Becoming A Vegetarian... HELP!?

Question

So yesterday my family and I went to a resteraunt. I decided to try something new for a change, so i got ribletts. Basicly by the time I was done eating, I had tears streaming down my face. It hurt me all of a sudden that I was eating a baby pig!

So... I'm becoming a vegetarian.

I need help on what all i can do to become and stay a vegetarian. PLEASE help!

Answer 1

You need to get a couple good vegetarian cookbooks, and learn to cook for yourself. I'd suggest being a lacto-ove vegetarian, until you can move out and shop for yourself.

Plant protein - beens, seeds, nuts, whole grains. You can also buy fake meats like: Boca Burgers, Smart Dogs; and they even make fake ribletts.

A lacto ovo vegetarian eats eggs and dairy products too.

Answer 2

ask them to make you tofu and eat salads and beans when you go out. Even if it hurts you that they are eating meat, you can't change that, but you can start with yourself.

Answer 3

DO not eat pork again! Stick to chicken or beef

Answer 4

The best way to start out, especially as a teenager having to eat with a meat-eating family, is to start out with a mostly lacto-ovo diet. There are tons of frozen foods made specifically for vegetarians and vegans that you can get at most grocery stores. This way, you'll be able to eat similarly to your family, but without the guilt.

When you're eating out, if there are no other options, salad is always good. Most of the time, restaurants will have other vegetarian-friendly (but not necesarily vegan) items such as fries (which may contain beef flavoring), baked potatoes, rice, nachos, et cetera. Be sure to ask your server what contains meat products and what doesn't.

Also, make sure to find a good multi-vitamin and take it regularly. I fail to do that a lot, but when you cut out something that's so full of vitamins and protein, you need to make up for it somewhere. Tofu and soy, as well as beans, are full of protein, so that along with good vitamins should be fine.

I hope this helps! I assume you're not on your own, seeing as you mention eating out with family a lot, so I don't imagine you'll want to do much cooking. Stick to easy-to-prepare things like frozen patties (Morninstar Farms, Boca, et cetera) or frozen meals (Amy's Organic), or even soups with vegetable stock for now. It's really quite easy to start out there and work your way up.

Answer 5

you werent eating a baby pig. Riblets are the tips of a rib. They wont butcher a immature pig. Not enough money in it.

Second Humans are omnivores. That means we have evolved to eat both plant and animal matter.

Third dont limit yourself. Life is full of choices and opportunities. Keep your mind open and explore as many differant things you can. By becoming a vegetarian your depriving yourself of so many sensory experiences. Visual, olfactory, taste and so on. Keep your mind open and experiment.

Answer 6

You are not eating a baby pig. Just a different section on the rib cage of a full grown pig.

You can grill plenty of non-meats.

Contrary to another poster, there are plenty of undomesticated sources of meat we could access. Wild game, swine and poultry abound. It's the hunting it down that takes so much time and money (and skill). That's why we have domesticated forms of meat.

Answer 7

Consider your choice before you decide to learn more about being a Vegan/Vegetarian.

There are a wide variety of choices out there foodwise - but think about the fact that the animals we eat, they wouldn't exist if we didn't farm them.

They have good lives - try organic meat if you get put off.

If you like these animals so much, research their lives first before you take this dietary plunge.Consult your GP in regard to your health also.

If you do choose to do this - check with your local pharmacist about taking the vital vitamins you would receive from meat such as proteins & B vitamins. Try eating brazil nuts or any low-salt/sugar nut - it will provide vital iron. If you have allergies, search for alternatives.

Good Luck

Love Jen x

p.s I have some links below to give you a bit of an idea what your getting into - I hope I've helped :)

Answer 8

Here are some web sites with some great vegan/vegetarian food.

http://silksoymilk.com -chocolate and chai flavors are good

http://amys.com

http://organicfoodbar.com

http://gardenburger.com - has veggie riblets

http://yvesveggie.com

http://sunshineburger.com

http://rightfoods.com

http://veganstore.com -they have chocolate!

http://nakedjuice.com

http://www.cedarsfoods.com/

http://bolthouse.com

http://naturespath.com

http://turtlemountain.com -vegan ice cream and yogurt

http://goodkarmafoods.com - vegan ice cream

http://fruitabu.com

http://clifbar.com

http://www.pacificfoods.com -has good almond milk

http://www.eatintheraw.com/index.php

Here are some good recipes:

Stir fry- You need cut up tofu, soy sauce, olive oil, steamed veggies, and cooked rice

Get a frying pan and coat it with olive oil. The put the tofu in the pan and brown each side of it. Next, add the veggies. Add a little soy sauce and put in the rice. Mix everything up and then let it sit on the stove, occasionally stirring it to make sure it doesn't burn. After about a minute and a half of that put it in a bowl and enjoy!

