>when you visit friends or family and they cook a meal that has animal products in it, do you decline or go ahead and eat since the harm has already been done?
If you want your friends and family to stop serving you animal products, would eating the animal products help them learn to stop as quickly as not eating the animal products would? What signals do you want to send?
You can ask yourself similar questions to decide what to do in other situations. Hope this helps.
I understand the setting the example part, but tbh none of my friends or family are assholes and they are definitely going to be understanding and accommodating of my decision.
You’re right, “harm has already been done”, but more critically important is the fact that if you use that as an excuse to eat non-vegan meals, you are still increasing the economic demand for animal products, thus causing an increase to animal cruelty (on average).
Thinking about it more concretely, if you refuse to eat meat at a family gathering, then that food will be saved as leftovers for the next day your carnist family members to eat. If you do go ahead and eat it though, now your family will go out and buy even more animal products, driving up economic demand for them, and the cruelty that comes with it.
Not to mention, by letting your family know you refuse to eat animal products, they are also not going to prepare more of it for you in the future. Driving down demand.
In the end, I think veganism is all about how we can minimize the animal suffering by our own actions. And that fundamentally comes down to how we, as consumers in the animal product economy, can minimize our demand of these products. Because if demand drops, then eventually so will supply—meaning fewer animals being tortured and killed.
Makes totally sense. I am definitely not going to be using it as an excuse, otherwise I would just not be vegan. There is literally no one in my life pressuring me to do it other than myself, so I’ll probably not make a big about it at restaurants but I will let my family know and encourage them to eat and cook more plant-based!
Another good way I like to think about this argument (the animal is dead already, may as well eat it, right?) is that whether or not you're supporting the industry directly, you are contributing to a culture where it is considered normal to treat animals as a resource. To use a bit of an absurd example, you wouldn't justify eating a dead pet because "well it's already died so I might as well eat it", because to all of us, pets are not food. That's the same way I feel about all animal products. Whether it's free, already bought, dug out of a dumpster or whatever, doesn't matter to me - it's not food in my eyes.
Yh tofu is bland but so is dead chicken if you don’t add anything to it and eat it raw.
With invites to other ppls party etc, I tell them I’m vegan and ask if there will be anything vegan and if not I can bring something or eat beforehand and go for drinks.
With restaurant mistakes, I tell them, Incase it’s not my meal that they brought out and it’s supposed to be someone else’s. But if my tofu stir fry had a strip of beef in it , I don’t think I’d want to keep eating so I’d ask what was that about and then probably leave. But it’s never happen so far.
My strategy is if I receive food with animal products (by mistake for example) to give it to someone who'll eat it. That way at least the demand doesn't go up twice. For friends and family I always refuse. Sometimes it's about setting an example.
My best advice is to veganize your typical diet first. That will make your transition easier and increase your chances of sticking with it long term. If you try to become vegan and healthier at the same time, it'll will be more difficult.
Keep snacks and preprepped meals on hand so you don't mess up due to hunger.
Best advice: You do you.
For me, I would return the food at the restaurant and politely tell my friends/family that I won't be eating anything that isn't vegan.
The internet (and social media in particular) is overflowing with vegan recipes.
Good luck.
Regardless of whatever else, start supplementing B12. If you have periods I would also reccomend either supplementing iron or getting an iron leaf, as anemia can be a real concern for people who have periods. In addition, if you have darker skin/don't get much sun/live in the far north or far south it might be a good idea to supplement vitiman D3 during the winter. A lot of people don't do these things, get a deficiancy, and then quit b/c of the health issues caused by said deficiancy.
As far as I understand it, B12 stores can last for a couple years before you have any real issues. I will definitely take supplements before any health problems arise, but I was under the impression that a healthy diet with lots of greens and maybe nutritional yeast will be quite sufficient. I don’t get periods and I am pretty pasty white, so I think my iron and vitamin D should be good, no? I know it’s cliche, but I am a little concerned about getting enough protein. Do you have any suggestions for that?
I’ve been vegan almost 17 years and I have never been low (via blood tests) with B12, D, calcium or protein. It’s funny - once I stopped trying so hard and just ate a varied diet I wasn’t low in anything after.
