Emily in Parade's Healthy Lifestyle Mag

Well I'll hop on the "too much soy" band wagon. It's not just the milk thing either - IMO it's not good for us to become too dependent on one food crop like that, and soy seems to be creeping into the food chain in different areas more and more. I mean it's great to have an alternative but what happens if something infects the soy crops? I'm thinking "Irish Potatoe Famine" there.

Intesting to hear about the options for non-soy eating vegans Meegs, I'd never heard of quinoa before but I'll have to look into it. It'd be nice for lent when I give up meat for 40 days. If it's good enough I might go straight veggie, or even vegan for lent.

Oh, and you're really going there tomorrow? Damn. I've got to work too - don't suppose you can call Em and reschedule for Saturday? If not I can always ditch work. After all, it's Emily.

RM

you seriously think you can give up meat for 40 days?

THX1138 wrote:
Intesting to hear about the options for non-soy eating vegans Meegs, I'd never heard of quinoa before but I'll have to look into it. It'd be nice for lent when I give up meat for 40 days. If it's good enough I might go straight veggie, or even vegan for lent.

RM

Quinoa is delicious! Definitely one of my staples. I always have it instead of rice...

i_heart_bones wrote:

THX1138 wrote:
Intesting to hear about the options for non-soy eating vegans Meegs, I'd never heard of quinoa before but I'll have to look into it. It'd be nice for lent when I give up meat for 40 days. If it's good enough I might go straight veggie, or even vegan for lent.

RM

Quinoa is delicious! Definitely one of my staples. I always have it instead of rice...

Amen, heart! It's SOOO good and a little goes a long way. I think this has inspired me to cook some tomorrow! Have you ever tried the red quinoa? It's a little richer, I think.

Hey Rob, as far as the "non-soy" options go, quinoa isn't one of them. I think the way I wrote it made it seem like that, my bad. Quinoa IS an alternative to gluten. It's a grain that has A TON of protein, calcium, and iron. Like I said, wonder food. It looks almost like cous-cous and you cook it until it turns soft. 1/4 cup has more calcium than a quart of milk!

And actually, I'm not going to the restaurant til NEXT Friday, the 12th, so you've got plenty of time!

RGPageantqueen wrote:you seriously think you can give up meat for 40 days?

Yep. I always give up something I really love for Lent. Last year I gave up alcohol. The year before I gave up caffeine. I last gave up meat like, three or four years ago. The challenge would be going vegan. I've never done that fore more than two weeks.

RM

THX1138 wrote:

RGPageantqueen wrote:you seriously think you can give up meat for 40 days?

Yep. I always give up something I really love for Lent. Last year I gave up alcohol. The year before I gave up caffeine. I last gave up meat like, three or four years ago. The challenge would be going vegan. I've never done that fore more than two weeks.

RM

Then I challenge you to go vegan. Seriously. And I'll even give you tons of tips if you'd like! Think about it.

Meegs82 wrote:

THX1138 wrote:

RGPageantqueen wrote:you seriously think you can give up meat for 40 days?

Yep. I always give up something I really love for Lent. Last year I gave up alcohol. The year before I gave up caffeine. I last gave up meat like, three or four years ago. The challenge would be going vegan. I've never done that for more than two weeks.

RM

Then I challenge you to go vegan. Seriously. And I'll even give you tons of tips if you'd like! Think about it.

I'll give it a shot, the biggest problems for me when I do go veg are my parents and gf. She's a cafeteria vegetarian, meaning she eats veggie when she goes out, but at home she'll eat meat maybe once or twice a week. My Mom and Dad, it's not a meal if there's no meat. I'm the odd duck because three times a year I'll go veggie for a couple of weeks, but I've given thought to trying vegan. So I can try it this year, heck, no time like the present and Lent should give me the incentive to stick with it for 40 days!

RM

RM

I've been vegetarian for three months. It's no where near as hard as I thought it would be. I've been cheating and eating fish every once and awhile but i'm trying to cut it out all together.

What exactly is a meat alternative? Is it like tofu? My biggest problem with my sudden life style change is that I get so over whelmed. I went to whole foods the other day and felt like crying because there is just SO MUCH and I feel like I can't remember what's good...what's not good...what has secret meat products lurking in it.

Philadelphia is the cheesesteak capital of the universe....so needless to say there aren't as many veg options as there could be. I almost died when I found out in LA you can get vegan baked goods!

Emily recommended the book "becoming vegan" in one of her interviews and it really helped me avoid a complete break down at the grocery store lol

This is going to sound awful....don't hate me..... but I could go vegan in regards to food any day. Eggs creep me out and I'm allergic to dairy but no leather shoes or purses? sigh. I'm not ready to make that commitment.

