It's Vegetarianism Weekend MKF 8/31

[lilyophelia(d)]

Hmm...Tara? Being a vegitarian? I think I have two opinions on this one. First, I'd love to say that I see her as non-carnivore because of who she is; her personality seems to fit a vegatarian/vegan lifestyle. And there's always that line, when Tara and Dawn are sitting at a cafe/restaurant after going to the movies and Dawn is sipping a huge milkshake; Tara says something like, "Just promise me you'll eat something green when you get home." I always thought that was a very cute scene. But at the same time, Tara is kind of from a rural area, I think...and I would imagine that would give her some more inherited, carnivorous habits. But my official vote is that she loves her tofu....

Congratulations on the growing baby, and a happy weekend to everyone else!

-Lily

[circular reference]

Thanks, tommo!! We are VERY excited! Wouldn't it be cute if W/T went on to be forever lovers and had a baby, too, someday?? *sigh*

[birdblue]

I'm proabbly one of the weirdest veggies. I turned vegetarian after reading an article (I went through an almost obssisive green phase a few years ago) but after about two months I had made myself ill. turned out I have aneamia, so now, I'm on this weird pact of a diet forged bewteen myself, my mum and my doctor where I have to eat some meat during the week... other than that (which is torture for me - I must be the only veggie who doesn't miss bacon butties) I'm a veggie girl. I had always assumed that Tara and Willow would be... I dunno why?

[WiccansIllusion]

oh yeah congrats on the pre baby nupitials, or whatever it's called.

[kyraroc]

Birdblue, I know a number of people who have medical conditions which keep them from being as vegetarian as they'd like, including my gf, who needs to be on a very high-protein diet - although for her, the introduction of the many many flavors of seitan and tofu into her diet is making the possibility of complete vegetarianism a lot more real.

I'm sure your doctor knows what they're about, so I may just be talking pointlessly here, but have you tried talking with a nutritionist about other possibilities? Anemia, as I understand it, is an iron deficiency, and I know there are good vegetable sources of iron (like leafy greens), not to mention vegetarian iron supplements, which may help things if they get a larger place in your diet.

When I went vegan, I was totally clueless, and ended up having joint problems because my diet was too low fat, of all things, and also having some B12 deficiency problems . . . managed to correct those after a lot of reading and talking to people I should have done before hand. I'm not vegan anymore, now that it's more possible to get milk and eggs from cows and chickens that haven't been (in my opinion) tortured, but I'm still vegetarian - just can't bring myself to kill them off for my personal pleasure.

I don't think Willow and Tara are vegetarian though, because, well, they eat meat. I see Tara as being a cycle-of-life/food-web type, since she so clearly believes that death is part of the natural order of things.

(Incidentally, I haven't actually done a taste-test, so to speak, but from my limited experience, a vegetarian diet does have an effect on people's flavor, for the better, but far more so in men than in women. Alas, though, I am too firmly and happily coupled right now to try a "Pepsi challenge" of this nature and decide the matter scientifically.)

--- KR

[BBOvenGuy]

They do a lot of good stuff with soybeans these days. Plus I feel a need to support the soybean farmers, since a good many of them can be found in my native state of Indiana.

Three soybean-based products I would starve without:

1) WholeSoy soymilk yogurt
2) Soy Delicious soymilk ice cream
3) Gardenburger Chik'n Grill patties

[PandoraSpocks]

Lilyophelia, by inherited Carnivorous habits, you mean Willow right! .

The show, shows us that Willow and Tara are not vegitarians, but for some reason I also like to see Tara as a vegan, because of her nature. Willow I see indulging in the meat.

We Know that Amber Benson is a vegan

I'd like to point out, that could be foe leather.

I am not a vegitarian, I often think about it, but it would be really hard. It's also expensive, I'd have to wait til I'm living on my own and have a steady income.

And for people who are saying they couldn't give up cheese to be a vegan, I think there's actually a substute for cheese. There's pretty much a substute for everything.

I have a question, that I just thought of and never contempleted before, What about Dogs, our pets, they can't (not that I know of) give up meat, so won't they keep killing cows for those purposes (dog food) or is their other things Dogs can eat to live a healthy life?

Another question, Do alot of the vegans here have to take vitamins for supplement. Or can you get it all in the foods you eat? I don't really like the idea of vitamins myself (I want to get everything naturally, if possible)

[Pipsqueak]

Pandora, about the pet question, I read somewhere that cats MUST have meat to survive; however, humans and dogs can do just fine without it.

