Who's hungry? I'm starving! I just finished flipping through chef Tal Ronnen's new book The Conscious Cook, and, now, my stomach won't stop rumbling. Everything looks so damn delicious! It's no surprise Tal's cooked for some of Hollywood's elite, including Oprah and Ellen DeGeneres. He's also helped tons of restaurants, schools, and corporate cafeterias get some vegetarian options on to their menus. Way to go Tal!
If you're a fussy foodie, this book's for you. But don't just take it from me. Oprah loves Tal's food so much, she raved about it in her blog.
To win a copy of The Conscious Cook: Delicious Meatless Recipes That Will Change the Way You Eat, containing 75 original vegan recipes, comment below with what inspired you to go veg or, if you haven't gone veg yet, let us know what it's going to take to make the switch. Comments must be received by October 23. The three people with the most original comments will be chosen as our winners and notified by October 26.
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GOOD LUCK!
Diet for a New America made me go vegetarian…quickly… But, then I realized not only was I not performing a senseless act anymore, but I looked and felt different…and better!!!
I have become a vegiterrian because why kill those innocent animals !?
SAVE THE ANIMLS !
SAVE THE ANIMLS !
I always see those commercials on TV that have to do with
animal abuse and it makes me cry. Every time I see them I rce to my dog and hold her. I think
to myself why would I eantto kill such a life? So then I started volunteering at a frm to help save animals – but the
animals still got sent
to slaughter house and I would always be afraid that I was eating
one of our cows because we named them an they all had stories so finally – on may 15, 2009 I decided to not kill animals anymore ! It's not my life to take. However my parents are carnivorious ! they eat steak evry night – I'm the only one who doesn't and it's hrs to fidn good recipiea but this would help a bunch. I have turned three friends veggie !
- Christian
* if my stuping is off it's bc I'm using
my iPhone and it's hard to type ! I have become a vegiterrian because why kill those innocent animals !?
I always see those commercials on TV that have to do with
animal abuse and it makes me cry. Every time I see them I rce to my dog and hold her. I think
to myself why would I eantto kill such a life? So then I started volunteering at a frm to help save animals – but the
animals still got sent
to slaughter house and I would always be afraid that I was eating
one of our cows because we named them an they all had stories so finally – on may 15, 2009 I decided to not kill animals anymore ! It's not my life to take. However my parents are carnivorious ! they eat steak evry night – I'm the only one who doesn't and it's hrs to fidn good recipiea but this would help a bunch. I have turned three friends veggie !
- Christian
* if my stuping is off it's bc I'm using
my iPhone and it's hard to type ! <3
I started becoming a vegan when i went out with my grandfather hunting, after seeing him kill a deer i could not stand to eat anything that that lived and was free
I have been a vegetarian for 6 years now, and I would like to become vegan. The decision to become vegetarian for me was simple and the best decision I have ever made. Before I was a vegetarian I just ate what the rest of my family was eating, but when I became a vegetarian I proved to everyone that it is a simple lifestyle change that anyone can accomplish and I now cook for myself everyday and even encouraged other family members and friends to follow the path I was taking. To me, just thinking about the way animals are treated is very disturbing. I have a dog and he is one of the most important beings in my life, and thinking of anyone harming him would just be devastating. When you think about it that way, whether it be a family member, pet, or any living thing, it is just not right. Food is something to keep you healthy and alive, and eating anything with a face or heartbeat is not necessary. It goes in one place in your body and out again, so why take away a precious life for something so disposable? Over the years that I have been vegetarian, I have learned that there are many different options for food to keep you healthy and satisfied and I will be a vegetarian for as long as I live. I hope that people who haven't become a vegetarian or vegan will be inspired when they read these because animals are precious and everyone and thing in the world should be equal.
I didn't even know anything about the terrible things that they do to animals until senior year when I had to do my senior project. I look up a whole bunch of different topics and the one that caught my eye was animal cruelty. I learned so much. I got a great grade on my 10 page paper which made my teacher cry. She is now a vegetarian to this day. I am happy that I know a lot more about how terribly people can be.
I used to think that I could never go without eating meat. Then I went on a diet that took all the animal proteins out of my daily diet. I felt healthier, and by the time the diet was done I had gone 3 months without eating meat! Figured i would just keep going from there!
