Be a vegetarian this Easter!

[Robbie]

I'm surprised by what you said LR.  It's not difficult to make a simple veggie meal - cauliflower or macaroni cheese for example, with some potatoes and salad or green beans. You can buy that sort of stuff ready made to go in the freezer and it's not bad.

As for fads, most people have them from time to time but deciding to be a vegetarian as a mature adult is not usually a fad. It might not last if other people go on about it, taking the piss and criticising - in that case she might feel depressed & stop eating altogether. .

[Rhiannon]

Especially when it sounds like the whole family have been roped into the eye rolling ‘isn’t mummy stupid’ thing.

Maybe being vegetarian is something she’s always considered but not had the courage to attempt before.

The drip drip drip of put downs is depressing.

[Robbie]

Yes! That's what I was getting at when I said she might stop eating altogether.

It's also inhospitable in the extreme not to provide a meal for a vegetarian when it is so easy to do.  Even a mushroom omelette with some salad or veg would do.

I've imagined Littleroses  as a type of earth mother/grandmother person so this came as a great surprise. However, I don't want LR to feel 'got at', I've said me bit & will move on.

(Jacket potato with cheese and beans and a side salad is lovely. Goodlife sausages made of cauliflower and mature cheddar with truffle oil are gorgeous  .)

[floo]

I would never describe myself as an 'earth mother' ye gods, what a ghastly thought! 

People on-line make assumptions about me, but if they met me in real life I think they would be surprised. I get on fine with my children/grandchildren. I am not afraid to say what I think even if it doesn't always make me popular, similarly they tell me exactly what they think of me too, which is fine, I have no problem with that at all.

I am not a lovey dovey type of person, but the kids know I care and help them out whenever there is a need financially, which is much appreciated. I used to be a hands on granny too when the grandchildren were younger.

My husband's disability was not in our game plan for marriage, so it came as a massive shock. As I have said before I have stepped up and looked out for the guy since it happened in 2006, knowing full well he would have consigned me to a home tout suite. However, if he becomes any worse, like being unable to attend to his needs or gets dementia like his older brother, I would definitely consign him to a home. I don't feel guilty about that, I have a right to my life too.

I am far from perfect, but I would not wish to be any different, as I wouldn't be me.

[Sriram]

Yeah...but as long as you don't look down of vegetarianism...that's all right I suppose.

I know some people (westerners & Indians) who believe vegetarianism is a lot of nonsense....only for wimps.  Eating meat is macho.

Some Christians also disapprove of vegetarians because they believe that God has intended people to eat meat.

[Robbie]

Yet human beings started off vegetarian! I've never heard Christians saying God intended us to eat meat but it doesn't surprise me. I suppose it comes from Bible stories - fatted calves, red heifers, lamb, fish and all the creatures that went into the ark.

It's a choice, quite a healthy one too if done properly.

[floo]

Yet human beings started off vegetarian! I've never heard Christians saying God intended us to eat meat but it doesn't surprise me. I suppose it comes from Bible stories - fatted calves, red heifers, lamb, fish and all the creatures that went into the ark.

It's a choice, quite a healthy one too if done properly.

Have you any evidence supporting that statement?

[Sriram]

Yet human beings started off vegetarian! I've never heard Christians saying God intended us to eat meat but it doesn't surprise me. I suppose it comes from Bible stories - fatted calves, red heifers, lamb, fish and all the creatures that went into the ark.

It's a choice, quite a healthy one too if done properly.

All Abrahamic religions believe that meat should be eaten. It probably has something to do with the lamb being offered to God as sacrifice instead of Isaac (or Ishmail)...which is then eaten. Jews believe that burnt offerings made to God should be eaten.

It probably has a lot to do with the fact that the Abrahamic religions originated in the Middle east where agriculture was much more difficult than rearing animals. Eating sheep and goats was perhaps the default thing to do. 

[Harrowby Hall]

Yet human beings started off vegetarian!

Like LR, I would like to know the provenance of this assertion.

My understanding is that Lucy, Australopithecus afarensis, born about 3 million years ago - had dentition not greatly different from our own and quite likely ate plant material and animal flesh. It has been suggested that the presence of fossilised  turtle egg shells nearby indicates that she was searching for eggs when she died.

