo good.

It's the easiest thing to do once you do it. There's stuff you can get that tastes just like, if not better than chicken.

[adrianblaine]

I grew up as a vegetarian. I didn't have meat until I was probably around 14 or 15. I'm also starting to head back that direction...

For thanksgiving we used to make mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, pumpkin pie, green bean casserole, and stuffing made without the bird. I'm sure there were other things, but it was quite awhile ago.

[SkyBell]

Originally Posted by Sirus The Virus

It's the easiest thing to do once you do it. There's stuff you can get that tastes just like, if not better than chicken.

I'd love to know where to get this stuff, as I've seen too many videos to not feel guilty about eating meat.

[Oryan]

I could never do the vegetarian thing. I just love cooking on my grill too much.

[adrianblaine]

Originally Posted by Cassie

I'd love to know where to get this stuff, as I've seen too many videos to not feel guilty about eating meat.

http://www.kelloggs.com/brand/worthington/

http://www.seeveggiesdifferently.com/

to name a couple. You have to be careful though. Some fake meat is almost just as bad for you as the real thing (high fat and sodium), the only advantage being you aren't taking the life of a poor helpless animal...

[atthecross]

haven't eaten anything with a face since 1995, no political or social reasons (if we were not supposed to eat animals, they wouldn't be made out of meat)

Will be eating all the side dishes on Thanksgiving Day

[Iscariot]

Vegan for 5 years. Maybe longer? I can't remember if I started in my 20s or not. My reasons are mostly biological after a careful study of our anatomy, but my other primary reasons are to reduce my environmental footprint and to promote organic and sustainable farming by voting with my dollar.

As a Canadian, Thanksgiving has already come and gone. This year I celebrated it twice, the first time back home with my family, where I made a chickpea casserole, potato and leek soup and a tomato spice cake with vanilla frosting. The second time my friend hosted a small party in his penthouse, and he and his sister took care of all the cooking. They made two excellent vegan dishes, a very nice butternut squash roast and this great tomato casserole.

Hope you have a nice Thanksgiving!

[canadagrad]

Hey. Ive been vegan for about a decade but Ive been lucky: there is a health food store where I used to live that cooked up "tofuturkies" every thanksgiving that were amazing. All seasoned tofu in a little loaf pan with stuffing in the middle. Soo good. Back when I still ate some dairy I got the turkey gravy in those little packets made by ClubHouse and they're totally vegetarian.

I tried to cook one once, but failed rather miserably. Maybe Ill get creative and try again. I found a neat website http://www.bryannaclarkgrogan.com/page/page/579094.htm) but Ive been too lazy to try to make anything this elaborate. Anyhow, there are links on the side, like the holiday and christmas ones, that have free recipes.

Looking at that web page now Im thinking two things: Im hungry, and maybe Ill try to make something afterall.

I just hate going to all the trouble only to have the recipe totally backfire!

Let me know if you try anything good

And now that I think about it, Ive not met any vegetarians that went veggie just because of health reasons.
I think you just need to do some research into how meat actually gets from the farm to the table to be turned vegetarian or vegan.

Oh, and back in the day when I listened to The Smiths a lot (ok, I still do) I couldnt get the song Meat is Murder out of my head!

And while Ive learned in the past 5 years or so not to make faces when out for dinner with meat eating friends I cant keep myself from making the odd comment when it comes to veal or fois gras. Ugh!

[Kamera RAWr]

I can see how people become vegetarians or vegans, but for me, meat just tastes too damn good. So many wonderful things you can do with beef and chicken. Not trying to get flamed here, just posting my opinion. I have a lot of respect for those who can commit to being vegetarians and vegans. Don't know if I'll ever be able to jump on that bandwagon though.

[Henri Gaudier]

Hello Sirus,

I've been vegetarian for nearly 30 years and latterly vegan for a few. I've seen US films refer to "going home for thanks giving" but what is it exactly? Is it some kind of harvest festival? As for the meal - am I right in assuming that you're new to this discipline? Our home is full of vegan/veggie cook books that we've slowly built up over the years and as such we've now got lots of favourites to choose from for Christmas etc. Stick with it. You'll soon find lots of your own favourites too that will make celebratory meals a breeze for you.

Sorry to hear about the bad news Canadagrad - Smith's music is murder! What you need is the one bedevilling me this morning - why I've got it I don't know - do you remember Star Trekkin? "It's life Jim but not as we know it, not as we know it, not as we know it. It's life Jim but not as we know it, not as we know it, not as we know it!" Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

[Iscariot]

Originally Posted by canadagrad

And now that I think about it, Ive not met any vegetarians that went veggie just because of health reasons.
I think you just need to do some research into how meat actually gets from the farm to the table to be turned vegetarian or vegan.

