The Vegetarian and Special Dietary-Lifestyle Thread

[Lily&Me]

It does look unappetizing. Always good to try new foods, though.

I worked with a foster parent once upon a time who was from Nigeria or someplace like that. She prepared a boiled, mashed root thing that she (and the foster children) scooped up with their finger and ate.

They loved it, she loved it, and she said it was highly nutritious. Who knew?

People eat all manner of insects, too. Fried, boiled, grilled, etc.

Just depends on where ya come from. Folks down south eat with great gusto those little critters that grow in the rice paddies and other muddy places. I think they call them crawfish.


Maggie

[Gene]

Originally Posted by Fly at Night

Maybe the wedding chef buggared it.


I think this bowl of mush is headed for the compost pile.

Carla,

I assume buggering means the same thing in BC as here, and I am still laughing at the visuals that came to me when I read that. I suppose you could have had your mush buggered too.

Gene

[Fly at Night]

Originally Posted by doug&maggie

It does look unappetizing. Always good to try new foods, though.

I worked with a foster parent once upon a time who was from Nigeria or someplace like that. She prepared a boiled, mashed root thing that she (and the foster children) scooped up with their finger and ate.

They loved it, she loved it, and she said it was highly nutritious. Who knew?

People eat all manner of insects, too. Fried, boiled, grilled, etc.

Just depends on where ya come from. Folks down south eat with great gusto those little critters that grow in the rice paddies and other muddy places. I think they call them crawfish.


Maggie

Hi Maggie,

I think we are spoiled in N. America. Our celebrity chefs are regaled as being "highly creative." Who couldn't create something magical with the best ingredients at hand? The most "creative" are those you spoke of - from third-world countries - and the challenges they face to keep a family fed.

I know I am a "foodie" but it did not come easily. Like a good meal, it takes time; the main ingredients being maturity, open-mindedness, and acceptance. When I think back to my Scandinavian grandmother who would go to great lengths to prepare a classic Sunday smorgasbord that I would not touch. My poor granny finally gave up. I was sent to the rumpus room with a T.V. dinner and Walt Disney. Ecstasy for an eight-year old kid, but I now wish I had some of her wonderful recipes.

I am curious about all cultures and their cuisine; my favourites are all the Asian ones, especially Japanese and Vietnamese.

I have heard of crawfish, and am really intrigued by Southern cuisine. We have never heard of "grits" up here.

Happy cooking!

[Fly at Night]

Originally Posted by Gene

I assume buggering means the same thing in BC as here, and I am still laughing at the visuals that came to me when I read that. I suppose you could have had your mush buggered too.

Gene

Gene, did you laugh at my bad spelling too? It's "taro root" not "tarot."

hmmmmmmm.....maybe my fortune lies somewhere inside that pile of mush that is now festering on the manure/compost pile.

[Crusty]

You've no doubt heard of hominy - which is corn kernals that have been soaked in lye water until they swell up really big and turn white. Grits are those hominy kernals which have been dried and ground up, and they're a great alternative to potatoes (I think anyway).

Crayfish down here are called crawdads or (closer to the Mississippi) mudbugs. They're like little lobsters with their own unique flavor, and the mental image of a pot of steaming hot mudbugs with new potatoes and corn cobettes being dumped out onto a butcher paper covered table makes my mouth water. A real coona$$ (cajun) sucks the juice out of the head before he eats the tail meat and then washes it down with a swig of ice cold Dixie beer. Only thing is that dish, like BBQ ribs and watermelon, is one of those that you should take off all your clothes to eat and then wash up with a water hose before putting your clothes back on after you're finished.

[Fly at Night]

Crusty, I really do prefer that kind of eatin'. It's up to your elbows, unpretentious, and really, really good! And yes, I have heard of hominy.

Vancouver (the urban centre closest to me at present) touts itself as a "destination city" for cuisine. I would agree with that; we have some world-class restaurants. But to tell you the truth, I am sick to death of another over-priced "towered" presentation - served by a waiter with an expression akin to "what's this bad smell in the room - it's definitely not the cuisine!"

Thanks for your elaboration on Southern cuisine. I'd like to try all of it. Another thing we do not have here are deep-fried pickles. I'm craving those (along with Texas barbeque). Something I have heard about a lot. "Barbeque" here is a bottle of Kraft barbeque sauce sloshed on a steak or piece of chicken.

[Gene]

Originally Posted by Fly at Night

Gene, did you laugh at my bad spelling too? It's "taro root" not "tarot."

I sort of noticed it and thought it strange, but I was having too much fun already.

