Let's Talk Veggie Burgers

While not necessary to living the veg life there are a ton of different veggie burger brands, flavors, and recipes. For me they are not an everyday thing, but often a convenient addition to my emat-free lifestyle. Surrounded my meat-eaters this is also at times a way to bring what they perceive some element of non-threatening normalcy to the table. It is a versitile food product that can be homemade (check out various online recipe sources, vegetarian/vegan cookbooks, or experiment for yourself), served by itself, along favorite foods, or added to favorite recipes such as chili or tacos. Some porducts are so close to mocking meat they are great for the reluctant vegetarian or even the meat-lover who want. needs to cut back on fats and cholestrol associated with a real burger. The veggie burger is not just for vegetarians, sometimes suggested by doctors for those suffering from heart issues. My personal tastes are in avoidance of the ones that too closely resemble actual meat and lean more towards mushroom flavored, tomato themed burgers, or other tasty flavor combinations. They are easy to prepare on teh stove top, grill, griddle, microwave, oven, or on a table top grill (like a 'George Foreman' brand). Cook them through and add your favorite burger toppers (I love to sautee or grill up some onion or mushrooms to top with a bit of cheese depending on the burger flavor). They are great for quick fix meals, dinner addition, or an afternoon BBQ with friends served along side some fabulous grilled vegetables. I've even been stopped in the grocery store veggie burger section of the freezer to be asked about my favorite flavors and brands. (This was a huge thing for my brother that was with me and witnessed that there are more vegetarians in our smallish college town than just me.)

Check out some of the links before and become educated on the love of veggie burgers. :-)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veggie_burger
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9685441/
http://www.amyskitchen.com/products/category_view.php?prod_category=1
http://www.gardenburger.com/

In the Words of Neal Barnard: "The beef industry has contributed to more American deaths than all the wars of this century, all natural disasters, and all automobile accidents combined. If beef is your idea of "real food for real people" you'd better live real close to a real good hospital."

Pasta Salad and Thanksgiving Humor for the Vegetarian

So, I'm still not feeling great and what I really want to to just feel better or for someone to baby me a little. That's not going to happen. I made some seasoned crackers (the kind where you use veggie oil and seasoning at crackers than bake for 15-20 minutes) and homemade pasta salad. I don't have a recipe for pasta salad. I have certain things I like in it and often use, but in the end it comes down to whatever I find in the cupboards and refrigerator. Today's combination is sun-dried tomatoes (sliced into smaller pieces), black olives, some sliced mushrooms (left from last night's pasta), almond slivers, some cheese bits (you could use none or use soy cheese crumbled, shredded, chunked, whatever), a blasamic vinegrette that I like, and a touch of prepared pesto (I've gotten in the habit of using just a bit to add a little bit of something else to the mix) all mixed with the pasta. You can really use just about anything you have on hand and that you enjoy together. My mom usually uses colorful peppers (I'm not a big fan of them raw) and diced tomato (I prefer the taste and texture of the sun-dried or semi-dried). Currently, it is sitting in the refrigerator letting everything kind of crisp and marinate together.

For Thanksgiving this year, as with most years, my family is planning a big shin-dig with everyone getting together. We have certain traditions that seem to appear every year from pretty much the same people. Especially after going vegetarian it became important for me to make sure there were foods that I would and could eat without giving up some of my holiday favorites. I always make homemade mushroom stuffing, vegetarian gravy of some type, some type of vegetable that has not been corrupted, and often some appetizer type thing (my stuffed mushrooms are always a big hit with vegetarians and meat-eaters alike). Hope all your plans for the season are fabulous.

Here's a little something to make you smile and maybe think too.

From Albert Einstein, physicist: "Nothing will increase chances of survival for life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet."

"Where's the Meat?"

There are things and days that I do not understand; among these is my brothers’ hysterics over meat. I don’t eat it, I don’t like the smell of it, and I have no desire to cook it. This is not new. I was fixing pasta for dinner. The water was getting close to a boil and I was in the process of slicing mushrooms. ‘Where’s the meat?” my brother demanded as he barged into the kitchen. “You need to fix chicken to go with that.” It was not a request, it was a demand. I was not about to be bullied into anything, especially cutting up and cooking chicken (or hamburger as the other one wanted). He freaked out. By freak out I mean major freaking. The fights are still there and sometimes I fear they always will be. As he yelled and screamed, ranted and raved he finally got the chicken out and fixed it himself. Our large kitchen suddenly felt way too small as I tried to keep breadsticks from burning, water from boiling over, and sauce from scorching. The entire time he raved about how horrible it was that I am a vegetarian and how I had done it just to be different. When I first quit eating meat (even back to when I was contemplating it and trying to make a decision) it was such a frightening endeavor to undertake, especially alone and without my family’s support. The stereotype is often of the militant vegetarian picking fights and arguments with meat-eating family, friends, and strangers. I try to avoid the fights and arguments. Yet, somehow I take attacks especially from my siblings while being accused of “attacking” them. (All going back to an afternoon a couple years back when I asked my one brother is he really needed a steak for an after-school snack.) I don’t; attack others for their lifestyle and I don’t want to be attacked for mine. My lifestyle is not hurting anyone, not even myself.

It doesn’t really matter why I became a vegetarian. It’s my life and my body. I wanted to be better and for me this worked. I shouldn’t have to explain myself. I’m open to reasonable discussions and honest curiosity, but not hysterical rants about the evils of vegetables and my supposed responsibility to serve them meat. Sometimes it would be nice to have a real ally; someone who actually understood. I never expected it to be completely easy, but I had hoped that after this long the attacks from family would have ceased. I may not like it, but I have never once attacked them or yelled at them for their continuing to hunt. (It helps that their aim is so bad they can barely hit the broad side of a barn.) I wonder sometimes how important it would be to marry a vegetarian like me, then things like this happen again and I almost don’t want to risk the idea of a long-term relationship with a meat-eater.

Let me leave with a quote that just seems fitting.

From Scott Adams (The writer of Dilbert): “You think I’m one of those wise-ass California vegetarians who is going to tell that eating a few strips of bacon is bad for your health. I’m not. I say it’s a free country and you should be able to kill yourself at any rate you choose, as long as your cold dead body is not blocking my driveway.”