I recommend any fake product they try to make look and taste like meat.

This is the intersection of animal ethics and human health.

I completely agree with you fwiw. You don't need to go vegetarian to avoid the health risks that may come with "conventional" mass produced meat/eggs/dairy - you can just buy from a local more humane source. I get that it is more expensive, and I suppose

3. Economic reasons

should be added to my list.

Good random recipe generator here. **** is the f word. The site uses that word liberally so NSFW I guess.

http://www.whatthe****shouldimakefordinner.com/veg.php

Southern Indian food is vegetarian and delicious.

Crock pot soups and stews are quick, cheap and easy.

I don't get the appeal of fake bacon. If you miss meat so much that you want fake bacon, just go buy the real stuff.

For the record, I am not vegetarian but I try to hit up the farmers market at the marketplace every so often and get fruits and veggies and other foods from the local farmers and producers. Looks like we agree on this. +1

Amazin, do you cook much or eat out most of the time?

I usually eat at home

Cooking at home is pretty key (depending on where you live). As others said before, plenty of "normal" things can be vegetarian. Making them vegan often requires more effort and sometimes more heavily processed foods (soy based cheeses and the like), but can certainly be done.

I've been vegetarian for 15 or so years and vegan for 5ish. Started out eating mac n cheese and egg and cheese sandwiches all the time and had a generally ****ty and unhealthy diet. Most times I'll cook a big or more complicated meal once or twice a week and eat leftovers for a few days. A big caserole, a big pot of curry, etc. etc. A lot of the other days get filled in with rice and beans or pasta with some fresh local (or frozen) veggies added in. Leftovers for lunch or hummus and the odd PBJ. Lots of fruit, some salads. Breakfast is often either toast, oatmeal, or granola. If you go the vegan route, play around with the different "milks." Soy isn't for everyone, I drink/use a lot of rice milk.

I definitely recommend exploring ethnic foods (particularly asian ones) that are either mostly vegetarian/vegan or can easily be made so. Madhur Jaffrey has some great vegetarian cookbooks and Isa Chandra Moskowitz has some good vegan ones.

B12 and some omega fatty acids can be tough to get if you're not real good about your diet, so I do take vitamins too

Sorry to ramble. Good luck. Like anything else, you have to pick what's right for you. Most reasonable (or worthwhile) people won't give you too much flack provided you afford them the same courtesy. I haven't had too many arguments and work with people who live/grew up on/ manage dairy farms. I don't pick fights or start ****, and neither do they.

steve

I like almond milk. Pretty meh on hemp and rice. Def. experiment, good advice.

Steve, thanks for the detailed write-up.

Are dairy farms really the horror shows I see on animal welfare videos?

the health reasons don't exist

what it ends up being is someone goes from some horrible 3 double whopper 2 sticks of butter diet to a balanced vegetarian one and is like OMG so much healthier, you can have absolutely horrible vegetarian/vegan diets(french fries are vegan after all)

it's never comparing balanced diet with meat vs balanced without

.

Veg since 1988, and this is pretty damn spot on. Health benefits score far better than ethical reasons, though.

Has to be drained and made properly. Takes several hours.

Here the deal with me and I think many others,this goes for other meats besides just bacon you can purchase as well someone mentioned Morningstar products ( Hamburgers, chicken, hotdogs, corndogs sausage ect ) I enjoy those as well.


The thing is many of us have grown up eating and enjoying the taste of meats but want to stop having it in our diet to avoid consuming cholesterol. So while I'd love to go purchase and enjoy eating a baconator at Wendy's I'd rather keep my arteries as open as possible and will settle for a soy substitute.

try being a vegetarian from moment you've been born and never tried a single piece of meat in your life (or voluntary tried it, prob have had it in some dodgy meal somewhere in my life). People just can't get their heads round it

I think i have a much worse diet than anyone i know though which is a shame. But want to change, if anyone can recommend their fav meals, might give them a go

Fake bacon is very very meh, if it tastes anything like real bacon, never understood the rave for it.
Also, how much does fake meat actually taste like real meat? (ive only ever asked meat eaters and obv they're biased to **** or dont want to admit it so not sure?)

My nutty parents eat these, and they don't taste half-bad. But man, they process the **** outta that, and that can't be very healthy either.

Meh, just take some statins. Or eat a few grapefruit.

Reducing red meat from your diet in almost always a health positive given the amount of red meat eaten in the US, regardless of how balanced your diet is. In terms of health outcomes, vegetarian is about equivalent to regular fish eaters or red meat 3 times a week or less. Once you go over 3 times a week, or if you start including non lean, processed or fried meat, your risk of cancer and heart disease as well as all cause mortality goes up significantly even when controlling for everything else.

Red meat is bad for you, especially if it's at all processed. It's healthier being a vegetarian or fish eater.

No. Humans are designed to eat meat so eat it!

You are going against nature and all gods.

I'm sure some are but most aren't, given limited first (and 2nd) hand knowledge.
It depends?

edit: basically i think its like anything else. you're gonna have people who try to do the right thing and people who don't. where you think the true percentage lies probably depends on your overall view of humanity.

Regardless, there aren't many old dairy cows, and most become cheap meat after a few years.

I've heard the healthiest diet is what the Japanese eat and that includes fish and modest amounts of red meat. So for those saying they went vegetarian purely for health benefits, I would argue it isn't that healthiest choice one can make.

according to many researches diets with
"low-fat diets rich in fish, lean protein, vegetables, fruits and beans" give longest life expectations. Okinawa, Mediterranian etc.



To OP:
I have been vegetarian for 15 years (for ethical reason), I'd recommend trying all different indian dishes. Bean dishes are simple (tacos/tortilla). Falafel is really good, you can probably buy those frozen. They go well with either pita bread of just rice. Cheese pizza is still tasty and unhealthy. Can't really help you with specific frozen foods since you are probably from US and I have no idea what is offered over there.

I don't know how serious you want to be? Personally I eat cheese, eggs and drink milk but make sure not eat any animal-based products which have killed animals (well, it is bit naive but it is fine). So I avoid anything with gelatin, don't really eat at thai-/other southeast-asian restaurants since many of their foods are done to chicken- or fish-based broth.

Check out what supplements you should take, many vegs don't have enough sources of Vitamin D. Although being vegetarian makes life bit annoying occasionally, it also makes me happier as I don't have to question or regret my decisions.

What is a good vegetarian alternative to fish?

Mussels and oysters.

Actually I'm not 100% sure those are vegetables, but they basically just sit there, right? idk.