Vegetarians...

[blahquaker]

I've been a vegetarian for about 5 years. but I hate leftovers so I never cook. so I really have nothing to add.

[McSpunckle]

If your not a vegan, Burger King has veggie burgers, and Taco Bell has a few things without meat. Obviously, everyone has fries-- which I guess would be vegan.

So there. Fast food's still in! w00h!

[Companda]

If your not a vegan, Burger King has veggie burgers, and Taco Bell has a few things without meat. Obviously, everyone has fries-- which I guess would be vegan.

So there. Fast food's still in! w00h!

It depends on how picky you are. The veggie burger at Burger King has eggs in it and is cooked on the same surface as the regular burgers. A similar situation with fries, as they are sometimes fried in the same fat as chicken/fish.

In the short tours I went on with my previous band, Taco Bell and Subway were pretty much all I could eat.

[devnulljp]

Obviously, everyone has fries-- which I guess would be vegan.
So there. Fast food's still in! w00h!

Not really. I know that McD's fries are full of beef tallow, and I'd guess the rest are too. Even cheese isn't veggie friendly, much to the surprise of many who haven't thought about it -- rennet, the enzyme mixture they use to coagulate the milk is extracted from the stomach lining of calves. There are some traditional cheeses that don't use calf rennet and others that now use recombinant enzymes produced in bacteria, but for the most part if you eat cheese you're eating stuff made with calf stomach extract.
I'm always surprised by people who don't know where gelatin comes from too. I've also met vegetarians who eat black pudding (or did until they found out what it was).
It's a sliding scale and there are many different reasons for being veggie.

Fast food isn't even food in any real sense of the word anyway though. For the most part, it's fried shit on a stick (or in a bun) pumped full of flavourings that were made in a lab somewhere.

[McSpunckle]

Did not know that about cheese. That sucks. I knew about geletin. Learned that when I was shopping for a film camera. Broke my heart a little.

As for "cooked on the same surface"-- that doesn't really bother me. I get that it'll be contaminated, but that's not really the point for me.

I know fast food is horrible. So is most packaged foods. It's all artificially flavoured bullshit. Even diet food is just engineered to look good on the nutrition facts label. But sometimes... I just don't want to cook and don't have anything around.

[steevdeadman]

Thoughts on Tofurky? Anyone? Beuler?

[devnulljp]

Thoughts on Tofurky? Anyone? Beuler?

Mine's good. The frozen stuff in a box ?

[Noise...]

Half the time I'm "accidentally" a vegetarian. I don't really think about what I eat, aside from wanting it to be healthy. So I occasionally end up not having meat at all for days to a few weeks. It's not intentional, and I don't feel strongly one way other the other. It just happens. When I eat meat, it's generally organic or from a butcher that I know is clean and has quality meat.

That being said, I could DEFINITELY be a vegetarian. There's some seriously awesome food out there that requires no meat whatsoever.

As far as fast food is concerned, fuck that. I get sick whenever I have it. McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, etc. Same shit, different greasy bag. I know some people love it, but the idea that it's probably pig rectums and chicken beaks ground into a lovely brown "burger" paste is enough to make me sick just thinking about it. I'd rather eat nothing than eat fast food.

[Christopher]

The smell of meat cooking makes me want to hurl.

This.

I just don't like the way meat tastes, smells, looks, feels. Like a kid who refuses to eat broccoli, only the opposite.

[CBA]

Half the time I'm "accidentally" a vegetarian. I don't really think about what I eat, aside from wanting it to be healthy. So I occasionally end up not having meat at all for days to a few weeks. It's not intentional, and I don't feel strongly one way other the other. It just happens. When I eat meat, it's generally organic or from a butcher that I know is clean and has quality meat.

Ha. I dig. I love meat... burgers, bacon, chicken, etc... but shit, I can't remember the last time I ate meat. Do a few pepperonis count? I've just adopted a new rule in which I MUST eat fresh fruit for breakfast... like a banana, and then for protein I'll cram the nanner in some peanus butter or have a Clif Bar. Otherwise... yeah, I eat a lot of noodles and bread and stuff. Cheese. Beer.

