It's Been One Week Since You Looked at Me(at)!

Did you catch that? Love Bare Naked Ladies!

Yes, it really has been one week since I ate meat. I have looked at it, because even though my hubby is supportive, he's still a meat and potatoes guy. We already really good at coexisting (differing politics, and now differing diets), so it seems to be working out. I still cook for the family, but while their meat is cooking, I get to work on mine. It's a great system. And today; my parents invited me over for a BBQ with my youngest (hubby was out of town and my daughter was with her "other" dad as we call him). This, I figured would be chicken, so I made my very first tofu burger from scratch and brought it along. My dad was gracious enough to only kid me a little bit with a crack about how his grill had never touched tofu. Good old dad! The burgers turned out very good, and I was even able to share the wealth with my mom and cousin. They both agreed it was very good also.

I've really learned a lot about myself in this week. For instance, I never really knew how much of my dinner was spent thinking about avoiding gross parts of meat. Seriously! It's wonderful. I've also found that it's so much easier to decide when I'm full without meat. I haven't felt like I've overeaten all week. My new diet has also been fantastic for curbing our bad habit of eating out. If, for instance, my hubby wants Burger King, that means I get a salad, because last time I checked, they weren't serving flame broiled veggie burgers! I suppose I could get a whopper or something and peel off the meat, but I find that wasteful, and unappealing! So, I'm stuck with a salad. I like salads, but if I've already had one, I'd like to spice it up a bit. This is much easier achieved by cooking at home. It's been an empowering change!

On a different, but related note, the local farmer's market opened today! Unfortunately, my hubby had our vehicle, so I didn't get to go. This was a bit disappointing, but there's still plenty of time to explore and find new things to experiment with on my new diet. For now, my new challenge (having satisfactorily conquered and became comfortable with tofu) is beans. My hubby doesn't like beans, so I'm on my own for this. It's ok though. I've been experimenting with my lunches, which are a good outlet for me to find what I like and don't like.

So far, my vegetarian journey has been positive. I know there will be challenges, but doing my prep work and learning now will equip me with better options for when those challenges arise. I'll be ready!