Hi everyone! I hope it’s as beautiful where you are as it is here. We’ve got our air conditioner off and the windows open, and it feels fabulous. Before I get to my reflections about the week without meat, here are some of my eats from yesterday.
When I got hungry for lunch, I looked through in the fridge and noticed the last of the basil pesto staring at me. So I cooked up some pasta, and had some pasta and pesto.
Man, I missed this! And I’m going to miss it this winter :-(
Then we went to the Super H Mart. I couldn’t really try a lot of the samples, because they were mostly meat. And I sure as heck didn’t sample these:
Dried sardines. Oddly enough, there were a lot of people sampling these. I opted to simply photograph them ;-) I did come out with some great produce, as always, and some rice cakes (love those things!).
Dinner was a little tricky, because my dad was cooking and I don’t think he really *gets* the concept of being vegetarian. His plan was to barbecue some chicken and heat up a squash casserole, thinking I could just eat the casserole. Yeah, it’s a good thing I’m not really a vegetarian!
Anyway, I decided to combine the squash casserole…
…with some whole grain rice and chick peas…
…and top with some mozzarella cheese.
This actually turned out very well, and I was really filling. I didn’t even need the chicken!
After dinner, Morgan and I wanted to have a girl’s night before she has to go back to school (although I’m sure we’ll see each other a ton during school anyway).
We watched a really disturbing Lifetime movie (the most disturbing part was that it was actually based on a true story—so sad), and we baked cookies for a little cheerfulness.
Were these low fat or low sugar or low anything? No. Were they completely worth every single calorie? Yes!
These were the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve had since… the last time I made cookies with Morgan. She really makes the best cookies, but we haven’t made any since the winter. Everyone needs a little treat every once in a while, and it’s best if it’s a made-from-scratch treat, of course!
~~~
Vegetarian Week Reflections
- I realized this week, that I could never be Vegetarian by choice for a long period of time. This week was almost too much for me, and I found myself yesterday thinking “one little bite won’t be a big deal.” Luckily, I stuck to my promise to myself and went a full 7 days, but it was hard.
- I know now that I can feel full and satisfied without eating meat. It just takes a little creativity to get an alternate protein into my meals.
- Surprisingly, it was actually easier to eat less when I wasn’t eating meat. I think this was because my choices were narrowed down when meat wasn’t an option. An example of this was the Bunco night. I can pretty much guarantee I would have eaten way more if I’d allowed myself to eat meat.
- Even though I didn’t count calories, I lost weight for the first time since I got back from St. Thomas. I lost 1.6 pounds when I weighed Friday morning (my scale is at school, so I had to weigh before I came home this weekend).
So what am I going to take away from this? Like I said above, I don’t think I could have gone much longer without meat, so going Vegetarian just isn’t for me. I pretty much knew that when I started this, and really just tried this as an experiment. However, I did learn that I could go a day (or 7) without eating a serving of meat and I wouldn’t feel weak or pass out (yes, that was actually a fear of mine. I’m a bit of a drama queen about food, if you didn’t notice).
I’m just going to try to take this as a lesson that I really can eat healthfully and not feel deprived. Not one time this week did I ever feel deprived. This was a great lesson for myself.
~~~
I’m heading back up to school soon. I hope each one of you has a fabulous Sunday afternoon!
To enjoy pesto throughout the year, I put it into ice cube trays and then transfer them to small plastic baggies when they’re frozen…That way, I can just defrost it when I’m in the mood for pesto and pasta!
You know we’ve done that in past years, but I forgot about it. I’ll have to see if we can do that this time. Thanks for the reminder.
Interesting reflections. Way to go on the 1.6 pounds!! I don’t think I’ve ever lost without counting!! That’s awesome!!!!
Neither have I, so I was a little surprised, but very happy.
HEY! my mom uses those teeny sardines to flavor her stir fried savory baked tofu!
calcium pills in natural form, i tel you!
Ha! I’m sure they are very useful. Like I said, lots of people were eating them, so they must be good. Just not for me! :)
Thats awesome on the weight loss, Jenn!!! :) I don’t count calories anymore and have been losing too… It’s very “freeing”! Great that you stuck it out for week! I’m a carnivore too and don’t really like beans, am allergic to soy & tree nuts so can’t overly do the veggie thing! ;) lol!
~Carla~
http://www.operationmuffintop.wordpress.com
Oh, that would be hard to be allergic to soy. Soy and beans were all that got me through the week haha!
I enjoyed reading your reflections. I’m so happy for you – you made it a week and you lost weight. Way to go Jenn! Have a great week :)!
Thanks, you too!!
[…] 23, 2009 Filed under: Uncategorized — homecookedem @ 9:16 pm Today after reading about my sister’s meatless week, I started trying to think back to the last time I had meat. I can’t remember. I mean I […]
Those sardines look..umm..scary?
Good job on the 1.6 pounds!
[…] get back into my carnivore ways (did you read my reflections post from earlier?), I made this stir fry with lots of veggies and chicken with lo mein […]
I’m so proud of you for being a vegetarian for a week! I know that it was hard for you, but look at you! You did it, and you walked away from it learning so many new things!
I should have sent you home with some cookies. I thought about that after you left. Also, I don’t really think that I’m that great of a baker. I think I’m just good at choosing good recipes:) By the way, here’s the recipe for the ones that we made: http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2008/06/21/thick-and-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies/#more-730