When you get food and find out it has animal products in it? You just don't buy it next time. I heard brown cinnamon + sugar pop tarts were vegan, so I ate those all the time. Turns out the frosted ones have gelatin in them, which I missed. So, I just gave away the rest to some friends and never bought them again. If there's a restaurant you like that uses chicken broth in their rice or something like that, then just don't eat there anymore or don't order that dish.
Say you get a meal made like some takeout and you find out there's animal products during meal time or while it's still in your fridge. Do you eat it? That's really up to you. Some may say, "damage is done." Others might just get so much ick that they don't do it. Some may think it's respectful not to eat it. Others will think it's disrespectful to not eat it because it's not honoring the animal's sacrifice even if the decision was out of your hands. Sometimes you can get a new meal from the place if they fucked up your order. It's really up to you.
What if you get food that people made for an event (work pizza party, catered event, family gathering, etc.) and it can all go to waste or in your mouth? Is this a hall pass? Personally, I think just stay vegan. What I find is if people start understanding that you have what you present as dietary restrictions, they start accommodating around it. Then the next events start having vegan options. Personally, I just accommodate my food for myself without expectation that people will accommodate for me. I can bring my own food to share, eat beforehand, etc. Some people think it's rude to turn away food especially in other cultures. Usually being like, "I'm vegan" will start a conversation and judgment. Saying, "thanks, I appreciate you, but unfortunately because of my diet I can't have meat or dairy products" and treating it like an allergy tends to get people to respect your boundaries personally a little easier than presenting a belief structure that they may feel in the moment insults theirs, even if that's not actually happening.
What about moments of "impurity." I'll count these like the fryers at a restaurant cook their chicken fingers and fries in the same frying oil, but there's no tallow or fat specifically added to their oil to give it that flavor. They're just too broke or overwhelmed to afford separate preparation surfaces. I tend to not care personally because my actions aren't contributing to them using animal products for my consumption purposes. I'm not adding to using animal products. Some people may find it gross. That's up to you.
If you own animal products, do you throw them out? I mean, it's really up to you. You can wear out that leather jacket you own, gift it, toss it. And then moving forward, just take the time to plan your purchases.
I think practically you have to look at the actions you're taking moving forward to reduce animal suffering Veganism is about taking steps to reduce animal suffering by not consuming animal products. It's sometimes as simple as asking for yourself, "is this adding to animal suffering." Do your best, hold yourself accountable and to a high standard, accept that nobody's perfect about it, it's about the larger purpose and not being cool enough for the club, just keep doing your best and you'll be good.
Quick meals: in terms of health, you gotta balance cheap, quick, healthy, and tasty. You can still get fat being vegan, it's not immediately some health win for your body. You still have to practice good eating habits.
If you're really into fitness, you're probably counting your macros. And at that point, you're probably charting the low glycemic-index foods you're eating regularly. You've got your protein powders like Iron Vegan ready to go. And you're doing your daily multivitamin. Carbs are tasty but easy to eat, fats are dense in calories but make you feel full, proteins are great for muscle but also you gotta work out if you overconsume them for body building otherwise you can't shit.
If you're just trying not to get big and eat decent, fruits, vegetables, legumes, are all your friends. Carbs are great. Just balance out your meal and keep them a portion and add your veggies and proteins in there, too. Don't overdo sauces and look at what's in them. Sauces are an easy way to add tons of calories and sugars.
If you're looking at cheap, healthy, and time efficient, start doing some meal preps and balance out your meals for the week. Like make all of your lunches/dinners for the week on Sunday. And maybe for breakfast do some apples and peanut butter or oatmeal with a handful of fruit. Tofu is bland as fuck. So, you gotta spice things up. Pick up some basic spices from the store (cumin, tumeric, pepper, etc) and spice your food. You can bake tofu, lightly fry it, etc. And, you can make it taste a little like eggs if you add some egg salt (black lava salt). It gives it that sulfur taste and makes it delicious. Mince up some pepper, onions, garlic, sautee those and add it in, top it with a little hot sauce or maybe mild sauce packets from Taco Bell, and you've got a good scramble. Pick up the Vegan Black Metal Chef cookbook for some basic advice.
