Street Spirit

Yep... Have a friend who started off vegetarian, and became vegan 1.5 years ago....plus, no refined sugar, wheat, or gluten.

soopa

She is a regular ol' carnivore.

As for me, well, I became "Vegetarian" (damn near close to Vegan in the first years) at the age of about 12. I'm not quite sure why, rebellion, concience, not sure. In any case, I maintained this lifestyle for several years, until probably 18-19 or so when I began to consume seafood.

The whole time, I really had no good reason to do it. I'm not sure of the health benefits, if any. Mainly, for most of this time the thought of meat had always disgusted me.

Once I began (or decided to begin) consuming seafood, my views changed a bit. I decided, for whatever reason, to draw the line in the sand between what I would have no problem killing with my bare hands... and what I wouldn't.

I've no issue fishing, I've no problem gutting a fish. Similarly, I'd never have a problem stealing some eggs from a hen. I may even eat Chicken/Poultry again one day because I'm not sure I'd really have a problem killing a bird. Nonetheless, I can't see myself killing/butchering a Cow, Pig, Goat, whatever... so I don't eat it.

Pretty simple philosophy, really. Since I began at such a young age, it's actually not too difficult a lifestyle to live either. In fact, I really feel like it's opened me up to radical dimensions of food that your typical eater will never dare try. I find myself much more curious/explorative at fine restaurants than I do a typical companion who won't consume much but steak and potatoes.

The curious part is we do ALOT of entertaining, I mean, at least one (usually two) dinner parties a week. I can't think of more than one instance where I've prepared food I wouldn't eat (Chicken) for the crowd. Yet, our guests (even our regulars) are always satisfied.

soopa

I don't know how people do it. I must admit, that as varied as my diet can be, it's not without it's fair share of dairy, eggs, wheat, and sugar. I couldn't live a vegan lifestyle and continue to feel as if I was enjoying life.

agean

if i may ask, why?

religious reasons for going veggie, fine, no problem.

philisophical reasons, i'll debate, but it's their choice

"trendy" vegans -- really piss me off.

just curious what the reasoning is, and why sugar / wheat / etc are involved?

Street Spirit

Yeah, *some* (no refined sugar, etc) are for specific health issues/reasons, and the change in those particular parts of her diet has solved those problems. Otherwise, her decision to be vegetarian, then vegan, arose from a variety of more 'typical' reasons not to eat meat, hurt animals, eat a more "healthy" diet, etc. I'm sure at some point in the near future she'll try going Raw, too.

Street Spirit

Soopa: Will you start your kids out as vegetarians (until they decide otherwise, perhaps), or will you feed 'em a regular diet?

Yumcha

Just curious, but do "trendy" Atkins diet or all-protein-meat dieters piss you off too...?

agean

just a personal thing...i knew a lot of people at one point that thought the "cool" thing to do was go vegan. they had no real reasoning behind it, but yet spouted off constantly about how anyone who ate meat was wrong, etc.

CLpower

a good friend of man went from veggie to vegan. We basically had to do an intervention on him because he was whilting away.

agean

what exactly does a true vegan eat? i understand there are different levels, and i'm familiar with most of what they can eat, but i guess what i'm asking is just what's left?

soopa

naa, like i said, my fiancee eats meat and i'm not too confident in the health benefits of a vegetarian diet... so my kids would definately have more regular diets. although, i'd definately steer them from red meat, especially hamburgers/etc. at the very least, they'll eat a primarily organic diet (where permitting; like at home), even if it involves organic meat, red or otherwise.

wndrlst

No animal products at all, including dairy or eggs. If they're truly vegan, they don't use leather or other animal byproducts either.

I could not exist without chocolate. Well, ok, I could, but I would probably end up isolated from polite society.

soopa

Why can't chocolate be consumed by Vegans? Any reason besides refined sugar content I mean?

JWhite1301

Milk based

Yumcha

Well said.

wndrlst

The milk.

(jwhite beat me to it.)

soopa

DUH.

agean

chocolate = dairy

that's what i'm saying...doesn't basically everything contain one of the off-limit items?

soopa

If I absolutely had to I could get by without milk, it's avoidable, but refined sugar is nearly impossible to avoid. Shit, even spring/filtered water. To be a true Vegan you essentially need to drink out of a stream.

wndrlst

Don't feel bad. I missed a question in an undergrad animal science class that had something to do with which product a vegan would not purchase. The correct answer was a Lexus because of the leather seats.

Why this would be important to a group of future vets is still beyond me.

