Veggie Bacon and Chik'n?

Being vegetarian doesn't mean you eat nothing but steamed vegetables and peanuts all day. Meat alternatives are great helpers for meals and those meaty cravings that cause most vegetarians to cheat.
There are tons of different brands to choose from when it comes to meat alternatives. They range from Italian to mexican foods, american favorites and even ice creams. I hate the taste of meat, always have and always will, but I love meat alternatives so much. My favorite brand of meat alternatives are a type of freezer brand, that are easy to cook and taste freaking amazing.
Morningstar Farms products are found near the frozen veggies and Healthy Choice meals. They have everything from veggie burgers to sweet and sour chik'n entrees. They are so good. My favorites are the Veggie Bacon, Hickory BBQ Riblets and Mushroom Lover's burgers. These items may be pre-made, but that doesn't mean you have to just stick with what you're given. The Morningstar Farms website gives you recipes on the right-side of different ways to make meals out of their products. These foods are low calorie, low fat and organic. They are a little pricy compared to most foods, but it's completely worth it. These foods taste just like the meats, but fresh and taste clean. The chik'n nuggets taste better than real chicken nuggets!
Boca has pretty good burgers. They definitely take pride in making a number of different types of burgers. Garden Burger is another brand that puts Boca and Morningstar Farms burgers to shame. Gimme-Lean has burgers and chik'n patties, Whole Foods and Trader Joe's are also very good.
I love Whole Foods. All of these foods are either vegan or vegetarian and are made entirely out of vegetables, fruits, soy or dairy.
Never be afraid to try new things, especially if you're new to being vegetarian. Something you may not have thought you'd ever like or eat may just become your favorite meal or snack. I never thought I'd love soy beans/edamame; they look weird and smell a little weird too, but now they're my favorite bean and I eat them all the time.
Being vegetarian doesn't mean you give up everything you love and lead a plain life of fruits and veggies raw. You can eat all the foods you once loved, they're just a little different. 

I Dare You To Read This

Do you love cute baby piggies? What about those big brown-eyed cows? And you gotta love the tiny little baby chicks? You love animals right? How much do you really love them and how much do you really know about what you're eating?
Most people I've met, who are omnivores, claim that either they know where they're meat is coming from or that they just don't care. Well let me tell you, you need to care. Because that little bit of caring could be the difference between being alive or dying. And that tiny bit of caring you need to have may save lives.
We all know animals have to die for you to eat them, it's the sad fact of life that we all know. But do you know how it's done? What is feels like? Well how about the smell, the sounds or what is getting put in your food because of it?
Mostly all of our meat comes from factory farms. And we are talking a lot of meat, try, 10 billion animals per year. A whole lot of animals and it's not including fish and exotic game either.
The conditions in these factory farms are not straight out of Wonderland, they are horrible. Female pigs are used for breeding and these pigs are called "breeding sows".
They are confined in tiny spaces called 'gestation crates' for most of their lives, which are so small they can barely turn around, move or breathe in clean air. Male 'dairy cows' are used to make veal. They obviously lack the useful parts that female cows do so they "serve no purpose". They are shackled by their feet or necks to a brick wall, aligned next to hundreds of other cows just like they are. Female cows are constantly being impregnated so that they can produce milk and more veal. The constant squeezing and milking of their utters causes excruciatingly painful swelling and can cause them to bleed.
Most beef cattle spend several months in congested feedlots where they are fed unnatural diets and exposed to freezing and extremely hot temperatures without shelter. Things like the tail-ripper or hide-pulled go on when the cows are usually not yet dead, still conscious.
Chicken, which are the majority of animals killed, are kept in cages so small they can not move, spread their wings or socialize like they would naturally. They live, in their short life, in their own urine and feces and the defections of other chickens around them. They are fed foods that cause their bodies to outgrow their body's organ growth, which causes most chickens to die. It's a slow and painful death. The smell is beyond awful and no chicken has clean food, water or air to breathe. They also become so big that they can no longer stand, so, they fall in whatever spot and sit there until the abusive workers come to take them to the factory.
Male chickens, like male cows, have no place in the egg industry so they are ground up or boiled...alive. Yes, alive. They have their necks cut only a few seconds before being tossed in to be boiled or crushed and they are usually not dead by then.
These are only a few, and I repeat FEW, of the things that go on behind the closed doors of slaughterhouses and factory farms.
It's heart-breaking. It truly is. These animals have just as much feeling as us, think as much as we do and fear as much as we do. They hurt, they breathe, they love just as we do. They know death is coming and they know fear as they watch the pig or cow in front of them being slaughtered, crushed and beat: Can you sit there and tell me you don't care?
So before you sit down to eat that 1/2 pound burger or cutting into a big 13oz hunk of steak you may wanna think about what you're eating and what that animal went through for it to be on your plate.
Animals are friends, not food.