I'm choosing to go vegan because I'm making a conscientious decision to stand up for those who don't have a voice, and to adopt a healthier lifestyle by choosing what I eat. The recipes look mucho deliciouso too!
I'm a vegetarian, but I want to go vegan because I don't believe in causing any conscious and unnecessary harm to any being, human or non-human.
realizing that I have the ability to make a difference in this world by what I eat is so empowering. Learning about the daily routine of slaughterhouses made me sick, thinking of all the wrongdoing that goes on there. I love animals and I'm not a murderer!
Learning about the inhumane acts on animals and minority workers of slauterhouses brought awareness that supporting the killing of animals is NOT what is in the best of interest. I am smarter than that, and no living being deserves to die for the 'benefit' of others.
I saw this book and cook on oprah yesterday and it sounds like a healthy option:)
i went veg to lose weight
I think what made me go veg was PeTA. But the biggest factor in me going veg was the fact that everytime I use to have a burger or something, that I saw the animals face in the meat. I had to fight with my parents but they came around. So I've been veg for about four years now. And slowly going vegan. A little bit everyday.
What inspired me to go vegan is my doctor. He said changing my diet would drastically improve my health
We were on vacation and at a Perkins and I realized I did not want (or could eat) anything on the menu, and when I thought about it, I hadn't eaten meat in about 9 months, that's when I realized that I wanted to be a vegetarian. (I was 14)
For me, it would take a better income. I don't have a lot of control over what I eat right now. Of course I would love to eat organic, vegan meals everyday but right now I've just been accepting whatever food people give to me.
I went veg because I've always been compassionate toward animals, but the main thing was when I signed up for Peta & I found out about all of the horrifying things that they do to animals. Keeping them alive and torturing them for meat.. so repulsive. You guys did an amazing thing for the turkeys which really opened my eyes and that's what made me become a vegan. How butterball was keeping them alive, and slitting their throats while alive, kicking them, throwing them..doing horrible things & after I read about that on your website, I printed it out and showed everybody in my family & me, my sister and her fiance never ate meat again. I really do thank you all because you really did open my eyes & I'm SO much happier now that I'm a vegan & that i'm taking part in helping the animals!
Im 16. I went veg when i was 14 because I thought about the things i was eating, I thought not only is it unhealthy but it's unfair to these poor animals, and how they must have gotten treated to be on this plate in front of me. I always said I care for animals with everything i have since i could remember but i wasn't showing it. So I decided to do something about it. But I wasn't totally sure because i thought veggies only ate salads and fruits, until I found Peta2!!(: I learned all about vegetarians and vegans.
So thanks a lot for helping me peta2, I really appreciate it.
For me it's going to take more availability to non-animal protein substitutes.
I was 13 when i wanted to become vegan and I'll turn 17 in two weeks. That's a 4 year difference. Point is that I FINALLY decided to go vegetarian and go all out! I watched the peta videos and i BAWLED!! I couldnt sleep, i would close my eyes and for that brief moment the images rushed my mind. I do NOT want to support meat anymore and even as i write, the pain in their eyes is unforgettable. I would like the cook book not only to become healthier, but to make a difference. The smallest bits count, that's what i believe and sticking to
I am considering it. I don't eat alot of meat.
Many things have ome together for me recently regarding my going vegetarian. All my life i've been a picky eater, mainly with meats. Pork always made me feel sick to my stomach, but overall I was constantly wondering what I was eating, and why. I never felt completely okay with the fact that I was potentially swallowing my friends on the farm down the street. I had been trying to push my way past my parents into being vegetarian, but being so young, my opinions raely stood out enough to make a difference in even menial things, such as dinner for the night. But this past summer, I went to Vans Warped Tour in Cincinatti Ohio, and stumbled across the Peta 2 tent. I was handed a disk, and asked for my email. I went home and watched the video. I got sick. I cried. I got sick again. And that was that. I was done with meat. & I can't explain how strongly I feel about this, even though my parents don't support it. They buy me meatless foods only because they have to(I won't eat if they don't). I feel so much better about what I eat now, and I continue to inform people about what goes into their mouths.
