Vegetarian suggestions

The Arguments of Claudius the Neapolitan who published a Treatise against Abstinence from Animal Food.

13. It now remains, that we should adduce what plebeians and the vulgar are accustomed to say on this subject. For they say, that the ancients abstained from animals, not through piety, but because they did not yet know the use of fire; but that as soon as they became acquainted with its utility, they then conceived it to be most honourable and sacred. They likewise called it Vesta, and from this the appellation of convestals or companions was derived; and afterwards they began to use animals. For it is natural to man to eat flesh, but contrary to his nature to eat it raw. Fire, therefore, being discovered, they embraced what is natural, and admitted the eating of boiled and masted flesh. Hence |19 lynxes are [said by Homer 7 to be] crudivorous, or eaters of raw flesh; and of Priam, also, he says, as a disgraceful circumstance,

Raw flesh by you, O Priam, is devoured 8.

And,

Raw flesh, dilacerating, he devoured 9.

I'm thinking of reducing my meat consumption by a lot (partly for ethical reasons, partly because I don't like to handle/prepare meat), but the last time I experimented with a meatless diet, after a week, the room started spinning while I was sitting at a computer. (Iron and/or B-something deficiency?) How do I make sure I get enough essentials to avoid a similar incident again?

http://www.nomeatathlete.com/iron-for-vegetarians/
"My take on it: if you eat a varied, healthy plant-based diet that includes a balance of grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, and fruits and vegetables — and follow the recommendations below — I don’t believe it is necessary to keep close track of iron intake."

I'm halfway through a meat-free fortnight, undertaken to prove a point to my girlfriend, and I feel kind of good. I have absolutely no intention of cutting out meat altogether, but I think a significant reduction might be in order.

My vegetarian cooking skills are not quite up to scratch though; tried a chickpea and butternut squash tagine tonight, which managed to be an overcooked mush filled with lumps of crunchy underdone squash.

for b12 i think you should probably take supplements though. probably take iron supplements too if you're worried about it

Leee, I'm not sure that one week would be enough to deplete your iron/b vit to health impairing levels whatever it is you've eaten. Hard to say what it might have been for sure, but if you were eating just fruit + veg then don't forget that won't be as dense in calories as other food sources - maybe you just weren't eating enough? or maybe it was a low after a blood sugar spike, depending on what you'd eaten earlier that day? i do think though that there's often a stage of feeling a bit weird a few days after making any major dietary change (trying to give up coffee and going low carb were both hellish for me in that respect) - sometimes things improve if you just ride it out and your body finds a new normal.

good luck though this time around!

Anyone familiar with this America's Test Kitchen cookbook? http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Vegetarian-Cookbook-Editors-Americas/dp/1936493969/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1429987818&sr=8-1&keywords=vegetarian+cookbook

The menu headings look good, probably would get the Kindle version.

I loved America's Test Kitchen's omnivore titles (esp The New Best Recipe), and have been hoping for a vegetarian title from them for 5 years. Only 250 vegan recipes, though, so I'll probably pass (I've 2 dozen vegan cookbooks that stare reproachfully, as I habitually do convenience dishes like caldo verde, lentil soup and black bean tortillas from memory.

So it's been a couple months of being mostly vegetarian. (On average, I've had meat less than once a week.) And no near-fainting spells! Sometimes I get lazy and subsist mostly on eggs, but I don't think I'm experiencing any major deficiencies.

eggs + other stuff (rice and veggies of some kind).

after years of gradually cutting down the amount of meat i ate (i stopped cooking it at home a decade ago), i stopped eating it altogether last year. it was just a case of my habits taking decades to catch up with my principles.

i don't really miss meat. what i do miss is having more choices at the "ethnic" restaurants i'm fond of. middle eastern is fine, because i can eat all kinds of bean-based stuff, salads, etc. chinese is more difficult. i find hot pot to be a good solution because you even without meat it's full of flavor and you can add such a wide variety of veggies and proteins. but at your typical (decent) chinese place,what is there to eat, really?

what do y'all vegetarians eat when you go out for chinese?

Fried rice, lo mein, various tofu dishes

this is very tasty:
http://thewoksoflife.com/2015/05/sichuan-stir-fried-potatoes/

^^^ looks really good

what do y'all vegetarians eat when you go out for chinese?

I'm only p/t vegetarian but I usually get something with seitan or tofu, if I know it's going to be fried. Squishy blocks of barely-cooked tofu kind of bum me out. But I find I've been buying way more Thai and Indian stuff lately, both seem to be way more amenable to vegetarians than the Chinese places in this area.

chinese food tends to have animal products like fish sauce and minced pork in a lot dishes labelled 'vegetarian', too. i think the general definition of 'vegetarian' in chinese restaurants is 'mostly vegetables', not 'strictly vegetables'. thai and vietnamese seem to do that less.

chinese is pretty great vegetarians! there is an entire "bean curd" section and another "vegetable" section on every menu. some of them might have some animal products like fish sauce or minced pork but not always and you can specify when ordering that you don't want them

chinese is pretty for great vegetarians! obv

homestyle (or family style) bean curd is probably my go-to dish and it always features fried tofu and a bunch of vegetables in full-flavored sauce, very rarely ime does it come w/ meat in it so i usually don't even have to specify anything

fwiw i was vegan for about 10 years and vegetarian for a few more, now im mostly vegetarian and eat meat/seafood occassionally

I rarely have chinese food because most American chinese food is fucking disgusting but as long as you check about the things that Justin mentioned you'll be fine. Veggie Moo Shu vegetable. Sesame Tofu. Tofu and veggies. There should be tons of things.

"What i do miss is having more choices at the "ethnic" restaurants i'm fond of."

This is such a weird statement to me because "ethnic" restaurants are usually way better for veggie stuff than most American standard stuff?

i know!

Has anyone ever cooked with TVP? Do you have to use it as a meat substitute? Could you put it in oatmeal, for example? Bland TVP squares would be fine if they ended up tasting somewhat like soybeans. (I am surprised by the font of this thread.)