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Original poster

Can you be a Vegetarian without being a PITA?

126 replies

charlietherednosedpussy · 13/12/2005 21:43

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?

OP posts:
PantomimEDAMe · 18/12/2005 22:13

I know you know MT but the Hitler thing always gets me...

teabagsandwine · 18/12/2005 22:13

it's the meat eaters that can be PITA's! I am veggie but dare I say it, I don't care about animals being killed. I just don't eat meat. To me it is a simple preference, like having sugar in your tea. Meat eaters seem to think it's such a big deal and always want to know why I'm veggie, for how long, what mad me decide etc etc. I wish everyone would just shut up and eat their steaks or tofu burgers!

PranSerahndDancer · 18/12/2005 22:39

ooh, actually, thats the kind of thing I'd ask Teabagsandwine. Its something I am genuinely curious about as virtually all the veggies I know have different reasons for it.

It can't really be reversed i.e. "why do you eat meat" because we humans are essentially omnivores - therefore the choice not to be can be a conversation point (IMO/E)

teabagsandwine · 18/12/2005 22:46

yes ISWYM Pranser. It seems normal to me as I've been veggie a long time. Actually, I get a bit embarrassed/awkward when out for dinner etc by the focus on what I am eating. But I can understand it is a strange concept for meat eaters.

PranSerahndDancer · 18/12/2005 22:52

I have to confess that whilst tucking into a steak, I rarely pay attention to my eating companions potatoes. (And if its really good, rarely pay attention to my companion )

I was a veggie for 10 years so for me its not a strange concept, but I understand its uncomfortable to become the focal point - especially if you're hungry and just want to eat!

teabagsandwine · 18/12/2005 23:09

I am just been nosey now

What made you go back to meat? Or was it just a gradual thing?

PranSerahndDancer · 18/12/2005 23:36

Well.... I became a veggie for dubious reasons initially, but as time went on and the enzymes in my stomach that digested meat disappeared, I found I no longer wanted it.

In my early 20's I was always poorly (and looked it) and started to think about going back to eating meat (I would like to point out here that I did not eat a balanced vegetarian diet and was probably so lacking in vitamins from the B group I should have been long gone - the vegetarian option on a menu in those days was a cheese omlette if you were lucky and woe betide you if you asked what it was cooked in)..... and coincidentally started dating a butcher. When I came back from work on one of the days when he stayed he had cooked. Chicken. But I'm a vegetarian you fool! I cried. But its the only thing I know how to cook and I wanted to cook you dinner. Said he. I started by eating the potatoes (cooked in the same pan). Encouraged by this, he did the same meal every time. Eventually I ate a tiny bit of chicken. It sat in my stomach, undigested for about a week. I could feel it, and it made me feel queasy. But that was the start

I say the reasons for starting vegetarianism were dubious, but have become very aware in my later years about the meat that I do eat - and strangely I am not that keen on "anonymous meat" like the stuff you buy in supermarkets. I think that anonymous meat is the reason "we" eat so much of the stuff - cheap mass produced - which is echoed in the previous post by Eulalia. Other than those that simply don't like meat, I think that a valid reason for not eating meat is as a reaction to the ways that animals are farmed and slaughtered.

It does genuinely interest me - does it show?!!

teabagsandwine · 18/12/2005 23:52

I see now why you are the sort of person to ask veggies why they don't eat meat!

You dated a butcher!....LOL!

I'm a healthy veg (blood tests when preg and iron count etc were all good). Eating out can be a PITA but it is much better these days. I was once served a huge plate of plain boiled spaghetti with a bit of grated cheese on top (in a 'proper' restaurant)! I can envisage eating meat again, I think I am veggie partly out of habit. Its been 18 years now

Caligyulea · 18/12/2005 23:57

pmsl at the butcher.

I think I'd be a veggie as well if I'd been through that.

