[041] A letter to myself

Dear Self,

Tomorrow marks 365 days free of red and white meats. You've tried to accomplish this in the past years but eventually went back to your habits of eating fast foods, fried foods, and other junk that caused your overall health to go down hill. While you understand that meat is a source of protein (that seems to be the number one argument every meat-eater has ever mentioned), you have displayed, and continue to display, a great amount of self-discipline in keeping your meals red/white meat free.

Not only did take on an ovo-lacto vegetarian diet, you also gave up carbonated sodas as a new years resolution. And what do you have to show for it? Twenty pounds of weight lost in the past 7 months. Sure you've had some ups and downs but you've always managed to bring yourself right back on track. Never give up on your goals!

People doubted you. Teased you. Some even argued that meat is a requirement to lead a healthy lifestyle. Others called you a hypocrite for consuming dairy products and eggs. While those people were sitting around telling you all sorts of negative things, you continued to keep your chin up and look at the positives. Frankly, your meat-free diet isn't affecting their life at all. It isn't increasing nor decreasing their intake of meat or meat products. Sure some joke, "For every animal you don't eat, I'm going to eat three." Great! You'd sit there with them and watch them consume all three of those animals without cringing.

A lot of people will assume you're doing this for animal rights. When in fact, this all started as a simple "experiment" to see if zero red/white meat consumption decreased your eczema breakouts. As you've discovered by trial and error, eliminating fungus from your diet has greatly helped your skin. Now if only we could decrease your sugar intake. That would really kick your weight loss goal into gear!

Congratulations to you on your 1st Veggie-versary! Make your 2nd year even better by exploring new recipes.

Love,
Jasmine

P.S. Never give up!

[040] Answering a public question from Tumblr

While searching the "vegetarian" tag on Tumblr I stumbled across this post about weight loss as a vegetarian. I reblogged and replied. Enjoy!

Wanting to Lose: Day Fifteen: Are you vegan or vegetarian? If so, has this helped you lose weight? If not, would you ever consider...

fatgirlfavorites:

I am not vegan or vegetarian. I tired being vegetarian once last year, and I lasted for twenty four days. It wasn’t that hard. But my health was effected by it, so I stopped. I don’t really like peanut butter, so I couldn’t just grub out on that to get protein. I got headaches a lot and I was...

I'm a vegetarian and I've lost 20 lbs since January. On top of vegetarianism, I also gave up soda as a New Years Resolution which has helped me tremendously! August 1st, 2011 marks my 1 year as a vegetarian and I plan on continuing into my second year.

Weight loss as a vegetarian doesn't work for everybody, as you may have found out. But if you avoid eating the wrong meals you'll watch the pounds shed. Obviously I can't just go out and grab a burger from my local fast food joint and chow down for all three meals. That was definitely a great thing for me. I used to eat burgers and fries like they were the only thing available. Being a vegetarian has definitely helped me to control my intake of fast food and anything take-out.
Don't limit yourself to spoonfuls of peanut butter as your source of protein. Beans are a great source of protein as well as vegetable protein. It's a matter of finding what's right for you in the vegetarian world. I know a lot of vegetarians who find themselves in search of more and more recipe's everyday. Because I'll be honest, it's hard to just make these recipe's appear out of thin air. Recipe websites, like allrecipes.com, and cookbooks are a great helper. I've found that a lot of recipe's are also provided with weight watcher points, so you know it's good for you.

[039] Blogs I've recently began to read

This post isn't vegetarian related. I do hope you enjoy it. :]

When I'm out and about, whether I'm shopping or working, I always try to guess the ethnic background of anybody that looks Asian. It's sort of like a game for me. Kind of like the ABC game or the license plate game on road trips. My guesses are often right on the dot, but I am wrong sometimes.

As I was reading through the blogs I follow, I came across an interesting blog. Sometimes Sweet has had guest posts by some interesting bloggers. Today's post is by Kristine at Kristine. or Polly. Her blog is about personal style but today she shared about where she lives. That's what caught my attention... Japan. As I was reading through her latest posts I thought to myself, this girl is not Japanese. At least not entirely. As a half Filipino half white, I kept in mind it's possible she's mixed like me. I scrolled through more pictures and thought, this girl has to be some sort of Filipino.

I clicked on her About page and sure enough, she's Filipino. She's absolutely beautiful, in case you haven't checked her blog yet. She's real petite and has a great sense of fashion. If I had the same figure I would definitely wear the same things she's wearing.

By the way, those are two great blogs that I've linked to. I'm still new to Sometimes Sweet but I'm loving all the posts I've read so far.