Skin Issues? Veggie's The Way To Go

If you're looking for clearer, more even-toned, heather looking skin then go vegetarian!
Skin experts say that sticking to a vegetarian/vegan diet improves the look and overall health of skin. Our skin looks much healthier than our meat-eating counter-parts because we are eating diets that contain more antioxidant vitamins such as A, C and E. Free radicals are what damage our skin and make it appear older. Vitamins A, C and E fight them off and keep things running smoothly, allowing your skin to remain smooth and supple. Fruits, vegetables and nuts, all staples in a vegetarian diet are high in these vitamins, these are the things that a well-balanced vegetarian diet should and mostly do consist of. Plus it is proven that the hormones in meat and dairy mess up our skin. The link between acne and dairy has been researched over and over, and has proven to be true.
Going veggie will give your skin a healthy glow you have never seen before and will clean up scaly, red, irritated skin.
I've had a form of dermatitis for years and a severe follicle infection that had spread all over my body, for just as long. It was an extremely hard time for me in my life and put a lot of things at a stop because my skin was so bad. I couldn't wear anything less than long-sleeved shirts and pants for, oh, 5 years. It was a little while after becoming vegetarian that I could see, very obviously, that the skin problems that plagued me for YEARS were going away and that my skin was glowing. It was crazy! I can finally shave without looking down and seeing all the bumps and the redness that I had before. My acne cleared up, as well, and my dermatitis was nearly gone.
Because of my skin issues I had thousands of scars everywhere: unsightly scars. Now, I still have some scars on my legs and arms, but the amount of scars I had before are mostly gone. This is because when you are vegetarian your body digests and distributes nutrients that repair and restore the body quickly because our bodies are made to digest plants. In doing this the body can quickly heal wounds and fix scars fast.
Looking younger, looking healthy and feeling great about yourself are just a few more reasons why you need to go veggie.

Got the Non-Vegetarian Restaurant Blues?

Sometimes it’s hard to sit down at your favorite local restaurant and order something that’s vegetarian friendly. Can’t ever buy something that’s cheap or, at-least, doesn’t put a dent in your wallet?  Most places like McDonalds, Arby’s, Wendy’s or even Taco Bell don’t have vegetarian foods, you would think...right? Well actually they do, sorta. You can go to any place, find something to eat and it won’t cosy a fortune, if you're flexible. If you don’t eat dairy, fish, eggs or poultry then you may have a harder time finding something (unless you wanna eat fries all the time), but there are places you can go.
If you are not a full vegetarian then you’re in luck, you can eat mostly anywhere. At McDonalds you can have salads, ice creams, smoothies, fries, fish sandwiches, anything chicken, cinnamon rolls, most breakfast items, fruits and yogurts, oatmeal and much more. Arby’s is good for baked potatoes, desserts, fries, snack items, some salads, chicken items, shakes and apples/ yogurt. Wendy’s has about the same as Arby’s. Taco Bell; anything with just cheese, nachos, salads, wraps, those amazing cinnamon twists, limeades, etc.
You can even find vegetarian items at steak/roadhouses, dare I say it. I go to a steakhouse with my family every week. Every. Week. At steakhouses like, The Outback Steakhouse, you can find; salmon, seafood, most appetizers, soups, faitas, salads, drinks galore, side dishes and of course desserts are pretty vegetarian. Most other steakhouses you can find the same things, and if by some reason there aren’t and entrees that fit your vegetarian diet than you can order side dishes. They will allow such things, trust me, I’ve had to do it. Nothing like good old steamed broccoli and fried orca for dinner, yum.
If you are a full vegetarian or are looking for a healthier, quick bite to eat then there are a few places for you.
Subway, I eat there all the time when I’m out-and-about. They have a vegetarian patty sandwich, tuna and you can get just plain veggies on your sandwich. Yes, most of the breads contain eggs or milk but hey, live a little! They have stuff on their breakfast menu, as well, if you’re an early bird like my family. The Pita Pit. I love The Pita Pit almost as much as I love being vegetarian. It’s a great place to eat and it’s healthy. They have vegetarian stuff, I believe, or you can just stuff your pita with veggies or tuna.
Chipotle is also a very, very good place to eat and it is vegetarian/vegan friendly. It’s hard to find anything that isn’t vegetarian there. Those are a few of the healthy, veggie-friendly restaurants along with; Moe’s Southwest Grille, Pollo Tropical, Noodles and Company, Olive Garden and Red Robin. Plus you can go to your local deli or organic foods market place and get something there.
Being vegetarian doesn’t mean cooking all your meals at home or running to a health foods store everyday just to get lunch. You can find foods that fit your lifestyle and your budget almost anywhere, at anytime.