I'd like to hear from the vegetarians out there.... I have a few questions.

I'm actually considering a vegetarian lifestyle for lots of reasons, mostly because I'm finding it harder and harder to digest (no pun intended) the treatment of animals used in the food industry. Also though, I'm feeling more and more tired with my heart condition and wonder if it's because of my lack of exercise and possibly my "dead" food intake. In addition to these reasons, I just really love veggies and pasta and feel like the vegetarian diet is a much healthier one than most.

The problem is I'm finding it hard to remember all the time.... like for example, I bought stuff for sloppy joes for tomorrow night and didn't think about the ground beef being in it! I guess I can just take it in baby steps, maybe order and prepare vegetarian meals whenever possible until they just take over completely?

My questions are.... how long have you been a vegetarian and why did you become one? Is/are your SO/children also a vegetarian? If not, how do you make meals work for everyone? If you started life as a meat eater, did you find converting to vegetarianism hard? How did you deal?

I know, lots of questions! But I've been giving it serious thought..... however DH is not on board (nor will he ever be, and he's very aggressive and defensive about eating meat!) and I don't want to limit my son while he's growing. I'm just afraid I will make the commitment and then bail out because it's easier or cheaper just to eat what they're eating!

I made the choice to become a vegetarian when I was 12 years old. It went to a progressive tree-hugging kind of camp that was very socially and culturally aware. I think that their idea was that because the majority of the camp was international campers, that they would bind us all together in a common misery: vegetarianism. So it was basically three-weeks of not being given access to meat.

I lost a ton of weight during those three weeks, which may have had more to do with the excessive amounts of exercise, but I also had amazing memories and friendships. Basically as tribute the life-changing time I had there, I decided to remain a vegetarian.

My parents were cool with it. My mom started out basically just serving me the veggie/grain part of the meal and not serving the meat. Or if it was a one-dish meal, then she'd take some out before adding the meat to the dish. This all took place before veggie burgers were available in your average store, and you had to go to special, high-priced co-ops to locate tofu. It was not mainstream whatsoever. Totally foreign. So basically, we just learned to make meatless dishes or dishes where the meat could be removed.

For sloppy joes, just use a meatless ground round instead of burger. In homemade soup, use vegetable broth instead of chicken. Just really small changes. You don't need to buy anything special at all if you don't want to. Because vegetables have a more subtle flavor, you'll start to utilize herbs and spices more, which can open up a whole new palette of food.

I guess because I was so young, not eating meat didn't make a difference to me. I just did it. No struggle. Now it just doesn't occur to me that I could eat it. I think that because I changed my eating habits at such a young age, my major problem is knowing how to properly cook meat for others. Since I don't eat it, I don't know how its supposed to taste, cook through, or the texture. I have no sense of cooking times or flavor combinations. It's very frustrating, because I love to cook for other people. But you're definitely starting out with an advantage if you decide to slowly cut out meat - since you'll still be able to cook for your husband and child.

I would never, absolutely EVER advocate forcing a child into a vegetarian lifestyle. I know that you said you wouldn't, but I just wanted to reiterate that myself. That is a decision that you should make when you're older and able to make such decisions. Personally, I would hate to my married to a vegetarian, even though I am one myself, simply because it would limit diet so much within the family. And I want to raise my children eating meat, so (a) I need someone who is more experienced with meat, and (b) I don't want the child to ever feel weird because his parents don't eat it. That and most vegetarian men I've met are total pansies. :P

I'm not sure if that helps at all, since I'm not exactly a recent convertee. But if you need simple ideas on how to make a meat-based meal for the family into a portion of vegetarian for yourself, then hit me up. I've been doing it for quite a while - or watching my mother do it for quite a while. Both my parents always ate meat.