Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Ok ok i get it...my spelling sux. I think I was thinking of "Vegita" or something...

@Don Luis--yup--it was Womandingo who first noted it, very early on.

I always hate to mention spelling when I comment on a post, even if it is in the topic title, because I feel like such as 'schoolmarm' when I do it--although I admit that when it was highlighted on the Serious Eats home page, I kept thinking of Vegemite for some reason.

My myspace has lots of my vegetarian pictures on it. If you have a chance to look it might give you a bit of motivation and inspiration. www.myspace.com/Laura_Flowers

Embackus, you beat me to it. LOL! Many of the replies continued the mistake, but others spelled it correctly, causing me to look it up to make sure I wasn't wrong all this time.

It is vegetarian, not vegitarian. Carry on.

@PerkyMac--actually, from what I know of many medieval cookbooks that were written when the church dictated so much of people's lives in terms of feasting and fasting cycles for various saints (and of course, the 40-day Lenten fast), there were actually 2 recipes for many dishes, one which was with meat and the other for a 'fast' period to be prepared with fish or without meat at all. In other words, quite a few months out of the year were meat-free. Good way to keep people eating their veggies, in an unwitting way!

I call myself a 'vegetarian' btw, but I think as long as people do their best to eat in a way that is ethical, isn't cruel to humans or animals in terms of how the food is produced, that is the most important thing. (I mean in how workers are treated as well as animals). I don't enjoy meat at all so I don't consume it--it isn't necessary for people to eat meat to live, but I certainly don't think that my vegetarianism automatically makes my life more ethical or 'better' although I love being veg.

If you love eating meat in small amounts on special occasions I actually do think that 'small bits of animal protein' is probably as close as you will get to the way that most (not all) traditional societies have historically lived.
So this veg-head, says, I don't see anything wrong with it, to you!

And for what it's worth, the Great Omnivore Julia Child (who said her favorite meal would be a rare steak and gin) was still rebuked when she originally submitted the manuscript for "Mastering..." because the portions of meat weren't 'big enough' for what Americans were accustomed to--even in many meat-loving societies, the sheer amounts of animal protein Americans are accustomed to consuming is pretty unusual, although she obviously loved meat.

Eat the way you want and don't call it anything except eating the way you want.

Labeling your diet too restrictively means that you could fall off the wagon and thus be a failure. That's a bad thing. Better you set yourself up to not fail.

If you decide that you're an omnivore, it means you CAN eat everything, but not that you MUST eat everying. So be an omnivore who happens to be grazing in a vegetarian field right now, but if a tasty steak happens to get in your way, you're not breaking any taboos by eating it.

Conversely, if you let the steak run away unmolested, you haven't broken your omnivore diet, it just means that you didn't feel like eating meat at that particular moment.

If this was a serious heath issue or a religious one, then falling off the wagon would be a bad thing. But there's no sense in torturing yourself over this.

Wow, a rational conversation about vegetarianism on a message board. Never thought I'd see the day :)

Agree with just about everything here. Once I started buying meat locally, I found myself treating it better - always stretching it out over several meals, making stock, etc. My cooking got way better, and so did my diet, taste and health-wise. One of the best decisions I've ever made.

And someone call Webster's on the "opportunivore" thing, it's golden.

@ runnereater - that is exactly what I try to do. If meat is being served in a social situation, I will partake of a small amount. But on a day to day basis, no meat is fine with me. Another way I have heard it put is "mostly vegetarian".

I was a pescetarian for months and my parents hated it. My best friends mother made amazing looking meatballs for her birthday, and they were the ones that convinced me to eat meat.

i am SO glad i did...although those first few days of meat-eating are not fun on the stomach.

Here's to it! Cheers!

Hmm to add to the interesting health debate above:
From the (minimal) research I tried to conduct: the only downside (for me) to a lifestyle without any meat and full-fledged vegetarianism was the lack of omegas--this is why I tended to lean towards "pescetarianism" [you can subsitutute your essential protein requirements with wheat we all know: ie-beans].

I also understand the concern for people that are being mislead into believing that vegetarianism is healthy by itself (and therefore can be viewed as a fad) because it can be unhealthy without proper supplemental nutrition.

Everyone's stories, tales and humourous comments helped me in a diet-discovery LOL The decision to label my diet?--

You're right; there is no need to give it a name in my case.
Kudos to Karyn's insight: "Diets are personal things, and I think you have to choose the one that leaves you happy and health(y) – and respect that what makes you happy and healthy will not work for everyone else."

In summation, I will continue to avoid meat if I don't feel like eating it. But if the opportunity arises and the bacon squeals to me, or the cow on the plate moo's for attention, I will not hesitate to reassure myself that it's okay to take a bite :D