A kind of informal survey
As we all know well, people have a lot of misconceptions about what vegans eat and they automatically ASSume that if we make or eat it, something has to be wrong with and probably contains inedible products like genuine food and actual nutrients.
So, if an omni was looking at what you eat, what items would they assume you eat that you don't? What would other vegans/vegetarians think you would eat that you don't? What would you like to see yourself add to your regular diet choices?
For having messed with veganism and/or being an ovo-lacto for 30+ years...I don't like green tossed salad with or without dressing. I will only eat a green lettuce salad if there is nothing else available and that is usually in a restaurant that I will gag one down. I am also not a big fruit eater. I love summer peaches and melons and that is where it stops. I don't care for nuts and seeds and I actually rarely eat my own uncheese mix because I don't like the nuts. I can't abide sunflower seeds or peanuts or walnuts at all.
I'd like to see myself using more beans on a regular basis and in things other than bean burgers, which I am not particularly fond of.
Tofu. For some reason people think that if you are vegan, you must eat lots of tofu. I only eat tofu one of two ways: in a dessert (like chocolate or pumpkin pies), or as a breakfast scramble. Other than that, I don't appreciate it that much and I use a container maybe once every couple of months. My dad is always making fun of me (in a lighthearted way) about how I always trick him with tofu--but it's not true as I don't care for it all that much. He just sees tofu as an easy thing to pick on when it comes to veganism. I also think this may fit for something other veg*ns would assume I ate.
That's really all I can think of--I love green salads and vegetables and fruit and beans, so those are always fine options for people to assume I eat and make for me.
Right now, I'm tyring to dramatically increase my green leafy vegetable uptake simply because I know how heathy they are and very few people, including most vegans, eat enough.
yeah, tofu for me too. i don't much care for it.
and, brussel sprouts...don't much like them either...
other than that, i'll eat pretty much anything...
but, that's due more to my intrest in trying and experimenting with new things than anything else
Omni's around here tend to think that veg*ns eat gelatin. Un, no.
As for other vegans, well, really I'll eat about anything. Seitan, I guess. Can't find it in the store, and I'm tired of wasting ingredients because it never turns out right for me.
I probably need to eat more of those green leafy vegetables that everyone talks about. I like 'em, just never feel like messing with them.
1) Salad: I like a side salad a few times a week with dinner, but it's pretty rare that I'll willingly have a salad as a meal if I have other options.
2) Veggie Burgers: I don't mind them, but I can't remember the last time I bought a package of them for my own consumption at home. They're usually a fall back option at a restaurant for me.
I can answer mine for both omni's and other vegans,
tomatoes (unless their blended in a sauce), mushrooms, bananas (just the thought makes me gag :( ) and cauliflower. Oh, and kiwi fruit.
Other than that I'll eat any other vegetable or fruit, tofu, etc.
Mushrooms. A lot of people I know think that I like mushrooms because I'm a vegetarian. Source of protein, they say. You must be eating it. Blech! I've tried so, so, so hard to like mushrooms, but I just can't eat them. I've tried them raw on salad. Cooked on pizza. Blanched in soup. I can't even eat them in organic Prego! I don't know why I can't stand them, especially since I've made a serious effort to like them.
I suspect that a lot of omnis think that a lot of veg*ns eat mushrooms. You can tell from restaurant menus (in "mainstream" restaurants, anyway). Almost every menu item with the name "veggie something" in the title is slathered in mushrooms. *sigh*
I don't know why I can't stand them, especially since I've made a serious effort to like them.
Maybe because they're slimy? For me it's that and also because of the word fungus. Just automatically puts a negative image on them.
For me it's that and also because of the word fungus.
But Gus is such a Fun Guy!
Please excuse me. I think I need sleep.
If I never hear an omni point to the menu at a steak house or something and say "look! you can have a portabella steak!" again, it won't be soon enough. Just because it's "exotic" to them, as well as meatless, doesn't mean I'm not sick to death of it! At that point I'm like "Just point me to the bar!"
A lot of people think vegetarians only eat 'vegetables' which I think is hilarious....even family members who I've explained my diet to continue to ask me....'So all you eat is vegetables' and I'll say no, I eat fruit, veg, beans, nuts, etc......
And tofu..... they think we must be eating tofu all the time to be getting enough protein and I don't mind eating it here and there, but I definitely don't eat it every day or every week even.....
I at this point find it amusing, esp. with family, because the same people ask over and over.
