30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 27 - Tivall

Mock schnitzel

Coming in to the home stretch. For dinner, I have sampled another mock-meat company; Tivall - founded in 1985, is the world's leader in ready-made vegetarian food products. In their website it states: 

"Tivall products are specifically designed to be a complete source of protein and to provide all the amino acids necessary for a healthy meat-free diet. They contain natural sources of egg protein, soya protein and wheat protein."

Having learnt to be a little sceptical of the healthiness of vegetarian meals, I have done some research and from what I can see egg and wheat protein are good for you as the support each other in storing and using protein. I know about soy but again, it's not like I am having massive amounts of it. So I think this might be a good one, but again, in moderation.

Also got a response from Grill'd regarding my Vitamin C question. What do people think? Is this all above board or are they just talking it up to make it seem like it's that great? How much vitamin C can you actually get from a few slices of tomato and tomato relish?

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 12 - The Brilliant Madame K

So in the last 12 days I have been doing a lot of reading and research into vegetarianism and checking out the vegetarian communities. On a whole, it has been good and interesting but there is that small group of people who believe that being a vegetarian makes them better than other people and the holier than thou attitude does not sit well with me.

The offending photo

A fan reaction

For example, there was a photo of a North Melbourne football player eating a kangaroo burger as part of a Grill'd campaign. One vegetarian decided to get rid of all her North Melbourne FC memorabilia (with "Kangaroo Killer" scrawled all over it) and throw it in the bin, then take a photo of it and vent her disgust. Yes everyone is entitled to their opinions but don't start preaching your cause, especially to those who are converted or borderline converted. It's a sure fire way to make people turn the other way.

For dinner today I went to Madame K's Vegetarian on Brunswick St in Fitzroy and it was by far the best vegetarian place I have been to. Went along with a friend who has been vegan for a number of year and we chatted about a few animal rights issues and stuff. She has also referred me to Fry's Vegetarian non-meat meat products like....popcorn chicken!!!! My one weakness has been battled and won. Although I have to try it first but she said her husband loves it so I have high hopes!

But anyway, going back to Madame K's; taking all things into consideration, including price, variety, ambience and quality of food it was amazing. I had the Vegetarian Oyster Sauce, which was stir-fried mushroom made lamb with snow peas, onions, shallots and bean served with brown rice. It was absolutely to die for and so filling. I sadly didn't have room in my 'pudding stomach' to try the Banana Roti with berry sauce and ice-cream :( But next time for sure.

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 10 - Falafel Love

Sadly, not much to report on today. Obviously I kept my distance from any meaty substances. Found a place in Southbank food court that makes an awesome felafel salad. Haven't had felafel in many many years, forgotten how awesome it can be! Although I did find it annoying that there was so much tomato in it. I hate tomato. I can eat it when it's mixed in with other vegetables but I probably had the equivalent of a whole tomato left when I had finished the salad. But if that's my only food gripe today then I think I am doing very well.

I'm quite surprised by the misconception a lot of people - including myself - have about vegetarians thinking they can only not eat meat, when in reality, a proper vegetarian stays away from all animal derived products - eggs and dairy. Vegans on the other hand, include this but also make it a lifestyle choice with cosmetics and clothes and the rest. If I am wrong, someone correct me!

That's it today folks...officially one third of the way and feeling pretty good about it!

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 9 - Even Milk Isn't Safe!

So now that I am getting some routine in my life, I am eating properly...for lunch today I had a pumpkin, eggplant, cheese, capsicum, caramelised onion focaccia with basil pesto at Centro Espresso which is a cafe near my work. Wasn't too bad...I did have a wander around neighbouring stores to see what other food options I have available to me, and I spotted one place's pretty intense looking falafel salad. That's tomorrow sorted.

Had to dash to a friend's book launch straight after work so dinner was a few slices of vegetarian pizza. Nothing exciting but was in a rush and starving so had to settle for that. In the past, it would have been a few dim sims, KFC or something like that. And I definitely have those thoughts at times, and talking about it doesn't help! What do you do when you have that craving and you see that damn colonel staring right back at you. Or, like what happened to me the other day, a girl gets on a train and sits right next to me and begins eating popcorn chicken KFC - My ONE weakness! I'm having the beginnings of an internal Family Guy Chicken Fight!

In non-food related news, I came across Animals Australia and their petition to demand animals not be treated as waste product as a lot of calves are after they are born. The video below is pretty harrowing to watch. I didn't think anything since Earthlings would get to me but it seems to be constant, this abuse to animals. And the video below refers to producing milk, has nothing to do with the cow being killed for its meat. I don't understand how such practises can continue and people not doing anything about it.

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 8 - Mexican Beauties

Had dinner at Mamasita tonight with three friends and between us we were vegetarian, gluten free and dairy free so they really had their work cut out for them. Fortunately, the guys at Mamasita are extremely accommodating and were pretty much able to meet most of our needs within their menu. 

Started off with the to die for corn and then we got platters to share including the buñuelos de garbanzos (Chickpea fritters, heirloom tomatoes, zucchini & jalapeño herb sauce - pictured below) and the enchiladitas de queso y papas (Goat’s cheese & potato stuffed tortillas, blackbean arbol sauce & cress salad)

Great platter, just too spicy for my sensitive buds :(

Fortunately I didn't need to pronounce these names. Everything was delicious and even though there was a couple clearly eating some meat dishes next to us, I did not once think about the beef or lamb options that I would usually readily have. 

I still don't know if I will continue with the vegetarian in me once the 30 days are up but if the food is always as good as this could be, including the variety that was on offer, then it certainly makes the decisions a bit easier!

Currently on the lookout for any CBD situated vegetarian restaurants, so if anyone knows of any, hit me up!

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 2 - Swedish Temptations

My friend and I organised to pop my Ikea cherry - she needed extra shelving so we agreed to make an outing and also have lunch there; where I have long been told about Ikea's amazing Swedish meatballs.
Unfortunately this was decided upon last week, - BV (Before Vegetarianism) - so I was unable to sample them, which I was quite gutted about. I had to ask what was on offer for vegetarians as I almost ended up having some fish dish in error and even though there isn't a wide variety of food there, it was disappointing that there was only one vegetarian option...so I settled for pasta with vegetable sauce and a slice of "daim" chocolate cake (the best chocolate bar in the world in my opinion). Ironically, that and my bottle of water was the same price as my garden salad from yesterday!

Ikea cafe - 1 point
Port Melbourne Cafe - 0 points

                    

                              No to swedish meatballs :(

Yes to vegie sauce pasta :)

On a side-note, that cross and tick were the first time I have ever done anything like that in Photoshop before and it took me forever to figure out! Really not as technologically savvy as I thought I was!

It was way too hot today to go supermarket so dinner was pasta and ready made vegetable sauce. Spotting a trend? But I have gone online and found some really interesting vegetarian recipes from Eating Well that I am looking forward to creating. They seem quick and easy and there's even a few foods I have never heard of before; what's an arugula? 

Have gone online looking for any vegetarian related events or groups, and there isn't much. There seems to be a lot of vegan groups but not sure if there is any "hostility" between the two. haha. Even finding a vegetarian cooking class has been hard and still have not been able to find out. There is a vegetarian singles night coming up but I doubt it would cater to a gay audience...but maybe I'll go for a laugh, you never know right?