Reason #1298732 I'm NOT a Vegetarian

I am NOT now nor have I ever been a Vegetarian.

I do NOT now nor have I ever wanted to be a Vegetarian.

I’m not sure I would survive as a vegetarian because, there are a ton of vegetables out there that, well… I’m not sure about.  They might even scare me just a bit.  There I admitted it.

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As a kid, yes I ate vegetables, but I had never heard of Kale & Arugula until I started watching Food Network.  I’ve still never tasted either that I know of… and if I have, well I didn’t know it so I can’t tell you if I liked it or not.  But I’m not opposed to trying it.

The rule in our house is You have to try something 12 times before you can say you don’t like it.  Now maybe that applies more for Tbug than the hubs and me, only because kids taste buds are constantly changing.  Once you are an adult, well yes they still change but not as rapidly as a kids.  I heard somewhere that a kid has to try something 12 times before they can officially say they don’t like it because maybe at taste 1-3 they didn’t but by taste 8 they really do.

Because of our rule, she’s found things she likes that at first thought she turned her nose up to it.  I was that way with green beans.  I swore for YEARS I didn’t like green beans, then one day I tried them and actually liked them.  It was only about 8 years ago.  See, taste buds change.  And sometimes we don’t like something because of how it sounds…

I’ve eaten some weird things… Alligator, turtle, weird types of fish all because of the at least try it rule.  And I won’t lie, I tried sushi with fish eggs on it… I thought I might yak it back up, but I kept it down.  The thought is what turned me off.

But anyway I’ve gotten completely off track… in your diet you have Non essential amino acids needed, which means the body produces them, and you have essential amino acids, which means you have to obtain them through your diet.

All Animal Proteins {meats} provide all Essential Amino Acids your body needs.  Point blank.

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The only plant that does that is Soy.  Otherwise you have to either take supplements or find the right combination of plants to hopefully get there.  One so combination, and you’ll notice this is eaten in a lot of Hispanic countries is Rice & Beans.  What one lacks the other has so they are compliments of each other.  If you eat that combination, you’ll be ok, however should I tell you how much of EACH you’ll have to eat to get the right concentration?  2-3 cups of each.  not total, no that’s each.

I spent 2 weeks, 14 days, in Costa Rica back in 2002 and we ate rice & beans at every meal.  I HATE beans.  I can officially say I tried them more than 12 times and I still don’t like them (of course unless they are green).  Plus to keep unhurt feelings, I ate beans every meal.  I didn’t say, No Thank You, I ate them.  I’ll be fine if I never eat another bean again!  Yes I’m not a big fan :).

So anyway there’s another reason I’m not a vegetarian, you know, other than the fact, I don’t want to be 🙂

disclaimer: I’m not a Registered Dietician… the fact part came from my Nutrition class from my teacher who is, so take it for what it is worth.  If you are a vegetarian, more power to you.