Hi Tonia

[Guest guest]

, " tonialmo " <tonialmo

wrote:

>

> Hi, Jack

>

> I lived in Lubbock for many years and even though, outside of

> Amarillo, it's the largest city in the panhandle, it's not easy at

> all to be vegetarian there. I was vegetarian in the '80s when I

> first moved to Lubbock and after a few months mostly out of

> frustration with it being so expensive to eat any veggie foods

> besides beans and rice, I started eating animal products. Just a

> little fish at first and then I wasn't vegetarian in any meaningful

> way. I've just in the last year or so gone back to being a

> vegetarian and now I'm trying to transition to vegan. It feels so

> good to eat clean and healthy all the time again! I'm super

> determined never to go back to eating dead animals again!

>

> May the florets be with you

> Tonia

>

> , Jack Lindke

> <maxium62001@> wrote:

> >

> > Hi, my name is Jack, and like Darcy in rural Alabama, the

> Texas Panhandle is not conducive to the vegetarian lifestyle, since

> we reside with cattle. I was once a poster child for the Atkins

Diet,

> which worked well for fifteen years, but every time I would

> incorporate other foods, I would balloon; yo-yo, all the way. I'm

not

> sure that I wish to give up dairy, but after eliminating all meats

> and fish from my diet, I was a new person, within a few months. I

> also concentrate on low fat. Animal rights played as large a role

in

> my decision, as did health and wellbeing. Having been a cook, for

> over forty years, I am really enjoying my experiments;

substitutions

> are easy, but low fat ones are a little trickier.

> > Bon appetit, to all, Jack

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

I actually spent a week in Pampa when my husband, at the time a

computer consultant with his own business, was writing a program for

the Celanese Plant. I wasn't vegetarian at the time but only on a

weight loss diet and I still found it hard to eat healthy (as healthy

as a meat eating diet gets) there. Pampa was one of the small towns my

DH who is now a math, physical science and computer science teacher was

considered applying to on the job search that landed us here. Too much

snow and frankly, the town is too dead. Your empty shopping strip mall

is so sad. I saw some of the prettiest houses there, though, and the

folks at the City/County Library were very kind to let me hang out

there and read the books. I did get very, very ill from eating at the

Dairy Queen (which I understand closed soon after) and had to go to the

Emergency Room. That tainted the whole experience for me!

 

Have you looked at the recipes on vegweb? There are a lot of creative

dishes using just basic beans and grains. But being a former

professional cook, you probably can manage that OK. You're closer to

Amarillo than I am to San Antonio. We'll both be OK, I think!

 

> >

> I'm so glad that you know the plight, but I am determined. I feel so

> much better, and I am not harming any animal friends. I'm familiar

> with Lubbock. We are in Pampa, about 60 miles northeast of Amarillo.

> Naturally, we have to travel to the big city, for anything fairly

> exotic; good veggies, peppers, and seasonings. There is a farmer's

> market, here, but they only operate during the summer months; we take

> full advantage. I have stopped cooking, professionally, and I intend

> to do office work, until I retire.

> Have a great fourth, Jack

>