NEWBIE VEGGIE NEEDS YOUR HELP!!!!!!!!
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Hi, I'm a newuser here and would like to become a vegetarian of some sort,
but really don't know where to start.  I'd appreciate any advice from you
pros out there on the following topic:
(errr, topics)
 
-getting started
-recipes
-eating veggie on a student budget
-eating veggie away from home
-eating veggie when your mate does not
-eating veggie for the vegetable-shy
-books which you have found helpful, for recipes or reference
 
Thank you so much!  

17 responses total.

Excellent topic.  I'm gonna try linking this to the cooking conference, too.

At Misti's request, this item is now linked from Hippie to Cooking.

What a great time of the year to become a vegetarian!  As far as books go,
there are many good ones, but one of the best to start with IMHO, is Nikki 
and David Goldbeck's Wholefoods American Cuisine.  It's like the Joy of 
Cooking for wholefoods vegetarian cuisine.
Eating away from home:  try Italian restaurants, you nearly always
can get pasta primavera, alfredo, or plain tomato sauce.  Also, Mexican
if they don't use lard in the beans.  Chinese is good, too (try 
Mabo Dofu (sp?) without meat...mmm.  As you can see, ethnic is the
place to try.  Don't forget Arabic, too (falafel, various bean dishes, 
etc.), and East Indian (one of the best-developed vegetarian cuisines
in the world, and very inexpensive, too).  If there's one nearby, 
Ethiopean really hits the mark, too.
"Mixed" relationships (veg+non-veg).  I think alot depends what
the motivation for vegetarianism is.  If it's an ethical thing
(can't stand the idea of killing animals for food, etc.), things
could be a little difficult, especially if you cook in the same kitchen...
health vegetarians might be a little more lenient in terms of sharing
cooking pots, etc.  My husband is not veg, and I don't cook meat at
all, but he often gets meat when we eat out...
Gotta go, the baby's hollering...

Nadine -- I've been veg for about 6 years now.  Things I found useful
when I was getting started were: _Diet For A Small Planet_ by Frances
Moore Lappe (I like it for its recipes, not necessarily for its politics)
and discovering a good cooperative grocery store.  You might try browsing
through Grex's cooking conference -- it has a strong vegetarian slant --
and also Grex's recipe archives (type "recipe" when you're in the
cooking conference).  Being veggie on a student budget should be quite
doable since veggie food generally costs less than non-veg food.

I can go on and on with cookbook recomendations.  Yell if you want
to hear them.

Also, if you're familiar with Usenet news (type "trn" to get started)
the newsgroup rec.food.veg has a very good FAQ (frequently asked questions)
list.  The group itself tends to be full of flaming with only an occasional
digression into discussions that relate to food, but I'm told the much
newer rec.food.veg.recipes is supposedly much more civilized.

One thing I found useful was to take things gradually.  _Diet for a Small
Planet_ had recipes that were mostly made from ingredients that were
familiar to me.  I'd make things that seemed do-able and edible, with
maybe one or two new ingredients in them.  Gradually, as those ingredients
became familiar I'd try something with a few more new ingredients.
Today I regularly eat a lot of things I thought were Really Weird when
I first became veg, but the transition wasn't hard because I tried things
gradually.

The recipe that made me become a vegetarian is on-line here somewhere, I
think... I did some poking around but didn't find it.  Yell if you want me
to post it.

<yelp!>

I yelled, OK?

        ;)

Valerie, I'm kinda curious, what foods do you eat now that you
once considered "Really Weird"?

Tofu, tempeh, miso, various forms of seaweed.
Yogurt, granola, beans, berries, soymilk, avocados, artichokes, lots of spices.
Also practically anything other than hamburgers, spaghetti, and bologna
sandwiches on Wonder bread, which are what I grew up on.

Ah, I see. Well, let's see, of that list I'd have to say that I find nothing
weird about yogurt, granola, beans, and berries. I wasn't a veggie type
person as I grew up, so most veggie's elicited a "yuck" response
from me, however, about 8 years ago I found about about artichoke
hearts(yum!)(I have this recipe for a hot dip, that uses artichoke hearts
parmesan cheese, and other stuff that is *sinful*), avacados are also
a very recent discovery for me too, only started likeing them about 3
years ago, they are in some sushi dishes. I also use alot more spices
these days than when I grew up. Tofu and miso I've also discovered
from my fondness for sushi, but I can take or leave them, especially
plain tofu, bland, bland, bland. Sushi has also introduced me to various
forms of seaweed. So, the only thing on your list that I put in
the "weird" category is temphe(isn't that a city in arizona?) and
soymilk. The other weird part of all this is that I consider myself
mainly a carnivore! (Favorite food: thinly sliced raw top round steak with
teriaki sauce. Yum.)

 Popcorn has been a vege "for about 6 years..." except for a little 'break'
in Australia a few years ago.

Yup, musta eaten 2 or 3 meals with meat in them while I was over there,
and I think I accidentally had a bite of a piece of pepperoni on a pizza
a few months ago.  I'm such a sinner....   :)

Re 8: Ya know who finally got me to try avocados?  Indigo Wolfe (Leslie
Wolfe and Sean Gallaty's baby).  A year or two ago when Leslie and Indigo
were in town, Indigo was just starting to eat solid foods.  Leslie was
spooning out avocado and feeding it to Indigo, who was placidly eating it.
This showed me that avocado must taste very different than its vile color
would indicate.  I figured that if a baby would eat it it couldn't be all
*that* bad.  So I tried it and have been eating avocadoes ever since.  The
"vile" color even looks yummy to me now.  Thanks Indigo!

Yeah, there is a particular sushi item called a "california roll" that
is pieces of avacado and fake crabmeat rolled up in rice in a piece of
seaweed. I really liked it and didn't realize that the distinctive taste
comes from the avacado. I have since tried avacado in various things, but
I prefer it as the raw veg only a little soft, not so ripe that it;s
almost liquid. I also don't like guacamole(sp?), the color and
consistency together just turns my stomach.
On the other hand, a favorite vegie sandwich is 2 thick pieces of rye, with
a layer of avacado slices, a thin layer of stilton cheese and a big heap of
alfalfa sprouts.(hmm, it just occurs to me that I'm currently in possesion
of all the above items. Excuse me whilst I go pilage the fridge......).

  Don't feel too bad, Valerie, I kinda killed a few humans 2 years ago,
but hey, it was the first time I'd done that in several years, & I haven't
killed any lately!  If you're a sinner, I guess I'm an sinner to!  YUMMY!

That's "too" with two o's.

What amazing subtlety.

Hi Steven!  Welcome to Grex!
It gets easier....

To be a vegetarian, you don't have to consume all that strange stuff!
All you have to do is stay away from foods with animal fats, lards, and
meat products.  Try substituting animal oils and fats with veggie and 
corn oils!  Good Luck!

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