My mission for last week (going vegetarian) turned out to be both enjoyable and tasty! I tried some great recipes, and have some more on my list to try. My favourite was a thai green curry with tofu and lots of green veges. That was the first time I had ever bought or cooked tofu, but in the yummy sauce it worked out perfectly. I also had plenty of my favourite staple pumpkin and cannellini bean soup - quite delicious.
One difficulty I had was my family Sunday night dinner. My brother was cooking at his place, so I couldn't very well say no to the food he'd prepared for us. I think my ongoing committment will be to not buy meat products myself, but in situations like that I would struggle to be a pure vegetarian.
Which is why I've decided that 'flexitarian' is the way to go for me. According to the source of all wisdom (Wikipedia) flexitarian is defined as someone who avoids, but occasionally eats, meat. I found this great Newsweek article on the pros and cons of being part time vegetarian. Although I think I prefer to be called 'almost full time vegetarian' (part time sounds like a very poor attempt!).
The biggest downside for me of going vegetarian is that I think I may have finally tipped the scales towards being that person who makes embarrasingly complicated orders when they go out for a meal. I'm gluten and lactose intolerant, so the list of things I can't eat is rapidly getting longer than the list of things I can. Here's me ordering brunch "Can I please have a soy flat white, and the eggs benedict without the toast, with the sauce on the side of course, oh and hold the bacon".
On the bright side it's all the more reason to cook at home and save money!
This week I'm moving out of my apartment, so my mission is to do a green spring clean.
I'll be investigating some home made green cleaning products, and ways to reduce the amount of unneeded stuff that I own in the cleanest greenest way possible. I'd love to hear any ideas that you have!
One difficulty I had was my family Sunday night dinner. My brother was cooking at his place, so I couldn't very well say no to the food he'd prepared for us. I think my ongoing committment will be to not buy meat products myself, but in situations like that I would struggle to be a pure vegetarian.
Which is why I've decided that 'flexitarian' is the way to go for me. According to the source of all wisdom (Wikipedia) flexitarian is defined as someone who avoids, but occasionally eats, meat. I found this great Newsweek article on the pros and cons of being part time vegetarian. Although I think I prefer to be called 'almost full time vegetarian' (part time sounds like a very poor attempt!).
The biggest downside for me of going vegetarian is that I think I may have finally tipped the scales towards being that person who makes embarrasingly complicated orders when they go out for a meal. I'm gluten and lactose intolerant, so the list of things I can't eat is rapidly getting longer than the list of things I can. Here's me ordering brunch "Can I please have a soy flat white, and the eggs benedict without the toast, with the sauce on the side of course, oh and hold the bacon".
On the bright side it's all the more reason to cook at home and save money!
This week I'm moving out of my apartment, so my mission is to do a green spring clean.
I'll be investigating some home made green cleaning products, and ways to reduce the amount of unneeded stuff that I own in the cleanest greenest way possible. I'd love to hear any ideas that you have!
Yay! I'm glad you found some yummy vegetarian dishes over the week. Flexitarian is a good middle ground. Honestly, I wouldn't worry too much about trying to fit in a label. No one is policing your diet except for you -- for me, the label is there to make life easier for the people I eat with or who cook for me. I think you'll have fun adventures coming up with gluten, dairy and meatless dishes to make. :-) I think eating raw part of the time might be a good option? There's no gluten, no meat, and little or no dairy involved in raw food, although it can require some special equipment (high speed blender, dehydrator).
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the spring cleaning! I use baking soda, vinegar, and/or lemon juice for most things.
Thanks Jennifer - you're definitely right about adding in raw food. I found since I had to go gluten free I was naturally replacing things with fruit and veges (carrot sticks are a much better snack replacement for cookies than the yucky gluten free options!).
ReplyDeleteI have my baking soda ready to go for this week - looking forward to finishing all my cleaning and packing :)