How hard is it to go vegetarian?

The switch over the vegetarianism is quite easy. All you have to do is cut meat and other by-products of slaughter out of your diet. Veganism on the other hand is hard at first, but once you get the hang of it it is easy too.

Here are some web sites with some great vegan/vegetarian foods:

http://silksoymilk.com/ -chocolate and chai flavors are good

http://amys.com/

http://organicfoodbar.com/

http://gardenburger.com/

http://yvesveggie.com/

http://sunshineburger.com/

http://rightfoods.com/

http://veganstore.com/ -they have chocolate!

http://nakedjuice.com/

http://www.cedarsfoods.com/

http://bolthouse.com/

http://naturespath.com/

http://turtlemountain.com/ -vegan ice cream and yogurt

http://goodkarmafoods.com/ - vegan ice cream

http://fruitabu.com/

http://clifbar.com/

http://www.pacificfoods.com/ -has good almond milk

http://www.eatintheraw.com/index.php

Here are some good recipes:

Stir fry- You need cut up tofu, soy sauce, olive oil, steamed veggies, and cooked rice

Get a frying pan and coat it with olive oil. The put the tofu in the pan and brown each side of it. Next, add the veggies. Add a little soy sauce and put in the rice. Mix everything up and then let it sit on the stove, occasionally stirring it to make sure it doesn't burn. After about a minute and a half of that put it in a bowl and enjoy!

Hummus- chick peas, lemon juice, paprika, cumin, black pepper, and any other spices/seasonings you like

Puree the chick peas. Then add a little lemon juice, paprika, pepper, and other spices. Then stir. Serve with a pita, with cucumbers, or on a veggie wrap.

Favorite Classic Pancakes

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp. sugar

2 Tbsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. salt

1 cup soy milk

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Mix in the soy milk and oil, and with a fork or wire whisk, combine just until the batter is smooth.

Pour cup batter onto a hot, oiled griddle. When bubbles form in the center of the pancake, flip. Cook for another 2 minutes. Remove from pan and keep warm while you make remaining pancakes. Serve warm with maple syrup or fruit syrup.

Here are some snack and dinner suggestions:

Snacks:

Celery with peanut butter

Apples with peanut butter

Pita with hummus

Raisins

Amy's Apple Toaster Pops

All natural popsicles

Natural Valley bars

Clif Bar

Fruit Leather

Silk Chocolate Soy Milk

Naked Juice

Apple chips

Dinners:

Tofu Stir Fry

Amy's Pizzas

Amy's entrees

Sandwiches made with Yves meatless deli slices

Tofu Scramble

Gardenburgers

Natural Oven's bagels

Dr. McDougall's Soups and Noodle Soups

Soy Cheese Quesedillas

Veggie Wraps

Lentils with Wild Rice and Veggies

Whole foods is a great store for vegetarians/vegans, so I recommend grocery shopping there. You also can get a lot of the things I listed above there.

No Yeast Pizza Dough

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

1 cups of unbleached flour

1/2 cups of soy milk

1/4 cup of olive oil

1 tblsp baking powder

Directions:

Mix the baking powder with the flour. Slowly add the soy milk and oil until you feel the consistency is right. Knead for about 10 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes and then use a roller to flatten it up.. Place in oven at 350F for 20 minutes, or until bottom part is light brown...Dont forget to oil the pizza pan, before placing dough.

Once cooked you can place some cooked or raw vegetables on it, sprinkle some tofu marinated in tomatoe sauce and then stick it back into the oven for 10 more minutes..

Simple yet Amazing Banana Muffins

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

4 large bananas

1/3 cup soy milk (or whatever kind)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup vegan margarine

3/4 cup sugar

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon (5 ml) baking soda

cinnamon

Directions:

Blend bananas. Add milk and vanilla.

Mix margarine and sugar and add to previous.

Combine wet ingredients with flour and baking soda.

Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup chocolate chips or nuts (optional).

Fill about half full 10-15 muffins or 24 mini muffins.

Bake at 350F (180C) for about 10-12 minutes, or for 45-60 minutes if making a loaf.