I "treat" myself to fast food every once in a while. Like once a year I'll have a McGriddle from MacDonald's. Shit's good. So are Chicken McNuggets. And yeah, processed slaughter guts and everything... worth it for that Swee Ah Sahwah sauce.

But I guess I'm lucky... I've had no major health problems except for peritonitis and acute mononucleosis. I am 6'2" and I weigh 127 lbs. I like beer and pizza.

Dah... I work at Whole Foods Market, too. Anyone else on ILF work at your local WFM?

C

[Noise...]

Half the time I'm "accidentally" a vegetarian. I don't really think about what I eat, aside from wanting it to be healthy. So I occasionally end up not having meat at all for days to a few weeks. It's not intentional, and I don't feel strongly one way other the other. It just happens. When I eat meat, it's generally organic or from a butcher that I know is clean and has quality meat.

Ha. I dig. I love meat... burgers, bacon, chicken, etc... but shit, I can't remember the last time I ate meat. Do a few pepperonis count? I've just adopted a new rule in which I MUST eat fresh fruit for breakfast... like a banana, and then for protein I'll cram the nanner in some peanus butter or have a Clif Bar. Otherwise... yeah, I eat a lot of noodles and bread and stuff. Cheese. Beer.

I "treat" myself to fast food every once in a while. Like once a year I'll have a McGriddle from MacDonald's. Shit's good. So are Chicken McNuggets. And yeah, processed slaughter guts and everything... worth it for that Swee Ah Sahwah sauce.

But I guess I'm lucky... I've had no major health problems except for peritonitis and acute mononucleosis. I am 6'2" and I weigh 127 lbs. I like beer and pizza.

Dah... I work at Whole Foods Market, too. Anyone else on ILF work at your local WFM?

C

I watched a show on how different fast food stuff is made. Almost hurled while watching it, and I don't really have a weak stomach. That was enough to keep me away from it - especially the "chicken" nuggets part.

I rarely have anything other than coffee or tea for breakfast. When I do, I usually go for some sort of dish with egg whites (omelette, toasted egg sandwich, etc), oatmeal, or cream of wheat. Brown sugar with the latter two.

Lunch is almost always a big salad. Occasionally breakfast dishes, but at noon-2PM.

Then Dinner is something normal. Spaghetti, grilled cheese, fettucini alfredo, etc. Just normal homestyle cooking. If I have meat, it will ALWAYS be in whatever I make for dinner. Otherwise, I stay pretty vegetarian.

I'm far from being a vegan, but there's times when I'll end up not having meat for quite a while without noticing.

As far as health, I don't know why a vegetarian diet would really change that. You still get a lot of the same vitamins, and I've seen plenty of full fledged vegetarians that are in great health.

[CBGB]

Most British artisan cheeses are vegetarian these days, are amazing ...and you can order it over the internet too http://www.teddingtoncheese.co.uk/acatalog/index.html

[Jero]

I'm so far from vegetarian, but my step mom has been for many years so I am not unfamiliar with the veg diet.

I like these still...actually ate some tonight along with spapeggy.

[smallsnd/bigsnd]

i was vegetarian for almost 11 years and i just started eating meat again.
i only really do it if i know where the meat is coming from (as local as possible) and is sustainably/humanely raised.
i still can't drink milk though (even though i fucking love cheese...), even in my coffee i still prefer soymilk...

[spacelordmother]

You guys seem really thoughtful and informed about your diets! Too often I run into veggies/vegans who are living mostly on chemicals, missing huge portions of the essential dietary requirements (like PROTEIN) but still insist on being militant. It's unfortunate, on both accounts, but as a chef I try to offer some suggestions for ways that they could better round out their intake and I got shot down because I am not vegetarian.



I did supply the bulk of the organic veggies for a raw-foodist we had living with us last year (my unit is on UW campus) and with all due respect to people and their food beliefs:

that shit was weird.