Semi-Vegetarianism
Posted on January 13, 2008
Filed Under Personal |
Lately, I have been thinking about vegetarianism. I have been cutting back on the amount of meat I eat lately—especially red meat—in an effort to eat healthier than I have in the past. I have started eating tofu on a semi-regular basis, and have even tried a few different meat replacements (veggie burgers and Yves Veggie Ground Round, for example). Add to that the fact that I eat a lot of beans—refried beans and black beans, mostly—and I’m probably getting a lot of the benefits of meat (i.e.: iron) without all the cholesterol.
Because of this, I have been thinking about cutting meat out of my diet completely. Well, sort of…
What I’ve really been thinking about is cutting meat out of my “home” diet. That is, I will no longer prepare meat at home. There will probably be some exceptions to this rule (I have a weakness for hot dogs1, and I’m not going to throw out the meat that I currently have in my freezer), I think I’ll be able to do this pretty easily. One major exception will be fish. I will continue to eat fish, because it’s very healthy, and because I just plain like the taste of most fish. I’ll also still be eating eggs and dairy products.
Now, as you may have guessed, I don’t intend to completely eliminate meat from my diet—hence the title of this post. I will still eat meat when I go out, or if it is being served when I’m visiting friends or family.
I still enjoy the taste of meat, and I’m not changing my diet for any animal-rights related reasons. Partly, I suppose, it’s for environmental reasons—it takes significantly more resources to produce a kilogram of animal protein than to produce a kilogram of vegetable/plant protein, which means that meat has a significantly higher carbon footprint than non-meat food sources—but mostly it’s for health reasons. Less meat = less cholesterol = better for my partially defective heart.
Basically, I’m trying to take baby-steps toward an overall healthier lifestyle, and cutting most of the meat from my diet will is something that’s relatively easy, but which will make a big difference. Hopefully, by making this announcement public, I’ll be more inclined to stick to it (once I’ve cleared the meat that’s currently in my fridge, of course).
In the meantime, does anyone have suggestions for some good vegetarian recipes? I’ve looked online and, while I’ve found hundreds of different versions of tofu scramble, I haven’t been able to find too much else.
Also, does anyone know of a good chicken substitute? If worst comes to worst, I suppose I could continue to eat chicken—since white meat is much healthier than red—but I’d prefer to avoid it altogether except when I’m dining out. That said, I really love my home-made tandoori chicken, and I don’t want the bottle of tandoori curry paste I have to go to waste once I use up the chicken that’s currently in my freezer.
- I don’t think I’ve ever tasted a veggie dog that I actually enjoyed. If I can find a brand that I like, and which isn’t 4x more expensive than meat hot dogs, I would be willing to switch to veggie dogs. ↩
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8 Responses to “Semi-Vegetarianism”
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Awesome. I hope it works for you. There is actually a term for that, it’s called Flexitarianism. Actually I could be a little wrong. I think Felxitarianism is where people are veg most of the time but in certain situations (like going out to eat or at a house where they are serving meat they eat it).
People who don’t eat meat but eat fish are Pescetarians. I read your blog…it’s interesting. I’m not gonna lie, I like the taste of meat too. But the factors (animals rights (although not one of yours), environmental, and health) are what made me switch. You asked for a chicken substitute, you can go to a health store and look for Seitan (meat substitute made from wheat gluten) or make your own at home. What most people like about it is that, unlike tofu, it has the texture of meat, and still has a LOT of protein without having soy. Just fyi eating fake meat products are ok but don’t over due it cause they are processed and while better for you than the real thing it’s not good to eat them all the time. They are great for people just getting started though.
Here is an easy recipe for making Seitan:
http://vegetarian.about.com/od/cookingtipstools/ss/HowToSeitan.htm
I have a blog too, but it’s about my raw journey. You’ll be interested as I have recipes there.
http://dokshealth.blogspot.com
Good luck and contact me if you have any questions (although I don’t claim to be an expert on the subject I think I’m alright. I’ve been a vegan for over a year!)
I’m glad you haven’t made the mistake of cutting meat out of your diet entirely. Men’s health magazines maintain that that eating meat, responsibly, can be very healthy when supplemented with proper nutrition habits. Just like it’s ok to drink, responsibly.
