question for newer vega*ns
A neat thing happened to me yesterday, on long road trip I received two phone calls (one close friend, the other my mom) requesting help transitioning into a mostly vegetarian diet. Hallelujah!
Both women have different reasons and different expectations, but I am happy thrilled to help.
I have been a vegetarian for a long time and my tastes and expectations are vastly different now than when I first began this journey. Vegweb has opened my eyes to a lot of new things, but I had already established a pallate for this.
My question is this: I don't want to freak either one of them out and watch them declare "I could never..." and I know (because I have cooked for them both on many occasions) that I have freaked them out with tasty treats such as tempeh, sea vegetables, quinoa, etc... in the past. I have no intention of introducing them to soy cheese any time soon, for example. I am trying not to inundate (my mom especially) with too much information, but I don't want to short change her experience, either.
She mentioned last night that it was hard to justify too much fresh produce when it is the same price or more per pound than meat. So we talked about how, exactly they are able to sell meat for price. Anyway, we're kinda starting from scratch here.
Would anyone care to offer advice? I have sent off for two "starter kits" and I am not worried about finding information; I am seeking guidance, especially from newer vegetarians as to where you started.
And I wouldn't be surprised to see mom join the board. Guess I better watch my posts, eh? :o
Thanks!
when i went vegan, my dad signed himself up for a vegan cooking class. i thought. why hadnt i thought of that! he met a bunch of other vegans (hes not vegan) and he learned how to make his favorite foods vegan and taste test them. he learned how to use tvp (which is now his favorite ingredient) thigns like that. we live in a rather small city, and this class was at the local community college for pretty cheap. maybe your mom could try out somethin like that! and its always great to find other veggie friends when youre just starting. but im sure youve experienced how hard it is to stick to it when most people you know eat meat. ha
I came up with an idea for your mom who likes to snack. She could make root vegetable soups that are blended smooth. Freeze the soup and take out a portion as wanted. She could drink it like a V8, low in calories, with lots of nutrients, but without the sodium and preservatives.
When I freeze things like that, I freeze them in the container, if possible, and then remove it from the container once frozen and store in a plastic bag with the other frozen portions. That way, I can put the frozen soup in the container and know it will fit without having to thaw a lot of it. I have also frozen smooth soups in ice trays and stored the cubes when the opening is smaller than the rest of the container.
I thought of something else for a busy nurse to eat. I live in SoCal smog, so in the summer I try to get extra oxygen radical absorbance.
½ cup of vanilla soy yogurt, ½ cup of water, ½ scoop of Fruit-tein Exotic Red Fruit Shake (it has açai, mangosteen, pomegranate, gogi and noni).
That’s approximately 16 grams of carbs, 10 grams of protein, 1.5 grams of fat, and :) 1000 TE of ORAC :).
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