Going Veggie

[J. Allen]

Mr. Laser Beam wrote:

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^Hmm. Interesting. I love chili, but I've never eaten it Cincinnati-style. When I visit GABP I will have to try some.

I think you'll like it.

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ The chili, or the ballpark?

(srsly, GABP looks very nice. Much better than that dump the Reds used to play in....Unfortunately it'll be at least a year before I can go there. But it's on my list!)

[Shazam!]

I've eliminated a fair bit of meat recently. I always have quorn instead of mince and quorn pieces in curry / stir-fry etc

Tried some veggie sausages recently which were really nice.

I'm not sure I'll give up meat entirely, but my own home cooked meals are pretty much all meat free now.

[Relayer1]

Kelthaz wrote:

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If you're going vegetarian for health reasons, I sure hope you know what you're doing. If you're not completely committed or you don't have a specific diet planned out to satisfy all your body's nutritional needs you're going to end up horribly weak and sicker than you've ever been.

I've toyed with the idea of completely giving meat up, but I stick with meat for my health. You can live a healthy life as a vegetarian, but holy fuck is it going to be time-consuming and difficult. Personally, I'd say cutting down your meat consumption is a much better idea than completely giving it up if you want to improve your health, but to each their own.

Nonsense.

I eat whatever I like with no planning at all. It automatically includes stuff I like such as eggs, cheese, milk, marmite (for b vits) and vegetables. I pop an occasional vitamin pill too, and never worry about it.

Being vegan is harder to do, but not exactly rocket science.

[J. Allen]

Mr. Laser Beam wrote:

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^ The chili, or the ballpark?

(srsly, GABP looks very nice. Much better than that dump the Reds used to play in....Unfortunately it'll be at least a year before I can go there. But it's on my list!)

Both! And I've only been to GABP once, but it is something I haven't forgotten. My friend and I were only 4 rows back, and behind the shortstop, which is a great place to be, because all of the really good action happens there.

[Tora Ziyal]

Mr. Laser Beam wrote:

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TZ: Your grandmother's coffee sounds like Raktajino!

Hmm. I thought she said they'd lived in Constantinople, but maybe she really said "Klingon Home World".

[trampledamage]

Emher wrote:

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Last night I made a tomato soup that turned out delicious, plus I was so filling and I made so much that I had food for tonights dinner, and tomorrows lunch and dinner if I feel like it!

Oh, do you have a recipe? That does sound nice!

That sounds delicious! Though I might see if I (and this gonna sound like sacrilege) will remove the beans. Or at least not do as much of them. I know, I know, no chili without beans, but I'm not a huge fan. Luckily bro is so he might eat mine.

That's what home cooking's for. I love the taste of chilli but I can't take the spiciness so when I make mine I leave out half of the chili powder


J. - this is my favourite thread right now - I love reading about food, so a thread on healthy eating is going to be very good for me

[thestrangequark]

Emher wrote:

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That sounds delicious! Though I might see if I (and this gonna sound like sacrilege) will remove the beans. Or at least not do as much of them. I know, I know, no chili without beans, but I'm not a huge fan. Luckily bro is so he might eat mine.

On the contrary, m'dear, there are those who would say that anything that has beans is not chili! So you prefer an all veggie chili-esque stew? So what, make what you like! Another healthful, but non-vegetarian creative spin would be to use ground turkey breast or chicken breast and make a bean-free chili.

I am also a big fan of making soups. They allow for endless variation and creativity, it is easy to keep them healthful, they are cheap, and easy.

I don't know if they sell Better Than Bouillon in your area, but I'd highly recommend it. It comes in vegetable, not-chicken, chicken, beef, and lobster. The quality is top-notch, and unlike dry bouillon it doesn't leave that obvious, bouillon-y taste. It makes soup-making so easy! And when I'm sick, there is nothing better than boiling a kettle of hot water and pouring it over a spoonful of Better Than Bouillon.

I made a really nice tarragon chicken and veg soup a couple days ago, myself.

[CorporalClegg]

Relayer1 wrote:

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Nonsense.

+1

Being vegan is harder to do

Not really.

I can only assume by "weaker" and "sick" he's talking about the protein misnomer.

As it is, the daily protein requirement is probably biggest falsehood in Western nutrition. Protein isn't nearly as important as some like to suggest it is. A little common sense and any culinary anthropologist can prove this. If not, there are more than enough studies out there that do.

But the fact of the matter is, for the vast majority of human history, meat has only been a very small part of our diet.

And now, most westerns (especially Americans) consume way more protein a day than they actually need. The average human male gets all the protein he needs in about a half a piece of chicken breast. Everything else he eats that day is excess.

It's been known for awhile that too much protein is just as bad for you than not enough, because your body doesn't know what to do with it all. But recent studies have suggested it might actually be worse.

Another thing people don't realize is that everything provides protein. In fact, pound for pound, green vegetables like spinach (Think Popeye.) provide more protein than red meat. Of course, a flank steak's weight in uncooked spinach (or broccoli, kale, etc.) is a helluva lot of spinach. But like I said, you really don't need that much.

Some like to try to play the incomplete protein argument, which at the very basic level is true. However, all it really means is that plant-based proteins don't provide all the amino acids of animal proteins. However, you can find all the amino acids in plants (How would the animals get them otherwise?), and the necessary ratio is so small that one would have to consciously go out of his way over a significant amount of time to actually be deficient in one or two.

In reality though, if I have a small bowl of grape nuts with almond milk and a berry along with a piece of whole grain toast with peanut butter for breakfast, I've met half of my daily need for protein. If I have one of teacake's bean tacos and a green smoothie for lunch, I'm done and don't even have to worry about dinner.

The ultimate thing about meat though is, everything it can do, beans can do better. More importantly, they do so without the cholesterol and saturated fats--and especially the synthetic toxins and steroids that are found in most prepackaged meats these days. Beans truly are a "magical fruit."

As for the "time consuming" part that's just bogus. Now, if he's talking about preparing a nice veggie dinner instead of running up to McDonald's for a shit-burger, he might have a point. Otherwise, it doesn't take any longer to prepare a vegetarian meal than one with meat. Does it take longer for tsq to make her chili than it would if she put meat in it? I don't think so. Heck, since you don't have to stand around with a meat thermometer, it's probably usually quicker.

[thestrangequark]

^Gotta agree with that. In fact, I tend to go vegetarian when I'm in a hurry, because meat is, frankly, a hassle.

[RoJoHen]

I could never do it because of the protein thing. True, you may not need that much to survive, but I'm a weightlifter, and my protein requirements tend to be a lot higher than the average human. Meat is annoying sometimes, because it usually requires a lot more time and preparation, but that's why I tend to cook in bulk (big roasts, pots of chili, giant meatloaves, etc).

[thestrangequark]

^My roommate is a body builder. Also a vegetarian. Doesn't seem to have any problems.

[RoJoHen]

I'm not saying it can't be done, but it sounds awful.

[CorporalClegg]

By "awful" you really mean you just don't want to give up meat.

I bet if you took everything I said above into consideration and did the math yourself, I bet you'd find that it wouldn't take much supplementing beans, broccoli, and nuts to meet your workout needs. And if you just give up meat, there's always eggs and milk. Eggs worked for Rocky, after all.

If you're still not convinced, remember that almost all protein supplements are either whey (vegetarian) or plant-based (vegan).

[RoJoHen]

CorporalClegg wrote:

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By "awful" you really mean you just don't want to give up meat.

I'll just stop you there.