I get this question a lot. Understandable. But I'd like to lift the veil a bit and show that a vegetarian diet isn't really all that foreign.
Someone once asked me what I eat for breakfast in a tone that alluded to disbelief that there was anything for breakfast I could eat. Right now I'm sipping on a breakfast smoothie that I've recently become obsessed with. If I know my friends, most of you would vom at the combination of ingredients but it's actually really good. I blend 2 cups of spinach, 1 cup of blueberries, 1 cup of vanilla almond milk, and 1 banana. I've substituted the blueberries for strawberries and also mixed berries. I've tried soy milk too which I think gives it a more yogurt-y flavor. Michael has been having fun with his smoothies and we have had all sorts of stuff thrown in. It's a quick easy way to get 3+ servings of fruits and vegetables right off the bat. It makes a 16-20oz drink that I slurp on for a few hours.
Oatmeal is another breakfast food I love. It's warm, comforting, and depending on how I'm feeling that day, I can vary the taste. Nuts are almost always in my oatmeal. Walnuts especially. They are one of those super foods full of Omega-3s. You don't need to take fish oil capsules that give you nasty acid reflux! Just eat your nuts. Other favorite mix-ins are cinnamon, raisins, banana, and/or apples. Instead of sugar for sweetener, try agave or maple syrup. I find that the fruit and cinnamon combo is plenty to sweeten it up.
Cereals aren't flavored with chicken so they are also a good vegetarian option. If a vegan breakfast is sought, watch out for ingredients like honey. Soy milk on its own was a shock when I was initially transitioning my milk, but I could easily adapt to it in my cereal. It was amazing how quickly my taste buds changed their preference.
Going out to breakfast is a challenge. Even something like homefries, which typically you think just potatoes, can be cooked in bacon fat. The last time I went out to breakfast I got a toasted bagel with peanut butter and a soy latte. Lacto-ovo vegetarians have it much easier with breakfast foods with the world of eggs and cheese wide open.
I will admit that I don't miss breakfast meats like sausage and bacon because I've never really liked either of them. I've always been grossed out by sausage and I think I've only had one bite of it in my life. The idea of meat scraps and left over organs of random animals ground up and stuffed into intestine casing just grosses me out. I've never understood the appeal. There are veggie substitutes for these meats, but I'm not that interested.
How do you decide what to eat for breakfast?
Friday, January 8, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Happy New Year!
A week late...
2009 was eventful and there is no doubt in my mind 2010 will be as well. Could it be better? It is off to a good start.
Michael has been working on a new project recently and for it he has gone vegan. At least for 30 days. Since vegan-hood has been something I've been easing into for years I'm also taking the plunge with every intention of maintaining this lifestyle beyond 30 days. You may not think so, but I feel quite liberated. It's like I'm part of some giant boycott that in turn supports animal rights, human health, compassion, environmental resources, the fight against global warming, and so so much else. I may be just one person, but I have and I am planting my seeds, so to speak.
With this new project, Michael has talked up to 30 day challenge to his siblings and almost all of them (and their significant others!) are joining him on his challenge. One of my sisters has recently gone vegetarian, while the other hardly ever has the desire to eat meat. Both of them joined. I can't tell you how exciting this is for me. I just hope my heart doesn't break when the 30 days are up and they run to the arms of a cheeseburger. I really hope they don't. They'll probably get sick.
I put together two pep-talks/lectures/discussions for all in our families that could attend. Seeing how its a complete overhaul of consciousness when it comes to eating, a lot of info was shared and meaningful discussions were had. We made a completely vegan menu. One night was a bit of a smattering of things and I had grand plans, but I need a triple oven, never mind a double oven. We had pizza made with soy cheese, peppers, onions, and a tad bit of garlic; sweet potato fries made from two different kinds of sweet potatoes (I tried one with a lighter flesh tone so people wouldn't feel too freaked out if they are used to white potatoes); and I made a brown rice dish full of veggies, nuts, and edamame. For those who wanted, there was an unfiltered red wine available. **More on the filtration of wine and beer later. The next evening we had a breakfast theme with a breakfast smoothie, french toast (substitute vanilla soy milk for egg dip), and some veggie bacon.
The discussions have since led to other discussions and talk around the dinner table has become more meaningful. Not that any time we've had together has been meaningless, the awareness of all has just been heightened. Even led to some funny talks about human breast milk cheese. Try putting that on your cracker.
These few weeks preparing and doing have enlightened me even more to the whole food-psychological-emotional connection. Food patterns and habits are cultural and learned. We all have many emotional attachments to what we eat and why we eat it. We love that particular cookie because that is what grandma made every holiday. Although we know cookies in mass quantities are not good for us, it is hard not salivate and slip something extra in our cart while in the bakery section, unconsciously brought back to a time of love and togetherness.
