30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 25 - Bad Day for Eating

Breakfast, lunch and dinner?

Stayed away from meats, so no fretting there, but it was a terrible day for eating. I was extremely lazy and up until 8:00pm, all I had to eat was a banana and some nuts, which are considered to be healthy for you but when that's all you have...not so good. Just an extremely lazy day. Dinner was quorn and pasta again, so not an exciting food day.

However, in my day of laziness I did find a website called 100 thoughts and facts on vegetarianism. It contains facts about animal welfare, sustainability, environment and health reasons as to why being a vegetarian can be good for your health.

With five days to go, I am pretty certain I will not go back to red meat or fish. Chicken, I am still torn over. If I do go back to chicken though it will only be free range which is a step better than eating for battery hens and so forth. Unless anyone out there knows of where I can get some mock chicken products!

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 24 - Quorn and Micoprotein

I had quorn mince and pasta for dinner tonight. Was pretty much like mince, the taste wasn't the same - that I can remember - but it was still very nice. Mixed in some garlic and onion tomato sauce and filled up my stomach.

I did look into quorn and what it actually is. I just assumed it was something like tofu that was made to be mince. Then I found out this bit of information; Quorn is a micoprotein and quorn is just the brand name like kleenex for tissues. So then of course I had to go looking into what micoprotein is and this is where I get confused.

Micoprotein is produced by a fungus called Fusarium which is provided with nutrients and then produces the protein rich Micoprotein. This micoprotein is extracted and flavoured to taste like meat, as micoprotein does not taste of anything.

Another site stated that mycoprotein (don't even know which is the right way to spell it!) is an ingredient common to all Quorn products. It's a health, meat-free form of high quality protein and is also a good source of dietary fibre.

So, this makes me believe that Quorn is healthy to eat. Unlike tofu. Until someone proves me wrong with quorn too. Then I'l be all confused again.

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 23 - An old favourite

Spent the day at the Werribee Open Range Zoo today - was so much fun and great to hear how the zoo was helping these animals survive. I can't remember the exact name of the horses they had there, but they mentioned at one point there was only 20 of them in the world and they have helped to prevent them fro, becoming extinct. Lunch was a boring cous cous salad that was bland bland bland! YUCK!

And my friend finger flirting

Dinner tonight was back at Madame K's Vegetarian Cafe. I actually had the same meal as last time because I found it that great. It was pretty much the same except the miso soup this time was pretty bad, almost as if they had left out the miso paste. I still finished mine but my mate couldn't deal with it. Luckily he loved his main, which was the Massaman curry; a slow cooked mushroom made lamb curry topped with cashew nuts and mashed sweet potato. Despite the poor miso, this is still my favourite establishment I have been to in the last 23 days!

A twitter friend linked me to this photo as well with the following caption..now, it hasn't come from what a reputable source, was just posted on someone's Facebook but we've all heard enough horror stories of what's really in a chicken nugget or a sausage for me to believe that this may actually be real. And that's enough to turn me off my beloved McDonald's chicken nuggets forever!

Can you guess what McDonald's food item this is????? Say hello to mechanically separated chicken. It's what all fast-food chicken items are made of. It's chicken nuggets, patties, and the meat in fajitas... In addition the processed frozen chicken in stores is made from this.. Basically the entire chicken is smashed and pressed through a sieve... bones, eyes, feet, guts and all. It comes out looking like this... There is more, because it's crawling with bacteria, it will be washed with ammonia, and soaked in it.. Then because it taste gross it is re-flavored artificially. Finally since it is weirdly coloured like 'Pepto Bismol' pink, it is dyed with artificial colour.. This is what people eat and feed to their children... Enjoy !!!

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 22 - Hare Hare!!!

Lunch at Crossways

So today I went to a Hare Krishna vegetarian cafe in the city, Crossways. Was all you can eat for $5-7 and even though there's only one item on the menu, it changes daily. Today was chickpea clinch curry and basmati rice with date and orange halava with custard for dessert. Really nice place, very relaxed and thankfully you don't have to put up with their annoying music. Haha...

Veggie burger BBQ

For dinner I was invited to a vegetarian friend's house for an impromptu BBQ. I just assumed everyone would be vegetarian but no. So there was still free flowing meat, (kangaroo sausages!) and my ultimate temptation, BBQ chicken - drool to the power of two.

But again, once we sat down, didn't notice the smell and was more than happy with my beet root and lentil burger. Genuinely. And lots of salads.

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 21 - Maximum Tolerated Dose

Day 21 was a very confrontational day mainly because of two things I watched.

Firstly, courtesy of the Humane Research Australia, I had the privilege of seeing a documentary that looks at animal testing/experimentation. The difference with this one is that it interviews people who have previously worked in animal labs and their experiences with that type of work as well as looking at a few animals' stories and where they ended up.

Shot from Maximum Tolerated Dose

The documentary is called Maximum Tolerate Dose and although the website is not that great to look at, the film is pretty intense. Fortunately, it does not get too graphic, aka Earthlings, but then I guess that is open to interpretation.

I was discussing it with a mate, and his reply was 'but that doesn't' happen in Australia" WRONG! We are the FOURTH country that kills the most animals each year for scientific experimentation. Every year, 6,000,000 million animals are killed for scientific research. And of that, only 10% are considered successful? Furthermore, when you consider how small Australia is compared to the top two countries of USA and China...well...that's even more disturbing.

I am not aware of when any future screenings being held are, but I've got one of the three trailers linked so have a look at it as an idea of what to expect.

My second viewing was a YouTube video by Animals Australia called "Make It Possible" which is a short video that looks at the horrors of factory farming. Pigs constantly impregnated and unable to move  and the pain and torture they go through just for our desire for meat. There is also a Make It Possible campaign to raise awareness for this issue and you can raise support by making a pledge of the following:

A) Refuse to eat factory-farmed animal
B) Eat fewer animal products
C) Go meat free
D) Donate

Needless to say I have chosen C. But to choose any of these would help in making these animals' lives that little bit better.

Both these things have pushed my belief that animal cruelty is a far too common occurrence and something people need to be aware. I've never felt more passionate about something than I have for this cause, and that's saying something.