11 Years Being A Vegetarian

Image from Google

Vegetarian. It's not a word that elicits the most exciting of thoughts or the most interesting meals ideas, especially if you are not a vegetarian but as of this month I have been a vegetarian for eleven years! Well, almost eleven years as for the first couple of months I carried on eating fish occasionally then I stop that too, along with gelatine sweets/candy. 

My current blog giveaway (celebrating my blogs 3rd birthday) has an entry option to ask me general or blogging questions which I have been collecting to add to a general 'get to know me' blog post on my main blog later this month; within my giveaway post I received a lot of questions about how I found the transition, my favourite vegetarian meals, why I became a vegetarian and so on which I will also answer in my Q&A post but I wanted to write a whole post on my food blog dedicated to my personal reasons and experience of being a vegetarian. 

Why did I become a vegetarian?

I became a vegetarian as I watched a video (it might have been on the VIVA website) about how some animals were being slaughtered and it made me think about where the meat/fish I eat comes from and I didn't want to eat it anymore as in my opinion, animals don't need to die for me to eat. 

What are my favourite veggie friendly meals?

My favourite vegetarian meals involve pasta! Even when I did eat meat/fish I always ate it with pasta whenever I could; I cannot get enough of pasta. My all time favourite meals (whether it is ones I've made or at a restaurant) involve pasta in a creamy/cheese/herb sauce with green vegetables such as broccoli, green beans, peas, spinach for example. 

Challenges of being a vegetarian

The main challenge I have found as a vegetarian: restaurants. There are very few solely vegetarian restaurants and I haven't ever been to one (I probably should) but almost all of the restaurants I have been to whether they are in the UK or abroad have few vegetarian options. Vegetarian options in UK pubs for the past eight years or so included jacket potato, sandwiches or macaroni and cheese, that's it! 

Also as I don't know how the food is prepared, I don't know if it has been cooked in the same pan as meat/fish, if the food as been cooked in meat stock, if my food has been picked up with utensils that have picked up cooked meat...the list goes on so it is always a struggle going to eat somewhere and to be honest I don't like eating in restaurants/cafes, it makes me feel so uncomfortable - is anyone else like this?

Current food favourites 

My current food favourites include: Quorn chicken nuggets, Orzo pasta, Coconut milk, Organic maple syrup cornflakes and Broccoli and pasta - not all together, even I would find that disgusting!

Vegetarians don't get enough protein?

I have to admit that in the past I didn't eat protein 'substituties' such as Quorn, beans, green veggies, pulses so I was anaemic for a while and I had to have ferrous fumerate liquid prescribed which wasn't fun to say the least *it tasted like blood/metal*. However, in my defence I was only a child/teen but now as an adult I do eat a lot more protein rich foods than I did in the past and while my iron level and protein intake will be lower than those who eat meat, I'm not deficient. There are a lot of meat substitutes and protein rich foods that are suitable for vegetarians such as lentils, certain cheeses, nuts/seeds, eggs, milk, soya and many more. 

Non-vegetarin arguments for eating meat 

When the topic of my vegetarianism arises I always get the following 'arguments': humans are meant to eat meat, humans have always eaten meat, we have canine teeth for eating meat, animals are meant to be eaten and so on. I personally believe that all of these 'arguments/reasons' are no reasons to eat meat. 

Yes, humans have eaten meat for tens of thousands of years and some of the teeth are shaped for eating meat but that is because of years of humans eating meat and evolving to eat meat more efficiently. It doesn't mean that I have to eat meat or that it is natural for ME to eat meat. 

As mentioned previously, I will answer more questions about vegetarian food and my experiences in my Q&A post on my main blog within the next couple of weeks. After reading this post keep in mind that these points are just my personal opinions and experiences. 

If you have any questions or veggie food recommendations then leave me a comment below!