I'm not a strict vegetarian, but I stay away from the heavier stuff like pork and red meat, just because I think it tastes gross. Dead animal flesh .... ewwwwwwwww. Chicken and turkey are okay as long as it's in thin slices, like from a deli or something. I don't like eating big thick slabs of chicken breast, I don't know why, it's just ... yuck. On the other hand, I LOVE fish. I could eat fish every day. yum.

[AutumnT]

Just a neener to someone who was actually saying "GO BUFFS" yesterday.

NEEENER

[Zahir al Daoud]

For the record, cats are pure carnivores (unlike wolves, for example).

Tara and Willow both eat chicken. That is established. I kinda presume Willow avoids pork, if for no other reason than to keep her dad happy.

JMO

[Sassette]

[quote:609cca36e1][b:609cca36e1][i:609cca36e1]Quote:[/i:609cca36e1][/b:609cca36e1]

---

While I agree that it is easy to "see" Tara as vegetarian, I have to say mine is not. Because mine LOVES chicken casserole. In fact she wants to be it.

---

[/quote:609cca36e1]

Well, it's good to be a chicken casserole *shrug*

-Sass
Finding it funny this happened to be mentioned, considering I haven't been checking the daily thread regularly, and it's been awhile.

[AutumnT]

I must have conjured you Sass.

[Sassette]

That's really the only logical explanation.

-Sass

[skittles]

Ok, one of the best vegetarian dishes that I have ever had was a dish that was called bahjee. although that may be a "generic" name, I know it as a potato & onion curry served over rice.

You need one or two potatoes & one or two onions & a lot of rice. also get the best indian/pakistani curry you can find. strength of 'hotness' is your choice. you will also need garlic, preferable fresh, butter or oil, and some water. you can add any other vegetables, but try the basic first & if you like it, experiment. I've also had hard boiled eggs added to it. (you remove the shell & then cut them on the plate)

these are very bad directions... they were never written down, I learned by doing it.. and then changed it to suit my tastes, but only in quantities. I like my curry savory, not too hot to prevent me from being able to talk coherently. (not that I can do that anyway)

the onions are sliced paper thin, but not in whole onion slices, you want strings. then you put the onions, minced garlic & a little oil in a frypan or wok. (NOTE: you can also add hot peppers at the same time as the onion, but they also should be sliced thin & Don't use bell peppers. there is a hot indian/pakistani pepper that looks like a string bean.. very, very hot, but perfect for this dish) cook the onions until they are transparent & have turned a little yellow. Don't let the onions brown. add the curry powder, about 1/2 to one teaspoon depending upon taste. You can add more later, but you can't take it out. you can add small amounts of water to make a sauce & to soften the potatoes. If you add too much water, simmer it longer. You can also add some salt at this point. I was taught to add it, but I prefer to add it on the plate, but for tasting purposes, add some now.

slice the potatoes so they become like little shoestring potatoes. or thin sticks, very thin. I prefer to leave the skin on, but that's not how I was taught. You will add these potatoes to the onion curry mix. and cook until the potatoes are soft.

Then serve over fluffy white rice.

This will keep in the fridge & like most "sauce" type dishes, may be better the second day. This will serve two people who don't use a lot of sauce. (I use a 1:4 sauce/rice proportion) If you figure one or two each of potatoes & onions per person, you will do fine. My suggestion is that if you want to try it, good. It is a dish you need to experiment with to get the way you like it. It is also very inexpensive after you buy the curry.

Now everyone knows why I don't write cookbooks.....

[WiccansIllusion]

As for the question of cheese substitues, the cheese is veggie or soy, and both are pretty bad by themselves, but not to horrible on other things.

[BBOvenGuy]

Yeah, I would love to find a good cheese substitute, but nobody seems to have come up with one yet.

[Italiangirl]

WAHOO VEGETARIANS! I've been veggie for 15 years and counting, and I agree that at first it was very hard to find good protein supplements for my diets. It used to be that I could only find veggie and vegan friendly food at indepedently run food co-ops, but now even really mainstream grocery stores seem to have large soy food sections. I am really partial to both Morningstar Farm's Harvest Burgers (actually anything in their line is good), and Boca Burgers. For me, the Gardenburger line, not so much. Also, in the produce section of most stores, LightLife has really good soy sandwich slices and crumbles in sausage and beef flavors.