Serves: 10-15 muffins

Vegan Bagels

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

1 cup warm water

3 cups unbleached white flour

1 1/2 tblsp. vegan sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon yeast

Directions:

Place all ingredients in bread machine and set for normal white vegan bread. Let the machine knead once and then turn off the machine and set a timer for 20 minutes. When time is up remove dough and cut into eight equal peices. Roll each piece into a rope about 1 inch thick, wet ends and stick together. Put all bagels on a greased cookie sheet, cover and let rest for 15 minutes in a warm place. Fill a wok (or whatever you use) with about three inches of water. Place two tblsp of vegan sugar in this water and bring to a boil. After the bagels rise for the fifteen minutes add them to the boiling water for 1 minute turning them as they boil. Drain and place on the greased cookie sheet again ( sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds if you like). Bake at 550 for 15 minutes or until desired browning occures.

Serves: 8

Easy Macaroni and Cheeze

1 pound pasta (regular or gluten-free)

Blend together:

1 1/4 cups water

1 cup plain, fat-free soymilk (may use other non-dairy milk)

3/4 cup nutritional yeast

3 tablespoons cornstarch or potato starch

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon salt (or more to taste)

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

pinch cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons tahini

1 teaspoon mellow white miso (or additional salt)

black pepper to taste

Put the pasta on to boil, according to package directions. While it's cooking, blend all remaining ingredients together in a blender. When the pasta is al dente, drain it, reserving about 1/2 cup of the cooking water, and return the pasta to pan. Add the sauce mixture and cook, stirring, until mixture boils and thickens. Add a little of the pasta water if more moistness is needed.

If the sauce is not as flavorful as you'd like, add a little more mustard and onion powder.

Bean Chili

Very easy and yummy!

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

1 can black or pinto beans

1/2 of a onion

1/2 of a green pepper

2 cloves of garlic

1 packet vegan taco seasoning

1 vegetable bouillon cube OR 1 cup of vegetable broth

Directions:

Dice onion, green pepper, and garlic and fry in olive oil in a pan.

Heat beans in a separate pot.

Once onion and pepper are cooked, add beans to the pan.

Sprinkle over taco seasoning powder.

Add vegetable broth. (I use the little cubes that you dissolve in water and dissolve it in about a cup or so of water.)

Mix together and enjoy with crackers or bread or just by itself. It's yummy! I made this from scratch one day and it's so easy!

Serves: 2-3

"Chicken" Soft Tacos

A simple and satisfying meal.

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

1 cup textured soy protein chunks

1 cup vegetable broth

oregano, thyme, marjoram

2 ripe tomatoes, diced

1/4 cup onion, finely chopped

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, deseeded and finely chopped (optional)

1-2 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon lime juice (lemon works too)

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

Suggested toppings: lettuce, green onion, olives, plain soy yogurt or vegan sour cream

Directions:

Bring vegetable broth to a boil, remove from heat and add soy protein chunks. Add a couple dashes of oregano, thyme and marjoram. Soak until the chunks are soft and liquid absorbed.

In a medium sized saucepan heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and jalapeno and saute until softened. Add textured soy protein, tomatoes, lime juice and spices. Simmer until the tomatoes have cooked down, about five minutes or so. Remove from heat and fold into soft wheat tortillas and top with suggested toppings or whatever toppings you enjoy!

*Please note I don't really measure my ingredients, so all measurements given are approximations, especially the spices. Please feel free to experiment and adjust to suit your own tastes. Happy cooking!

Serves: 2

Baked Fried Eggplant

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

2 medium to large eggplants - peeled and sliced into rounds

Fat free Italian salad dressing

Seasoned breadcrumbs

Vegetable cooking spray

Directions:

Serves: 4.

Preparation time: 20-30 min..

Dip eggplant slices into the fat free Italian dressing. Allow the excess dressing to drip off (too much dressing will wet the vegan breadcrumbs and make them a pain to work with). Coat the eggplant with the vegan breadcrumbs and place on a cookie sheet sprayed with vegetable spray. Lightly spray the eggplant with the vegetable spray. Bake at 400 degrees F until brown and crispy turning at least once (about 10 to 15 minutes).

When you first think of going vegetarian, it would definitely sound very daunting for a regular meat-eater; imagine having to give up all that delicious animal food!

But you would realize that, as you go along, it becomes easier than you first thought. The initial period is definitely the hardest, after which your body and your taste buds would slowly adapt to the change.

Having said that, there will be other challenges you will also face. Mainly, your number of sources of food - both at cafes and restaurants, as well as dry foods such as snacks - would be greatly reduced.

In addition, you will need to think through what you intend to do for social occasions where most if not all of the food is animal-based.

