The first time I mentioned the idea of not eating meat.. I was at the grocery store, talking to Dave on the phone. I told him, "I want to eat healthier, and I don't think I'm going to buy meat". He said that sounded great to him.
I was expecting it to be more transitional than it was. I still had meat at home, and had planned on consuming it, but it just never happened. I did fix a can of chili that had meat in it a week or so later, but I didn't tell anyone until after they ate it!
The first time I made a conscience effort to stop eating meat, I was about 10 years old. I announced it at a family get-together (Thanksgiving), and I think I ate mashed potatoes and brownies all weekend. I was mostly a vegetarian until I was 25, and married Mr. Control Freak who wouldn't hear of me not eating meat while I was pregnant.
A few years ago, my son announced (at Thanksgiving, just like his mama) that he didn't want to eat meat. Unlike everyone I've ever known, I wanted to be supportive in his decision, so I immediately stopped eating meat. He did really well for a few months, and I even got to fight the school system, but we both drifted back to our meat-eating ways....
Until now.
The best part about it is that we are on the same page. And that Dave is willing to go along with anything I make. We ate a lot of cheese pizzas the first couple of weeks.. We discovered that soy-chicken is great, but that $8/lb, not something we could indulge in every day. So I've had to get creative. I've had to try new things. I've had to make my family be guinea pigs when it comes to meal-times.
The thing is, there's a lot of ways to just "leave the meat out" of your favorite meals. Breakfast, especially. I can count on one had the times I've fixed bacon or sausage with breakfast. MorningStar makes a pretty terrific sausage substitute, if you're into that. At $1/patty, it's not something we can afford to eat every day. For lunch, we still stick to the basics: PBJ, soup, leftovers, etc. Dinner is the time I get to be "creative", although it really comes down to a few choices. Bread, cheese, veggies, fruit. Or pasta or beans or chili or potato (or any combination!).. Things like that. Good, simple food. And that's about it. We don't eat a lot of "weird, tree-hugging, granola, hippy" food. We personally love the Morningstar products that we have tried, but won't touch tofu. I know we are still eating too much cheese, and I'm trying to cut down on that, but it is a process. It's difficult for me to go from "Cheeseburger with extra mayo" to "small salad with no dressing and a lemon wedge", which is a joke, because it'll never happen!
I was expecting it to be more transitional than it was. I still had meat at home, and had planned on consuming it, but it just never happened. I did fix a can of chili that had meat in it a week or so later, but I didn't tell anyone until after they ate it!
The first time I made a conscience effort to stop eating meat, I was about 10 years old. I announced it at a family get-together (Thanksgiving), and I think I ate mashed potatoes and brownies all weekend. I was mostly a vegetarian until I was 25, and married Mr. Control Freak who wouldn't hear of me not eating meat while I was pregnant.
A few years ago, my son announced (at Thanksgiving, just like his mama) that he didn't want to eat meat. Unlike everyone I've ever known, I wanted to be supportive in his decision, so I immediately stopped eating meat. He did really well for a few months, and I even got to fight the school system, but we both drifted back to our meat-eating ways....
Until now.
The best part about it is that we are on the same page. And that Dave is willing to go along with anything I make. We ate a lot of cheese pizzas the first couple of weeks.. We discovered that soy-chicken is great, but that $8/lb, not something we could indulge in every day. So I've had to get creative. I've had to try new things. I've had to make my family be guinea pigs when it comes to meal-times.
The thing is, there's a lot of ways to just "leave the meat out" of your favorite meals. Breakfast, especially. I can count on one had the times I've fixed bacon or sausage with breakfast. MorningStar makes a pretty terrific sausage substitute, if you're into that. At $1/patty, it's not something we can afford to eat every day. For lunch, we still stick to the basics: PBJ, soup, leftovers, etc. Dinner is the time I get to be "creative", although it really comes down to a few choices. Bread, cheese, veggies, fruit. Or pasta or beans or chili or potato (or any combination!).. Things like that. Good, simple food. And that's about it. We don't eat a lot of "weird, tree-hugging, granola, hippy" food. We personally love the Morningstar products that we have tried, but won't touch tofu. I know we are still eating too much cheese, and I'm trying to cut down on that, but it is a process. It's difficult for me to go from "Cheeseburger with extra mayo" to "small salad with no dressing and a lemon wedge", which is a joke, because it'll never happen!
1 comment:
You might want to try investing in a slow cooker. Real easy to throw together potato or veggie soup in the morning for supper. A good change of pace.
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