What annoys me is 'You're skinny because you're vegetarian or you only eat vegetables' from relatives.... it's like no, because I eat healthily, not huge slabs of meat and butter like you! Also, I recently lost the rest of my 'baby weight' so everybody has been 'you've lost weight' and they always try to act like I don't eat anything....or make me feel bad because when I'm at their house for dinner I don't eat 'a lot' of what they've made because it's just not what I like to eat..... I've even had to say to them 'I don't have a problem with you eating meat so you shouldn't have a problem with me being vegetarian' and 'I shouldn't have to change my diet/ be guilted into eating something because of how others may feel about it.'
Anyways, that was a long post I don't feel like editing...... I'm tired
I work part time at a very unveg-friendly restaurant and when these young teeny bopper girls found out I was veg as they were eating a steak, they were like, "oh, sorry" as if I had a disease or something.
A few days later this other girl who found out was like, "wow, I never noticed that!" WHat, you never saw the big "V" written on my forehead?? What's to notice!?
They weren't sure if I ate pasta or not. As they are scarfing down ribs and the like they look at me in pity and say "none for you!"
I just laugh and say "I think I will be OK".
The other day they were eating leg of lamb and I pulled up my picture of Downy that I have in my vegweb gallery and left it on the laptop. At the same time I accidentally pulled out the speaker plug and blasted the whole restaurant with a loud buzzing sound, so I quickly shut it. I guess it was a sign that it wasn't the time to show them that picture! :P
http://vegweb.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-6644
One of the younger girls is interested in learning about veg diet (she approached ME) so I recommended some books and told her why milk and cheese weren't natural bi-products for humans-she asked! Maybe I will get a convert out of it.
Salad for me: it's just so horribly boring and I never feel satisfied after eating salad, no matter how many good veggies and different leaf lettuces I add. Omnis always tell me "Oh good, there's salad there you can eat!" and they act all excited about it, like they think I should be thrilled. ??? :P
I also don't eat tofu very much.
And I could always eat more green leafy veggies, too. :)
Hey Baypuppy, what post talked about figs??
I don't know why I can't stand them, especially since I've made a serious effort to like them.
Maybe because they're slimy? For me it's that and also because of the word fungus. Just automatically puts a negative image on them.
If your white button mushrooms are slimy, you're buying rotten ones or waiting too long to eat/cook with them. A good button mushroom should be creamy white, firm and not smell bad! With portobello mushrooms, they should be firm and not slimy and a light to medium brown color. If they are dark brown and slimy, they are spoiled. The only shiitake mushrooms I've cooked with have been the dried kind so I don't know what they should be like in their natural state. But probably not slimy!
http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=16859.0
i think it starts on page two. something about how the bugs go in and lay eggs and eat their way out or something. blah!!
but then i realized i was confusing figs and dates. i like dates. yumm, dates.
Wow, interesting. Thanks baypuppy! It's cool how nature works, but not sure I still like the idea of crunching down on insects and their sacs. :P Yay for dates too!! ;D
It took me a long time to come up with anything vegetarian that I absolutely hate; most things I can eat if only in small quantities. Beets! Hate them. I've tried cooking them a couple of different ways and they were still terrible.
It took me a long time to come up with anything vegetarian that I absolutely hate; most things I can eat if only in small quantities. Beets! Hate them. I've tried cooking them a couple of different ways and they were still terrible.
Oh, you are so right!! I bought some, and cooked 'em up. Sauteed with orange juice and brown sugar, I still had to make myself eat them. Even with all the yummy sweetness added to them they tasted like dirt to me!
TinTexas & Tkitty, I've never been a beet lover, but the roasted beet salad at Herbivore in San Francisco definitely made me a fan....it's really good. They serve it with a balsamic dressing. The roasting makes the beets really exquisite.....if you're ever in the Bay Area you should give it a try!
TinTexas & Tkitty, I've never been a beet lover, but the roasted beet salad at Herbivore in San Francisco definitely made me a fan....it's really good. They serve it with a balsamic dressing. The roasting makes the beets really exquisite.....if you're ever in the Bay Area you should give it a try!
Ugh. No way! You can keep em!
If you cook fresh beets, you have to leave some of the top on them when you cook them, about an 1-1/2 inches or so. Otherwise, you end up cooking out all the flavor. I am a fan of diced cooked beets with ribbons of the greens just wilted into them.
Beets have a decided earthy taste and are not for everyone. Don't be too upset that you don't like them, there are plenty of other veggies out there. Beets, in the grand scheme of things, are not all that good for you, not like other things. Neither is eggplant, mostly water and fiber.