Dabbling with Vegetarianism

Posted: September 17, 2012

First of all, let me preface this with: I am NOT a vegetarian.  I am dabbling with vegetarianism. There’s a huge difference!  I am not doing this for emotional reasons or based on a belief system about why the animal / meat industry is bad. I am doing this for health reasons…and because my doctor suggested it.

My hubby (of now 8 years) was recently diagnosed with super duper high cholesterol.  Our doctor recommended more of a plant-based diet.  He said basically if we currently eat one or two meatless meals a week, we should flip 180 degrees and only eat one or two meat-FILLED meals. The rest should be plant-based.

Which wouldn’t seem like such a big deal, but my hubby hates vegetables.  Doh!

So what is a girl to do?

1) Be More Creative. I need to be creative in how I prepare veggies/fruits so that Dear Hubby is more likely to eat them. Dear Hubby is picky. REALLY picky.  I need to give more effort in making dishes I know he is more likely to enjoy finish.  Case in point – I recently made some Double Decker vegetarian tacos. They were chock full of veggies: (black beans, corn, red peppers, onions,BROCCOLI, and even pureed tomatoes!).  Mission accomplished! He devoured.every.bite.


2) Read Blogs to Get Ideas.  Never cooked tofu? Neither had I.  Peruse blogs to find great recipes to start with.  The better the recipes/meals, the more you enjoy them, the more likely you are to continue eating this way!  This was simply one of the best lunches I’ve ever made- Tomato & Lemon Tofu Sammies:


3) Be willing to make a few mistakes.  Now this is just funny! I attempted to make a vegan soup for Dear Hubby based on his favorite Zuppa Toscana at Olive Garden. I was so proud of myself, it tasted incredible.  And then later, much later, after I’d started blogging about it and tweeting to the world about what an awesome vegan cook I am, I realized I used chicken broth as the base. Ha!  Note to self – vegans and vegetarians don’t eat chicken broth.  It was a good learning experience and can easily be tweaked (with vegetable broth) into a fabulous vegetarian meal.  But I did have to laugh at myself. A lot.


4) Prepare a variety. I need to prepare a variety of veggies/fruits each week so that we are getting a balance of the various nutrients they offer.  I have started to do this by buying different things that are on sale at our local market each week.  Last week it was peaches, strawberries, coconut, and sweet potatoes.  This week it was tofu, cherries, beans, and kale.

5) Change my viewpoint. I'm sorry but I have always thought vegetarians and vegans were weird (Plain. and simple. Sorry, no offense.) and that they were the unhealthy ones. I now know many (who blog) that are really wonderful!!! And I am beginning to research / dig into information that not only promotes a primarily plant-based diet, but speaks against the current American trend of MEAT, MEAT, and MORE MEAT (in the holy name of "protein") at every meal.  Oh, that and our doctor recommended it.

6) Drink more Juice. Dear Hubby likes pretty much every juice I've ever made (with the exception of V8 because it was too onion-y for him).  But Mean Green, and Shrek juice, and Pink Kale, and Golden Goddess Juice, are all awesome ways for him to get some extra nutrients that he otherwise wouldn't have.

There are so many ways to incorporate more plant-based meals into your diet!  I am planning on launching a vegetarian MONTH soon, so you'll get a lot of great vegetarian recipes / meal ideas to choose from. 

Questions:

  • What do you think of “dappling” with vegetarianism?
  • What is your favorite “go-to” vegetarian meal?

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Comments

Submitted by Lindsay @ The Lean Green Bean - September 17, 2012 - 6:33am

love love love this post!!! ps miss you!

Submitted by kelly - September 20, 2012 - 12:47am

Yeah, I have been so crazy busy with this whole "moving" thing... hopefully things will slow down soon (once we have a contract on our house and a new place to live!!) and I'll have more time to read/comment on other blogs and be involved in the community. I miss it too!!!
Submitted by Carrie @ShrinkingCarrie - September 17, 2012 - 9:52am

This year I have done a revamping of my diet and started to eat about 90% plant-based (until I got pregnant with #2 which I am just finally starting to feel normal and the morning sickness is going away). My hub's is a total meat eater and I have sneakily made our way to no meat at weekday dinners and he can have meat when we go out on the weekends. Now he tells me if he's had too much meat and he needs to detox. It's funny the things you notice when you give your body a chance to react to change!
Also, I made your Zuppa Toscana soup and it was delish! Although, I have a hard time with vegetable broth (I think it tastes like dirt), but I did recently find a product called "Better Than Boullian" which you can get at a health food store, and it tastes EXACTLY like chicken stock, but it is 100% Vegan! It has saved my life!

Submitted by kelly - September 20, 2012 - 12:48am

Thx for the "Better than Boullian" recommendation. I will have to look for it!!
Submitted by Michelle @ Eat Move Balance - September 17, 2012 - 9:54am

I am also not a vegetarian, but my husband and I eat vegetarian meals on a regular basis. I have a bunch of recipe ideas on my blog (if search under the veggies tag). My favorites include cauliflower crust pizza, and almost any dishes that include quinoa. We also make taco salads all the time--using black beans. :)

Submitted by kelly - September 20, 2012 - 12:51am

I'll have to take a look!
Submitted by Casey - September 17, 2012 - 10:23am

as a lifelong vegetarian I've found the best way for me to try a new vegetable is to add it to an asian inspired dish such as a noodles with peanut sauce and veggies or a rice stir fry. That way there is plenty of other nutritious things in the dish if me or my boyfriend absolutely hate what we tried and pick around them. These types of dishes are great fridge cleaners too because you can add so many different things to them. I try to do them the day before we pick up our csa to make room.

