vegetarian craving chicken sandwiches?

Question

I've been a strict vegetarian for 9 years. I think it is wrong to eat animals, but I'm 23 and want my body to have all the necessary nutrients. Is my body craving meat for a reason? I'm a very lazy vego and I can't cook.

Answer 1

Maybe you need to take a break. Eat some veggie foods that you don't usually eat. Perhaps you are in a food rut. Maybe learn to cook some new veggie foods.

Answer 2

Tempeh "Chicken" Salad
For those of you who have never tried it, tempeh is a made from fermented soybeans that have been pressed into firm cakes. It has a "nutty" and meaty texture, and, like tofu, it absorbs flavors of surrounding ingredients really well. Tempeh is a very popular "meat" alternative for vegetarian cooks. The first step in this recipe has you poach the tempeh in boiling water, which mellows out the flavor a bit, and makes it a bit more digestible. This is yet another recipe from, my favorite: The Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook.
12 ounces tempeh, cubed
1 stalk celery, minced
2 tablespoons red bell peppers, minced
1 large dill pickles, minced
2-3 scallions, minced
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 cup soy mayonnaise or regular mayonnaise (more or less to taste)
1 tablespoon yellow mustard (spicy golden brown is nice too)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
salt & freshly ground black pepper
4 sandwiches

1. Place the cubed tempeh in a saucepan of boiling, salted water.
2. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 12 minutes, drain and set aside to cool.
3. I usually toss it in the fridge.
4. In a large bowl, combine the celery, pepper, pickle, scallion and parsley.
5. Run a knife through the cubed tempeh, just to give it a rough chop (optional, the cubes work fine too) Add chopped tempeh to the bowl, along with the mayonnaise, mustard, lemon, salt and pepper.
6. Fold everything together, cover, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to let the flavors combine.
7. This will keep covered in the fridge for 2-3 days.
8. This salad goes great on wheat toast, in a pita pocket, or in a lavash wrap.

Answer 3

I stopped eating poultry and meat generally and feel a lot better for the change. Soy products are wonderful and getting better all the time.

I do continue to eat fish, rather selectively --- various kinds of sushi are my favorites. There are some concerns with seafood, but overall it remains a better choice than poultry on may levels. Quite possibly I may go 100% vegan down the road, but it's worthwhile to simply increase the percentage of good choices day by day. Vitamin supplements might resolve your cravings also. B-12 (Cobalamin?) can easily be deficient if a vegan diet is not in optimal balance.

Answer 4

Wheat gluten - also called seitan (pronounced SAY-tahn), wheat meat, wheat-meat, wheatmeat, gluten meat, or simply gluten - is a foodstuff made from wheat gluten. It is made by washing dough made from wheat flour in water until the starch is rinsed away, leaving only the gluten, which can then be cooked and processed in various ways.

Wheat gluten, although not as well known, is an alternative to soy-based meat substitutes such as tofu; some types may taste even more like meat than tofu due to their chewy and/or stringy texture. It is often used in place of meat in Asian, vegetarian, Buddhist, and macrobiotic cuisines.

Wheat gluten is most popular in China, where it was first developed, as well as in the cuisines of other East and Southeast Asian nations. In Asia, it is commonly found on the menus of restaurants catering primarily to Buddhist customers who do not eat meat, but who nonetheless enjoy eating meatless versions of meat dishes.

Answer 5

If you are not eating properly, your body may be craving protein. This happens to me sometimes and I have a huge serve of tofu. Our bodies usually tell us what we need.
As a lazy vegetarian you have done well for 9 years.
Try something really simple, like frying a block of tofu with soy sauce and some ginger.
Serve it with a salad and see how you feel then.
If you go and eat chicken that is fine, it is up to you, am just trying to be helpful with a vegetarian protein fix.

Answer 6

well....

I am a meat eater and chicken scares me... Do a google search for the magazine called mother earth news. They are online. They did an article several years ago. In this article they documented that ALL chicken producers soak chicken carcasses in "fecal" ponds. They ponds are filled with chicken feces and entrails (the innards) to increase body weight before packaging and processing. Federal laws allow a chicken carcass to include up to 30% water weight from fecal soaking....

YUM!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 7

if you are really a vegetarian because you truly believe this, and aren't just trying to be 'politically correct,' then maybe increase your protein intake another way...like eggs? you didn't say you were vegan, and unfertilized eggs aren't the same as killing the animal. you probably are missing something important in your diet..i think chickens have a lot of zinc and b vitamin? so maybe up your intake of those?

Answer 8

there is this stuff called chik, its like chicken but vegetarian
all nutrients found in meat can be found somewhere else, dont give up, your doing the right thing

Answer 9

Morningstar farms chik'n patties! Heat one up, throw it on a bun with mayo and lettuce and it tastes just like the fast food sandwiches.

Answer 10

yeah you are craving meat because ur missing some vitamin or nutrient found only in meat. in my personal opinion, eat the damn chicken sandwhich!! meat is good for you. do you think a lion eats grass instead of a zebra because he thinks its wrong to eat meat. hell no, he eats the damn zebra!!!