[Rhiannon]

All Abrahamic religions believe that meat should be eaten. It probably has something to do with the lamb being offered to God as sacrifice instead of Isaac (or Ishmail)...which is then eaten. Jews believe that burnt offerings made to God should be eaten.

It probably has a lot to do with the fact that the Abrahamic religions originated in the Middle east where agriculture was much more difficult than rearing animals. Eating sheep and goats was perhaps the default thing to do.

I used to be a Christian and I did find this attitude among some Christians (a minority). Not because of the sacrifice of the lamb specifically, but because of a belief that it was an ingratitude not to eat meat which was a gift from God.

I and some of my Christian friends were vegetarian and for us it was an expression of our faith as well as a lifestyle choice. At the time it was hard to find decent humanely reared meat and we felt that it went against the idea of 'stewardship' (caring for God's creation) to eat factory farmed produce.

Looking back on it now I realise that the part of me that I was denying (my pagan/panthesim) was having an influence. 

[Rhiannon]

Like LR, I would like to know the provenance of this assertion.

My understanding is that Lucy, Australopithecus afarensis, born about 3 million years ago - had dentition not greatly different from our own and quite likely ate plant material and animal flesh. It has been suggested that the presence of fossilised  turtle egg shells nearby indicates that she was searching for eggs when she died.

I would have thought in the absence of farming meat eating would have been necessity for survival.

[Dicky Underpants]

Yet human beings started off vegetarian! I've never heard Christians saying God intended us to eat meat but it doesn't surprise me. I suppose it comes from Bible stories - fatted calves, red heifers, lamb, fish and all the creatures that went into the ark.

It's a choice, quite a healthy one too if done properly.

The Miocene apes may have been. As soon as humanoid branching had occurred, there is evidence of meat-eating and perhaps cannibalism. According to Prof Raymond Dart, Konrad Lorenz, Desmond Morris et al., anyway. People like Leakey have disputed this grim perspective on human evolution, and the evidence is controversial, but there are still strong arguments.

[Sriram]

Some more...
 
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/vegetarian-family-comfort-food-recipes

[floo]

Some more...
 
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/vegetarian-family-comfort-food-recipes

No thanks, those veggie recipes would definitely upset my stomach, BIG TIME!

[Sriram]

No thanks, those veggie recipes would definitely upset my stomach, BIG TIME!

Its all in your mind . You just don't like the idea of vegetarianism. 

You should start getting used to it. Its likely to grow in the coming years.

[Maeght]

No thanks, those veggie recipes would definitely upset my stomach, BIG TIME!

What in those recipes would upset your stomach?

[floo]

Its all in your mind . You just don't like the idea of vegetarianism. 

You should start getting used to it. Its likely to grow in the coming years.

It isn't all in my mind at all, there are certain vegetables and fruits which upset me in my old age.

[Aruntraveller]

Jerusalem artichokes, Littleroses, Jerusalem artichokes.

[Nearly Sane]

Fava beans?

[floo]

Jerusalem artichokes, Littleroses, Jerusalem artichokes.

YUCK

[floo]

Fava beans?

Never heard of them.

[Dicky Underpants]

Never heard of them.

They are broad beans, which apparently you have an intense aversion to (your post #34 in "Why we garden")
'Fava' is the term the Americans use, which is originally an Italian word (from the Latin 'faba')

[floo]

They are broad beans, which apparently you have an intense aversion to (your post #34 in "Why we garden")
'Fava' is the term the Americans use, which is originally an Italian word (from the Latin 'faba')

Yes of course they are, ghastly things too. They nearly killed our adopted DS son when he was a baby. He has a blood condition, rare to the UK,  we knew nothing about. I gave him some of the beans, which are a no no for anyone with this condition. 

[Robbie]

Morning all!
For the veggies, something I have discovered, had a few times now:

Higgedy Pie - cauliflower cheese with ciabatta and thyme crumble.

Absolutely lovely, they do other flavours too - feta and spinach etc, so far i've only had the cauliflower one.  I will try out others eventually.

Nice with new potatoes or chips and salad with coleslaw.  The pastry surrounding is quite light and the topping is crumble.  Yum!

[floo]

No thanks!