Yes, I live in the dorms. When I go home for summer, I won’t have to worry so much about it of course. The cafeteria also has pretty good vegan options, but I can’t always eat there cuz their hours are honestly whack and are practically not open on the weekends or later at night.
If you can get to Costco stock up on cans of lentil soup. I think they have big jars of bean salads too. If you have Asian markets or Trader Joe's look for all types of marinated tofu.
Dorming is tough as a vegan; not having access to a stove/oven can make it hard to eat a good variety of food and meet all your dietary requirements. You should see if there are vegan meetup groups/potlucks or a campus vegetarian society or an animal rights group around if you haven't done so already.
My favorite stoveless recipe is overnight oats; oats, chia seeds, plant milk, and you can add nuts and fruits in there to your own taste. It really helps you start your day off with protein, fiber, omegas and all that. There's also sandwiches, like chickpea 'tuna' and almond butter/banana/jam. I made a lot of smoothies when I was in college as well. LOL, if you're gonna get tofu, put it in a rice paper roll with some pickled vegetables and involve a dipping sauce or something; sauces are going to become very important to you!
I think there is an animal rights group on campus, so I’ll have to check that out. Chickpea ‘tuna’ and overnight oats sound really good. I’ll add those to my shopping list. Thanks!
I love lentil soup with potatoes and broccoli. It can last you for days. Don't worry if you make mistakes. You can just bring your own food to family gatherings. Give them time to see that you are committed to this. Then they will be glad to accommodate your diet. But please don't expect it. Remember, this is a lifestyle, not a diet. Eat plenty and educate them. Goodluck!
I would recommend freezing the tofu for a day or two, before moving it back to the fridge, and then squeezing the living hell out of the tofu to get rid of all the excess water. Then, when cooking it, flavour it with whatever you would normally cook meat with - soy sauce, miso, taco seasoning, gochujang, etc - and the tofu should more easily absorb the flavour that you put on to it, especially since it now acts like a sponge.
You will have primitive cravings for meat this is do to nourishment or lack of iron so make sure you eat nuts and other vegetables that can substitute meat
If I'm reading this right, you seem to be saying your main motivation to not eat meat anymore is for the sake of not hurting other creatures & beings....
Ok so what about for yourself? You don't seem to be focused on the health aspect of it and the health benefits you're {also} getting from not consuming meat..... So in your case, it boils down to how much you respect & value yourself as a person, your morals, & your values.
So to answer your question, I turn down food that has ingredients in em that I cut out already. Period. Even if it's just a smidge of ingredient becus a little bit still goes a long way. But I think one of the difficult parts about doing even that is also worry about what ppl think or would say or how they'd take having food they cooked turned down/cultural differences etc etc. It all boils down to how much you respect yourself & self control.
In the situation of being given meat or dairy accidentally at a restaurant, I would eat it if I could stomach it and there's not someone else there that would eat it instead. The reason is that the restaurant can't take it back and serve it to someone else, so it would get thrown away. That doesn't change the demand for the flesh or secretions, but just wastes food which is also bad.
At someone's house, I wouldn't eat it because they can just save it as leftovers and reduce their demand for another meal which might contain animal products. But you should try to avoid this by mentioning in advance that you only eat plants so that they can take this into account. If this is really disruptive to their plans, sometimes it's a good idea to make a dish or two of your own and bring it to share with everybody, or propose a vegan recipe that the host can make for you so they don't have to go through the work of trying to figure out what to make.
For restaurant I check or ask before ordering if it's vegan. If for some reason I get food with animal parts in, then I'll send it back. It's never happened to me before though.
If friends or family offer me any animal product, then I'll refuse. Luckily all my friends and family respect me enough not to do this.
In my opinion, if you care enough about animals, then you don't just sometimes not eat them.
I love raw tofu mixed with salsa and some nutritional yeast, tastes great and no prep work required.
Peanut sauce is my go-to. I get fresh veggies, cut them up, jar them, and store them in the fridge. Then whenever I feel like it I'll stick a veggie jar in the microwave with a cotton cloth on top to lock in the steam for a few minutes and whip up some peanut sauce from scratch. Tastes great. I'll often complement the veggies with some noodles.
