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the veggie diaries
Being Vegetarian: One Year On
June 20, 2018
It’s been about a year since I made the switch in my diet and became vegetarian. In this time I have learnt so much, and while when I initially set out on this journey I thought that it would be interesting to share it on here that eventually took a back seat. Mainly because I felt it didn’t fit with the content that I was creating, but also because I seem to give up on ever project I ever set out on.
However, I have recently come to the conclusion that this is my blog and I can and will share whatever I want on it. For this reason I thought I would share my journey with vegetarianism one year on and the ups and downs that have come along with living this lifestyle.
Without further ado, here goes my journey with vegetarianism.
To begin with the main reason that I wanted to become vegetarian was my health, red meat was making me ill and so without a doubt it was time to cut that out of my diet for my own benefit. There was no point sitting by a toilet vomiting for an hour after eating something when there were so many foods out there that would just leave me feeling full and healthy. I was also never one to be craving meat, while my family use it a lot in their cooking it was never something that I really wanted (plus raw meat fully grosses me out and I didn’t like preparing it at all).
This also probably had something to do with the fact that I worked at McDonalds for a year, watching food be prepared at such a vast quantity in a mad environment like that kind of put me off all in all. There was something so strange about it and I swore to myself that when I left I would cut down my meat consumption.
Another thing that pushed me to want to stop eating meat were the huge amount of documentaries and facts I have learnt from these films about the industry and treatment of animals. If you are wanting some suggestions of documentaries to watch then Cowsipricy is a great one to start with, alongside Rotten and Food Choices which are all on Netflix and are so insightful into the meat and dairy industry along with the food industry as a whole.
Since becoming vegetarian I have also becoming a lot more conscious about the different foods that I consume (eg I don’t use anywhere near as much milk as I used to in my daily routine). This is hugely because of what I have learnt through reading, watching these kinds of documentaries and generally making much more conscious and ethical decisions.
Having several vegan and veggie friends prior to my diet switch made it a lot easier, they were always there to give me tips on what is and isn’t suitable for the lifestyle and this was a godsend. I would text them and ask for vegetarian recipes and what they thought was the best substitute for something while in the middle of the shopping isle and they were nothing but helpful, this really did encourage me to continue with the lifestyle.
Eating out as a vegetarian was strange to begin with, mainly because I was always the one to play it safe when eating out, always ordering a burger and fries because they can’t really mess that up can they? Then came me getting ill from consuming red meat and me making this switch, so burgers (or at least meat based ones) were off the table.
You’ve probably seen the meme style tweets from vegetarians and vegans about eating out being something along the lines of fries for starter, main and dessert. For the most part that is what it was like to start with (though fries for desert is a no no when ice cream and cake exist, lets be real). Especially because when I ate out it tended to be with friends and more often than not it would be in a fast food environment. They would grab a box of 20 nuggets to share and I would just have fries and a diet coke.
Yet, you can and will very often find some of the best food in restaurants is veggie friendly. Whenever I go out for dinner with my parents they will always comment on how nice my food looks and how bright it is too (considering it usually consists of a lot of veggies and fresh ingredients). I love things such as veggie ramen, stir fries, curries and burgers and it is so encouraging to know that is is purely good things that have gone into it in differentiation to meat.
Over the past few months I have however realised how little I even eat ‘fast food’ anymore, probably because in Holland a McDonalds is literally only €3 cheaper than eating out in some restaurants and tastes like shit. This has really helped in encouraging me to cut that kind of processed food out of my diet and begin think more about consuming fresh foods instead. My skin and body have been thanking me so much for this change, though every now and then I do still find myself cycling to McDonalds for a McFlurry because they’re just too good to resist on hot days.
Though I will for sure be doing a full post on this once I’m back in England for good, here are some of my fave places to eat out as a veggie! Wamagama, they do such a good veggie cats curry; Nandos, sounds strange but their beanie burger is a winner in my books; Chipotle, their burritos are everything; and last but for sure not least Wetherspoons - or as my dad likes to call it, the death of the local pubs - has so many veggie and vegan options.
Once I had gotten over eating out and working my way around the different menus life wasn’t so hard. I never was one to ‘crave’ meat and to be honest the only time that I may end up thinking meat is a good idea is when I’m off my face drunk and suddenly chicken nuggets while in McDonalds at the end of a night out seem like the cure of the state I have found myself in. Luckily I have friends that manage to convince me that I don’t need nuggets in my life.
I think one of the mot rewarding things about being vegetarian is how much it has influenced me, it has helped me gain confidence in myself and made me more aware of the foods and products I am purchasing. Since being veggie I have also been trying my hardest to purchase cruelty free products to become much more ethical and generally do my part for helping fight against animal cruelty, I am always looking for dupes and actively trying to avoid shopping in places that are known for their animal testing, though again I think this is something I will be doing another post on in the future.
Anyway, basically this is a post saying that being vegetarian is the best thing that I could have done for myself. My body is thanking me in so many ways, I have found myself having so much more energy and my skin has cleared up so much too.
Super Greens Pasta Recipe
January 19, 2018
This recipe is super simple and straightforward and makes a great comfort meal at the end of the day, after all there's nothing more comforting than carbs, right? You can easily adjust the amounts of ingredients for how many people you are cooking for, or even cook enough to have leftovers for lunch the next day.