Hummus- chick peas, lemon juice, paprika, cumin, black pepper, and any other spices/seasonings you like

Puree the chick peas. Then add a little lemon juice, paprika, pepper, and other spices. Then stir. Serve with a pita, with cucumbers, or on a veggie wrap.

Favorite Classic Pancakes

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp. sugar

2 Tbsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. salt

1 cup soy milk

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Mix in the soy milk and oil, and with a fork or wire whisk, combine just until the batter is smooth.

Pour cup batter onto a hot, oiled griddle. When bubbles form in the center of the pancake, flip. Cook for another 2 minutes. Remove from pan and keep warm while you make remaining pancakes. Serve warm with maple syrup or fruit syrup.

Here are some snack and dinner suggestions:

Snacks:

Celery with peanut butter

Apples with peanut butter

Pita with hummus

Raisins

Amy's Apple Toaster Pops

All natural popsicles

Natural Valley bars

Clif Bar

Fruit Leather

Silk Chocolate Soy Milk

Naked Juice

Apple chips

Dinners:

Tofu Stir Fry

Amy's Pizzas

Amy's entrees

Sandwiches made with Yves meatless deli slices

Tofu Scramble

Gardenburgers

Natural Oven's bagels

Dr. McDougall's Soups and Noodle Soups

Soy Cheese Quesedillas

Veggie Wraps

Lentils with Wild Rice and Veggies

Whole foods is a great store for vegetarians/vegans, so I recommend grocery shopping there. You also can get a lot of the things I listed above there.

Answer 9

Learn as much as you can, that is the most important thing.

Don't let people make you think you are not getting protein. Protein is in everything you eat, plants are also a much better source of iron then meat.

Try and be calm with your family, don't put them down. It is your choice to not eat meat, and their choice to keep consuming it. Maybe offer to make dinner a few nights a week, or try to make atleast one day of the week completely vegetarian.

Being vegetarian in a meat eating family is easier than vegan. You should be able to just have whatever they are having, but avoid the meat.

Answer 10

Wow...the same thing happened to me one day when I was eating tuna fish...

Well basically to start with your family may not like this, and they may try to get you back to eating meat (I also might add when posting questions in this section you will get people that willl tell you to shove bacon in your mouth...don't do it.), but you should stick with what you want.

They will tell you that you won't get enough prtein in your diet, but if you pay attention to what your eating, you can very easily get how much you nead.

Look up a vegetarian food pyramid...it could help you out a little.

Even though you were practically in tears eating meat...occasionally...or not so occasionally you might get meat cravings. There are meat substitutes out there for us vegetarians. Try the Morning Star Farms brand. I had their mini veggie corn dogs the other day. It looked and tasted pretty close to the real thing so look for that in stores, but here's their website so you can look at what they have.

http://www.seeveggiesdifferently.com/hom...

So you might what your mom and yourself to keep that in mind while grocery shopping.

Also go to these sites...they will help you.

http://www.goveg.com/

http://www.vrg.org/

http://www.vegsoc.org/

And research vegetarian cheese. It has to do with how it's made. Non vegetarian friendly cheese will be made with animal rennet which is from a slaughtered calfs stomache. I can't rememeber what the vegetarian cheese is made with.

Also I have a list of foods for you.

http://michaelbluejay.com/veg/eat.html#n...

I think that should help you off for starters.

Answer 11

Invest in meat alternatives...veggie burgers, veggie dogs, veggie lunch meat, etc. Another thing that all vegetarians need is TOFU. It's incredibly versatile...you can use it in stir fries, grill it with barbecue sauce, and even use it in salads. If your parents don't agree with you being vegetarian, you may have to make your own food for a while. You won't have to make anything too fancy---sandwiches are quick and easy, and don't take too much effort. But before you do anything, you should talk to your parents about you becoming a vegetarian and why. You should eat lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, which are much better for you than meat, and they're especially delicious :) Like I said before, buy fake meat. Going vegetarian is tough, especially for people who have been eating meat for a long time. Meat alternatives make the transition easier, and after a while you may even start to like them better. Even if you give in to eating meat while you're going vegetarian, don't give up. With a lot of self control and determination, you can become vegetarian :)

Answer 12

Congratulations on your decision to become vegetarian!

When your family is grilling out, just toss some veggies on to grill instead. Grilled veggies are soooo yummy! As a new vegetarian you might want to try a few of the vegetarian convenience/frozen foods. It helps with the transition... things such as the Morningstar Farms spicy black bean burgers. I've served those to friends who are meat eaters and even they loved them.

Don't expect your family to change the way they do things. You will have to become interested in making your food and experimenting to see what yummy and interesting foods you can make. You're not really limiting yourself by becoming a vegetarian. You'll see that it opens up a whole new world of food to you. Not the standard SAD, hunk of meat on the plate and a potato on the side... talk about BORING.

Good luck!