A Change For The Year-End

[plumtreeblossom]

I don't ascribe to New Years resolutions, as I believe change and commitment-to-change come naturally throughout the year. And because this change happened prior to New Years anyway, I’ll happily share it with you now. I’ve made the commitment, finally, to lacto-ovo-vegetarianism.

I’ve been nearly-veg for years, eating meat only occasionally because I’m simply not fond of it. I never have been, and it was the food I most commonly fed to the dog under the table as a child. In the last two years I’ve found myself forever drawn to vegetarian websites, learning how truly enormous the pool of foods for L-O-Veggies is, how easy it is to convert nearly any recipe to vegetarian (and in most cases vegan too, for my vegan friends). Luckily in this part of the country I have easy access to free range chicken eggs and tons of rennet-free cheese, which I’ve been buying and using all along anyway. The only meats I’ve every really loved were pepperoni, bacon, spicy hot dogs, chicken soup, and gravy. But when you think about any of those specific foods, the meat/broth primarily serves as a platform for the yummy seasonings they deliver, and all of those seasonings can be had in faux-meat veggie products available today. I’ve found a shyteload of them online and I plan to try a few ASAP.

So, on Christmas Day I had my last meat (turkey). I realize that was only 3 days ago and I’m accustomed to going meatless for weeks on end anyway, but it feels good to have made the commitment official. I’m not the evangelical kind and you will never catch me pressing anyone else about their food choices, and I don’t mind at all sharing a table with someone while they enjoy their steak. Everyone should eat what they feel best about, and I’m glad I’ve finally elected the diet that’s best for me.

BTW, my two kitties will not be joining me in vegetarianland, and I will continue (always) feeding them meat because that is their natural food and their health would be severely compromised without it. My roomie eats meat and that’s fine too, so it won’t be a strict veggie household. But as for me, I’m looking forward to doing more cooking in the months ahead of new-to-me veggie and vegan recipes, and will hopefully have plenty of willing dinner-eaters to come over and help me taste test things. You need some hot apple pie, at least. :-)

Comments

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

and will hopefully have plenty of willing dinner-eaters to come over and help me taste test things

Mememememe! :)

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Yesyesyesyesyes!

[thesynergizer.livejournal.com]

mazel tov!

you didn't mention fish though. i include it in my veggie diet for many reasons. here's a quick sum:

fish is parve, not meat.
fish is really super healthy (esp. wild salmon)
fish is yummy.


your reasons didn't seem moral, so i'll leave those ones out, but i highly encourage you to eat fish.

we will now return you to your scheduled programming. :-)

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Well, the thing with me and fish is that I just can't stand the taste. Salmon makes me gag, fish stix have shiny silver gunk inside, trout also makes me gag, shellfish are bugs, etc. I grew up in a Midwestern family that never ate fish, so I never developed a taste for it. So, I'm not technically giving it up since I never really liked it to begin with. :-)

[mafaldarose.livejournal.com]

Get yourself a good multi vitamin and check www.drweil.com for good advice on how to stay HEALTHY as a veg. I'm sure you probably already know all you need to though...right? I was raised veggie and turned into a mad carnivore at age 26...Love it. But good luck!