Food foo

[thistlechaser]

Though it's about a half-hour out of the way, I went to Boston Market for dinner (which made me wonder where snowcalico is tonight). Oh boy, what good chicken! Worth the long post-work drive down sucky-as-hell-at-rushhour ECR.

While chicken nearly always satisfies my meat cravings, I'm starting to feel guilty about it. I blame quasilemur and that LJ conversation we had a while back (something about killing bugs and meat and all that). I don't even remember the details of it, but I'm really starting to feel the need to strike chicken from my menu, too. I mean, you can see the legs and the wings... it's too easy to imagine the thing still having feathers and a head and eyes and all those alive-things.

So I basically don't eat beef, eat pork really rarely, and now I'm going to drop chicken? If only I ate vegetables, I could be a vegetation. Not eating meat and not eating veggies is tough though. What am I down to, popcorn, pasta, and the occasional Japanese sweet? Well, I eat lots of American sweets too, but I'd rather cut those out of my diet, not make them a greater part...

Like most of my food likes/dislikes, I don't like tofu because I've never tried it. Fish I'm not willing to try, but tofu I am. That seems odd. (And yes, I don't like fish because I've never tried it (other than shrimp once), but while I know it's good for me, I'm still not willing to try it. Other things I'm open to being open to, but not fish. Yuck, blech, twitch.)

This is going to take more thought...

Comments

[tersa.livejournal.com]

Coming late to the discussion, but everything I read is percolating around...

If you're serious about wanting to go vegetarian, please, please, *please* make sure you eat a balanced diet. From your list, it would look extremely protein and vitamin/mineral deficient. I know a vegetarian whose idea of a great meal is half a bagel with cream cheese, or a half a box of instant couscous. This is an extremely unhealthful diet.

Check out the Morning Star line of vegetarian meat substitutes. Their veggie burger is very good, and as a couple of my friends noted this weekend, fit perfectly on an English muffin. :) They also have fake chicken nuggets, which you would probably like. Beans are also a good source of protein, and you can buy a lot of beans canned; stock up, and keep 'em on hand. Hummus (made with garbanzo beans) is easy to make if you have a food processor, and makes a good dip. Or, like I did with my veggie soup, throw a can of beans into it. You hardly notice. Make black or refried bean & cheese burritos. Etc.

Be careful with the tofu, though, as I suspect you might have consistency issues. Most tofu is packed in water, and unless you want it to be soft, you have to take the time to drain it, something I've had problems doing. I would recommend trying the tofu I use almost exclusively now, called Nigiri, in the 'Firm' consistency, which is in the organic food section of Safeway (I've never seen it at any of the other local stores). It has a nice, solid consistency which holds its shape when cooked. That brand line also offers several other kinds of tofu, such as baked, fried, BBQ'ed, etc., which I haven't tried yet.

A very yummy preparation? Cube up a small block of Nigiri tofu, heat up some oil (peanut or canola is best) on high heat in a deep skillet or wok, and stir fry until brown. You can use this as a basis for other meals. I've been buying some packaged Asian noodle meals and throwing the tofu in.

You're talking about wanting to try to make nummy vegetables makes me want to cook for you. :) I grew up eating mostly canned vegetables, and not much of them. I only started really expanding my vegetable and fruit menu when I left home. Buy fresh, and invest in a steamer basket. And work on cooking without overcooking. And don't forget that fruit is good for you, too!

That all said, you made a comment that humans can survive without eating meat. Yes, that's true. However, the human body was *designed* to be omnivorous. If you have ethical issues about the treatment of many animals in food-raising environments, I would encourage you to go the route of the one poster who does the organic, free-range meat. You live in natural food mecca out here, and there's a Whole Foods down on Steven's Creek which would be an ideal place to shop for stuff like that.

Also, lastly, humans can only forgo meat if their multi-vitamin contains B-12, an essential vitamin which *only* exists naturally in meat. And as it's a B-vitamin, it's water-soluble, meaning it should be taken daily for good health.

