Becoming vegetarian
February 16th, 2010
Vanessa of Green Ness asked me a few questions about me being a vegetarian and rather just answering her I thought I might do a post about it as I don’t think I ever have for some odd reason.
So back to the beginning. It was early November 2004 and I commented, yet again, to Kevin that “if I had a personal chief I’d become a vegetarian”. This time his reply was “well, why don’t you just do it?” Shocked I said because it was too hard and I don’t want to have make two different meals every night. I was even more shocked when he said he’d eat whatever I made at home. WOW! Even I was impressed with my hubby. There were a few periods when I’m sure he regretted agreeing to eat vegetarian at home but I think he’s reasonably happy these days.
Now, the main reason I wanted to be vegetarian was that I don’t like the way food animals are treated. If you’re in the dark and want to learn more go visit Animals Australia. When I made this decision there was very little in the range of free-range meat but these day I don’t feel the need to kill animals to meet my nutrient requirements and I don’t think I would like the taste now. I will buy free-range ham and meat for Kevin & Amy (but the meat has to be cooked outside as I can no longer stand the smell). I eat eggs from my own chickens and eat dairy (trying to get organic where possible). I know I probably shouldn’t have milk (diary cows aren’t treated the best either and I LOVE cows) but for now I buy organic.
Amy and Kevin will have meat when out and Christy is vegetarian – but only because she has such a limited diet – every couple of months she will eat a little bit of free-range ham. I don’t like them eating meat that isn’t free-range but they make their own decisions.
Now that I’ve been a vegetarian for over 5 years I have quite a large range of recipes to choose from so variety and choice isn’t the problem it was when I started. I do try to plan our meals for the week to make sure we’re having a good variety and not falling into the trap of pasta or rice every night. I also keep some meals and things like falafels/veggie snitzels in the freezer for quick easy meals. Because a lot of meals are one dish type meals they really are easy to prepare (unlike meat and a variety of veg).
Please feel free to ask any questions you have and I’ll do my best to answer.
Thanks for that answer Libby as I am thinking of doing a lot more veg meals here too. I also hate the way animals are treated so I will start by googling some veg meals later tonight. Thanks for answering my question so well. I’m very grateful.
I have been mostly meat-free since 1985 (but do eat a very little ham now – have done the last couple of years). I never gave up fish or seafood. My concerns were mostly on the ethical treatment of animals and health concerns.
My iron levels have always been fair-good, even when pregnant. However my 15 year old daughter has been iron deficient for a few years now (she was first tested at age 12). She now eats a bit of meat (and takes iron supplements) and her iron levels have risen a bit but are still really low.
So be aware of that, especially as your girls hit puberty.
Hi Libby, i went vego about 5 years ago when the tv show “you are what you eat” was on. i researched it so thoroughly I could have been a nutritionist! when i start something new i have to know absolutely everything about the subject – can be a bad habit!!!) I found it frustrating to eat the right combinations of food to form a “complete” protein – does this bother you? Also my iron dramatically dropped and iron sups constipated me and i truely feel better if I eat red meat (very lean – I buy alot from Illawarra Meats when we go down to Corrimal – so cheap and good quality). I’m on bodytrim diet at the moment (low/no carbs and lots of protein) so vego out of the question at the moment but i will make my way back to vego and small carnivore when i’m on maintenance. keep posting vego recipes – i’d love to ead them for ideas! frugalmama xx