Honestly, I was dating a girl who was vegetarian and I didn't want to make her compromise her values. The vegetarianism lasted a little bit longer than the relationship though as I've since found some other reasons to maintain it.
Posted by: Annchen | October 17, 2009 7:27 PM
i went veg in early in grade 7. i went to my best-friends birthday and we watched a horror movie,texas chainsaw massacre, ugghh.. it wasnt the people that got murdered that bugged me becuase i knew it was fake but in the beggining when it starts in the slaughter house..i just couldnt stomach it and was horrified and the movie had barely begun.. ive been veg since and now in grade 11.
i had been veg before but my parents wouldnt allow it so i put my foot down at that and REFUSED to eat it lots of nights i was stuck by the dinner table they finnally gave up!
GOING STRONG AND FEELING GREAT!\
FIGHT FOR IT FIGHT FOR THEM!
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2009 7:36 PM
at my best friends birthday party we were watching a horror movie, texas chainsaw massacre,ugh.. i was so disturbed by it..not rele the fact about the people becase i knew it was fake, but the slaughter house….ugh.. i knew that was relistic..in a way..
rele u can compare how it was for the humans to die..it was the same way an animal would..its sick all that pain that is inflicted and one only has to put the peices together.
i had tried to be a veg before this but my parents would not allow it. but i couldnt stand it at this point so i REFUSED to eat it and after about a week of being stuck at the dinner table i won the fight and im still going strong! its been 5 years now and will keep going !
fight for what they cant!
Posted by: ainsley albert | October 17, 2009 7:45 PM
i am currently a vegatarian, working on becomeing a vegan. i plan on going vegan november 1st as it is national vegan day.i never really ate meat products when i was growing up i would have the ocasional hotdog or chicken fingers but thats about it. but 3 years ago i mad the choice to become a vegatartian bc animals have beating heart and feelings and can experience pain like us human beings do, the only difference is that unlike animals we can express our feelings and pain. and i feel much better knowning that when i eat something i know that it was not killed,toutured, or had a face before.
annchen….didnt write it i did ainsley albert…
somehow must have got messed up this one is mine..
i went veg in early in grade 7. i went to my best-friends birthday and we watched a horror movie,texas chainsaw massacre, ugghh.. it wasnt the people that got murdered that bugged me becuase i knew it was fake but in the beggining when it starts in the slaughter house..i just couldnt stomach it and was horrified and the movie had barely begun.. ive been veg since and now in grade 11.
i had been veg before but my parents wouldnt allow it so i put my foot down at that and REFUSED to eat it lots of nights i was stuck by the dinner table they finnally gave up!
GOING STRONG AND FEELING GREAT!\
FIGHT FOR IT FIGHT FOR THEM!
When I was a teenager, the thought of eating meat made my stomach turn. I went Vegetarian. By the time I was 30 I had gone back and forth several times between Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian. After living in Hawaii for a few years and seeing the true beauty of the land (I'm originally from Los Angeles – concrete jungle itself) — I wanted to do my part to help save the environment. In beautiful Kauai – there were places that looked like man had never even been to – but just a couple miles away are horrible land fills. I really started to learn more about how to save our planet. The more I learned, the more I found it was NOT just the land fills – it was the meat industry and all the main stream enormous corporations who's bottom line is revenue. I now go out of my way to purchase from companies that recycle and use organic/natural ingredients and products.
In addition to this – after having a baby, I want to lead by example — showing her how to live a healthy lifestyle. One that promotes well being on all levels. I also feel the more natural foods one eats, will exude youthfulness, energy, health and happiness.
That is how I became Vegan.
-Jenna Harper
Venice, California
For years I have wanted to get a vegan or veg cook book…since i LOVe to cook food and experiment with it i go to a cookbood…but most cookbooks contain dishes with meat in it. I dont even enjoy looking at a recipe and thinking about tha poor piggy (or chiken or cow
) just makes me shiver and want to burn that cookbook. So i wish i caould win this and get a normal veg cookbook (I'm veg…but i always wanted to try vegan food too!!! 
I want to be a Veg,but desperately need someone to show me how. I'm hoping this cookbook can do it!