Recipe
Ingredients
1 Bag of Green Beans
1 Broccoli
1 Bag of Pasta
1/2 a Tub of Almonds
2/3 of a Tub of Vegetarian Pesto
Creme fraiche
Step by Step
Step One: Bring a pot or water to the boil and add a bag of pasta, leave it for 15 minutes.
Step Two: Start to prepare the veg, chop up the green beans into pieces that are roughly 2cm in size and the broccoli into small pieces too.
Step Three: Start to bring a second pot or water to the boil (this one will be for the veggies).
Step Four: Chop up the almonds and put them in a small bowl to the side, these are not crazily needed at this point.
Step Five: Pop the veggies into the pot and boil for about seven minutes.
Step Six: In a bowl, mix together the pesto and crème fraiche to make a paste sauce, if the consistency is too thick you can also add a splash of milk into the mix.
Step Seven: Drain the pasta and put it back into the pot, mix in the pesto sauce and then add in the veggies too.
Step Eight: Put into bowls or plates and then sprinkle a small amount of the almonds to garnish the dish.
The Veggie Diaries: Pesto
September 25, 2017
Wait.. Pesto isn't veggie?
Since turning vegetarian I have been searching packages left right and centre for the little sign to confirm to me that the food I am eating is able to cater to my diet, one of the main foods that shocked me not being vegetarian was parmesan cheese. Yes, thats right, the best kind of cheese to put on top of your pasta is unfortunately not vegetarian. This is because it contains calf rennent, meaning that it is unsuitable for vegetarians. Sadly enough, this means most pesto's which are on the shelves of supermarkets are therefore unsuitable for vegetarians too due to the fact that a key ingredient in these pesto's is parmesan cheese. It wasn't until I read an article by the guardian (link here) that I realised the full extent of which this misconception and thought that all cheeses are vegetarian has reached, if you're interested then I definitely recommend it as a quick 5 minute read!
Thankfully, there are vegetarian pesto options out there, you just have to do a bit more searching for them, I have done a little round up of some of the vegetarian and vegan pesto options to help you find them!
Sacla Italia Free From Pesto is vegan friendly and costs £2.50 at Tesco. They also do a vegetarian version, of the pesto too!
Another good brand is Meridian, who create a range of ‘free from’ products including pesto. This costs £1.99 and tastes great!
Moral of the story is always check for the signs to show that what you're eating is vegetarian and also look out for meals in restaurants which advertise parmesan as a vegetarian ingredient, as unfortunately it definitely isn’t.
(Credit for the illustration goes to the artist, I am unsure of who it is by as I found it on Pinterest.)
The Veggie Diaries: Installment One
September 04, 2017
Since turning eighteen I decided to make a change in my life, this being taking the leap of becoming a vegetarian. I was never someone who regularly ate meat as it was, I had been cutting back on the amount that I consumed for quite a while and so I saw it the perfect point in my life to cut it out all together. I come from a family that eats vast quantities of meat and so having to explain to them that I was cutting it out of my diet was a strange conversation but nonetheless they have been completely supportive of my decision.
While everyone obviously goes veggie for their own reasons I thought I would share a few of my personal reasons, and create a little series on my blog called ‘The Veggie Diaries’ (the name will probably change once I find a better one) and share my experiences, recipes and a heap more stuff. If this is something that interests you then welcome to The Veggie Diaries, if not then you obviously don’t have to read it!
A lot of peoples first reaction when I tell them that I have converted to being a vegetarian is ‘why?’ and I thought I would take the time to explain my motives, while perhaps opening some peoples eyes to the different reasons. My reasons are like a lot of peoples, it was a very moral based decision that was educated through documentaries, research and knowledge passed down by friends. However, I also discovered that red meat had started to make me immensely ill each time that I consumed it, leading me to vomit which is something that anyone within their right minds would want to avoid.
By cutting out red meat and already eating hardly any meat as it was a friend of mine asked ‘why don't you just go vegetarian?’ to which I responded ‘it’s too hard, I can’t do it!’. But little did I realise how easy it really is to give up meat, it has been well over a month now and I haven't touched a single piece, and other than the occasionally craving for a bacon sandwich (which can easily be subsided with some grilled halloumi) I honestly don't have any desire to eat any meat. Not only this, but there are so many veggie substitutes and options for eating out (even Nando's does several veggie options on its menu) that it is easier than ever to become a vegetarian and still eat in public.
So, after being proved wrong that these things are easily done as long as you have the willpower to not eat it I began to explore options for eating out. My friends and I are self confessed Wetherspoons addicts - and my order was always the same however I couldn't really order a hot dog with my new lifestyle change - and so I decided to try their veggie burger. This veggie burger is my favourite that a lot of places offer, add a bit of mayo and a pitcher (or three) of sex on the beach and I'm sorted for the night.
By being vegetarian and not consuming meat I am able to proudly say that I am contributing much less to animal cruelty (I would say I have completely stopped contributing but I haven't changed my lifestyle to cruelty free/vegan just yet), I am also stopping helping to contribute to global warming, deforestation, over kill, and many other issues that impact the world through the meat industry.
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