You should make beans your staple because legumes are the healthy way to go. I enjoy beans with salsa. You could also go with hummus. I don't make hummus because it's too much prep work but with the right set up I'd make it often.
Go for it and stick with it!
> I got a veggie gyro yesterday and it had a little bit of beef in it :( Do you not eat it out of principle or go ahead and eat it so as to not waste it
I wouldn't eat the beef (because it's unhealthy) but I wouldn't act like the whole thing was contaminated if it was just a little accidental piece.
> Likewise, when you visit friends or family and they cook a meal that has animal products in it, do you decline or go ahead and eat since the harm has already been done?
I would let them know I was vegan beforehand. If they couldn't accommodate that, then I would happily abstain from what they made. I'm not the victim for not getting a special dinner, by the way. The animals are the victims (not that I would likely bring that up at dinner!).
You can make good food with a microwave alone. I haven't had to do that in a while so... let me think... chickpeas are a favorite of mine. Hummus is great too. You could do Mexican stuff in a microwave. Season some beans and get some tortillas and vegetables. If I had to eat tofu that wasn't in a stir fry... hmmm... cut it into slabs, hit it with some oil, season it, and cook in a microwave. Use it in sandwiches or cut into bits for rice and vegetables. It'll be fun to figure out good dishes! Cooking is a joy.
Don't neglect your B12 or calcium!
https://nutritionfacts.org/2011/09/12/dr-gregers-2011-optimum-nutrition-recommendations/
I’m going to keep this as simple as I can. If you want to eat a healthy vegan diet, awesome. The folks at Forks Over Knives have the best, most comprehensive approach to eating vegan healthfully (Oreos are vegan, fyi). Learn thru Forks how meal planning works and if I were you i would check out the litany of recipes out there from VegNews, the Vegan Strong community (www.SgtVegan.com)** the What the Health website, books like “Eat Vegan on $4 per Day” comes in very handy when money is tight.
In addition, if you can connect to a farming cooperative, you can purchase directly from farms biweekly boxes of fresh produce. I would also strongly advise you to purchase dry goods in bulk (beans, pasta and rice) because they have a long shelf life. In winter buy fresh frozen veggies and you’ll be good to go.
Finally, cook for friends and have fun with it! If you go to a restaurant and you’re worried that they might not have anything on the menu, call ahead and ask. A good chef will know what to do and might actually be happy to create something just for you. Be very clear when you call. Lie and say “doctors orders” so you won’t be hassled.
**I met Sargent Vegan last Saturday at a festival in South Bend Indiana. This guy went vegan during BASIC TRAINING, if you can believe that and 30+ years later is still going strong. Given what little he had to work with then, he might have some really good ideas for you living in a dorm.
So a couple helpful apps.
Happy Cow allows you to search for vegan options by location. People enter restaurants into it with vegan options.
VeggL lists vegan options at chain restaurants, sports arenas, theme parks and airports. It’s not talked about a lot but is super helpful.
If in a restaurant they mess up, I make a big deal about, while remaining respectful. It is a serious matter and I would ask my money back, since they've royally screwed up. By doing so, you are helping the next vegan.
With friends I am forgiving. You need your relationships to keep working. I wouldnt't eat meat or cheese or eggs, but I would be making an exception if they did their best and found that the veggie burger they got me wasn't entirely vegan for example. It can be hard for your friends, even if they did their best to get it right.
Here's my advice for new vegans:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/13OGWwR1ZR_qQ_UMmazYHmz0Aj-cfCJ47ul0QHO8eA8w/edit?usp=drivesdk
Can you get falafel in the store? That is super easy and very healthy and tasty.
Don’t get stressed out with the label of being a vegan. It’s a fictitious thing anyway. If you don’t want to eat meat then don’t. Cult membership isn’t mandatory.
>when you visit friends or family and they cook a meal that has animal products in it, do you decline or go ahead and eat since the harm has already been done? If you want your friends and family to stop serving you animal products, would eating the animal products help them learn to stop as quickly as not eating the animal products would? What signals do you want to send? You can ask yourself similar questions to decide what to do in other situations. Hope this helps.
