Vegetarians/Vegans/Raw Foodists?

I'm a long-time vegetarian (about 8 years now) and I'm working toward becoming vegan. Feel free to friend me!

I am a vegetarian. No longer almost vegan. I want to be vegan, but soy cheese is gross. Plus I gave in and ate chicken last night. I haven't had meat in awhile and it upset my stomach. It is hard to give up meat but the reward is worth it. My vegetarian favorite foods are: TVP (i love this. It has a nice "meaty" texture. Good in stews, chilis, and spaghetti) Scrambled tofu. I only like scrambled tofu. I don't like it any other way and believe me I have tried. Gimme Lean "fake burger" and "fake sausage" meats. boca burgers. Almond milk. Cheese (although I am trying to consume less of it). Nutella, Peanut butter, and wheat bread. Yum!

Have you tried marinated baked tofu? It is my very favorite way of eating it...gets a really good chewy texture. I have a recipe if you want it.

And I hear you about the soy cheese being gross thing. I like the Daiya cheese okay but it's definitely not the same. I was always a huge cheese lover and even though Daiya works for something like a lasagna or pizza, I have a hard time giving up more specialty cheeses like smoked gouda or dill havarti. *sigh* I also get cravings for eggs sometimes, and last week I bought this little spinach strata thing from the coffee shop and it was sooooo good.

Daiya is amazing! it's delicious and melty and wonderful! Teeze is good too! If you wanna go vegan you should develop a taste for nutritional yeast, it can add the "cheezy" bite you crave plus provide you with B12s!

I'm a recent vegan convert, yeah the cheese thing is hard but after a couple weeks things like Daiya don't taste as gross, i needed distance from the actual taste of cheese to not find fake cheese disgusting ;-)

add me, i guess i should make my recipes public to share.

25 year veggie here. Meat is no longer food to me. I am nursing a baby who is sensitive to soy and dairy, so I've been a "sorta vegan" for several months now. I hate eggs, but I still eat them as protein source occasionally. I think after the baby weans I'll go all out vegan, particularly if he's still has problems with soy and dairy.

Daiya is my absolute fav! You do need to forget what cheese tastes like, I'm sure, lol.

Feel free to add me. Vegan.

Vegan convert here :-)

I'm totally new to the idea that I may enjoy being a vegetarian and so I've only JUST started looking into more recipes and whatnot. My husband is one that needs meat every day. I actually prefer to have it more like once every couple weeks tops! Any tips for cooking for a family when our tastes differ? Any tips for slowly introducing the foods for a vegetarian lifestyle and weaning away from the meat aspect? I should mention we have 3 kids, and 8yro and twin 4yros. The 8yro is a rather picky eater, but like me seems to only want to eat meat on occasion. That's another reason I wanted to further research a vegetarian diet.

Also, probably a really stupid question, but I've always struggled with my weight and have spent much more time overweight than healthy. Would a vegetarian diet help me not only lose but to maintain the loss more easily than a "regular" diet? I'm looking into ways that will allow me to maintain the loss, without having to track every single calorie for the rest of my life. I want it to become "just food", instead of "the enemy" LOL

Any advice you can give a wanna-be-vegetarian would be fantastic and greatly appreciated! Any really great websites I should look at?

vegan, vegetarian ? deft. add me too! I am vegetarian as well and lately about 80% vegan. Anyways add me

I'm a vegetarian and have been for almost 5 years now. I eat a lot of vegan food but still love cheese and yogurt too much and occasional eggs.

I'm totally new to the idea that I may enjoy being a vegetarian and so I've only JUST started looking into more recipes and whatnot. My husband is one that needs meat every day. I actually prefer to have it more like once every couple weeks tops! Any tips for cooking for a family when our tastes differ? Any tips for slowly introducing the foods for a vegetarian lifestyle and weaning away from the meat aspect? I should mention we have 3 kids, and 8yro and twin 4yros. The 8yro is a rather picky eater, but like me seems to only want to eat meat on occasion. That's another reason I wanted to further research a vegetarian diet.

Also, probably a really stupid question, but I've always struggled with my weight and have spent much more time overweight than healthy. Would a vegetarian diet help me not only lose but to maintain the loss more easily than a "regular" diet? I'm looking into ways that will allow me to maintain the loss, without having to track every single calorie for the rest of my life. I want it to become "just food", instead of "the enemy" LOL

Any advice you can give a wanna-be-vegetarian would be fantastic and greatly appreciated! Any really great websites I should look at?

hey there!
i'm vegan and i've been vegetarian for about..6 years now. Basically what I would recommend is switching out the stuff they'll never know about! Ground beef is one of the easiest ones to replace. We served my dad "ground beef' for years and he NEVER noticed....people think they really 'need meat' but it's just the taste they want. If you use fake ground beef for things like hamburger helper type recipes, meatballs, taco filling, I highly doubt they'll even notice. Just DONT TELL THEM..they will protest. If you're making the food then you have the right to make things healthier/less ecologically damaging/cruelty-free).

A lot of the deli meats to me taste like the real thing so much that I don't want to eat them because they remind me of meat too much. This could just be me though, but I would give them a shot and see what you think. You might be able to pack them 'turkey sandwiches' and theyll never know that you're doing a good thing for them! If you tell them you're packing a soy-based healthy replacement for their tasty turkey sandwich they will definitely disagree.

I've also learned that (and I was never the proselytizing type before, only to those who come to me interested..) the less work you do telling people to change the more they don't mind changing. It makes sense.

I don't think that vegetarianism or even veganism is a cure-all for the bad food intake. Cookies are vegetarian. You can make any cookie vegan, too. But when you're at a restaurant and the options are garden burger or fried chicken then yes....the garden burger is likely to be healthier...but is it low calorie most of the time? no, because the way most places prepare things is with oil or grease...You still have to think about those things. Is it more likely to be healthier than the free-for-all of all things meaty and american? yes ma'am.
i don't know what kind of cooking you do but I think that being vegan especially forces you to understand cooking and baking, unless you live someplace magical like austin or portland where being vegan is so common there are options all over the menus. If you don't already make your own food from scratch you really can make the healthiest possible meals because you have total control over everything you put into it. I find the calories for something I can make versus the pre-made version are usually like half or 1/3 of what industry wants me to eat.

this is my favorite food website, with an extensive forum and lots of SUPER TASTY recipes you'd never know were vegan unless you asked. she also has started putting up low cal versions of recipes. she's amazing
http://www.theppk.com/

other good ones:
peta.org
http://vegweb.com/

I'm a vegetarian. Have been for 6 years now. Feel free to add me : )

I just became a "weekday vegetarian" a couple of months ago for green and economical reasons. I am considering becoming a vegetarian full time since the rewards have been greater than I expected. I am always looking for new recipes. Friend me!

Vegan!

In regards to the soy cheese discussion Daiya for pizza and follow your heart for tacos! lol

I honestly eat mostly veggies and rice...

I love PPK I just bought 2 of her books and am happily reading and trying out the new recipes!

I've been vegetarian for 8 years and vegan for 3.5. You can add me!

I also have a vegan cooking blog if you'd like to get it out:
www.sharetheveganlove.blogspot.com