Stay Vegetarian

...just chaning my goal! Staying vegetarian is pure bliss…but methinks I need to work on my “chefffing” skills! So, off to learn how to cook healthy vegetarian dishes! =0)

So, I am on a budget these days and cooking interesting vegetarian foods lately has been a serious challenge. There are only so many ways that one can create a dish with pollenta. Sigh! However, that said, just the mere MENTION of meat is nauseating!!! And to top it off, I’m a terrible cook! =0)

It seems to always be a challenge with family and friends to get them to accept and acknowledge that my choice of food lifestyle is not a burden on them or a ridiculous manifestation of dilusion. Or something. Every time I go to dinner at my brother and sisterinlaws, it seems that the main meal is FILLED with greasy animals prodcuts of some sort. I believe it’s more important to go for the family affair, so I was stealing myself to eat a bit of salad, enjoy the company, then go home and have a real dinner—and that’s fine! I don’t want to make people cook two dinners, I just am happy to be invited! However, that said, sometimes it is nice to have my belief system recognized.

But last night was different. Apparently my sisinlaw felt badly about this situation and actually went out and purchased frozen meat substitute for me for whenever I’m over! Whilst the rest of the fam ate their pork product, I have a fake chick patty in a pita! YUM! The best part was my four year old nephew, who sat next to me, wanted NOTHING to do with the meat dinner, but instead really wanted what I was eating! Ah, I might turn him vegetarian yet! =0) But not until he’s older….

It was a great experience! And bonding between auntie and neffie!

there’s this sushi place down the street from me that makes the most AWESOME spicy veggie handrolls ever! Mmmmm…..

I am finding it almost impossible these days to keep a balanced, healthy vegetarian diet. When I was younger and had time, it was easy. Nowadays, however, I realize my body starts giving me signals that I am not well because I have forgetten to eat any vegetable or sound bit of protein for weeks. Yikes!

GOAL FOR 2006: visit a dietician and improve my regular diet

I have recently been considering the Raw Foods diet…or at least adding more raw foods to my diet. Does anyone know anything about this? I was vegan once before, but lost so much weight you could see my ribs and my friends considered an intervention—seriously. The idea of eating for health and energy and to protect the planet is attractive, but not at the cost of losing too much wieght. Is it possible to mix a raw/ living food diet with a vegetarian diet?

Articles supporting vegetarianism are plentiful, and those discussing the treatment of animals and the subsequent processing of meat is my greatest deterrant to eating meat ever again. I became a vegetarian, in fact, after reading The Jungle by Upton Singlair, and more recently solidified my life-style choice after reading, When Elephants Weep, which discusses the emotional lives of animals.