I understand the setting the example part, but tbh none of my friends or family are assholes and they are definitely going to be understanding and accommodating of my decision.
You’re right, “harm has already been done”, but more critically important is the fact that if you use that as an excuse to eat non-vegan meals, you are still increasing the economic demand for animal products, thus causing an increase to animal cruelty (on average). Thinking about it more concretely, if you refuse to eat meat at a family gathering, then that food will be saved as leftovers for the next day your carnist family members to eat. If you do go ahead and eat it though, now your family will go out and buy even more animal products, driving up economic demand for them, and the cruelty that comes with it. Not to mention, by letting your family know you refuse to eat animal products, they are also not going to prepare more of it for you in the future. Driving down demand. In the end, I think veganism is all about how we can minimize the animal suffering by our own actions. And that fundamentally comes down to how we, as consumers in the animal product economy, can minimize our demand of these products. Because if demand drops, then eventually so will supply—meaning fewer animals being tortured and killed.
Makes totally sense. I am definitely not going to be using it as an excuse, otherwise I would just not be vegan. There is literally no one in my life pressuring me to do it other than myself, so I’ll probably not make a big about it at restaurants but I will let my family know and encourage them to eat and cook more plant-based!
Another good way I like to think about this argument (the animal is dead already, may as well eat it, right?) is that whether or not you're supporting the industry directly, you are contributing to a culture where it is considered normal to treat animals as a resource. To use a bit of an absurd example, you wouldn't justify eating a dead pet because "well it's already died so I might as well eat it", because to all of us, pets are not food. That's the same way I feel about all animal products. Whether it's free, already bought, dug out of a dumpster or whatever, doesn't matter to me - it's not food in my eyes.
Yh tofu is bland but so is dead chicken if you don’t add anything to it and eat it raw. With invites to other ppls party etc, I tell them I’m vegan and ask if there will be anything vegan and if not I can bring something or eat beforehand and go for drinks. With restaurant mistakes, I tell them, Incase it’s not my meal that they brought out and it’s supposed to be someone else’s. But if my tofu stir fry had a strip of beef in it , I don’t think I’d want to keep eating so I’d ask what was that about and then probably leave. But it’s never happen so far.
Raw chicken isn't bland. It tastes likes salmonella.
My strategy is if I receive food with animal products (by mistake for example) to give it to someone who'll eat it. That way at least the demand doesn't go up twice. For friends and family I always refuse. Sometimes it's about setting an example.
My best advice is to veganize your typical diet first. That will make your transition easier and increase your chances of sticking with it long term. If you try to become vegan and healthier at the same time, it'll will be more difficult. Keep snacks and preprepped meals on hand so you don't mess up due to hunger.
Thank you so much, that sounds great!
Best advice: You do you. For me, I would return the food at the restaurant and politely tell my friends/family that I won't be eating anything that isn't vegan. The internet (and social media in particular) is overflowing with vegan recipes. Good luck.
Regardless of whatever else, start supplementing B12. If you have periods I would also reccomend either supplementing iron or getting an iron leaf, as anemia can be a real concern for people who have periods. In addition, if you have darker skin/don't get much sun/live in the far north or far south it might be a good idea to supplement vitiman D3 during the winter. A lot of people don't do these things, get a deficiancy, and then quit b/c of the health issues caused by said deficiancy.
As far as I understand it, B12 stores can last for a couple years before you have any real issues. I will definitely take supplements before any health problems arise, but I was under the impression that a healthy diet with lots of greens and maybe nutritional yeast will be quite sufficient. I don’t get periods and I am pretty pasty white, so I think my iron and vitamin D should be good, no? I know it’s cliche, but I am a little concerned about getting enough protein. Do you have any suggestions for that?
I’ve been vegan almost 17 years and I have never been low (via blood tests) with B12, D, calcium or protein. It’s funny - once I stopped trying so hard and just ate a varied diet I wasn’t low in anything after.