As for Tara being a vegetarian, I think she is. I think that was probably another notch on a long list of things that made her an outsider in her family. As for me, I have a very large, very ethnic Italian family, and when I declared my vegetarianism it was veeeeeery scandalous. Some of my family members still think I am in a phase...lol. Even so, with time they accepted my choice and now are really good about both serving me food without meat, and also making sure it is prepared right (I am almost kosher in my food prep requirements...I don't even like my food to be stirred with the same utensils as meat inclusive food).

As for the leather issue, Tara could be wearing Pleather. It is just as attractive in appearance, but has a lighter weight and pliability to it when you feel it. I don't wear leather or pleather, but my best friend is all about pleather. It is becoming more popular now with celebrity endorsements from people like Alicia Silverstone, KD Lang and Woody Harrelson.

FINALLY...a recipe. Couscous Tacos. I am a huge lover of mexican food, so it took me awhile to find a good taco meat substitute. Here it is:

Couscous Tacos

1 1/2 CousCous (white or wheat)
1 Can Mexican Stewed or Diced tomatoes
1 Package Taco Seasoning of your choice
(or make your own using 2/4 parts chili powder, 1/4 cumin, 1/4 oregano)
Taco garnishments...tomatoes, lettuce, sour cream, shredded cheese, green chilis, salsa

Combine canned tomatoes with 1/2 cup of water and taco seasoning. Bring to full rolling boil. Turn off heat, add dry couscous, and cover for 5 minutes. Fluff with fork. Serve on warmed taco shells with favorite garnishments.

[The Big I T]

Okay Autumn...I'll actually let you slide on that whole neener neener thing. Just cuz I'm such a good sport and all. And hey, I'll *always* have Ralphie. *sigh*


Besides, from the looks of it -- on the dreaded ESPN GameCast which I was forced to follow the game on (and boy does that suck as a game-watching experience) -- your Rams rose to the occasion in stopping that big bad Buffs comeback attempt. Well done I must admit...


And now it's on to the *really* important stuff...yes, I'll admit, I do eat meat...beef, chicken, turkey, fish, most of the usual, plus even a bit of whale (muktuk and mikigak) and walrus when I was living in Alaska. Though I really can't see either Willow or Tara being much for the latter items. Oh...and Autumn, I'm very much looking forward to a big helping of Ram come next year...


GO BRONCOS!!


[i:aa4ca67b30]Edited to add: Hey Bob. In case you were curious, whale and walrus are *really* not suitable substitutes for cheese. Just thought I'd mention...And one other thing, neither tastes much like chicken, so anyone even remotely considering it, forget any ideas of trying to pass them off as such in a *mock* chicken casserole.[/i:aa4ca67b30]

[i:aa4ca67b30]Edited again because I forgot to hit the HTML checkbox again after my last edit...goof...[/i:aa4ca67b30]

[maudmac]

I'm a vegetarian. No, really!

I'm not vegan, but I don't eat a lot of dairy or eggs. I've probably tried just about every soy cheese there is. And they [i:a2d143957f] all[/i:a2d143957f] suck, in my opinion. They taste like plastic. BUT! [i:a2d143957f] Rice[/i:a2d143957f] cheese is actually pretty good. (I think rice milk is better, too.) And it melts properly, unlike soy cheese. You can get rice cheese in a wide variety of flavors, American, Mozzarella, Pepperjack, Swiss, etc. If you're going to a good store, it's probably right next to the soy cheeses. (For hardcore vegans, though, even rice cheese usually contains casein.)

Another thing, for lactose intolerant folks who aren't happy with soy/rice/almond cheeses or milks for whatever reasons, you might look into goat products, if you don't have a problem with that. Goat milk is very close to human milk and people who can't tolerate dairy often find they can handle goat milk/cheese just fine.

And, yes, cats must eat meat. Dogs can be vegetarians just fine, like people. Cats have to have taurine, though. (My [i:a2d143957f] personal[/i:a2d143957f] opinion on the matter is that cats' and dogs' bodies are clearly suited to a primarily animal-based diet. Their teeth, the short length of their digestive systems, etc. While the human body, though quite capable of digesting animal proteins, obviously, is really more suited to a mostly or entirely plant-based diet. Our teeth, the length of our digestive systems, etc. All this, JMO!)

I've been with omnivores and vegetarians and I can say that, yes, there is a taste difference.

Indian/Pakistani food has my undying loyalty. Because it's so good, for one thing. And also because there are always so many vegetarian or vegan choices. I like aloo bengan. (It's potatoes and eggplant.) I could eat that every day.

I thought becoming a vegetarian would be too hard and I resisted for a long time. But I saw a documentary about slaughterhouses and vivisection and other animal rights type stuff that rocked me to my core. From that moment forward, I [i:a2d143957f] knew[/i:a2d143957f] I couldn't contribute to that.

