South Texas raised here and I am a meat eater but I will try those meatless varieties here and there and they actually good. Sometimes I will chop up veggies and mix them into either pinto or black beans and form patties and grill those up and very tasty.
Sounds good!
I went vegetarian while living in Texas (Dallas area), and--BELIEVE ME--it was not easy, or fun! That was in August, 1988.
Being a Southern California native, let's just say that I already felt like a fish out of water living there. Then, throwing vegetarianism into the mix, it was like we were aliens from some far-away planet.
We had been big meat eaters; my favorite thing to do was barbecue. I'd always called myself an animal lover, and always had a houseful of pets, and they were like children to me. I wouldn't
dream of harming an animal.
As a pre-med student I had started learning about the atrocities inflicted on lab animals--including cats, dogs and primates. It piqued my interest and before long I was very involved in animal rights.
Along the way I learned how 'meat' animals are subjected to heinous abuse, like castration with no anesthesia or analgesia, and slaughtered inhumanely. I saw undercover photos from factory farms and slaughterhouses...
It all sank in--there's no difference physiologically between our cute 'pet' animals and those killed for food--they're all sentient beings who feel pain, sorrow, fear, grief...and some, such as pigs, are smarter than dogs.
So one day I came home from work and announced that I could not, with a clear conscience, continue participating in such cruelty, so I was going vegetarian. I made clear that my family did not have to follow suit. But they did. My daughter in particular, who'd read my animal literature and asked many questions, embraced it. When she went away to college, she lived in a vegan co-op.
I tried tofu once........ONCE.
It probably wasn't prepared properly. Or maybe it's just not for you. People swear by Daiya vegan 'cheese'--I tried its shredded cheddar ONCE, and found it so repulsive, the nearly-full bag got tossed in the trash!
