The Big Decision

I want to start off by saying that I really want this to be an interactive place where people can ask for help, tips, and advise from others. Please feel free to comment and share. Also, if you don;t have anything nice to say, don't say it at all. Nobody wants to hear it :D

Anyhow, the biggest key to being a vegetarian and sticking to it, is having a very strong sense of why you have chosen to eliminate meat entirely. As I mentioned earlier, the choice to go veggie is extremely personal and everyone has their own story. A quick Google of "reasons to be a vegetarian" gives you pretty much anything that can be twisted into reason. One of my favorites, save money at restaurants. Please don't solely decide on going veggie to save a dollar or two at your favorite chain. Most people site the categories the following categories for their own issues:

(http://www.flex.com/~jai/articles/101.html for their complete list)

People

- Grain fed to farm animals could be used to feed the millions dying of starvation

- 1 in 10 children in third world countries die before their first birthday, many from starvation

- If Americans reduced meat consumption by 10%, it would free up enough grain to feed 60,000,000 people. (Roughly the population of Great Britain) 

Land

- 1 acre of land yields about 165 pounds of beef or 20,000 potatoes

- 25% of Central America's forest have been cut down for cattle grazing purposes

- Factory farming is the direct cause of severe erosion of land and top soil

Air

- The 1,300,000,000 cattle in the world emit 60,000,000 tons of methane each year

- The amount of methane released into the air from cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens, goats, ect each year can account for more than a 25% contribution to global warming and climate changes

- People that live near factory farms often become extremely ill from breathing in all of the waste and chemicals that one farm produces

Water

- Nitrates, pesticides, and run off of animal waste regularly enter our drinking water supply

- The expense of providing farmed animals with the bare minimum of water to survive is about $200,000,000 a year

Personal Health

- Vegetarians are about 25% less likely to have heart disease (Vegans can be up to 50% less likely)

- All farmed animals are pumped full of antibiotics and hormones, which drastically alter how your body functions

- 80% of food poisoning is linked to contaminated meat

- Obesity is extremely rare while maintaining a vegetarian diet

Animal Welfare (I'll keep this as PG as possible....)

- Fishing methods kill many other animals besides the one type of fish they are looking for

- Fishing methods change a destroy ocean ecosystems

- Chickens are kept in battery cages that are too small for them to turn around in or stand up

- Chickens feet are severely disformed from their wire cages

- Chickens are debeaked. This process involves their beaks being seared off in order to prevent them from attacking each other in their microscopic quarters

- All animals are fed a strict diet of hormones and antibiotics. This rapid overgrowth results in animals literally outgrowing their bones and many have broken legs and backs

- Cattle are supposed to be "knocked" (unconscious) before being bled out. Many are still very awake

My personal issue is with animal cruelty and factory farming in general. The factory farm goes against every category I just listed. They violate in new, grotesque ways every day. Cage free and free range mean absolutely nothing, it is simply a mind trick to make people ignore where there food comes even more. I recently read Eating Animals (seen on the left) by Jonathan Safran Foer. Let me tell you, ignorance is truly bliss when it comes to factory farms. I garuntee, if everyone understood where their 

chicken came from and actually looked at the package they were buying (all of them have a solid 15% "juice" additive, and yes, it says it right on the package) more people would have something to say about their food. 

I could go on forever about this, but I want to know why YOU decided to make the switch! Share with the class!!

J

My Almost Famous Veggie Soup!!

I absolutely LoVE this recipe! It is a quick fix, one pot (ok maybe 2 for boiling noodles) meal that feeds my fiance and I for several days. I came across a recipe for a lighter minestrone and doctored it up to be vegetarian and pretty dang near perfect after several rounds of making this soup! Beginner chefs, no not fret! This is one that anyone can tackle!!


JJ's Almost Famous Veggie Soup
Ingredients:
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled and sliced thin
2 stalks celery, sliced thin
2 cloves of garlic, cut in half
2 cups fresh green beans
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes
3 14.5 oz cans Vegetable Broth (or approx. 6 cups if you want to buy in bigger quantities)
Noodles, cooked
Parmesan cheese for garnish

Let's Cook!!
1. Prep all of those veggies! This is the numero uno most important thing when cooking. The phrase is "Mise en Place"in French, meaning everything in it's place. This ensures nothing is burning on the stove while you race to chop up an onion. Make sure you cut all those ends off of the green beans! Trust me, they do not go well in this dish.