Another thing, I love emily's interviews where she talks about her journey to being vegan. She went vegetarian over night but it took her much longer to go vegan. She first started just buying second hand clothes and then stopped buying them all together. She really makes me feel better....like I could actually do it. Maybe I'll stop buying leather shoes for lent and see what happens.

tinkrella wrote:What exactly is a meat alternative? Is it like tofu? My biggest problem with my sudden life style change is that I get so over whelmed. I went to whole foods the other day and felt like crying because there is just SO MUCH and I feel like I can't remember what's good...what's not good...what has secret meat products lurking in it.

Meat alternatives and mock meats are things like TSP (Textured Soy Protein), Tofu, and Setian (which is made from Wheat Gluten). TVP looks like grape nuts and is mostly used to replace ground beef. Tofue and Seitan are made into mock meats, that is they're usually used in the manfacture of meat substitutes.

Philadelphia is the cheesesteak capital of the universe....so needless to say there aren't as many veg options as there could be. I almost died when I found out in LA you can get vegan baked goods!

I've eaten both Gino's and Pat's, so let me say now that there ought to be a rule called "The Philly Exception" where cheesesteaks were exempted. A good cheesesteak isn't like normal food, it's heaven in a bun.

This is going to sound awful....don't hate me..... but I could go vegan in regards to food any day. Eggs creep me out and I'm allergic to dairy but no leather shoes or purses? sigh. I'm not ready to make that commitment.

Heh, I don't know why anyone would hate you for that. Heck, I grew up on a farm raising beef cattle an I love meat, the only reason I go veg a few times a year is I'm a big believer in listening to your body and buying food you crave, not food you've conditioned yourself to want or food that's comfort food. So three times a year, like clockwork, I seem to find myself eating nothing but vegetables, fruits, and living a vegetarian life style. After about two weeks I'll crave a steak, tear through a 20 oz ribeye and be happy. Going vegan for 40 days will require effort, but I'm going to give it a real shot to see how I adapt to it, and because it's Lent.

RM

THX1138 wrote:

RGPageantqueen wrote:you seriously think you can give up meat for 40 days?

Yep. I always give up something I really love for Lent. Last year I gave up alcohol. The year before I gave up caffeine. I last gave up meat like, three or four years ago. The challenge would be going vegan. I've never done that fore more than two weeks.

RM

What? You gave up alcohol? And you survived? I bow down to you.

RGPageantqueen wrote:

THX1138 wrote:

RGPageantqueen wrote:you seriously think you can give up meat for 40 days?

Yep. I always give up something I really love for Lent. Last year I gave up alcohol. The year before I gave up caffeine. I last gave up meat like, three or four years ago. The challenge would be going vegan. I've never done that fore more than two weeks.

RM

What? You gave up alcohol? And you survived? I bow down to you.

I just found out I'm ALLERGIC to alcohol, so I can't have it...EVER again.

Rob, yay!!! Thanks for taking on the challenge! It IS tough and the first time I went vegan back in 2008, I really wasn't prepared, so it only lasted 3 weeks. Then, I did my research (including talking to Emily), and I got prepared and then, it was pretty easy. I had already been a vegetarian for over a year, so the meat part wasn't an issue.

Yes, "Becoming Vegan" is a FAB book! It teaches you that you don't have to do everything all at once. Baby steps are fine and you shouldn't punish yourself if you have a moment of weakness and have a slice of cheese or an entire bowl of ravioli. It's a process. Some people do the food part of it overnight (I did) but then take longer to come along with the clothing and leather and all of that. Or they slowly start eliminating things. That's what the book helps you with so it's not so overwhelming.

tinkrella wrote:

This is going to sound awful....don't hate me..... but I could go vegan in regards to food any day. Eggs creep me out and I'm allergic to dairy but no leather shoes or purses? sigh. I'm not ready to make that commitment.

Only the intense, insane, radical, crazy vegans would hate you for that. I have a friend who doesn't eat any dairy or meat and she won't go without her beloved Coach purse. She's exactly the same way 'cuz to her it's all about what she puts in her body and clothing and purses don't have a darn thing to do with that

Meegs82 wrote:Rob, yay!!! Thanks for taking on the challenge! It IS tough and the first time I went vegan back in 2008, I really wasn't prepared, so it only lasted 3 weeks. Then, I did my research (including talking to Emily), and I got prepared and then, it was pretty easy. I had already been a vegetarian for over a year, so the meat part wasn't an issue.

Well it'll be a challenge and I like a good challenge. Besides it'll be interesting to see how I do going sans animal products for food - I'm planning on hitting Whole Foods this weekend along with a few boutique stores that I know will have some good and tasty vegan alternatives. I can already tell that my gf is going to argue with me though, she likes her eggs and cheese and I've already informed her that since I do most of the cooking and all of the shopping, she's gonna lump it with me.

RM