[038] Product Review: Veggie Patch™ Veggie Dogs

Veggie Patch™ Veggie Dogs 
0g Trans Fat - Good Source of Vitamins B6 and B12
Good Source of Protein - Good Source of Zinc


Nutrition Facts:
Serving Size: 2 veggie dogs (70g)
Calories: 170
Total Fat: 11g, 17%
Saturated Fat: 1.5g, 8%
Sodium: 560mg, 23%
Carbohydrates: 5g
Fiber: 1g, 4%
Sugars: 2g
Protein: 13g

Allergies: contains eggs, soy, wheat. May contain traces of sesame.


In my first year of vegetarianism I started out exploring tofu options rather than diving head first into meatless "meat" foods. While tofu is a delicious replacement, it's not exactly my cup of tea for every dish that calls for some sort of meat. And believe me when I say, I loved meat before going veg.

I'm less than a week from celebrating my 1st year anniversary of (ovo-lacto) vegetarianism. With that being said, I just tried veggie dogs for the first time. Veggie Patch™ took my veggie dog v-card.

When I first picked up Veggie Patch™ Veggie Dogs I wasn't paying much attention to the brand. I actually thought I was picking up MorningStar Farms®. It wasn't until I made it to the register that I realized my mistake, but I still bought them. For those of you who didn't know (like myself), MorningStar Farms® discontinued their veggie dogs. From what I understand they just recently brought back their corn dogs.

Anyway. I was a little nervous about trying veggie dogs. What if I hated them? What if they taste like cardboard? What if I'm allergic to them? What if they decided they didn't like me? Would our relationship be over so soon? Am I going to end up in the Veggie Patch High School "Burn Book"? "She doesn't even go here!" Okay, clearly I enjoy Mean Girls way too much for my own good. Why would veggie dogs have a Burn Book? Right?

The cooking instructions call for you to boil the veggie dogs in a saucepan of boiling water. Reduce heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Drain before serving. In fine print they add; Avoid overcooking. Appliances vary. Heating times are approximate and will vary upon number of Veggie Dogs.

I used the smallest saucepan I own to boil some water. I then added 2 veggie dogs (Serving Size 2 veggie dogs, 70g). After allowing them to boil for a few minutes I then reduced the heat and simmered for what I thought was 2-3 minutes. You see, I was distracted by my french fries in the toaster oven. I drained the water from the saucepan and began to inspect the middle of my veggie dogs. I had to make sure these little guys were fully cooked. Of course, they weren't, but that was completely my fault! I immediately boiled more water and added the veggies back to the saucepan.

As I waited for my veggies to finish boiling themselves to perfection I prepared my bread. My boyfriend and I don't eat hot dogs often enough to remember to pick up hotdog buns. But my boyfriend does eat enough buffalo chicken to remember to pick up some hoagie buns. Spinach, honey mustard, and relish are my condiments of choice. Some people may question spinach on a hotdog. I really needed to use my spinach before it started to go bad and I just really enjoy the taste of spinach.

A few bites into my veggie dog sandwich and I decide, "This is actually really good."
Gretchen Wieners would probably say "Veggie dogs are so fetch!" In that case, "fetch" just might happen.

I don't recall these tasting very "cardboardy" at all. Then again, I didn't try it without condiments. Also, I haven't tried other veggie dogs so I don't have other brands to compare this to. Maybe in a future review I'll compare brands.

While reading other Veggie Patch™ Veggie Dogs reviews I have come across this extra bit of information: "For a meat-eater, these aren't going to do it for you - in fact, Ball Park Fat Free Beef Franks has less calories (50 calories per 50 gram dog) and are mighty tasty. But if you don't eat meat, then these will do ... but only just." -i{ATE}A{PIE}.net
"For those of you watching your points, they are 2 points+ each. Not bad!" -The Peppertree

It looks like an 8 pack of these will run you anywhere from $3.50 - $5, assuming your local grocery store carries Veggie Patch. I'd tell you how much I paid for mine, but I threw away my Wal-Mart receipt.

Happy vegging!

[037] Less than a week

Getting there! 6 more days until my 1 year anniversary of taking on an (ovo-lacto) vegetarian diet.

Redesigning my blog has had its ups and downs. Creating a new header image hasn't been as easy as it was the first time around. I've simply hit a dead end in the creativity department. I'm sure it will come to be soon.

During the past year I've tried products that are new to me and I'm hoping to get a few reviews written. Hopefully that will help some vegetarians (new and old) in deciding if a product is right for them.

In addition to veg talk, I plan on just simply sharing my thoughts on things outside of vegetarianism. Girly things. Boyish things. Gamer things. Hipster things. Non-hipster things. Things I wish were hip. Owl things (I'm obsessed). All sorts of things, really.

I've even considered doing a vlog post from time to time as well. Once I start talking to my camera, the shyness starts to wear off. Strange because I'm really just talking to myself while I vlog. Just knowing that some stranger is about to view it is what makes the shy part of me come out. Together, we can overcome this obstacle!

Enough rambling. Enjoy this new layout. Reviews on products coming soon!