Not Hardcore

I found a quiz today on Huffington Post, "How Hardcore Vegetarian Are You?" I assumed the answer for me would be "are you kidding?" but I decided to take it anyway.  After a few multiple choice questions, I got my answer.  "You're Vegetarian-friendly."  What does that mean?  Glad you asked:  "You might follow a vegetarian diet, but you're not about to put anyone out about your meat-free choices.  You'll eat a steak if invited to someone's house for dinner, and you never want to ask the waitress if the soup is made with chicken broth."

I should be scared about how accurate this is, but I actually feel much better.  First, this silly little quiz was able to articulate my philosophy on this vegetarian thing so much than I ever have been able to, no matter how many blog entries I write.  Second, if the quiz has a description like this, I cannot be alone in my thinking.  I don't have to be strident or extreme or political about this.  I can just be me.

Real Corinthian Leather

Way back in November, Matt and I decided to replace our family room couch.  Our old couch had survived 18 years and four moves and had seen better days.  We were ready for an upgrade.

The Green Monster

We chose a beautiful brown leather sofa that had to be imported from Norway.  So, all these months later, it finally arrived this weekend.  I was so excited.  As the delivery men brought it in, I realized it looked great with carpet and fit so nicely in the room.  Sarah had not been with us when we bought it, so I encouraged her to give it a try to see what she thought.  She sat down, announced it was very comfortable and very pretty, but then she noticed the one fatal flaw.

"Mom, if you are going vegetarian, how can you have a leather couch?  It's still a cow, right?"

I started to defend myself, to come up with some explanation - but...what if...except that...not exactly... - then I realized she was absolutely right.  I am a total hypocrite.

I confess I had not even thought of this.  How?  Maybe I just did not want to because I really wanted a leather couch.  How vegetarian do I want to be?  I know there are lots of people who not only forego meat and eggs, but also dairy and even honey.  How far is too far and how much is enough?  What is the difference between eating a dead cow and sitting on one?

The Prettiest Dead Cow Ever

I will think about that while I sit on my new couch.  It is awfully pretty, though, isn't it?

Freaky Friday

Growing up, Fridays during Lent meant two things: tuna fish sandwich for lunch, pizza for dinner.  I went to Catholic school, so this was true of my friends too.  Church teaching dictated meatless meals, so we went with the least exotic choices imaginable.  I never thought anything was wrong with this.  I was just jealous when my friends got chips in their lunchboxes.

Now I have to stretch my concept of what meatless meals can mean.  How can I replace the traditional plate of meat & potatoes with something just as satisfying?  In another month, we will be out of soup and stew weather, and I am going to have to expand my menu.  I cooked vegetable lo mein last night, which went over well, and a pesto vegetable pie earlier in the week went fast.  I am hoping the grill will open up some new possiblities rather than make my family yearn for steak.

I guess if all else fails, I can always make some tuna fish sandwiches.

How Many Meals Do You Eat in a Week?

I finally got around to reading the Vegetarian Times Starter Kit I downloaded from the magazine's website a couple of months ago.  I have been flailing my way through this for a couple of months, so I thought it was high time I got some professional help.  There is some basic information on terms, oft-repeated tropes on why a vegetarian diet is healthier, and a section on busting nutritional myths.  It is all somewhat cliche and superficial, more advertising for vegetarianism than really guiding you to change.

Then, a big orange text box caught my eye - "the 3-step way to go veg."  Three steps?  I waffled between thinking, "How can there be only three steps?" and, "Why do you need more than one step?"  I read on.  Their advice goes like this: 1) think of three meals already in your repertoire that are vegetarian; 2) think of three meals that you make that can be easily converted to meatless dishes; 3) scour cookbooks and websites to find three new vegetarian dishes.  When you are done, you will have nine vegetarian meals at you fingertips.  You will never want or need to touch animal products again!

Wait, nine meals?  Last time I checked, I eat 21 meals a week.  Even if you discount breakfast (easily made meatless - sorry, bacon), that still leaves 14 meals.  So if your menu only includes nine dishes, you will have to repeat five of these every week.  Boring and unhealthy.

Why do these people lie?  This is hard!  There are no three simple steps or cure-alls or answers to everything.  Change is hard, even with motivation and good intentions on your side.  Instead of telling me that my new diet will prevent kidney stones (glad to hear it as I am), I would have preferred some information on reading menus and ingredient lists, or how to handle holidays.  I guess the starter kit is just designed to get you started, not to keep you going.

Boiling Over

We are not Irish.  My sister (the family historian) claims that a couple hundred years ago, someone on the English side mixed with an Irishman, but I am not sure I believer her, and regardless, it left no influence.  St. Patrick's Day has little meaning to me, except a few terrible memories from college involving green vodka.  The green bagels, the green beer, the Irish soda bread - I could skip all of it.  Not out of animosity, just lack of interest.

