A question for vegetarians

Adrenochrome

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My daughter (16) recently announced she was a vegetarian as she thinks it cruel to eat animals, which on the face of it is fine except for one important fact, she doesn't like vegetables:suicide:

She has been eating all of this quorn stuff.

Anyway to get to the question, we were sitting discussing her vegetarianism when i asked if she will be eating eggs?

Yes she replied, to which i said surely it is crueller to eat a hens unborn child than it is to eat an animal that has at least lived a life?

Am i right or am i wrong?
 
Eggs farmed in the UK are actually unfertilised, in the sense, even if the chicken were to sit on it the egg will not hatch. Go to the link below for confirmation.

http://www.hhmi.org/cgi-bin/askascientist/highlight.pl?kw=&file=answers%2Fgeneral%2Fans_023.html

The process is sort of like eggs from a human female. Eggs are discharged at some point in the periodic cycle, whether they are fertilised or not. I hope this helps. So, the answer would be that you are wrong :)

I am a vegetarian too, and turned vegetarian for similar reasons to your daughter. Quorn is brilliant as a protein source and has much less fat than almost any meat or poultry so no need to worry there. She can also get protein from cheese and eggs.

The problem will be with her not eating vegetables. Maybe you should advise her of issues that may arise from vitamin and mineral deficiencies? Maybe she likes fruit? She could get her vitamins etc., from them, but she will have to eat greens for iron etc. Spinach is a great source. In any case, if she doesn't like eating vegetables, she would not have liked to eat them even when she was a meat eater, so that is not the problem I guess.

Also, seeing as she is a teenager, it may just be a fad or a phase and she may grow out of it!

@eviljohn
I understand your surprise, but the thing is, diet wise, there are alternatives to meat that are healthy, and have proven sustainable in the long term. I do not wear leather belts, buy leather bags, wallets or couches, but unfortunately, there is no practical synthetic or natural substitute for leather shoes. One needs to know where to draw the line with things like these. For example, with veganism, there is no evidence that it is a healthy diet in the long term which is why I, and many others are not vegan. If you are buying leather couches, belts, wallets then maybe you are a hypocrite because there are good alternatives (leather couches are horribly tacky anyway), but if you are for example a sports player, then there is no alternative for leather when it comes to shoes. If you're a man or woman buying calfskin boots then you're silly for paying over the top prices for something that doesn't look different and that is a selfish fashion choice, in which case it would be hard to take your cause seriously. I guess it's all about finding a practical alternative?

Sorry for the huge post!
 
Eggs farmed in the UK are actually unfertilised, in the sense, even if the chicken were to sit on it the egg will not hatch. Go <a href="http://www.hhmi.org/cgi-bin/askascientist/highlight.pl?kw=&file=answers%2Fgeneral%2Fans_023.html">here</a> for confirmation. The process is sort of like eggs from a human female. Eggs are discharged at some point in the periodic cycle, whether they are fertilised or not. I hope this helps. So, the answer would be that you are wrong :)

Interesting. I wasn't aware of that. :thumbsup:
 
Cook bacon all the time, nobody can resist the smell of bacon. It has converted many a Veg.
Err, no. ;) Four in this house (not including me) none ever bothered by the bacon smell. In fact they hate it! :D

No problem with unfertilized eggs. Cheese is fine if you pick up the non animal rennet type. There's loads of them now.

I would worry about the lack of veg. Our lot don't eat that much, but they do eat:- Beans, Peas, Tomatoes, spuds, Cucumber, lettuce for example. The way to get her to eat them is cook chillis, curry etc which either contain veg or have veg in the tortillas etc. They also love hummus and Gaucamole. These contain high levels of protein and vitamins.

Use TVP to cook chillis and Spag Bol.

I suggest these as they are meals you can cook for everyone and just change ingredients to suit.

One thing it does do, is encourage you to eat less prepared food!
 
One thing it does do, is encourage you to eat less prepared food!

This is one of the main things that really concerns me as i hate all pre-pepared meals, that and the fact that she is underweight and not gaining:(
 
Surely she must like mozzarella, cheddar etc.? Overkill makes a good point about things like spices etc. We cook a lot of Mexican and Indian food here. How about things like homemade pizza? They are really easy to make and you can go nuts with the toppings!
 
Surely she must like mozzarella, cheddar etc.? Overkill makes a good point about things like spices etc. We cook a lot of Mexican and Indian food here. How about things like homemade pizza? They are really easy to make and you can go nuts with the toppings!
Forgot about that! The kids love Pizza, and home made ones with cheese and tomato topped with tom slices, mushrooms peppers etc is a good way of getting some vits and protein.

I would encourage the making of meals (like curries, Chilli etc) that you can substitute veg, TVP or Quorn for meat products, as that way it makes life easier for you, and you can maintain a balanced diet. If you want a good TVP mince receipe, I have one that I use for meat and veg mince. Rich, but nice!:D Veg menus are not the bland things they were when the wife went vegetarian twenty five years ago.

A mate of mine (who isn't a vegetarian) cooks some fantastic vegetarian meals. But then he varies his families diet between veg only meals, fish, meat, etc anyway.

However, my oldest (15) is a faddy eater, as are her friends who aren't vegetarians. They all look like waifs to me. :rolleyes: The 15-18 period is a difficult time for a parent full stop.
 
I don't know the right answer, but I'm always surprised by vegetarians who wear leather and other animal products. It seems very hypocritical to me. :)

Agreed, almost as bad as the people in the late 80's who appeared to be vegetarian for nothing other than a bit of street cred(DLT).

I suppose there may be many vegetarians who choose not to eat meat for health reasons.
 
Agreed, almost as bad as the people in the late 80's who appeared to be vegetarian for nothing other than a bit of street cred(DLT).

