The End

So we stopped our vegetarian diet yesterday. It had been 22 days. I was feeling like it was bad stewardship to ignore the food we already had in our freezer and spend money on other things just so we could keep on with this challenge. So, we had some chicken yesterday.

I'm really grateful for this experiment! It has taught me a lot about being creative and using other forms of protein besides meat, and learning to love vegetables. I never actually hated them, but now I can honestly say I like them a lot! One thing I never could get my taste buds to like was tofu. I tried. Honest! It just was a strange texture and had an odd after-taste. I only liked it in Pad Thai - that was because I fried it within an inch of its life!

I think we will continue to do more vegetable/legume meals, but still have meat here and there. I think it will help with our grocery budget to know I don't HAVE to buy meat each week, but if it's on sale then I can grab some. Plus I really like some kinds of meat and it would be sad if we never had them. ;)

I must go attend to my child who is spreading oatmeal everywhere. Happy Tuesday everyone!

What day is it?

Oh yes, it's day 19. :)

Today I am excited to announce that I actually ran 3 miles today!! Never thought it would be possible. Thank you Jesus for that extra push (aka. road work guys in my normal route so I had to go around).

So I made corn and chickpea patties for dinner tonight and loved them! I added a bit too much salt, but they would work great on a bun with some cheese. Yes, lots of cheese...I'd post the recipe, but I'm too tired and lazy right now.

Josh is going to a men's breakfast tomorrow morning, so I will be getting up early to make his casserole. It's not really that early since Annie wakes up around 7:30 each morning. I decided to drag my friend into the mix and wake HER up early so she could keep me company while my husband is away. I bribed her with pancakes and she graciously offered to bring Starbucks. I should bribe people with pancakes more often!

Pretty Much Amazing

So I tried this recipe today: http://www.tammysrecipes.com/spinach_rice_casserole

And it was seriously tasty! I didn't use Worcestershire, used less spinach, and added a little more chopped onion. I am going to have to arm wrestle Josh for the leftovers.

We were on Oklahoma visiting family last weekend and they tried some new recipes out on us. We liked the nut/rice loaf and the orzo salad - thanks guys! I love anything pasta, so the orzo was my especial favorite. Someday maybe Josh will take me to Italy. Here's hopin'!

Dinner

I mentioned experimenting on a chickpea curry for dinner yesterday. I found a really great recipe online, so I didn't have to do much "experimenting".
I love how the spices are all different colors.
sauteed together
all done!
I made normal rice but put tumeric in it with some peas to make it look special.

The recipe I followed is here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chickpea-Curry/Detail.aspx?prop31=1

Lunch

Here's what I had for lunch yesterday:
Veggie burger with laughing cow swiss cheese, tomato and toasted bread.
Salad with tomato and Italian dressing

Yummy!

Day 11

I finally got to try the cheese pizza recipe last night! The sad part was the crust...I made a mental note never to use Pillsbury pizza crust again. The homemade is a lot better! The rest of it was good, though. I just mixed some salt, pepper, and oregano into some tomato sauce, spread it over the crust and topped with sliced mozzarella cheese. I told Josh last night the flavor I think I am missing is Provolone. Another mental note to try that next time.

Breakfast: I had the traditional oatmeal this morning. If you every wonder how to make oatmeal please go here: It has nearly a million (not literally) oatmeal recipes that look delicious! http://www.katheats.com/kaths-tribute-to-oatmeal/

Lunch: I have been craving spinach so I think I'll make a salad along with veggie burgers.

Dinner: Going to experiment with a chickpea curry.

Indian food has been sounding amazing lately. That and french fries. After a long struggle on the drive home from an errand I almost went to McDonald's today, but resisted the urge. YAY!

Day 8

Things have been going well on the veggie home front. :) We've found that Morningstar Farms makes a great "chicken" patty for sandwiches. Yummy!

I was hoping to make either cheese pizza for dinner last night or soft tacos but was disappointed. Since our recent power outage my mozzarella died, and so did my veggie crumbles! So we made bean and cheese burritos. I made up a list of around 15 vegetarian dinners, so I am cycling through those along with other ideas that strike.

This weekend I had a serious craving for cupcakes. It must have been from the baby shower I attended. I had to leave early with Annie, since she was starting to get squirmy. Anyway, I found some cute little mini ones that were perfect!

Day 4

This day was a little late in getting posted, since our power was out. We had a huge thunderstorm all night and made us take shelter in the bathtub a couple times when the tornado alarm went off. Exciting!


Breakfast = Cereal

Lunch - Cheese pizza and Caesar salad.

Dinner - Omelettes with cheese, mushrooms and spinach. We also had some bread and strawberries with cool whip. Yummy!


I thought I might have to eat the entire contents of the fridge today in order to save our food - but the power came back on in time for lunch saving me from gaining more weight.

Day 3

Yesterday I changed my mind last minute about dinner and made cheese enchiladas instead. I mean, really last minute. Josh was due to arrive in 15 minutes along with my sister for dinner. It's fun being a stay at home mom and confusing your poor family with rather sporadic behavior. ;)

Today's plan is:

Breakfast - Josh had cereal and tea, I had some oatmeal with walnuts and brown sugar.

Lunch - The amazing taco salad. Josh hasn't tried it yet and I want to indoctrinate him.

Dinner - Veggie burgers! With potato salad and green beans.


I didn't want to eat breakfast this morning. For some reason if I don't eat soon enough after getting up I stop wanting to eat altogether and just drink coffee. Then I get really hyper and irritable and wonder why. I heard a distant voice belonging to my mother (or is it the health conscious media?) that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so I buckled under pressure at got some yummy oatmeal.

The Salad

This is the taco salad I made for lunch yesterday. It was really quite good! I will definitely make it again soon.

Day 2 of Veggies!

I wanted to note that I am tracking how much protein, carbs, calories etc. I am getting - in case anyone wondered. Also, I do have snacks during the day which consist mainly of fruit or a granola bar. Josh is not tracking these things, but since I'm cooking for him I figure he's got a good chance of getting enough of what he needs!

Breakfast:
Oatmeal with brown sugar and walnuts. I absolutely love oatmeal with coffee in the morning!

Lunch:
Egg salad sandwiches with baby carrots

Dinner:
Most likely bean and cheese burritos with some type or two of vegetable.


Last night I made up a list of meals I could make and came up with quite a few! It's amazing how many things you can eat without meat added.

Day 1

Today our family is starting 30 days of being vegetarians. We won't go vegan, just will not eat meat including fish. It's not that I have something against eating meat, but it sounded like a fun challenge and generally healthy (If I can keep myself from eating lots of ice cream). I will post the meals we have each day here on this blog in case anyone is curious. If you have any ideas or good recipes please feel free to comment!

Breakfast:
Oatmeal with brown sugar (Josh does not eat breakfast generally, but when he does it is cereal)

Lunch:
Taco salad with salsa, black beans, cheese, veggie crumbles and rice cake "chips".

The chips are made by Quaker and are pretty good. I'm not usually a chip person, but every now and then the mood strikes me. Also the veggie crumbles are supposed to be like ground beef. I like the Morningstar Farms brand of veggie products but will probably branch out and try other stuff.

Dinner:
Spaghetti, bread, and salad



So it begins!