My husband is also not Irish (unless some Irishman ended up in Southern Italy) but he is from Boston which means he grew up eating New England boiled dinner - corned beef and cabbage with carrots, potatoes, parsnips and onions thrown into the mix for good measure.  Even before I stopped eating meat, I hated this food.  Boiling cabbage smells like a dirty bathroom and the resulting meal resembles salty, colorless wet paper towels.  But, for the sake of marital harmony, once a year, on St. Patrick's Day, I put a clothes pin on my nose and boil away.

I have not cooked meat in over two months, so I did not know how I would feel about cooking the beef this time around.  I have been reading about vegetarians turning green just looking at raw meat, never mind being asked to handle it.  It did not bother me in the least.  Maybe I have not been away from it long enough, or maybe I am just simply not offended by the idea of meat.  I threw everything in a pot and set it to simmer.

Sarah and Matt had a great dinner.  Sarah seems to have inherited her father's love of the food rather than my disdain.  As for me, I'll celebrate St. Patrick's Day with a drink - no, not green vodka, a homemade shamrock shake.

How Ya Doin'?

Early in the process, my sister told me, "I give this vegetarian thing two months."  So, it has been two and a half months.  How is going?

Pretty well, thanks for asking.  I don't miss eating meat, though I confess I am thinking about hot dogs a lot.  Hot dogs were never an important part of my diet;  I only have a couple every year at summer barbeques but somehow the idea of never having a hot dog again is bothering me.  I don't even like hot dogs all that much and I never craved them before.  Maybe what I am really craving is warm weather.

We are eating out less.  Even with my hand surgery, we are cooking at home more and ordering less take-out.  That has to be a good thing if for no other reason we know what we are eating. We are spending more on groceries, even when you factor in the decreased spending on eating out.  I thought not buying meat would be less expensive but I am buying more ingredients per meal so the cost seems to be higher. I am doing better than before on not wasting food, having to throw things out because they spoiled before I got to use them.  Vegetable soup is a great place to throw all those leftover bits and pieces.

I have not lost any weight.  Well, maybe a couple of pounds, but my weight can bounce around in a window of about 10 pounds, so I should not make a judgement on this yet.  We are eating a lot more vegetables and a lot more variety of foods.  I do feel better.

I have temporarily quashed the simmering family rebellion.  When we do go out, Sarah and Matt get meat.  I promised to cook New England boiled dinner for St. Patrick's Day (which I never ate anyway - corned beef, bleh!) so I bought myself more time to come up with better dinner choices.  I really can't expect us to live on lentils.

Overall, I think things are going well.  Now, I need to find something to do with strawberries.  They were cheap so I bought 4 pounds.  What can you do with 4 pounds of strawberries?

So What Do We Think?

My family hates my cooking and I fear a rebellion is brewing.  This week, I have made mushroom ragout, fish stew, and red lentils with vegetables.  All new recipes.  We sit down; we eat, no one says anything.

"So, what do we think?" I ask.
"It's okay," Sarah answers.
"It's fine," Matt says with a shrug.
Lucy doesn't say anything.  She just sits under the table and hopes something falls.

"Fine? Okay?  What does that mean?" I know the answer, but I ask anyway."
"I guess it's okay, but I wouldn't want to have to again," Sarah answers.
"There is nothing wrong with it, it just isn't my thing," Matt says.
Lucy doesn't say anything.  She just stares at me hoping I will let her try a taste.

My family is appreciate of the meals I make, don't get me wrong.  I want their opinion, especially for new recipes and new ingredients.  I just wish I was having a little more success in finding things we can all enjoy.  Good thing pancake day was this week.  My pancakes are good.

At least the dog still likes my cooking, but then again, I did not make her eat the lentils.

Pancakes for Everyone!

I worried that going vegetarian would force me to change a lot of the traditions my family keeps involving food.  Today is one that does not need to change at all - National Pancake Day!  The story goes that prior to the dietary restrictions imposed during Lent, Catholics would use up the eggs, butter and milk that had on hand for pancakes on Shrove Tuesday.  I don't know if this is true, but I do know that we always have pancakes for dinner on the day before Ash Wednesday.

When I was little, I thought breakfast for dinner was such a treat.  We were breaking the rules!  We were being food rebels!  As an adult, I realize breakfast for dinner was my mother's way of getting around the problem of not getting to the store or forgetting to defrost something "better" for dinner.  For today, I am going to think about food the way I did when I was a kid.  Tonight we are having pancakes for dinner and there is no guilt or worry allowed.  Pass the syrup!