I suppose there may be many vegetarians who choose not to eat meat for health reasons.
This has already been dealt with. There are no, to date, real alternatives to leather shoes.

TVP mince. (This is also great with meat mince)

Use 100-250 grams of TVP according to amount needed (ie for one or four/five).
Add one teaspoon of bisto, one tablespoon of veg gravy granules (Asda's are the best) or a veg stock cube, two desert spoons of soy sauce. Mix with enough cold water to cover the TVP, although depending on the final meal, as with meat mince you can make the mixture wetter or drier to taste. Make sure the bisto is well mixed in. Then gradually heat until bubbling. Not necessary to boil, as the TVP absorbs the water hot or cold. Then add two heaped teaspoons of Marmite and stir in. This makes for a really rich tasting mixture. Then add the TVP to whatever the dish is.

I use this for vegetarian:- Chilli, Cottage pie, Moussaka, Spag bol, Mince & onion pie etc.

Linda Mc's 'Home cooking' is great for veg dishes including some of the above. An xmas present for the daughter?
 
Err, no. ;) Four in this house (not including me) none ever bothered by the bacon smell. In fact they hate it! :D
I make an amazing (so I think anyway) Full English Breakfast. That'll soon change their blasphemous tone :D

We have a flatmate in halls here who eats loads of tofu. Yuk! Nothing against vegetarians... tofu is just so tasteless though!
 
aye, my ex stuffed tofu down like there was no tomorrow....wasnt a vegetarian as such, she just didnt like meat except fish.....once in a blue moon she might have lamb....

if the eating vegetables is a problem, the stir fry (not fryup!..lol) is the best solution....fun bright colour vegetables......mixed peppers, beanshoots, sugar snap peas (they rock, like fat mange tout but not as stringy), shrooms, egg noodles, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil (yummy stuff!), egg......takes 5 minutes to prepare, 5 minutes to cook.......bingo....also one wok to cook it!
lots of other veg you can add too, i'm just a little disorientated atm with a whopping headache so not sure what else i normally put in..lol
oh yeah, finely shredded cabbage is good, the white cabbage or red cabbage, not the normal green stuff....also shallots are brilliant instead of onion, slightly sweeter :)

anyway, if you get her a proper wok (asda, sainburys wherever, they do good decent size deep woks that are non-stick now quite cheap, just make sure the handle feels solid), a nice simple shaped wooden spatula (that way it can be left in the wok without burning and melting over the food like plastic ones..lol) and show her how to do it, i bet she'll end up cooking all her own food most days in it.....heh.......

quick guide...

heat toasted sesame oil in wok at full temperature till the oil runs very quick (best to prepare veg first as once it gets full temp it will smoke the oil and ruin the non-stick coating if nothing else is put in..lol)

then add extra watery veg like onion/shallots and beansprouts...

cook for a minute or so, constantly moving the food around, dont let it sit still for more than a few seconds

add sugar snap peas or other similar hard coated veg (ie mange tout, minicorn cobs), cook for another minute or so

then add the rest of the veg (ie peppers, cabbage etc) and cook for around 2 minutes

then add the egg noodles and a few hefty splashed of soy sauce....keep moving or noodles will burn, cook for 1 minute like this....

then make a hole in the centre of the mix around 3in diameter and inch deep or so.....add 1 (or if cooking a big mix for a couple of people) or 2 eggs, pre-mixed up, not whisked like for omelette, just use a fork to mix the yolk and white, in to the hold, let the whole thing sit for about 20 seconds, then twist the spatula in the egg mix but dont disturb the noodle/veg mix, do this a few times like scrambling an egg almost for around 30 seconds...

then just mix the whole lot up, dont worry if the egg wasnt cooked through, you need to move the noodles or the ones touching the wok will burn, keep mixing it around for a good minute until it looks like the egg will have been cooked....

and bingo, you get a good, solid, healthy meal with protien etc.....easy to cook, fun to cook tbh.....and you can vary it in lots of ways by adding flavours or removing them....just pick up lots of unusual bottles and spices etc :)
 
I make an amazing (so I think anyway) Full English Breakfast. That'll soon change their blasphemous tone :D

We have a flatmate in halls here who eats loads of tofu. Yuk! Nothing against vegetarians... tofu is just so tasteless though!
So do I, it doesn't. ;)

Tofu is foul muck as a rule. As Krish says though, it's ok when spiced properly.
 
I don't know the right answer, but I'm always surprised by vegetarians who wear leather and other animal products. It seems very hypocritical to me. :)

It depends on a person's reasons for being veggie though. If someone's against animal cruelty, it would be hypocritical to wear leather. Some people are vegetarian because they don't like the thought of chewing through rubbery veins and squeaky bits of gristle etc.

You don't have to put a leather jacket in your mouth!
 
You can be against animal cruelty and still wear leather. What if the cow died a natural death? Nothing wrong with using it for shoes is there?
 
Ahhh teenagers! "I won't eat meat because its cruel, but I will eat eggs" - which have almost certainly been factory farmed. Nothing much is more cruel than factory farmed eggs or factory farmed anything really. Take her out to the country and show her some lambs gambolling in the countryside and ask her how cruel that is.
And to all those people who mentioned bacon, I started fantasizing about bacon sizzling gently in the frying pan, the wonderful aroma wafting gently, served up with a fresh, fried egg (free range), in a buttie of real butter and warm brown bread and maybe a sliver of mature cheddar and a dollop of ketchup inside, washed down with a glass of Abbott Ale, and I realised that lunchtime is a way off yet and so I curse you all for making me hungry!
 
This thread has just made me want food now!

A big fat bacon sarnie, with HP sauce (none of that red muck) should do the trick. :thumbsup:
 

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