Gene

[Fly at Night]

Oh boy. I just reread my first post and any inference was totally unintentional: ".....in the raw looks like a small potato with a bit of a hairy skin. It's harder than a potato and tougher to peel."

Why do I have this vision of Gene gingerly protecting those "family jewels?"

[mgriffrus]

Originally Posted by Crusty

Only thing is that dish, like BBQ ribs and watermelon, is one of those that you should take off all your clothes to eat and then wash up with a water hose before putting your clothes back on after you're finished.

Don't forget to wash your hands REALLY WELL before messing with your contacts!

We bought some boil today in anticipation of crawfish season starting up here! Although They don't really qualify for vegetarian cuisine.

I bet a chicken and sausage gumbo without the chicken and sausage may be okay, but it'll be hard to get a lot of good Cajun food without something somebody killed in the pot!

[Crusty]

You can add eggs for a gumbo protein enhancer. Crack em into the gumbo pot and let them boil in the juice (though it's stretching the envelope of the vegetarian theme). Maybe you could do similar with chunks of tofu.

You just reminded me of boudain. Now I'm getting a hankerin' and it isn't on my diet.

[mgriffrus]

Originally Posted by Crusty

You just reminded me of boudain. Now I'm getting a hankerin' and it isn't on my diet.

(I won't tell)

[Fly at Night]

Originally Posted by mgriffrus

Don't forget to wash your hands REALLY WELL before messing with your contacts!

We bought some boil today in anticipation of crawfish season starting up here! Although They don't really qualify for vegetarian cuisine.

I bet a chicken and sausage gumbo without the chicken and sausage may be okay, but it'll be hard to get a lot of good Cajun food without something somebody killed in the pot!

That's okay. I am not maniacal about it. I am enjoying this discussion about S. cuisine. Vegetarianism isn't about destroying cooking methods/flavour - it's about substitution.

For example, I understand Texas barbeque is all about the smoke. Anything from tofu to vegetarian "ground beef" could be substituted for the beef brisquet. It would still pick-up that wonderful smokey taste.

[Gene]

Originally Posted by Fly at Night

Oh boy. I just reread my first post and any inference was totally unintentional: ".....in the raw looks like a small potato with a bit of a hairy skin. It's harder than a potato and tougher to peel."

Why do I have this vision of Gene gingerly protecting those "family jewels?"

I sort of cringed when I read that too, but was still laughing from the sentence before it. Next you'll start a thread about sex in an Airstream.

Gene

[Fly at Night]

Originally Posted by Gene

I sort of cringed when I read that too, but was still laughing from the sentence before it. Next you'll start a thread about sex in an Airstream.

Gene

I did. The site almost crashed because of the rabid reply.

[Len n Jeanne]

Greetings from Bullhead City, AZ. We are here for gas, groceries, laundry, &c after a week near Death Valley NP & in the Mojave National Preserve.

Really disappointed in the quality of supermaket food in some of the places we're stocked up. Farm-raised, colour-added salmon, all the other fish defrosted from its "previously frozen" state, no decent sprouts in the produce section, meat loaded with additives to tenderize it, &c. And these are places like St. George, UT and Mesquite, NV!

Coming from Canada, I really have to limit my data roaming to emergencies due to the cost, but hopefully somebody in the US has invented an app for good health food stores, or even supermarket chains that carry good fresh unadulterated food, as a service to travelers.

Off to Lake Mead in a few days.

Jeanne

[Gene]

Jeanne (sounds good, spelled different),

We have found food in Canadian supermarkets to generally be better quality than here in the US. Even fruit from Cal. is actually ripe in Canada and not like the baseballs they sell here as tomatoes or the other tasteless Cal fruits and veggies. Utah is not a good place for anything but 1950's food.

Trader Joe's has stores all over Cal. and a couple in Las Vegas (I think). They are fairly small, but have a lot of better food and good prices. They are generally located in smaller shopping centers (lower rents) and often have bad parking for RV's, but we can usually figure out how to shop there. Check their website for locations.

I don't know if there are any Sprouts around there (another healthier chain), but Whole Foods (known unaffectionately as Whole Paycheck) is in lots of places. For the big chains, Kroger stores generally are better than others—Fred Meyers on the coast, King Soopers and City Market in Colo., but avoid Smiths in NM and Ariz. I haven't been in an Albertsons in many years, but they seemed to always have white bread type food only; Safeway has some decent stuff, but not as good as Kroger's chains.

Where else are you going? Maybe we can point you towards some other better markets.

Gene

[Len n Jeanne]

Gene, thanks for your good advice.

