Mood:  happy

I'm an ovo-lacto vegetarian (eat eggs and dairy). I have been a vegetarian for 9 years now. There were several reasons I became a vegetarian.

1) At the time I was dating someone who was a vegetarian and I cooked so it was easier to just make everything veg instead of two versions.

2) I absolutely love animals and have always been sensitive when it comes to their suffering. I was especially influenced by the book The Jungle.

3) Even though it doesn't make much sense, the final deciding factor was when the police shot a moose and its baby who had wandered into town. Why couldn't they have just tranquilized them and then released them? Either way, they were going to shoot them and have to transport them somewhere and somehow!

4) I believe if I was able to go out and get my own meat or fish I  would possibly eat it, although maybe not because I'm a lil creeped out by meat now. I feel like others shouldn't be doing the dirty work for me, and I can't do it myself, so I remain meatless. I have no problem with (ethical) hunting and fishing because they are going out and doing it themselves and the animal was not just raised for meat or mass-slaughtered. I especially appreciate when hunters/fishers have respect for animals simply because it was another living creature; they understand taking away something's life is not to be done without thought or purpose. But others who just shoot animals for fun or do things like run over animals on purpose, that's just not right!

I am pretty strict, but I understand it's nearly impossible to be 100% true vegetarian. For example, I will still eat sour cream or yogurt even though most of the time these have gelatin. Sometimes I can't resist a marshmallow (gelatin) or a donut or pies (they usually have lard). I don't even pay attention to things like table sugar possibly being filtered through charcoal (which may be derived from animal bone) or that cheese could have rennet. But I do not eat things with animal flavorings, animal-derived broths, fish oils, other things with lard, beef tallow, Caesar salad, jell-o, etc. I don't eat fish or seafood, which I still consider meat...well, actually I consider most seafood just giant sea insects (shudder). I don't pick the meat off things and then eat it. I hate when people do that, that's pointless and not vegetarian, the meat juices are all in everything!

I also want to say that I do not care if you eat meat or not. I think being a vegetarian is just a personal choice, and I'm not going to give you PETA pamphlets or other bothersome things like that.  

I usually try to look at online menus before going to a restaurant so I know if I can eat anything there. However, sometimes these menus are difficult to find or do not exist. I thought about how convenient it would be if there was a list or webpage about vegetarian options. I will go to restaurants in the Fargo-Moorhead area (and some other cities) and discover and post the vegetarian options available at the restaurants, and my opinion of the foods I tried. No pizza places will be discussed unless there is something outstanding about it. Everyone already knows you can just get cheese or a veggie one. 

I will also find out the prices of desserts and post them here. I don't know why the dessert prices always seem to have to be a secret at restaurants, very rarely ever posted on the online menu.