You will also have to deal with mindsets - people will make comments, question you, and even ridicule you on your diet choices. Some who mistakenly think that meat is "needed" for good health might also put pressure on you.

What is important, I feel, is to be very clear about your reasons for being vegetarian, and to be committed to your decision.

If you feel that going animal-less is too drastic a step, you may want to consider taking a gradual step first - for example, being a flexitarian (one who is vegetarian most of the time but eats meat for social occasions). More details on different types of vegetarian diets are described in the first source mentioned below.

Hope this helps. If you do it right, I can say that there is a very high likelihood that you are going to love the way your body feels after going vegetarian.

I didn't find it hard at all. Contrary to what the first poster said, restaurants without a vegetarian option are few and far between (many don't have a vegan option, but that's a different story.) You can eat a Boca burger at a barbecue; meat replacers are handy when you're making the transition and some of them are really tasty.

The only way you'll know is to try it. Give up meat for a month and see what happens.

Tummy problems are the reason I cut meat out, too. It's an adjustment, but after six-and-a-half years, most of them vegan, I think it's the best decision I ever made and wish I'd done it sooner.

Here are some great websites:

www.happycow.net and www.vegdining.com for restaurants and health food stores

www.vegweb.com for recipes.

www.vrg.org for information on veg*an diets.

Believe it or not, "Being Vegetarian for Dummies" by Suzanne Havala Hobbs is an excellent book for the newbie veg and was very informative. She also has a book on "Vegetarian Cooking for Dummies."

Good luck!

Are you having tummy problems only after eating meat, is that why you want to remove it from your diet? You do need to do a little research before hand to find out how to eat an alternative protein source. Remember though, eliminating only red meat is not a true form of vegetarianism. There's a variety of vegetarian diets, which all differ in strictness of which types of meat and animal products are allowed. I would first consult a dietitian, nutritionist or your doctor before doing that though, to make sure there isn't something medical going on. A vegetarian diet can be a healthy one, as long as you do research first so you don't deprive yourself of much needed nutrients you get from meat, eggs, cheese, etc..

Insects - Don't leave rotting food or garbage piles around. Or dirty dishes piled in the sink. Then you won't have problems. If you have bugs in your home, they have to be eating something and hiding somewhere, so start with eliminating those. The occasional spider can be taken outside. Reptiles - I would be so so so tempted to keep it as a pet, but he'd have to go outside too. Can you even have a reptile infestation? that would be so cool. Rodents - adopt a cute little kitty from your local animal shelter. Or get live traps and take them somwhere far away. There are always options. Insects, rodent, and reptiles have been around for a long long time and people found ways to deal with them before the fumigation business started up.

mind over matter thats all it is in the beginnig of course anything can seem hard but once you start to get used to the routine you will be just fine find some vegetarian friend you can hang out with and who are willing to help you out with the transition as well as get vegetarian books and go to vegetarian sites

allveggielinks.com

veggielinks.com

goveg.com

vegweb.com

veggieconnect.com

veggieconnection.com

good luck to you and congratulations on a more healthier life

i did it for the same reason and it helped immensly. and it is much easier than you think. you do have to pay attention and make sure you get balanced meals, but really it is pretty easy. i had been on the fence about becoming a vegetarian for environmental reasons for a long time, and i started having stomach problems, it was the push i needed to become a vegetarian and i would never dream of going back regardless of how my stomach is.

Veggies can be really helpful but you don't really need to cut the meat out to cured your tummy problem.

Going vegetarian isn't that hard....everytime you going to eat meat...just think of how they got killed then you will finally avoid it..

It's all about keep your head in the right place...My friend saids "I stop eatting meat becoz I can't kill it myself..and if i cannot kill I shouldn't be eatting them too"

:)

I have been a vegetarian for eight years now, and it is really hard for the first 3 weeks or so, but after that it become alot easier.

Good luck!

easy

tastier

healthier

kinder...

-it certainly may help with your tummy troubles

-you'll also be lowering your bad cholesterol

-and reducing chances of meat induced disease

-and cutting your personal carbon foot print

-by you being cut from the demand list for meat, even as an individual, suppy will be reduced

-reduce chances of obesity

-reduce chances of food poisoning and getting worms

-a yummy selection of veggie foods are available... dunno where your from but in the Uk: Quorn, Amy's, cranks, Linda Mcartney, realeat, Get real, toffuti, cauldron, dragonfly, honeybuns, clives pies, and many more very good brands to choose from, besides generic brands and home cooking =) enjoy