A Vegetarian’s Food Diary

Have you ever wondered what kind of foods a vegetarian eats for the day, and actually how easy it is to be vegetarian? There are a lot of foodstuffs in the market and in the streets available that are affordable. Well here is just a sample. Personally I love eating tofu or tokwa, it’s readily available, dip it in soy sauce mixed with vinegar and the taste is simply divine plus there are a lot of health benefits with tofu. Tofu is low in calories for the protein it packs in. Here's how it compares to a few other foods. For each 100 calorie serving, tofu contains 11 grams of protein. By comparison, 100 calories of ground beef provides 8.9 grams of protein, and a 100 calorie serving of cheese contains 6.2 grams. Now that is simply awesome! But, you might say what if I am walking in the streets of Manila and I suddenly have a craving for food? Street food is also friendly to vegetarians you just have to pick wisely. There are a lot of Banana Q vendors and rice cake vendors which offers delicious meatless snacks that can fill up those hunger pangs. While you’re at it why don’t you gulp in some refreshing sago at gulaman? Looking for something sweeter? Have some ice scramble. It is easy to be vegetarian now more than ever there are a lot of products that specifically caters to the movement of vegetarianism. Take herbalife shake and protein supplement for example. It is a vegetarian friendly food supplement. Its protein shake is sourced from vegetable proteins like soya so it is a completely safe addition to one’s diet. I use this product and it immediately gives me a full feeling and I’m sure I get all the vitamins and minerals I need.

Vegetarian from Head to Toe

How vegetarian is vegetarian? When we think of the Vegetarian lifestyle we normally think only in terms of food, but we also have to consider other items in the house that may infringe on animal rights. While roaming in the mall a few days ago it suddenly dawned on me that I was wearing leather shoes. Leather as we know it comes from the hide of animals. I was discomfited at the thought that although my table is ethical my wardrobe isn’t. I tried to recall the items in my closet and I certainly found out that there would be one or two items of leather made goods which I have purchased before I adopted a vegetarian lifestyle. Vegetarianism isn’t just about food or health or what we put in our body we should remember that it is a lifestyle and a lifelong commitment that extends beyond the table. It extends to our own fashion to wardrobe to interior pieces and other things. We should also be aware that some soaps and candles in the market contain tallow which is rendered from animal fat. When we adapt a vegetarian lifestyle we must also consider these things and act in accordance to our beliefs: that a comfortable life doesn’t mean we have to murder animals in our behalf. Products like these should not be patronized when there are other options for us to live a healthy and fruitful life.

Asian Black Pasta

Yesterday I made an amazingly tasty pasta which I called Asian Black Pasta because of its distinctly Asian ingredients and flavor. In fact, it was so good the people in my house had second helpings. It’s so delicious you won’t even notice you’re eating a vegetarian meal. I love my new vegetarian lifestyle it pushes me to be creative in the kitchen and to take control of my own tastes and what I put in my body. It’s a great experience hopefully as readers of my blog you will be inspired to be vegetarian and come up with your own vegetarian dishes.

The Ingredients:

Tofu
Sesame Oil
One can of Temple Black Beans (brand)
Spaghetti Pasta
Wood ear mushrooms
Garlic

The Procedure:

Cook the spaghetti noodles separately
Soak the wood ear mushrooms in hot water it should soften and swell
Fry the tofu until cooked set aside
Open the can of temple black beans and drain the black liquid set aside
Mince the garlic
Put some vegetable based oil in a wok
Put the garlic
Put the Tofu
Put the wood ear mushrooms and sauté altogether for a minute.
Add the temple black beans
Add two tablespoons of sesame oil
Let simmer for two minutes
Add in the spaghetti noodles and toss
Serve and enjoy!

Tomato Broccoli Pasta

I have officially become a vegetarian as of yesterday and I prepared my own meal. I’ve told family and friends about it and they have been nothing but encouraging. They are also health conscious people anyway so they have no trouble accepting my new lifestyle. Yesterday I made my own meal. It’s a delicious meal made of broccoli, pasta, tomato sauce and parmesan cheese. The instructions are below:

Boil pasta, my suggestion is to buy one of those colorful attractive pasta shapes to add sensory experience to the meal itself. I chose veggeroni pasta by San Remo.

Boil Broccoli. Add in a bit of oil (use vegetable based oil) and salt the broccoli should come out as green as the green on summer day.

Choose an appropriate tomato sauce to your taste. I chose Clara Ole Tomato and Herb Pasta sauce.

Your favorite cheese. What’s your favorite cheese? Bleu cheese? Parmesan Cheese? Add it in the mix!

Mix it all together!

You would come up with something like this. Tastes delicious as it looks! All of my ingredients except for the Broccoli are available at all leading grocery stores. See it’s easy to be a vegetarian economical too. This meal costs about P 200.00 only and it’s all vegetables no animals added.

Turning Vegetarian

I had meant for this blog to be an exploration of the culinary tradition of the Filipino palate. Like a rainbow the Filipino palate has varying tastes and color from different influences that makes it unique and it would have been a great concept for a blog to explore the different regions and all that. However, a recent food poisoning I’ve had further entrenched to me the idea pf vegetarianism. All meat is like poison to the body which does it more harm than good notwithstanding that eating meat goes against animal rights. I have decided to be a vegetarian from this day forward and this blog will be about my own trials and challenges as a vegetarian in a meat eating world. I will also be featuring vegetarian recipes.