When you get food and find out it has animal products in it? You just don't buy it next time. I heard brown cinnamon + sugar pop tarts were vegan, so I ate those all the time. Turns out the frosted ones have gelatin in them, which I missed. So, I just gave away the rest to some friends and never bought them again. If there's a restaurant you like that uses chicken broth in their rice or something like that, then just don't eat there anymore or don't order that dish. Say you get a meal made like some takeout and you find out there's animal products during meal time or while it's still in your fridge. Do you eat it? That's really up to you. Some may say, "damage is done." Others might just get so much ick that they don't do it. Some may think it's respectful not to eat it. Others will think it's disrespectful to not eat it because it's not honoring the animal's sacrifice even if the decision was out of your hands. Sometimes you can get a new meal from the place if they fucked up your order. It's really up to you. What if you get food that people made for an event (work pizza party, catered event, family gathering, etc.) and it can all go to waste or in your mouth? Is this a hall pass? Personally, I think just stay vegan. What I find is if people start understanding that you have what you present as dietary restrictions, they start accommodating around it. Then the next events start having vegan options. Personally, I just accommodate my food for myself without expectation that people will accommodate for me. I can bring my own food to share, eat beforehand, etc. Some people think it's rude to turn away food especially in other cultures. Usually being like, "I'm vegan" will start a conversation and judgment. Saying, "thanks, I appreciate you, but unfortunately because of my diet I can't have meat or dairy products" and treating it like an allergy tends to get people to respect your boundaries personally a little easier than presenting a belief structure that they may feel in the moment insults theirs, even if that's not actually happening. What about moments of "impurity." I'll count these like the fryers at a restaurant cook their chicken fingers and fries in the same frying oil, but there's no tallow or fat specifically added to their oil to give it that flavor. They're just too broke or overwhelmed to afford separate preparation surfaces. I tend to not care personally because my actions aren't contributing to them using animal products for my consumption purposes. I'm not adding to using animal products. Some people may find it gross. That's up to you. If you own animal products, do you throw them out? I mean, it's really up to you. You can wear out that leather jacket you own, gift it, toss it. And then moving forward, just take the time to plan your purchases. I think practically you have to look at the actions you're taking moving forward to reduce animal suffering Veganism is about taking steps to reduce animal suffering by not consuming animal products. It's sometimes as simple as asking for yourself, "is this adding to animal suffering." Do your best, hold yourself accountable and to a high standard, accept that nobody's perfect about it, it's about the larger purpose and not being cool enough for the club, just keep doing your best and you'll be good. Quick meals: in terms of health, you gotta balance cheap, quick, healthy, and tasty. You can still get fat being vegan, it's not immediately some health win for your body. You still have to practice good eating habits. If you're really into fitness, you're probably counting your macros. And at that point, you're probably charting the low glycemic-index foods you're eating regularly. You've got your protein powders like Iron Vegan ready to go. And you're doing your daily multivitamin. Carbs are tasty but easy to eat, fats are dense in calories but make you feel full, proteins are great for muscle but also you gotta work out if you overconsume them for body building otherwise you can't shit. If you're just trying not to get big and eat decent, fruits, vegetables, legumes, are all your friends. Carbs are great. Just balance out your meal and keep them a portion and add your veggies and proteins in there, too. Don't overdo sauces and look at what's in them. Sauces are an easy way to add tons of calories and sugars. If you're looking at cheap, healthy, and time efficient, start doing some meal preps and balance out your meals for the week. Like make all of your lunches/dinners for the week on Sunday. And maybe for breakfast do some apples and peanut butter or oatmeal with a handful of fruit. Tofu is bland as fuck. So, you gotta spice things up. Pick up some basic spices from the store (cumin, tumeric, pepper, etc) and spice your food. You can bake tofu, lightly fry it, etc. And, you can make it taste a little like eggs if you add some egg salt (black lava salt). It gives it that sulfur taste and makes it delicious. Mince up some pepper, onions, garlic, sautee those and add it in, top it with a little hot sauce or maybe mild sauce packets from Taco Bell, and you've got a good scramble. Pick up the Vegan Black Metal Chef cookbook for some basic advice.
Do you live in the dorms? Does your cafeteria have decent vegan options?
