Suggestions

[crazybikinchic]

I am having a problem with meat. I can not stand to look at it, especially the fat, or prepare it in any fashion, etc. It just grosses me out. DH and I have been discussing it and think that my body is telling me something and that I should start trying a semi-vegetarian diet. I am concerned about eating a balanced diet by doing this. Do any of you have suggestions about a book that I should get to help me with this? This is totally new to me and I want to make sure that I get what I need. Any help is appreciated.

[Zen]

Have you done any internet research?
This is a start-
http://weightloss.about.com/library/.../aa071100a.htm

[badger]

I can fully sympathize, I'm turned off by meat most of the time.

Although I'm not a full time vegetarian, I consider myself "mostly-veg". This book was really helpful when I was thinking about becoming veg (I lasted 6 months before an overwhelming craving for tuna salad, something I don't even like, made me fall off the wagon)

I notice that a newer version has come out.

The books are written by dietitians and they have great recipes to get things going.

There are tons of websites, articles, books, and I'm sure forums, to support you through this path.

Good luck!

[ehirsch83]

I don't have a book but I understand! I just started eating meat again 2 months ago after 5 months of no meat. My reason for not eating meat was the same as yours, my body was having a hard time with it- I didn't want it, it didn't taste good, I couldn't stand to look at it,etc. Then one day all of a sudden I wanted it again!. I do not have a book or website to give, but I will tell how I got more protein.
I added beans to my diet! All different types-cannolini, black beans, kidney beans, lentils,garbonzo,etc. I would have to say that a big chunk of my protein came from the bean family!

I also learned that while I don't like tofu, I love tempeh. Quinoa is also great!

So play around and see what works for you.

[Karma007]

Hey! I'm a vegetarian (nearly vegan) and am terrible with links,
but check out:

vegweb
vegetarian resource group (vrg)
peta (I know some of them are nuts, but they have some great info)

As a veg, I eat much better than I did as an omni. It has not interefered with my performance, and I feel great.

[msincredible]

I am vegan, have been for several years, and really like the book Becoming Vegan. It is all about nutrition, by the same authors as the Becoming Vegetarian book.

[shootingstar]

Article is not surprising on results of vegan diet vs. diet just limited to carbs and portion control for diabetics.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...andHealth/home

I realize that for meat eaters of fine dining that to have some fat in beef, pork dish gives it "taste" or a special richness I suppose.

But I've always had problems when seeing meat marbled with fat. I grew up on a diet where we obsessively cut off the fat before cooking.

As for 1 type of ethnic choice for going vegetarian or more strictly vegan...sometimes it's better to start with a few base dishes and build from there. I've only begun in the last 15 years to naturally cook without recipe in front of me, non-Asian vegetarian dishes. My tendency when I cook from my head and no measurement of ingredients, is to cook Asian vegetarian dishes. I would know how to use some Asian herbs and spices in a more harmonious natural fashion and create things out of my head.

My partner very naturally concocts all sorts of interesting salads and blended soups using root vegetables. Whereas I would be leaning on recipes to still understand when and how to use majoram, tarragon, bay leaf, etc. I think I understand only when to use fresh thyme and basil.

The other day, he told me he didn't feel comfortable doing a decent, creative stir fry for my birthday because he just didn't feel comfortable. I was a little surprised since we've been cooking together underneath the same roof for several years. But then it's not surprising.

It's too constricting for the palate to just limit oneself when being vegetarian for many years...to limit to 1 type of cuisine.

and oh, I will continue to always eat a bit of meat..but for past 10 years it has been low-fat and small amounts.

[OakLeaf]

I agree. I went through an Indian food phase when DH and I first got together. I cooked Indian 2-3 days a week for probably three years and never progressed beyond slavishly following recipes. If you pick one cuisine and stick with it, you have a hope of beginning to understand it and learning to cook creatively, or at least have a small repertoire that you can come down to when you don't have a recipe in front of you or just don't feel like the complication. Plus, any single cuisine is enough to fill most people's spice cabinet. And then there's freshness of the spices. Unless you have a good bulk shop where you can buy herbs and spices a tablespoon at a time, if you're cooking in too many different cuisines, you're using so little of each spice that they all go stale (or you have to keep throwing out and replacing them, not good either).

I should add that most spices come in 4-oz packages at the Indian grocery, sometimes larger. So you have to buy (and use or potentially discard) WAY more than you do when you're buying Eurocentric spices in 1/2 or 1 oz ziplocs. Again, a good bulk shop will have most of what you need to cook most Indian recipes, but things like asafoetida and curry leaves that you'll need often, and less common things like black cumin, amchoor, black salt, anardana, foenugreek leaves, or black cardamom, can be hard to find anywhere but an Indian grocery.

[shootingstar]

Well, Oakleaf unlike you, I know for certain I would need a cookbook for East Indian dishes. So I should clarify, that my natural, no-cookbook tendencies is Far Eastern, non-East Indian cuisine.

In my last job, I worked with a woman around my age, who did want to lose weight (she probably needed to lose at least 30 lbs.) but she seemed to have a tough time thinking or BELIEVING dishes completely outside her Eastern European confines, could even become part of her diet to help her lose weight. At lunch hr. I noticed her continuously surfing websites that used mayonnaise, and I'm sorry, other junk/non healthy/processed ingredients.

Her definition of dieting..I could tell was what she tried to switch for her snacks and offer me stuff that I turned down half of the time: rice cakes with carmelized sugar, granola bars with sugar, etc.

And remember this is living in a large city with a huge range of ethnic ingredient choices, not in a rural area in North America.

[cylegoddess]

Im with oak leaf! sorry to be vague( as I am born vague!) what I mean, is that most people I meet who go veggie get overwhelmed, by too much and quit. so its easy to pick one type to start! but order out too!
the hari krishnas have a great cook book that is easy and yummy.you can get it any any hari krishna kitchen( usally in bigger citys) or I bet, on amazon.
I think its called ;a higher taste