And please, don't hesitate to talk to me. I think I have a unique set of information sets having been an animal science major *and* studying animal nutrition (which, oddly enough, translates well into human nutrition :)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

If you're serious about wanting to go vegetarian, please, please, *please* make sure you eat a balanced diet. From your list, it would look extremely protein and vitamin/mineral deficient. I know a vegetarian whose idea of a great meal is half a bagel with cream cheese, or a half a box of instant couscous. This is an extremely unhealthful diet.

While a bagel with cream cheese is in fact my idea of a great meal, I know it's not something I can live on. Starting today, I'm going to start eating veggies in hopes of if not falling in love, then at least coming up with some I don't mind eating on a regular basis.

For protein, well, I still have to figure out that end. Beans if I like them, maybe infrequent chicken if I don't. Though peanut butter should have protein? I won't be getting totally meatless right away, so I have time to read and research stuff still. (I'm going to try to phase meat out as I make other things parts of my diet.)

tofu

Since I really don't cook much, when I get up to trying it I figured I might do it at a Chinese food place (or something like that). However, the more and more I think about trying tofu, the more I get that squicky feeling. It's moved down on my list.

Buy fresh, and invest in a steamer basket. And work on cooking without overcooking. And don't forget that fruit is good for you, too!

Luckily I like a lot of fruits, so that's not a problem. And I need to snag a kiwi from the kitchen to try, too. (Never had one, but lots of people say they're good.)

I don't think I have a steamer basket, but I need to make a trip to Target anyway. Might finally pick up a rice cooker, too...

That all said, you made a comment that humans can survive without eating meat. Yes, that's true. However, the human body was *designed* to be omnivorous. If you have ethical issues about the treatment of many animals in food-raising environments, I would encourage you to go the route of the one poster who does the organic, free-range meat. You live in natural food mecca out here, and there's a Whole Foods down on Steven's Creek which would be an ideal place to shop for stuff like that.

I'm really thankful to be living here, yep!

Exactly how far I'm going with meatless is still undecided. The biggest problem is convenience (laziness?) vs beliefs. It's possible that I'll just eat meat as infrequently as possible (though that feels like a cop-out, I keep telling myself that I only have to live up to my own rules and expectations, so there shouldn't be any such thing as a cop-out).

Also, lastly, humans can only forgo meat if their multi-vitamin contains B-12, an essential vitamin which *only* exists naturally in meat. And as it's a B-vitamin, it's water-soluble, meaning it should be taken daily for good health.

I think mine does, but I'll have to check the bottle when I get home.

And please, don't hesitate to talk to me. I think I have a unique set of information sets having been an animal science major *and* studying animal nutrition (which, oddly enough, translates well into human nutrition :)

Thank you! I'll probably take you up on that at some future time. Thanks for all the good advice!

Protein substitutes

[tersa.livejournal.com]

Nuts do have protein, although they're not a great source because they're also very high in oils. Which, can actually be okay.

If you're going to do peanut butter, I would strongly advise getting something like the Laura Scudder's brand, which is unsweetened. Jif, Skippy, et al are heavily sweetened and if you're going to go meat-free, probably not the best option.

(Although, there are instant pad thai packages which would probably be great with the addition of some fried tofu and/or peanuts and peanut butter)

Hmmm. I should haul my Atkins nutritional guide out. It does protein breakdowns, and I can check to see what kinds of non-meat protein substitutes are out there. You may be able to do similarly by searching the web for nutritional guides.

I am betting, if you're amenable, I could find you some tofu dishes that you like.

Re: Protein substitutes

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

You may be able to do similarly by searching the web for nutritional guides.

Yep, that's a sure thing on my list. Oh, and while I'm thinking of it, checking for B12 in my vitamin... yay, says 100%! 100% iron and 50% calcium. Yay women's vitamins.

I am betting, if you're amenable, I could find you some tofu dishes that you like.

Thanks, but tofu's become low on my list. It's the most new of the new things, so it can wait.

If you're going to do peanut butter, I would strongly advise getting something like the Laura Scudder's brand, which is unsweetened.

Yeah, that thought did strike me!