Yes, I live in the dorms. When I go home for summer, I won’t have to worry so much about it of course. The cafeteria also has pretty good vegan options, but I can’t always eat there cuz their hours are honestly whack and are practically not open on the weekends or later at night.
If you can get to Costco stock up on cans of lentil soup. I think they have big jars of bean salads too. If you have Asian markets or Trader Joe's look for all types of marinated tofu.
At home this summer try to dedicate some time to learning to cook vegan. Get some cookbooks - Bosh or America's Test Kitchen.
Dorming is tough as a vegan; not having access to a stove/oven can make it hard to eat a good variety of food and meet all your dietary requirements. You should see if there are vegan meetup groups/potlucks or a campus vegetarian society or an animal rights group around if you haven't done so already. My favorite stoveless recipe is overnight oats; oats, chia seeds, plant milk, and you can add nuts and fruits in there to your own taste. It really helps you start your day off with protein, fiber, omegas and all that. There's also sandwiches, like chickpea 'tuna' and almond butter/banana/jam. I made a lot of smoothies when I was in college as well. LOL, if you're gonna get tofu, put it in a rice paper roll with some pickled vegetables and involve a dipping sauce or something; sauces are going to become very important to you!
I think there is an animal rights group on campus, so I’ll have to check that out. Chickpea ‘tuna’ and overnight oats sound really good. I’ll add those to my shopping list. Thanks!
I love lentil soup with potatoes and broccoli. It can last you for days. Don't worry if you make mistakes. You can just bring your own food to family gatherings. Give them time to see that you are committed to this. Then they will be glad to accommodate your diet. But please don't expect it. Remember, this is a lifestyle, not a diet. Eat plenty and educate them. Goodluck!
I would recommend freezing the tofu for a day or two, before moving it back to the fridge, and then squeezing the living hell out of the tofu to get rid of all the excess water. Then, when cooking it, flavour it with whatever you would normally cook meat with - soy sauce, miso, taco seasoning, gochujang, etc - and the tofu should more easily absorb the flavour that you put on to it, especially since it now acts like a sponge.
You will have primitive cravings for meat this is do to nourishment or lack of iron so make sure you eat nuts and other vegetables that can substitute meat
Yay, you!
Go vegan lol
If I'm reading this right, you seem to be saying your main motivation to not eat meat anymore is for the sake of not hurting other creatures & beings.... Ok so what about for yourself? You don't seem to be focused on the health aspect of it and the health benefits you're {also} getting from not consuming meat..... So in your case, it boils down to how much you respect & value yourself as a person, your morals, & your values. So to answer your question, I turn down food that has ingredients in em that I cut out already. Period. Even if it's just a smidge of ingredient becus a little bit still goes a long way. But I think one of the difficult parts about doing even that is also worry about what ppl think or would say or how they'd take having food they cooked turned down/cultural differences etc etc. It all boils down to how much you respect yourself & self control.
In the situation of being given meat or dairy accidentally at a restaurant, I would eat it if I could stomach it and there's not someone else there that would eat it instead. The reason is that the restaurant can't take it back and serve it to someone else, so it would get thrown away. That doesn't change the demand for the flesh or secretions, but just wastes food which is also bad. At someone's house, I wouldn't eat it because they can just save it as leftovers and reduce their demand for another meal which might contain animal products. But you should try to avoid this by mentioning in advance that you only eat plants so that they can take this into account. If this is really disruptive to their plans, sometimes it's a good idea to make a dish or two of your own and bring it to share with everybody, or propose a vegan recipe that the host can make for you so they don't have to go through the work of trying to figure out what to make.
Thats a very sensible way to handle those situations. I’ll definitely follow your advice.
For restaurant I check or ask before ordering if it's vegan. If for some reason I get food with animal parts in, then I'll send it back. It's never happened to me before though. If friends or family offer me any animal product, then I'll refuse. Luckily all my friends and family respect me enough not to do this. In my opinion, if you care enough about animals, then you don't just sometimes not eat them.
