Today is day five of my thirty day PETA challenge to go vegetarian. Here is what I have been cooking for my family:
April 11: Bean and Rice Bowls with avocado, cilantro, salsa, cheese, and sour cream (though no dairy for me!)
April 12: Brown Rice Tofu bowls with mixed veggies and broiled tofu (subbed tofu for the chicken in this recipe)
April 13: I went out of town, so they were on their own
April 14: Pasta with Marinara sauce
April 15: Vegetable Frittata (using what I have)
I heard the Hubs cooked a chicken and cheese dish while I was out of town, so that might be helpful to me in the long run. First, he had the choice to cook whatever he wanted so I don't really have any say in that, but secondly, they had a small "taste" of meat so they will take a bit longer to notice that I have not been cooking any meat-meals. And speaking of while I was out of town, my girlfriend made meat-free chili just because that's how she always makes it (score!). I made this awesome Mediterranean salad (subbed cubed tofu for the chicken and added garbanzo beans), and I was politely able to decline the ground-beef lasagna by excusing myself with the dairy-free situation. No conversation about it, and I escaped the weekend undetected.
Tonight I am cooking from the pantry, and the best I can whip up without going to the grocery store is frittata with red onion, yellow pepper, and asparagus. Not too shabby.
Today we went over to a birthday party for a neighbor. As we arrived, the host's mother-in-law showed us the buffet table and made a big announcement that THERE WAS NO MEAT IN ANY DISH except the one in the silver pot. Internally I whooped and hollered! It was fruit and veggie, and some dairy. Beans! Yum! Nothing fake or weird. But then she looked me square in the eye and (in front of my family!) asked me if I was vegetarian! I know I looked like a deer in headlights, but I swallowed and took a deep breath and managed to sputter "My family eats meat...." Oh, she said, I just wanted you to know that there is no meat in case you don't eat it. WHEW! I narrowly avoided that situation. I didn't want to lie, but I also didn't want to tell the truth about being secretly vegetarian. Apparently she is vegetarian, and her hubby is vegan, and it was funny that she had to ask me that question at that time. :)
This is my absolute favorite recipe for lunch right now, and every time we have leftover cooked pasta, I get to make it. YUM! I don't put the cheese on, sometimes add extra veggies, and ALWAYS use this dressing: Brianna's Real French Vinaigrette. It really does taste good on everything.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
A New Day
Today is the day that I have decided to change the rest of my life. I was watching "The F Word" starring Gordon Ramsay last night and for the second time in the past week I witnessed the slaughter of animals for consumption. Mr. Ramsay's animals had been lovingly cared for, and humanely slaughtered (if there is such a thing...) but the images still haunted me, and I was brought to tears as the animals gave their lives to be food. I have made the decision that I no longer wanted to consume meat as a staple of my diet, and therefore, will not be making meat-centric foods for my family any longer.
This morning I started Googling "becoming vegetarian" and of course the first website that popped up was for PETA. The images and video on the website were frightening and although I strive very hard to only purchase animal meat and products of the highest quality, there is still the nagging image of the eyes of the animals that died that I cannot get over. If it were a life or death situation, then of course I would eat meat, but I think that I can survive quite healthfully on a non-meat diet. I have been living dairy free for just shy of one year, so I think this is the next logical step in the health of my body and the bodies of my family...which brings me to problem #1: The Hubby.
As I was wiping away the tears last night for the pigs that were slaughtered (and we don't even eat pork...) my Hubs was laughing on the couch. He had zero sympathy for the animals, and grew up on a farm where he slaughtered numerous animals. I mentioned that I never think about this aspect of the consumption chain while biting into a hamburger, and he said that he flashes back to standing on the inside of a cow every single time he eats beef. I mentioned that I might not want to eat meat anymore and he laughed even harder. This is where my new lifestyle is about to get very tricky...how to become vegetarian on the sly, and only serve my family vegetarian meals without making a big fanfare about it so they have less of a chance to rebel.
On the menu tonight: Pasta. Easy peasy. No questions, no problems, everyone ate. I made a salad and we had bread. No issues.
I researched CSAs today and found a pretty cool one that you pay weekly for (as opposed to the full share up front which has deterred me in the past). It is called "door-to-door organics" and I will be signing up for their next box to be delivered on Tuesday. I'll keep you posted on my menu selections and my quest to be....The Secret Vegetarian.......
This morning I started Googling "becoming vegetarian" and of course the first website that popped up was for PETA. The images and video on the website were frightening and although I strive very hard to only purchase animal meat and products of the highest quality, there is still the nagging image of the eyes of the animals that died that I cannot get over. If it were a life or death situation, then of course I would eat meat, but I think that I can survive quite healthfully on a non-meat diet. I have been living dairy free for just shy of one year, so I think this is the next logical step in the health of my body and the bodies of my family...which brings me to problem #1: The Hubby.
As I was wiping away the tears last night for the pigs that were slaughtered (and we don't even eat pork...) my Hubs was laughing on the couch. He had zero sympathy for the animals, and grew up on a farm where he slaughtered numerous animals. I mentioned that I never think about this aspect of the consumption chain while biting into a hamburger, and he said that he flashes back to standing on the inside of a cow every single time he eats beef. I mentioned that I might not want to eat meat anymore and he laughed even harder. This is where my new lifestyle is about to get very tricky...how to become vegetarian on the sly, and only serve my family vegetarian meals without making a big fanfare about it so they have less of a chance to rebel.
On the menu tonight: Pasta. Easy peasy. No questions, no problems, everyone ate. I made a salad and we had bread. No issues.
I researched CSAs today and found a pretty cool one that you pay weekly for (as opposed to the full share up front which has deterred me in the past). It is called "door-to-door organics" and I will be signing up for their next box to be delivered on Tuesday. I'll keep you posted on my menu selections and my quest to be....The Secret Vegetarian.......
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