Sorry for the blahblahblah.

[AutumnT]

Well cats & kittens as of tomorrow AM I am off like a prom dress for Vegas for a few days and not taking the laptop with me. So I'll see you all on the flip side. And can I just say that couscous tacos scare the hell out of me? And can I also just say don't forget that there are still items to bid on for the auction - keep it going! And can I also just say barely my ass we BEAT Ralphie's Buffs but good. heh. and neener.

Edited to add one more thing. There is no substitute for cheese.

[Sassette]

Off like a prom-dress?

Oh My Heck. Y'know, it's possible to learn something new every single day on the Kitten Board. And it's usually naughty, which is fun *G* 'Cuz Autumn? I have never ever heard that one before - but it's going to stay with me for the rest of my life.

-Sass

[WiccansIllusion]

Amen to that.

two things I have learned from this thread:

ok well three


1. There is no substitue for Cheese.
2. Off Like a Prom Dress ala Autumn
3. Don't go arguing peoples eating habbits on the show, since Clearly Tara likes to be a chicken casserole.


Maudmac- Goat cheese is a no go with me for some reason. I think my tummy likes to pretend it's lactose, or some such unfortunetly. As much as I love the stuff..

[AutumnT]

[quote:bf79bfb75e][b:bf79bfb75e][i:bf79bfb75e]Quote:[/i:bf79bfb75e][/b:bf79bfb75e]

---

Cuz Autumn? I have never ever heard that one before - but it's going to stay with me for the rest of my life.

---

[/quote:bf79bfb75e] Always glad to be of service.

[The Big I T]

[b:fa36551af5]Quote:[/b:fa36551af5]

---

There is no substitute for cheese.

---

Unless of course it's....[b:fa36551af5]RAM[/b:fa36551af5].....

[Sassette]

[quote:d694df3b9f][b:d694df3b9f][i:d694df3b9f]Quote:[/i:d694df3b9f][/b:d694df3b9f]

---

Always glad to be of service.

---

[/quote:d694df3b9f]

Must be why you're so popular *G*

-Sass

[friskylez]

Well i wondered into the daily thread cause well im up at midnite and dont have anyone to talk to

My insomnia is keeping me up, my air conditioner in my apt is on the fritz so its like 90 degrees (live in Phoenix), the landlords say they cant get anyone out until after the holiday

I was supposed to be off on Monday but have to get up at 630 to be at work to open the store for my worker bees..Its not a banner weekend..

And i just remembered i havent paid my income tax yet, oops...Anyway thanks for listening..Not a vegetarian although i do like vegetables

[hilarita]

how can people not eat cheese? i went through a phase where i thought i could not eat meat, but i need my cheese.

actually, though, im allergic to legumes (peanuts...beans...the whole giant soy food group...) and am therefore banned from being vegetarian. its hard enough to avoid soy in your food these days...but my roomate just came home with a jergens lotion that has soy protein in it. and a candle. im convinced there is a conspiracy.

[Chewster]

Cheese... very essential. I lived as a vegetarian 5 days a week for some time at University (strangely not actually cheaper!) and you would be amazed, if you are not a vegetarian, how important mushrooms are

And cheese.

Cheese was like a staple. I believe that there was a cheese that we had that was "better" in the vegetarian stakes than some others but I have no idea what that was. Toasted it tasted pretty much the same.

Willow and Tara as vegetarians? Well I can see, like many others, Tara as a vegetarian - but I would have to say that there is also the suggestion she is not. But I just have to go back to Xita's "vagitarian" point - that will stay with me for some time - as will Autumn's "off like a prom dress." We do not have proms over here in the UK but the metaphor holds true.

[birdblue]

kyraroc: well I can sympathise with your girlfriend then I do eat lots of tofu... I luv tofu (which is also apparently weird!) Aneamia is an iron definciency. We get iron mainly from red meats, although green vegetables have it too. If you don't have enough iron, you can't absorb oxygen properly into your blood stream which causes tiredness, dizzy spells, and fainting... on more serious occassions it can cause severe problems to organs which become starved of oxygen. Whereas the tofu and other alternatives contain enough protein to make up for what your not getting in meat... it doesn't do a lot for iron intake.

[WebWarlock]

I tried vegetarian once in college. Trouble is I love hot dogs, and burgers, and beef and ... well you get the idea. Lasted about a month.

hope everyone is having a good weekend. We Americans still have tomorrow off! So enjoy the last bits of summer!

Warlock