Eat less meat

I’m really failing on this one today. I ended up going down to this place called Bone Daddies with my office. Imagine like a Hooters but with actual good food. Man, this is tough. =P Ah well, I did have all vegetarian indian food for dinner!

So my girlfriend and I once eyed this Buddhist Temple near where we live thats near this absolutely stunning spot in Austin. A place called Fo Guang Shan Hsiang Yun Temple (http://www.ibps-austin.org/). Being the Buddhist inspired people we are, we’ve both had a curiosity about this place. I researched them tonight, and we overjoyed to hear that tomorrow they are having a Vegeterian Food Festival! What a perfect excuse for both of us to go down there and see what the place is about. Mmm, you haven’t lived til you’ve tried tofu fish.

Edit: Completely forgot to mention why this is killing two birds with one stone. I get to work on my goals to check out a new Buddhist haven to learn a thing or two AND work on eating less meat! Woohoo!

I’ve been pretty successful lately about eating less meat. In fact, I think i’ve reached a notable milestone in that I feel entirely comfortable and knowledgable enough to buy non-meat at my local supermarket. Here’s some advice and bits o wisdom i’ve found:

- Start gathering a list of vegetarian recipes you really enjoy. I particularly enjoy curries, tofu, soups,and hummis as my weekly staples. Dinner is the hardest meal, so target that one first.

- Find a market that cators international food. There is much more variety at international food markets. I have the luck of being nearby a chain of supermarkets called Fiesta supermarket here in Texas. It’s funny though, only poorer people go there, yet i’m rather convinced their quality is much better than anything in Target/Kroger/etc.

- Take it a step at a time. If you go too fast you will certainly fail. I’ts taken me a year to get to this point honostly. There were periods where I ate meat. I gradually started eating only one type of meat: fish. Then I started eating no meat and only the occasional sausage. It’s tough because we are just so ingrained.

So anyhow, whats up for me right now is kicking the meat while eating out habit. I think i need to find more variety in vegetarian options at my common restaurants. Some concerns I have about nutrition are also on my mind as i’ve heard iron deficiency can be an issue. If any of you who’ve made it farther than me have any advice. Please share =)