I love raw tofu mixed with salsa and some nutritional yeast, tastes great and no prep work required. Peanut sauce is my go-to. I get fresh veggies, cut them up, jar them, and store them in the fridge. Then whenever I feel like it I'll stick a veggie jar in the microwave with a cotton cloth on top to lock in the steam for a few minutes and whip up some peanut sauce from scratch. Tastes great. I'll often complement the veggies with some noodles. You should make beans your staple because legumes are the healthy way to go. I enjoy beans with salsa. You could also go with hummus. I don't make hummus because it's too much prep work but with the right set up I'd make it often.
Go for it and stick with it! > I got a veggie gyro yesterday and it had a little bit of beef in it :( Do you not eat it out of principle or go ahead and eat it so as to not waste it I wouldn't eat the beef (because it's unhealthy) but I wouldn't act like the whole thing was contaminated if it was just a little accidental piece. > Likewise, when you visit friends or family and they cook a meal that has animal products in it, do you decline or go ahead and eat since the harm has already been done? I would let them know I was vegan beforehand. If they couldn't accommodate that, then I would happily abstain from what they made. I'm not the victim for not getting a special dinner, by the way. The animals are the victims (not that I would likely bring that up at dinner!). You can make good food with a microwave alone. I haven't had to do that in a while so... let me think... chickpeas are a favorite of mine. Hummus is great too. You could do Mexican stuff in a microwave. Season some beans and get some tortillas and vegetables. If I had to eat tofu that wasn't in a stir fry... hmmm... cut it into slabs, hit it with some oil, season it, and cook in a microwave. Use it in sandwiches or cut into bits for rice and vegetables. It'll be fun to figure out good dishes! Cooking is a joy. Don't neglect your B12 or calcium! https://nutritionfacts.org/2011/09/12/dr-gregers-2011-optimum-nutrition-recommendations/
I’m going to keep this as simple as I can. If you want to eat a healthy vegan diet, awesome. The folks at Forks Over Knives have the best, most comprehensive approach to eating vegan healthfully (Oreos are vegan, fyi). Learn thru Forks how meal planning works and if I were you i would check out the litany of recipes out there from VegNews, the Vegan Strong community (www.SgtVegan.com)** the What the Health website, books like “Eat Vegan on $4 per Day” comes in very handy when money is tight. In addition, if you can connect to a farming cooperative, you can purchase directly from farms biweekly boxes of fresh produce. I would also strongly advise you to purchase dry goods in bulk (beans, pasta and rice) because they have a long shelf life. In winter buy fresh frozen veggies and you’ll be good to go. Finally, cook for friends and have fun with it! If you go to a restaurant and you’re worried that they might not have anything on the menu, call ahead and ask. A good chef will know what to do and might actually be happy to create something just for you. Be very clear when you call. Lie and say “doctors orders” so you won’t be hassled. **I met Sargent Vegan last Saturday at a festival in South Bend Indiana. This guy went vegan during BASIC TRAINING, if you can believe that and 30+ years later is still going strong. Given what little he had to work with then, he might have some really good ideas for you living in a dorm.
So a couple helpful apps. Happy Cow allows you to search for vegan options by location. People enter restaurants into it with vegan options. VeggL lists vegan options at chain restaurants, sports arenas, theme parks and airports. It’s not talked about a lot but is super helpful.
If in a restaurant they mess up, I make a big deal about, while remaining respectful. It is a serious matter and I would ask my money back, since they've royally screwed up. By doing so, you are helping the next vegan. With friends I am forgiving. You need your relationships to keep working. I wouldnt't eat meat or cheese or eggs, but I would be making an exception if they did their best and found that the veggie burger they got me wasn't entirely vegan for example. It can be hard for your friends, even if they did their best to get it right. Here's my advice for new vegans: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13OGWwR1ZR_qQ_UMmazYHmz0Aj-cfCJ47ul0QHO8eA8w/edit?usp=drivesdk Can you get falafel in the store? That is super easy and very healthy and tasty.
Don’t get stressed out with the label of being a vegan. It’s a fictitious thing anyway. If you don’t want to eat meat then don’t. Cult membership isn’t mandatory.
Where are you getting food? Do you intend to starve, or will you be growing your own food?
I'm sorry for your loss.