Over the last two years I’ve made a number of changes to my diet, and so far I’ve been very satisfied with the results. In regards to my meat-eating habits, one suggestion I have is to purchase ground bison as a substitute for beef. It’s leaner, tastes better naturally (sans seasonings), contains less fat, and even cooks faster. Also, perhaps most important, I’ve been very careful to control portion size - a single serving of meat should only be about the size of a deck of cards. But we’re all so used to going out and eating at restaurants where they throw a slab of beef about 8-10″ on our plate, and complain that we’re not getting a good value for our money if we see anything smaller. If I find that a single serving of meat can’t fill me up, I pile up a variety of steamed veggies on the side. Also, trimming the fat off your cooked meats can reduce the calories by as much as 30%, or something like that.
And its important to note that a most of the fats found in red meats are heart-healthy, monounsaturated fats. There’s also amino acids that aid in reducing blood pressure. Meat is your friend. Tandoori chicken, however, and other international cuisine covered in sugary, fatty sauces, are not. This kills me, being a fan of Indian grub, as I force myself to limit my butter chicken excursions to a few times a year.
That ended up being longer than anticipated… basically I wanted to ensure you weren’t thinking of giving up on meat for the wrong reasons. But good on you for wanting to improve your health! Remember, we’re on top of the food chain for a reason…
Marty & Scott: Thanks for the comments.
@Marty: I am aware of Seitan. However, I’m somewhat lazy, so I was hoping that it might be possible to get something like it that was already pre-made. But, making my own seems pretty easy after looking at that website.
Also, good to know about the “fake meat” stuff being processed. I didn’t really think of that until you brought it up but, now that you have, I don’t know how I didn’t realize that on my own.
@Scott: I am aware of nutritional benefits of meat (and, the hilariously “unhealthiness” of the tandoori sauce on tandoori chicken). A big part of my reasoning behind this whole thing is that I know I eat way too much meat. I figure that, if I cut it out of my diet except when I’m eating out (or ordering in) or at someone else’s house, I’ll probably be eating something closer to the healthy amount of meat.
So, basically, it’s not that I think meat is really bad and unhealthy. It’s that I know I eat too much, and I figure this will be an easy way for me to eat meat only in moderation. Plus, there is the whole environmental aspect that I mentioned.
Also, I was thinking about this tonight and, another exception to my no meat at home policy will have to be bacon. I don’t eat bacon very often but, I can’t imagine permanently giving up a good bacon & eggs breakfast on a Sunday morning.
Environmentally this is a great decision. I know you like your meat though, just like my sister. She eats it once a day which isn’t really healthy when you think about it. It has been proven that all of the nutrients in beef can be substituted with other items. Good luck, I know I feel much healthier without much meat in my diet.
Eating meat once a day isn’t really a bad thing. As long as you’re eating proper portion sizes, it’s perfectly fine for your health, as far as I’m concerned.
Still, you can get most (or all) of the same nutrients as you’d find in meat with a variety of other substances. For example, for me, my biggest concern was finding a way to replace the iron I’d get from red meat. I realized not too long ago that most legumes are really high in iron (and dark green veggies are pretty good for iron, too), so that settled that problem for me.
Yeah Broccoli is really high in iron.
Tofurkey’s veggie dogs are awwwwesome (and can be found at Planet Organic). Stay away from the Italian ones, but I would highly recommend the Bavarian Beer ones.
As for a chicken substitute, the Lucky Mart down by Vic sells some soy protein that can work as a chicken substitute. You can also buy chicken substitutes next to all the Yves stuff at any major grocery store (I think Save-On has the best selection), but some of it is better than others (I don’t like the Yves chicken, for example). There’s one brand in particular that I’m thinking of, but I can’t remember what it’s called.
Sometimes, it’s not in the section with the other fake meats, but packaged alongside the real, dead chickies.
As for recipes, I REALLY like the BBC’s guide! Their food site is at http://www.bbc.co.uk/food. Click vegetarian in the search options and a lot will come up.
Vegetarian cooking is great - I think you’ll have fun with it.
@pragya: Thanks for the comments. I was kind of hoping you’d leave a comment on this post.
Good to know about the chicken substitutes. I’ll have to check them out. I haven’t noticed them before (other than the Yves Ground “Chicken,” but I need solid, not ground stuff for a lot of dishes), but I haven’t really been looking too hard, either.
I took a quick look at the BBC page and it looks like they’ve got quite a selection of recipes, so that should help me out substantially. Thanks!