28.2.13

Being Vegetarian

I'm not a vegetarian. I'm a lover of the meat, an eater of the flesh, happy to sink my teeth into a red and oozing steak or crunch a piece of crispy bacon and feel animal fats dribble down my chin. But for lent I'm vegetarian. So, "how is it going?" I hear you ask.

Well pretty well actually, as you can see from my opening sentence I'm hardly thinking about meat at all, chops, sausage, burger, sorry what? yes hardly thinking of meat at all. 

Cooking and eating at home has been easy, Using the wonder new cook book and eating plenty of pasta, lentils and noodles, rice and naan bread, potatoes and cheese, no trouble at all. 

Eating out however is a whole different kettle of fish quorn. I need to change the way I get lunch for a start. At work we have a canteen and until recently it did great food including a nice vege dish of the day but it's been taken over (to save money) and the food there is now just bought in (and not very nice, or very hot) microwaved meals; so I need to look elsewhere.Sometimes I remember and make a sandwich when I make lunch for DD but I'll be honest - I never really fancy the packed lunch I make myself, I don't know why, is that just me? Maybe I need a packed lunch partner - we both make a lunch then exchange it at work for a delightful surprise!? 
Any way, buying a vege lunch (eg sandwich, pasty, salad etc) seems fraught with difficulty. "How hard can it be?" you are thinking (unless you are a vegetarian - then you are nodding and muttering "See! See what we have to put up with!") and I thought the same. A cheese sandwich, an egg sandwich, tomato soup, a cheese and potato pasty, that can't be too tricky surely; but it seems that it is. I'm lucky if I can find anything some days, cheese and ham? why add the ham? egg and bacon? chicken salad? what is this? a meat eaters' charter? Today I gave up and caved in to eat a pot noodle. A POT NOODLE these are the depths I have sunk to, if I was a fish I'd have one of those glowing lights dangling in front of my face I've sunk so low.

So vegetarians, where do you 'grab a snack'? do you ever? is life as a vegetarian only possible if meticulously planned? I dread to think how vegans survive outside the safety of their own homes.


7 comments:

  1. Vicky Jones28/2/13

    a nice pot of pasta made at home, cous cous salad or rice salad perhaps?

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    Replies
    1. well ignoring the cous cous (it's so vile I'd rather eat my own leg) the problem is just that - I have to remember to bring something! Planning seems to be part and parcel of being a vegetarian. It's a carnivores' world it seems.

      Delete
  2. do you have a microwave at work? baked potato, baked sweet potato, top with cheese, rocket, tomatoes..
    also, homemade soup - tomato, mixed veg, parnip & corgette are my faves, a couple of minutes in the microwave or bring in a flask with nice big chunks of seedy bread slathered in butter, yummmm

    I also like quinoa with chopped stirfried veggies and cheese in it, again, microwave for a few minutes or bring in a widenecked flask.

    If you're having lots of nice veggie home made dinners, could you make a bit extra and use the leftovers for lunch?

    (((hugs))) you can do it!

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  3. Preparation is key I'm afraid! I eat fish but no meat I also can't eat dairy wheat or gluten!

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  4. I take sandwiches most days in routine life (work/college/whatever), and generally don't have any difficulty finding something to eat if not. Cheese or egg sandwiches seem to be available in most places where prepackaged triangle sandwiches are sold, and something slightly more adventurous (veg or cheese pasty, microwaveable burrito thing, etc) never seems to be far away. The main reason I don't become vegan is worrying about where exactly I'd get food from, as all the veggie food available places seems to include cheese or egg

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  5. I feel for you. My husband insisted we try a LOW CARB diet, so I can have all the meat I want, but no bread to put it on. You think it's hard to find a cheese sandwich? Try finding a no-bread sandwich! Seriously though, I had a vegetarian co-worker who would get lunch at McDonalds and actually order a cheeseburger with no meat.

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  6. I'm not a veggie but was going to suggest roast veg and cous cous but you're clearly not a fan of the little balls of ... actually, what is cous cous?! How about soup?

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