It's been an interesting year I must say. A year without meat or coffee. Meat wasn't too hard to give up. I definitely had to get a little more creative with my meal planning, but coffee.....ohhhhhh coffee. My love. It was an emotionally and physically painful change because my body had an actual addiction to the stuff. And when I say painful, I mean physically, painful. I had migrains for 3 days where I was in my classroom teaching and would get nauseous. I would come home and sit in the dark. Not to mention how my kidneys were feeling first thing in the morning. Coffee was smacking them in the face and saying "Who's your daddy?" and then leaving them to crash in the early afternoon. Poor kidneys. If they could talk they would probably voice that they would prefer to not be coffee's bitch.
One vice down...a few more to go.
So there have been many pros and cons with the "What Would Jesus Eat" outlook on my daily dietary decisions (hows that for some alliteration?)
Pros:
1. It's made me feel healthier.
2. I've enjoyed trying out new recipes.
3. The cost of meat balances out the cost of more fresh veggies so we haven't had a financial burden. Or at least I haven't noticed our grocery bill substantially larger than those in the past.
Cons:
1. The inconvenience it seems to have on others because it's not a societal norm--let's face it, we are one meat loving nation. Vegetarians are the minority.
2. The inconvenience it has occasionally had on Mike and I--Food Lion doesn't sell vegetable broth, or at least the one in Cornelius doesn't. So boo on you food lion! Food Lion may be cheaper, but doesn't have it all.
3. The waitress at Kimonos. Ok this one gets me heated (and I feel a little hypocritical about this one, but I'm sharing it anyway.) On our honeymoon, there was a Japanese Steakhouse that was by reservation only. In the meantime, Mike and I had made friends with another couple on their honeymoon and we asked them if they would like to eat with us at the Japense Steakhouse. So we change the reservation, blah blah blah. Our reservation is for 8pm and by then, I'm starving. I mention that I'm a vegetarian to the waitress (why? I don't know. If I don't order the chicken, then they won't be throwing the chicken on my plate--DUH) and that I'll be having the shrimp entree. Well this seems to be a really big deal to the waitress. She kept telling different people that worked there to not serve certain things to me (keep in mind that we are having food cooked in front of us with 8 other people and they kept looking at me everytime it was mentioned. A teeny bit embarrassing)
Then she doesn't bring me out the soup because it was made with meat broth, announces it to everybody, everybody looks at me, I tell her it's ok and that I'll eat it, she argues with me and says "Noooo, you are a vegetarian!", I get super embarrassed and I hate her for life and write about it on my blog. Haha that will show you, Miss Japanese lady who works at a random japanese steakhouse on the island of Turks and Caicos! Haha! You are written about on MY BLOG! Total payback.
My final con. My hypocritcal vegetarian grudge. I was so hungry that yes, I would have slurped the heck out of some chicken broth miso soup. I don't think I would have died.
For now, I don't voluntarily offer up the fact that I'm a vegetarian in an attempt to avoid near death starvation. Lol.
Overall, other than the Japanese waitress mishap, our new diet hasn't been too bad and I think that Mike and I have gotten into a routine that we are happy with. There will always be mishaps like the one at the vegetarian steakhouse and I will always make peace with it by writing about it on my blog (kidding) But we are happy and that is really all that matters, right?
I am going to sign off with one of my favorite recipes that Mike and I probably make once about every two weeks (with leftoevers for next day lunch!) from the Super Cleanse book that I have been addicted to this past year. So delicious (if you are not a fan of butternut squash you can also use peeled sweet potatoes.)
Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients:
5 cups vegetable broth (don't try going to Food Lion!)
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups celery, chopped
1 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup carrot, chopped
1/2 teaspoon Himalyan sea salt(regular table salt is fine too)
5 cups butternut squash-peel first and cut 2 inch chunks
1 teaspoon of umeboshi vinegar (this is what I use, but I'm sure regular or no vinegar at all is not going to effect the taste)
Optional garnish: toasted pumpkinseeds or cayenne. I recommend the cayenne and a little bit of sour cream--gives it a smooth and creamy KICK!
Directions:
Bring broth to a boil over high heat. Meanwhile, heat oil over medium heat and saute garlic, celery, onion, carrot, and salt, stirring often for 5 min. Make sure this pot is large enough to hold soup because you are then going to add broth and squash. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to medium and cook 10 min. Uncover and stire well until squash breaks down easily. Remove from heat and stir in vinegar. Transfer mixture, in batches, to a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into bowls, add garnish, and enjoy!
Five on Friday
10 years ago