Oh, and back in the day when I listened to The Smiths a lot (ok, I still do) I couldnt get the song Meat is Murder out of my head!

And while Ive learned in the past 5 years or so not to make faces when out for dinner with meat eating friends I cant keep myself from making the odd comment when it comes to veal or fois gras. Ugh!

Canadagrad, where abouts in Canada do you live (if you still live there)? I know a few vegetarian organizations here and there, and I can hook you up with some of the haps, so to speak.

This goes for any vegetarians in the Toronto area, as well.

[it5five]

Been a vegetarian for a few years now.

Seeing as I work on Thanksgiving, I will be eating a peanut butter & jelly sandwich with some chips or something on my lunch break.

If I didn't work though, I'd just eat the side-dishes.

Green beans = delicious

[Iscariot]

Originally Posted by it5five

Green beans = delicious

Green beans are one of my all-time favourite foods. Nothing special, just steamed, maybe with a little bit of margarine.

[it5five]

Now I'm going to have to pick some up and cook myself some potatoes and green beans with dinner after I get home from work.

[mad jew]

My girlfriend was vegan for a little while but I soon quashed her ideals, so she's just a regular vegetarian now.

[MattyB]

...does it matter? I like driving very fast, but I don't do it because I know I could hurt someone.

OK, admittedly I only slow down around schools ;-)

Vegan for eight years. I don't think it's unusual in the Mac community which seems to have a high proportion of geniuses, left-handers, ethical eaters and alternative sexualities.

I can't offer absolute proof of that, just the results of a straw poll.

All I can say is that I'm delighted to be associated with such a splendid array of positive misbehavors. I just made up misbehavors; good band name.

I'm in England so we don't celebrate Thanksgiving (or, obviously independence day, and yes, I am drinking tea as I write) but turkey is traditional at Christmas (goose is also popular and has the added benefit of being a shorthand term for the pinching of a person's bottom) so there is a similar problem.

Stunt turkeys are great, but you do need to sauté them. Fry them if you are less competent. As with real turkey and chicken, it's what you cook them in that makes the flavour.

I just eat as many side dishes as I can. I am particularly fond of roast potatoes.

I think I might put my decorations up...

BTW, thanks Arn for the moderated forum, I once made the mistake of saying I didn't do leather on the supposedly Mac-centric diyplanner.com and was insulted constantly for days. Very personal stuff. I'm giving the site owner a little time to resolve the matter, then I start having some fun!

m2b8.com

[bartelby]

I was vegetarian for 8 years (vegan for about a year of that). I switch back to being an omnivore due to health reasons.

[MattyB]

Originally Posted by bartelby

I was vegetarian for 8 years (vegan for about a year of that). I switch back to being an omnivore due to health reasons.

I've coached a few people in this matter before and have found that every case is a result of incorrect assumptions by healthcare professionals.

While there are things you have to take care of, such as B12 and Omega 3, there has never been a problem that stood-up to scrutiny. I would advise looking at a few fora...

For the record; I am not a doctor!

If you find you have been poorly advised it is important to raise the issue with the professional concerned, there have been some dreadful instances of poor advice causing chop-dodgers to abandon ethical beliefs.

Good luck

m2b8.com

[Iscariot]

Originally Posted by MattyB

For the record; I am not a doctor!

I have a Ph.D. in awesome, with a specialty in being a rite shaggy bastard.

[bartelby]

Originally Posted by MattyB

I've coached a few people in this matter before and have found that every case is a result of incorrect assumptions by healthcare professionals.

While there are things you have to take care of, such as B12 and Omega 3, there has never been a problem that stood-up to scrutiny. I would advise looking at a few fora...

So having a prefectly good vegetarian diet yet being 1.5 stone (21lbs) underweight and ill a lot of the time was a good thing?

When I was a veggie my girlfriend (at the time) was a nutritionist, so she kept a very close eye on what I ate.


The assumption that a veggie/vegan diet is great for everyone is also incorrect.

If this was not the case it seems strange that once I started eating meat and fish again I was a healthy weight and was rarely ill and felt a lot better in myself.

As for ethics. My health was more important.

[dcv]

Yep... veggie for 20 years; strict vegan for 5 of those years. What am I eating for Thanksgiving? Is that this Thursday? Dunno... maybe I'll have some veggie sausage, yum.

[Abstract]

Originally Posted by Cassie

Been thinking about going veg for about a year now.

But chicken is sooooo good.

So is beef, pork, fish, lamb, turkey, veal, duck, rabbit, deer, buffalo, kangaroo, snake, horse, and even pigeon.

But otherwise, I'd definitely consider it. *thumbs up*