2. Using a stock pan or my personal favorite, a dutch oven, drizzle the bottom with the olive oil. Add the diced onions to the pan and let them cook up a bit. Cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.

3. Add in the garlic cloves, celery, and carrots and continue to cook until tender crisp. Again, about 5 minutes. (At this point you should also have some noodles cooking too!)

4. Add green beans, crushed and diced tomatoes (sometimes I get CRazY and add 2 cans of diced!). Also toss in the veggie stock.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 10-15 minutes.

5. Plate Up!! Add some noodles into the bottom of a big ol' bowl and ladle in some soup!

6. Chow down!

Friendly Tip: So we all know you can't buy 2 stalks of celery or 2 carrots at a normal grocery store. Obviously in this situation you will have extras. Don't waste them!! I clean everything up, cut into big chunks and freeze them. This way, you have ready to use, clean veggies that just need to be thawed next time a recipe calls for half of a red bell pepper and a 1/4 cup of onion!

Freshly Washed and Ready for Chopping!

Onions, Celery, Carrot, and Garlic Cooking Away

Simmer Simmer

Ready to Chow Down!

I must admit, not the most beautiful dish to take pictures of, but trust me you will LOVE it!!

Why?

Big Step #1: Deciding to actually give up meat.

Big Step #2: Telling others. 

We all have our reasons for giving up meat, and I'm no exception. I do not want to dwell on this right now, tonight I want to talk a bit about telling people you have decided that Bessie will no longer find her way onto your dinner plate.

I have to admit, for the first few days, I didn't feel the need to tell anyone. I know my heading on this page says my start date was 4/25/11, but that was the first day I went officially meat free. I started seriously considering doing this 100% about a week earlier. I slipped up a whole bunch of times that first awkward week. I guess knew deep down that would most likely be the case. For this reason, I told no one of my plans, not even my fiance for fear of having to admit failure if I decided not to continue on. 

Now that I have had very minimal meat in the past 2 weeks and have been officially meat FREE for a whopping 7 days, (high five to myself!) I have started to let people know of my plans to stay on this path. Here are some of the reactions I got. Be prepared for anything, because people come up with some odd responses...

My Parents: My Fiance and I went to visit my parents on Easter weekend, and at this point I told my mom I was doing my best to give up meat for good. This is something her and I had talked about in the past, so it was not a huge shock to her. Once the 4 of us sat down for dinner, she was totally shocked that I was not going to eat salmon. Yes, I realize that some people will still eat fish, however A: It's still the flesh of an animal even if it lives in the ocean and B: The way factory fisheries and major fishing operations are run totally destroy entire ecosystems. They were pretty supportive, however as with all things that happen in my family, it was definitely the new go to thing to poke fun at. 

My Coworkers: One of the girls at work decided to go veggie about a month before I officially committed to it. Let me tell you, having another vegetarian in your life is key. It provides a different kind of support that other people just can not provide on the topic. I am so thankful to have her around to help not only keep me on track, but also to share the burden of dealing with our loving, sarcastic, very male coworkers. It isn't the coworkers that was difficult so much, but the customers we see on a daily basis. We see a lot of restaurant managers from the area, and by default, most of them now know that I've gone meatless. They seem to have much more to say about it, and they certainly not people I would consider close enough to pick on me or make comments. Like I said earlier, everyone has their own beliefs...

My Fiance: Man was I all worried for nothing. I thought I would get the typical "I'm a man and meat and potatoes and fast cars" response I would be getting from some of my other friends over the next few days. While not having a ton to say about it, he simply told me to be careful (I'm super hypoglycemic) and that he supported me 100%. What a peach :) When I told him tonight was my one week mark, he gave me a hug and told me he was very proud of me for sticking with something I believe in. 

So far, I have yet to encounter the angry person, but I'm sure in time they will come barging in uninvited and piss me off.    :)

Coming Soon!!

What brought me over to the veggie side.

The book that everyone should read. (Hint: see bright green book on left)

Easy substitutions for people that don't have time to cook 9 hours a day!

<3 J

Help get the word out there and lets get this support group going!

@HowToGoVeggie on Twitter! 

I also think dinos are RaD!