Yumcha

Don't really drink milk here.

soopa

I never drink the shit either, but it's in everything.

soopa

Tonight:



Aloo Chana, Vegetable Biryani, and Naan







... take-out

StuntMonkey

Just one question... Has anyone ever met a truly healthy looking vegan? Every one I've ever met has looked like crap. Their pale and very skinny (not thin, skinny as in unhealthy). Im not trying to bash anyone, but that just cant be good for you. (dont get me wrong I do respect the motivation for it, but its just not natural IMO)

zeroday

Just had Penang Beef Rendang with Roti Chanai (takeout). No pics, ate it too fast

Yumcha

My mom.

She does not eat eggs, meat, nor fish...and hardly any cheese.


Her diet is basically vegetables, tofu, brown rice, and lots of fruit...and she's fine. She goes for checkups and the doctors give her a clean bill of heath. Her secret: lots of salads, lots raw foods, and barley-grass juice each morning.

And alot of people often ask her if she's still in her 40s despite pushing near 60.

StuntMonkey

cool. just in my experience i havent met any that seemed healthy. i guess if you do i right it can be good for you.

GreenMonster

My co-worker who used to go w/ me to the asian restaurant got layed off in May, so I haven't had pad thai or nime chow since then...

Now, I'm dieing for some...

soopa

I've met/known a surprising number of vegans who are built like tanks. I'm not quite sure how they manage to do it, but they do. If you're commited, it's not too difficult to get what you need.

Protein is easy, Iron and Calcium aren't very difficult, B12 is not easy. Everything else, you don't need much more than a multi-vitamin for.

Yumcha

Okay, so here's a pad thai recipe that I think is pretty good. At least the GF likes it...unless she lied to me last week when I made it.

=====

Serving: 5-6

Ingredients for marinade:
3 tbsp water
1/4 cup fish sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar

Noodles
500 grams package rice stick, flat noodles
2 cloves minced garlic
5 beaten eggs
3 tbsp olive oil (you can use vegetable too...but, I use olive oil for its health benefits)
1/2 cup peanuts, toasted and chopped
1 orange pepper, julienne
1 yellow pepper, julienne
4 green onions, sliced
Salt and pepper to taste

Marinade
- In a bowl, whisk oyster sauce, ketchup, fish sauce, water, soy sauce, and sugar.

Noodles
- Place noodles in a large bowl and rinse with cold water. Drain. Noodles should be dry and al dente.
- In separate bowl. Beat eggs and season with salt and pepper.
- Place a large frying pan or wok over medium-high heat. Add oil and minced garlic. Fry garlic until golden in colour and add eggs.
- Scramble the eggs.
- Follow with drained noodles before the eggs set (while the eggs are partially cooked and still wet) so that they can coat the noodles.
- Stir in 1/3 cup of the marinade, the vegetables and heat thoroughly. Add more marinade if noodles are too dry.
- Top with peanuts.

Yumcha

soopa: Thanks for the recipe from yesterday...the salmon was kick@$$. So good that I ate tomorrow's lunch portion as well...now, I have to cook tomorrow.

Ken1997TL

Steak fajitas...

98CLChick

Thanks! I'm going to try it out

JWhite1301

Here is the brisket and pics.

At this point it the fat has been removed and it has been rubbed. The rub is sea salt, pepper, and chili powder. I then seared it on both sides and placed it away from the heat over a drip pan. The heat is natural lump charcoal and hickory wood.




More to come as the process continues.....


BTW: I cannot for the life of me figure out how to make the pic any bigger....If you click on it, it will take you to the full size image....

Yumcha

NP...it's quite easy actually, I consider it the "fried rice" of Thai food...It has low prep time and is easy to make.

Crazy Bimmer

Anyone get super pissed off if their food comes out badly?

I know someone (wont mention names *coughtjencough*) who gets super pissed off if one of her dishes doesnt come out tasting good. Ruins her whole day.

I think its why we always eat out when i see her

She does bake like mad woman... her peanutbutter brownies are bad ass!!!

Yumcha

Not really...cooking with recipes is really just one big instruction manual.

But, if it's for guests, I do get stressed out...but, I think everyone's like that.

JWhite1301

Now it is happy in it's sauce..



Tucked away for a 7 hour nap in a 200 degree home....

soopa

Yeah. I think it's only natural to get upset when you've invested time/effort into something that doesn't turn out as expected.

Crazy Bimmer

I guess i just dont like how she beats herself over it. Half the time im sure it tastes fine but she wanted it perfect.

Then again i shouldnt talk, all i do is BBQ which im still a noob at but im learning.

Any good BBQ recipes or should i make a new thread for that?