BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Vegetarian What's Your Biggest Vegetarian Challenge?

What's your biggest challenge as a vegetarian or with becoming one?

The cost of food, My son and his family are Vegans. I would love to eat the way they do But it cost so much I have a hard time just trying to eat healthy, Because the cost of food

Hi Rosie,

I know up close and personal how the cost of healthy foods can be overwhelming and even obscene at times. I've experienced my own budgetary pinches in times past and I think I may have some solutions for you, but first so that I know that we're on the right page together...

Tell me...

What type of things does your son and his family eat?

And even more relevant questions would be:

1. What types of foods do you want to eat?

2. If I may ask, what budget would be a reasonable fit for you to work within?

If I can get those answers I may be able to help troubleshoot this process with you and come up with some suggestions that'll knock your socks off. It may be wishful thinking, but I'm up for the challenge. How 'bout you?

I think it's possible that with a few considerations and adjustments you may be able to eat a pretty good vegan diet everyday.

I think we'll call this one:

Operation : Eat Great Cheap

Let's have some fun with this one.
We'll start a new topic on it.

Hi Jason, They eat NO animal at all, No eggs,No milk, they drink soy i believe
As For myself i get the veggie cheese, hot dog, burgers, i love salads, beans, whole grain cereals, no added sugar, 12grain whole Wheat breads. i hate to cook so making meals i don't do for myself.I am on a very tight budget and have less than 150.00 to spend on food for the month. i would like to buy more fresh fruit but buying fruit i have to give up something else. oh my, i want to eat healthy to be healthy,

Okay...

This is going to be fun! You've given me a few challenges here Rosie, but I'm up for the task.

The $150.00 budget is going to be I think a lot easier than the hating to cook part; but let's see if we can even tackle that successfully.

I'm going to need to ask you some more questions to get a full picture of what we can and cannot create in the midst of this program we've gotta flesh out.

What do you like to eat most?

When you say you 'hate' to cook how deep does that hatred run?

Is it to the point that you don't even like to step foot in the kitchen kind of hate?

Is it the I won't even boil water kind of hate?

What will and will you not do when it comes to food?

What is your biggest aversion to cooking?
[ex. My mother used to HATE to cook years ago until I went over some surefire techniques with her and created a 1 shot seasoning staple for her to not have to think about what she's doing in the kitchen, she's on autopilot, and she now enjoys the process and has found that she has latent chef skills.]
So what exactly gives you such strong emotions against cooking?

and

Where are you willing to compromise?

Talk back -

lol I can boil water
I will be living along in September when my grandson goes off to college, Yippee
I like pasta, (but hate to cook it lol)
something fast easy and microwaveable I'm getting lazy in my old age.
What is there for meals in stead of all these veggie hot dogs and burgers,?
If its gonna taste good, And doesn't take a whole lot of stuff i can't afford I will probably try to cook it ;o) I like left overs, sandwiches, potatoes, I have some sweet potatoes fries, hey i'm getting hungry see what your doing to me

That's the hazards of foodie talk Rosie.

I'm going to transition this portion of the conversation to the Operation : Eat Great Cheap topics post. Click on the link and that way we can move through the process there for others to see how this can unfold.

I am thinking of some possibilities though [being that you don't mind boiling water ] and I'm sure over the next few days or so I'll have even more along with a stepped out process.

Thanks a bunch Jason!

My biggest challenge in being vegetarian is that I have Celiac Disease and can't eat most grains. Rice is nice (lol) and I don't seem to have a problem with oats, but almost all "mock meats" are off limits.

My other challenge is strangely weight. I'm one of those people that lose weight like crazy on a high protein diet and gain once I cut out the meat. I wish my ethics were more in tune with my physiology!

I really like what I've seen in your posts and will continue to look for guidance!

My biggest vegetarian challenge is meat. I start out great at the grocery store with the best of intentions. I get fruits, veggies and that "pretend meat" - which I like!

All I have to do is get a whiff of outdoor grilled steak and I "need" meat.