Just now gorging on Internet access after 2 weeks without it, save an hour in the frozen yogurt shop in Pahrump, NV. I'll see what I can find while we have wi-fi. I am familiar with the chain supermarkets you mention, except for Trader Joe's, but I know people speak highly of it. Towing the Bambi, we try to avoid bigger cities. We could go to Las Vegas from here, but just would rather avoid it.

Our plan is to spend a few days around Lakes Mead & Mohave, then head south to visit some snowbird friends in Yuma for a few days. On March 7, we have revs at Snow Canyon state park near St. George, UT; then several nights in Zion NP, then we head home for the True North Strong and Free via some friends in central Utah.

BTW, for anyone driving through Sandpoint/Ponderay, Idaho, near our area, we really like Yoke's supermarket. I don't think it is a chain, but it has good produce and a big "natural foods" section.

Bon appetit, y'all!

[NJtoNC]

ah ha!! I don't know how i missed this thread but this is just where we belong!

I've been veg for more than 1/2 my life. My husband is decidedly not. So a lot of our meals share common ingredients; burgers (his grass fed locally raised, my veg) tacos (me beans, him local Organic chicken) home-made whole wheat pizzas, chili (i make veggie chili and sautee some meat, either home grown pork or grass fed beef) and add the meat to my veggie chilie. Husband does eat more vegetarian meals no than when he was single; i'd say he eats veg at least 50%.

As a vegetarian reading this thread i do have a few comments;

yes, imitation meat is gross to both vegetarians and meat eaters. meat eaters want meat, vegetarians don't; what target market is imitation meat geared towards?!

Lots of vegetarians might try to persuade you that veg is the right thing to do. Most vegetarian meals can be healthier and higher *usable* protein; but if you love meat, why go through life making yourself suffer?

My philosophy is to know where my husbands meat comes from. meat is incredibly adulterated in this country. I will tell you things you really don't want to hear about your meat. If you care about yourself or your children or the planet, you should investigate where your food comes from.

Corporations don't care about your health; they care about profit. So why trust a corporation to ensure the safety or quality of your food? This is why you "Don't buy food from strangers".

my husband quit his [well paying] day job at 33 to become an organic farmer. We were raised in the suburbs in NJ & PA; we changed our lives because we were ashamed and astonished at the food system in this country.

LASTLY, to comment on earlier posts, Canada has must stricter regulations for their food. Your meal is only as good as the ingredients in it:

"You know they say.. sh*t in, sh*t out. Sh*t goes in, sh*t comes out"

[Fly at Night]

The Airstream Shake, Rattle 'n Roll!

I never feel like eating breakfast when I'm about to hit the road - too wound up!

Two hours later, I'm winging down the highway and start to feel sick - am in a sense "imparied." Not good.

So, came up with this "milkshake" which is fat-free, low in carbs and sugar, but calms the stomach and gives a boost of energy without taxing the Glycaemic Index.

I call it "The Airstream Shake, Rattle 'n Roll!"
Rx: One before Airstreaming

1 cup skim milk
1/4 - 1/2 cup fat-free plain or vanilla flavoured Greek yogurt
Splenda (about 1 T.)
Whirl in a blender until smooth

If you'd like to add some fruit, go ahead, but that will add extra sugar.

My favourite is the German chocolate version - 2 T. calorie-reduced hot chocolate mix with 2T. fat-free sour cream. (Photo below).

You can also add some powdered whey for a hit of extra protein if you'd like.

Calories/serving are less than 200 compared to 820 in a large McDonald's shake!

[Gene]

Originally Posted by NJtoNC

Lots of vegetarians might try to persuade you that veg is the right thing to do.

I've been trying to persuade my wife for more than a quarter century. I've had partial success—she eats veggie a lot of the time and now reads labels, but I'll never get her to completely switch (probably). I worry about the additives and other crap in processed foods and want to keep her from eating that stuff. She doesn't eat much of it, but who knows what an individual's tolerance is?

There are plenty of reasons people don't become vegetarians. One is, I think, the belief you are poor if you don't have meat with every meal. A lot of people learned that from their parents or grandparents. Immigrants often came here from countries where meat was scarce and thin people were poor. The reaction was to pile on the meat and the pounds.

The American diet is associated with many diseases (cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, obesity, etc., etc.) and it is hard if you love someone not to want them to become vegetarians. Once you try to switch, cravings for naughty foods are hard to resist. When I stopped eating red meat (39 years ago) every once in a while I had to have a foot long chili cheese dog—after a year or so, they looked disgusting. Then it took another 6 months to give up fowl and 3 more for fish. Even now a cheeseburger sometimes sounds good but then I come to my senses. Veggieburgers are usually pretty awful, but once every year or two I need to confirm that they are that bad.

Gene