Submitted by Lyndsay - September 17, 2012 - 10:40am

I've been a vegetarian for many years now (about 17, I think) and to be honest, nowadays, it's so easy to make healthy, veggie filled dishes. WAY easier than it was 17 years ago as an 16 year old who began vegetarianism on a dare! Ha ha. Between tofu, tempeh, soy meat, etc there are alot of really good choices to get that "meaty" feel without actually eating animal protien. I'm not sure if you are DH like portabella mushrooms but those are a really good hearty feeling and tasting ingredient that you can cook with. I use it in veggie lasagna, as a "hamburger patty", and for many other things. Good luck to you both and I think you'll find that it's easier than you think. The hardest part is changing the mindset rather than the diet. :)

Submitted by Corrie Anne - September 17, 2012 - 2:13pm

I love dabbling in vegetarian meals as well. And paleo.. that makes sense, right?? Hahaha... They balance each other out. Glad you are taking this approach to working on your family's health. I love it!

Submitted by Wendy - September 17, 2012 - 5:28pm

....October is Vegetarian Awareness Month, and I'm coming out! Sounds silly, but not a lot of my friends are aware that I dropped meat as a New Year's Resolution, to kick the horrendous heartburn I've battled since June '11, due to the 7 months of taking motrin for back pain, as my doctor recommended. My doctor suggested I eat a diet of white bread, white crackers, and applesauce and bananas to get rid of it. This didn't work (and is completely NOT healthy). After several months of constant heartburn, even while taking prescription acid reducers, I kicked meat in January and did my first juice reboot in April. I NEVER, EVER thought I'd be a veg. Sometimes I can't believe how much my eating habits have changed. I now have heartburn only when I eat pizza or dairy, and dare I say, I have gotten to the point where I feel yucky on dairy, and am close to being vegan?
I wholeheartedly support dabbling in vegetarianism, because veggies start to taste delicious after about a month of eating them in place of meat. My go to meal? A big spinach salad, with grated beets, carrots, and zucchini, fresh corn cut off the cob, avocado, walnuts, pepitas and sunflower seeds, and a homemade balsamic dressing. I eat this daily. I also love chili and have always eaten that meat-free. You go, girl! It's good for your health, and your family's.

Submitted by Wendy - September 17, 2012 - 6:05pm

Mushroom Pie from Quick Vegetarian Pleasures by Jeanne Lemlin with a side of Reboot corn salsa/salad Reboot stats made it 10 days of 15 my body was just telling me no more all green juices/meals and that is what it is all about learning to listen to your body, mine is pretty good at telling me what it wants like I get cravings for brown rice, Steel cut oats or wheat berries etc. Stats lost 9Lbs and 21.25 inches.

Submitted by Kelley - September 18, 2012 - 11:14am

Have you read Eat to Live yet? or watched Forks over Knives?

Submitted by Blog Diva - September 22, 2012 - 12:01pm

I stopped eating Red Meat & Pork about 15 years ago and just over the past couple of weeks I removed poultry from my diet. Now the only meat product (which some say is not meat) is seafood.
I too love more of a plant based diet. This week I have been extracting my fruit and veggies into a juice using my Nutribullet!

Submitted by Jackie @ Identity Undecided - September 24, 2012 - 6:18am

Even though you are only dabbling your meals still look awesome! As a vegan my go to meals are usually either Mexican or Thai based flavors as those cultures usually have lots of vegan options (daiya cheese makes many things possible). Hope your dabbling goes well!

Submitted by Sandra - October 1, 2012 - 7:26am

I have just finished my lunch (which was pretty nutritious) but these pictures made me feel hungry again :)

Submitted by Jocasta - October 5, 2012 - 12:10am

Hey,
I'm so excited to have found your blog!! Your story is so like mine, except I don't have the lovely blog...yet anyway!! On my 34th birthday 2 months ago something snapped in my brain and I just got it like never before, it was time to do something about my health and it started with what I put in my mouth!! I had just had my second baby 2 months prior to that and I think kids really have that effect to kick in to action, for them now since I hadn't been able to do it for myself. Anyway I digress, I was just going to vegetarian too but then I saw "gary yourofsky the best speech you'll ever hear" video on YouTube and I just jumped straight to vegan!!!! No looking back so far been over a month and no difficulties with it at all, I love it! Feel amazing, releasing weight like crazy, eating tons of delish food and things I'd never tried before like Medjool dates. Eat alive and feel alive is my new motto and I'm so excited by all the new and wonderful things to try yet. Yes it's a bit tricky with family, hubby wasn't on board at all (he does all the cooking too) but then he saw that video and has decided to try veganism too!! He hasn't just jumped in but he is making progress. I also signed up for the Young and Raw program which I love, incorporates some mindset stuff too as it's a but change. I am about 99% raw by day and then cooked dinner still, I'm still breastfeeding so have some extra calories for that but with the 80/10/10 lifestyle there really is no need to restrict, yummo fruit and more fruit - love it!!

I'm so looking forward to being a regular reader of your blog now!!

Thanks,
Jocasta

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