ThePrisoner · 19/12/2005 01:24

It still surprises me when people assume that veggies are unhealthy, and that we all look washed-out and thin!! I've been veggie for well over 30 years (gee, I feel old) and it has been a long learning curve. Food certainly wasn't labelled in the way that it is now, and I can still remember eating rubber cheese. I was actually seriously unwell for some time before I realised that I needed to substitute other stuff for protein (I was in my very early teens).

I think many of us veggies are more aware of the nutritional content of our food. My carnivorous dh thinks he can eat a heap of dead cow, chuck a slice of tomato on top, and that he's got the day's vitamin/mineral requirements.

PranSerahndDancer · 19/12/2005 12:08

Thats where I came unstuck ThePrisoner - but really never got round to figuring out about the protein replacement thing in the 10 years from 1983 onwards. I really did look like sh*t!! But then the dubious reasons also contributed to that so who knows!

All the veggies I know look very healthy - I think the only way you'd be able to pick out a vegetarian in a crowd is if they're wearing a bra knitted from lentils

MMmmmmm... the Butcher. These days I would even date a vegetarian if he was as nice as he was

monkeynutsroastingonanopenfire · 19/12/2005 18:23

I've never liked meat but I'm a veggie more moral reasons more than any other. I think it's that that gets peoples backs up, as though you're calling them immoral by inference. DP is a veggie too as is DS until he's old enough to make an informed decision.

(Just thought I'd get the Hitler thing in before anyone else Edam)

Blandmum · 19/12/2005 18:25

Just out of interest if your ds makes an informed choice to be an ominvore, will you cook meat for him?

CometheytoldmepapapaPapillon · 19/12/2005 18:26

roasting your monkeys nuts over the fire without his trousers on!!! Is that parental neglect

CometheytoldmepapapaPapillon · 19/12/2005 18:28

by the time they can make an informed choice, they will be able to fry the steak themselves

so as long as they put the ventilator on and wash the grease off after.....

Blandmum · 19/12/2005 18:30

so when mine become veggie, I'll show them what the cooker looks like then

bosscatsroastingonanopenfire · 19/12/2005 18:30

I've known lots of veggies through the years none of whom were PITA's at all and they just got on with it without it ever being an issue. Dated someone who was a PITA in every other respect but not about being a veggie. He was a great cook and really converted me to veggie meals which I had previously believed were all of the veggie burger and nut roast type. There is a veggie curry house in Tooting which you have to go to to believe the amazing flavours and tastes, which you just do not get from meat curries.

CometheytoldmepapapaPapillon · 19/12/2005 18:33

and then martianbishop they can convert you into being a PITA

tofu steak yummy !!

Blandmum · 19/12/2005 18:38

I rather like veggie food, and we eat veggie 2 times a week along with fish and meat on other days. Just love all food, and feel that I have canines for a reason .

So I can't see me eating much tofu TBH! Thos I quite like it braised in szuian sauce. 'Fresh' looks too much like a bad does of thrush for me!

CometheytoldmepapapaPapillon · 19/12/2005 18:40

dd and I like out tofu thrush style... thats gross though... thrush urghhh

You need to try my bulghar wheat "mince" pie... FAB

Blandmum · 19/12/2005 18:42

I'm right tho!

And cottage cheese, that is thrush city!

Mercy · 19/12/2005 18:54

Bosscat - do you mean the Kastoori restaurant in Tooting?

monkeynutsroastingonanopenfire · 19/12/2005 19:31

Paps you gotta give me that recipe!

bosscatsroastingonanopenfire · 20/12/2005 17:42

Mercy, just saw this! Yes that is the one. Have you been? Its FANTASTIC isn't it? Totally switched me on to how veggie food can be so tasty. Previously I had just eaten the usual nut cutlets or whatever but I realised how fab it was. I'm still a meat eater but I now always eat vegetarian options for curry.

feastofsteven · 20/12/2005 17:45

Hmmm - wondering there is more than one veggie curry house in Tooting . The one I went to was quite basic in decor, bit of a fast food cafe/formica tables etc, but great food!

There is also a great chain of Chinese veggie buffet restaurants in North London.

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