niemela23
Veteran
Hello to all fellow Cooking Bites members! It's been a while and it feels good to be back. I hope everyone is well!
I have been thinking about eliminating meat products from my diet (for the last year, roughly), for a number of reasons. The animal-cruelty aspect of things, the health side of things, the environmental factors, etc. My boyfriend of over 10 years is on board with me, so this should be a very interesting journey, shall we decide to embark on it.
A few problems are: I have a limited budget due to being on a disability allowance, I have little to no knowledge about how a proper vegetarian diet truly works (I realize I am going to have to do a lot of research, and I have started), I am uncertain of the best places to find quality, yet affordable ingredients for a diet like this where I live.
My advantages are: my willingness to try new things, the fact that I have a 'partner in crime' who will be going along with the changes with me (support and feedback, yes!), my decent cooking abilities, and a somewhat well-stocked pantry to begin to build on.
Some fears are: that myself and my boyfriend will become deficient by not getting all of the nutrients we need, that we will not enjoy the taste of a lot of the dishes (although we do currently enjoy some vegetarian dishes as it is), that my boyfriend especially, may have a hard time adjusting to things like lentils, tofu, meat substitutes (if we choose to try them)
I was hoping that maybe you guys (and gals) might have some advice regarding this whole switch we are considering undergoing, or any tricks/tips for converting from a meat-eating diet to a vegetarian one, any great recipes, any 'dos' or 'donts', any success stories or horror stories, or hilarious ones...
If so, please feel free to share, any feedback would be appreciated greatly, and I also look forward to hearing about others' experiences with the big 'switch'!
-J
I have been thinking about eliminating meat products from my diet (for the last year, roughly), for a number of reasons. The animal-cruelty aspect of things, the health side of things, the environmental factors, etc. My boyfriend of over 10 years is on board with me, so this should be a very interesting journey, shall we decide to embark on it.
A few problems are: I have a limited budget due to being on a disability allowance, I have little to no knowledge about how a proper vegetarian diet truly works (I realize I am going to have to do a lot of research, and I have started), I am uncertain of the best places to find quality, yet affordable ingredients for a diet like this where I live.
My advantages are: my willingness to try new things, the fact that I have a 'partner in crime' who will be going along with the changes with me (support and feedback, yes!), my decent cooking abilities, and a somewhat well-stocked pantry to begin to build on.
Some fears are: that myself and my boyfriend will become deficient by not getting all of the nutrients we need, that we will not enjoy the taste of a lot of the dishes (although we do currently enjoy some vegetarian dishes as it is), that my boyfriend especially, may have a hard time adjusting to things like lentils, tofu, meat substitutes (if we choose to try them)
I was hoping that maybe you guys (and gals) might have some advice regarding this whole switch we are considering undergoing, or any tricks/tips for converting from a meat-eating diet to a vegetarian one, any great recipes, any 'dos' or 'donts', any success stories or horror stories, or hilarious ones...
If so, please feel free to share, any feedback would be appreciated greatly, and I also look forward to hearing about others' experiences with the big 'switch'!
-J
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