Everyone picked a moral, ethical, emotional reason to pledge these 30 days to vegetarianism. A reason that would make them feel good about making a stand. I don't want anyone attempting vegetarianism to do it just because its a "diet." Diets are over thought and all about restrictions. Yes you are restricted to only eating plant based things, but it is so much more then that. One person picked world hunger as their reason to pledge. Over 70% of the worlds grains are used to feed livestock. Only one pound of meat for human consumption is produced by 16 pounds of grain. Very inefficient. If those grains were used for human consumption, that would be enough food for 800,000,000 people. It's estimated that 30,000,000 people die each year of hunger related illnesses. Those deaths wouldn't occur on a plant based diet.
No matter what happens at the end of the 30 days, there is no doubt in my mind we all will be looking at food differently and feeling food differently as our bodies try to digest. We still will have that attachment, that reason why we pledged to go veg for 30 days.
Are you up for the challenge?
Thanks for reading.
**Beer and wine - sounds vegetarian right? The finished product, generally has no trace of animal products/byproducts but how its filtered/clarified is another story. It can be filtered with gelatin (boiled collagen - bones, skins, connective tissue, and sometimes intestines - of slaughterhouse animals, usually of pigs,cows and horses), isinglass (dried fish swim bladders), chitosan (the exoskeleton of crustaceans), and casein (protein found in cow's milk).
Here are some links for further reading...
http://www.vegetariantimes.com/resources/why_go_veg/
http://www.compassionatecooks.com
2009 was eventful and there is no doubt in my mind 2010 will be as well. Could it be better? It is off to a good start.
Michael has been working on a new project recently and for it he has gone vegan. At least for 30 days. Since vegan-hood has been something I've been easing into for years I'm also taking the plunge with every intention of maintaining this lifestyle beyond 30 days. You may not think so, but I feel quite liberated. It's like I'm part of some giant boycott that in turn supports animal rights, human health, compassion, environmental resources, the fight against global warming, and so so much else. I may be just one person, but I have and I am planting my seeds, so to speak.
With this new project, Michael has talked up to 30 day challenge to his siblings and almost all of them (and their significant others!) are joining him on his challenge. One of my sisters has recently gone vegetarian, while the other hardly ever has the desire to eat meat. Both of them joined. I can't tell you how exciting this is for me. I just hope my heart doesn't break when the 30 days are up and they run to the arms of a cheeseburger. I really hope they don't. They'll probably get sick.
I put together two pep-talks/lectures/discussions for all in our families that could attend. Seeing how its a complete overhaul of consciousness when it comes to eating, a lot of info was shared and meaningful discussions were had. We made a completely vegan menu. One night was a bit of a smattering of things and I had grand plans, but I need a triple oven, never mind a double oven. We had pizza made with soy cheese, peppers, onions, and a tad bit of garlic; sweet potato fries made from two different kinds of sweet potatoes (I tried one with a lighter flesh tone so people wouldn't feel too freaked out if they are used to white potatoes); and I made a brown rice dish full of veggies, nuts, and edamame. For those who wanted, there was an unfiltered red wine available. **More on the filtration of wine and beer later. The next evening we had a breakfast theme with a breakfast smoothie, french toast (substitute vanilla soy milk for egg dip), and some veggie bacon.
The discussions have since led to other discussions and talk around the dinner table has become more meaningful. Not that any time we've had together has been meaningless, the awareness of all has just been heightened. Even led to some funny talks about human breast milk cheese. Try putting that on your cracker.
These few weeks preparing and doing have enlightened me even more to the whole food-psychological-emotional connection. Food patterns and habits are cultural and learned. We all have many emotional attachments to what we eat and why we eat it. We love that particular cookie because that is what grandma made every holiday. Although we know cookies in mass quantities are not good for us, it is hard not salivate and slip something extra in our cart while in the bakery section, unconsciously brought back to a time of love and togetherness.
Everyone picked a moral, ethical, emotional reason to pledge these 30 days to vegetarianism. A reason that would make them feel good about making a stand. I don't want anyone attempting vegetarianism to do it just because its a "diet." Diets are over thought and all about restrictions. Yes you are restricted to only eating plant based things, but it is so much more then that. One person picked world hunger as their reason to pledge. Over 70% of the worlds grains are used to feed livestock. Only one pound of meat for human consumption is produced by 16 pounds of grain. Very inefficient. If those grains were used for human consumption, that would be enough food for 800,000,000 people. It's estimated that 30,000,000 people die each year of hunger related illnesses. Those deaths wouldn't occur on a plant based diet.
No matter what happens at the end of the 30 days, there is no doubt in my mind we all will be looking at food differently and feeling food differently as our bodies try to digest. We still will have that attachment, that reason why we pledged to go veg for 30 days.
Are you up for the challenge?
Thanks for reading.
**Beer and wine - sounds vegetarian right? The finished product, generally has no trace of animal products/byproducts but how its filtered/clarified is another story. It can be filtered with gelatin (boiled collagen - bones, skins, connective tissue, and sometimes intestines - of slaughterhouse animals, usually of pigs,cows and horses), isinglass (dried fish swim bladders), chitosan (the exoskeleton of crustaceans), and casein (protein found in cow's milk).
Here are some links for further reading...
http://www.vegetariantimes.com/resources/why_go_veg/
http://www.compassionatecooks.com
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