Can you be a Vegetarian without being a PITA?

[charlietherednosedpussy]

I am a vegetarian and I dont object to my food being cooked in or near meat. If someones threw a sausage on my plate I will discreetly throw it onto dps plate for him to eat.
If I go to someones house for dinner I will take my own stuff to pop in the oven to save the hassle of them looking for something.
I will cook a bacon sarnie and serve it without saying OINK.
I dont think im a PITA but veggies seem to be getting really bad press on MN at the moment.
Am I ? ...Are you?

whats a PITA??

I am a vegetarian and a PITA, but I would be a PITA even if I wasn't a vegetarian. Why are PITA's getting such a bad press on MN at the moment?

pain in the arse. I eat fish, not much but no meat so am a piscataerean, I think.

I'm veggie and like u dont mind being near meat or even cookingit for my DH and son, i just couldn't eat it myself. I dont impose my beliefs on any one and dont expect any one to not eat meat etc but i get really pissed when the whole 'why do you wear leather shoes' etc crap comes from busy bodies who have no place being involved in what i do or dont do!

Rnt rant rant

For some reason I only know 'veggies' who eat one form of meat or another, eg one eats chicken, one eats Parma ham, etc, but none eats the same meat. I realise this sounds mad.
I'm really happy to cook veggie but if a 'veggie' comes along and says 'Well I do eat rare lamb but no other meat' then I do feel they're taking the piss somewhat.

Yes I know they're not really vegetarian but they don't seem to.

I'm a vegetarian. My kids eat meat which I will cook for them if dh isn't around.

There will always be people who get flustered and defensive about vegetarians and will feel the need to attack them for no good reason. I just let it wash over me now. It's their shit, not mine.

I'm a veggie and don't consider myself a PITA, atleast not in that respect. I do all the cooking in my house (apart from the occasional pizza Dh throws in when I'm really tired) so if anyones a PITA it's him. I have never tried to force by beliefs on anybody and don't know why veggies are considered awkward. I've even happily eaten a roast with nuts placed on the plate instead of meat.

Pruni I agree with you, those people arent real veggies.

The people who I consider to be a PITA are those who say they are veggie but who eat meat or fish. It makes life for me more difficult because other meating-eating people seem to think that I am being more difficult by not doing the same.

I don't eat anything that had a mummy or daddy. I don't eat anything with eyes. I don't eat anything which had feet, feathers, fins or fur. I don't preach to other people, but hate the way that other people sometimes think it's OK to tell me what I'm missing, or try to trip me up by trying to see if they can find something I eat which contains some animal ingredient that I've overlooked.

I've even had "friends" say that they've cooked my veggie dinner on the shelf underneath the spitting roast chicken, but as I hadn't noticed anything, then it didn't matter (just as I was tucking into my nut roast, which I had supplied).

When pushed to justify my vegetarianism, I try to find something that other people would find repulsive to eat (raw eyeballs on a bed of live slugs??) - then tell them that this is how I feel about eating meat. I'm not a vegetarian to be difficult, it's just the way I am.

Oh, and to answer your question Charlie - I think you're very generous about not worrying about meat products touching your food! I just can't be that nice, I just can't bear the thought!!

I sympathise Prisoner. When I worked for a chinese takeaway the gave me some soup for tea, knowing I was veggie. I ate it and then asked what it was, as it really was quite nice. "Crocodile" they replied. The look on my face must of said everything because they quickly explained "It's okay, we strained the meat out for you."

Guess where I spent the rest of that evening?

no
it isn't

I was vegetarian for 15 long years. It's the look on one's face that is the real PITA.

I like my pitas with houmous.

Crocodile!!! Is that normal for a Chinese take-away??

Wasn't something they put on the general menu. They'd managed to import a little for a family treat and thought I was privaliged for them to share it with me. Truely nice people, just didn't understand what vegitarian actually meant. They thought that it didn't matter how it was cooked aslong as there wasn't any actual bits of meat in it when it was served.

I don't consider vegetarians to be PITA's but it can require some thought to prepare meals for them. As ThePrisoner says, some veggies wouldn't want their food cooked in the same oven as meat products, which can leave the cook in a bit of a dilemma.

Over Xmas I am catering for vegetarian, Muslim and Jewish diets. All those requirements are hard to balance with the sausages-in-kilts and bacon on the turkey, plus the no mixing of meat and dairy rule. Eek, someone rescue me, quick!!!

turkey tagine, cook all the veg with it and serve with cous cous

Pruni - the people you describe are not veggies but fussy bleeders.

Do they all have a wheat allergy as well?

I am a pescatarian. The PITA is when people challenge you / make you justify your choices on what you eat just because it is different. Prisoner, according to you I am a PITA because I often say I am a veggie but eat fish. This is not because I am confused, I know I am not a true vegetarian. But TBH it is just easier to say that when you are going to someone's house for example - it gives them the correct description of what I eat and isn't intended to describe my moral viewpoint. Of course I could just say I don't eat meat, which I sometimes do, but I find it is clearer and more positive to say the former.

Charlie - if someone threw a sausgae on my dh's plate he would chuck his whole dinner in the bin. It would turn his stomach to have anything he ate come into contact with ANYTHING which had once lived. He also will not wear leather in any form.

It's not a pita, it's just the way he is.

i'm a PITA and a vegetarian.

Yes, but only if you are willing to either take your dinner with you, or be happy to just eat the veg and pots if necessary.....(I do...) I don't expect a full alternative meal, but have been caught out with the shepherds pie! - I ended up with cheese on toast (FIRST meal with dp's parents - he had forgotten to tell them...)

I don't think I'm a PITA, no. I wouldn't eat food that had been cooked in meat, but I do cook meat for the meat eaters and have no problems with having meat (or meat eaters!) in the house. I don't get up on a soap box and bang on about vegetarianism or the evils of farming, and I feel it's a personal choice and not one that I can inflict on anyone else.

I don't feel the need to justify my vegetarianism to anyone, and don't expect anyone else to justify their meat eating (or their form of vegetarianism, for that matter) to me. What gets my goat are those vegetarians who, for whatever reason, think that they are "better" veggies than I am - because they don't allow meat in the house, because they won't allow their children to eat meat, because they won't allow their dh to eat McDonalds. Each to his own, eat what you like, just make your choice and don't make a fuss!