This blog, for anyone who may remember its old incarnation, has ... evolved. Lets just call it like it is - it's completely re-vamped! There's a new theme. No longer am I merely chronicling my daily escapades (if they can even be called that), this blog now has a purpose. I have a purpose.
Lemme 'splain you:
January rolled around (as it often does), and I took stock of all the things I'd like to accomplish in 2010. It's a new year ... hell, it's a new decade! What do I want to do with my life?
Without hesitation, let me share with you the goal I wrote smack-dab at the top of my list:
I WANT TO GO VEGETARIAN.
Last year ... no, before that. In 2008, I started buying cook books. I wanted to eat healthier by eating at home. I was getting tired of fast food burgers and other overly processed foods. I wanted to go back to the basics.
My body was telling me something, and I was finally pausing long enough to listen to it. But there was something missing ... I needed something more. Eating at home was not enough, and I knew it. At the tail-end of 2008, I was going through a period wherein most foods sounded repulsive, and I had a hard time keeping anything down. I was under extreme amounts of stress, both at home and at work, and I wasn't coping with it well.
That was when I first started making the connection that what I put in my body has a profound effect on the way I feel. It was also the first time that I began to pinpoint specific foods and the way I reacted to them. Milk was my first observation. Milk aggravates my already frustrating post-nasal drip, and if I'm not careful, will make me throw up. Beef, regardless of how well prepared, makes my stomach go sour. I began clinging to my "safe" list and making a conscious effort to omit the worst offenders.
It wasn't until a few months had passed that I was hit upside the head by the Cosmic clue-by-four, and realized that the diet that I was beginning to follow had a name - Vegetarianism - and that there must be books about how to do it, and do it properly.
Being a voracious reader, I went to the local bookstore and sought them out. Another clue-by-four later, it dawned on me that there must be websites and blogs about it, too!
In January of 2009, I excitedly wrote a goal of becoming vegetarian in my New Year's resolutions. My motives? While I know it to be a highly ethical lifestyle, I frankly loved the way I felt after eating a fresh, Vegetarian meal. It was novel. My body was telling me something, and it was right! And furthermore, as I started removing certain things from my diet, the urge to throw-up began to dissipate.
As we all know, however, resolutions - especially of the New Year variety - are often broken. For many reasons, I was not a Vegetarian by the time January 2010 rolled around. I was daunted by the prospect of restocking the entire kitchen. I was daunted by the fact that I have no working repertoire of what constitutes a healthy Vegetarian meal. But I was also frustrated by the fact that, as the only aspiring Vegetarian in a three-person household, cooking two separate meals seemed like the only option. One for me, one for them.
Instead of being frustrated at my (lack of) progress, or being daunted by the sheer magnitude of The Goal, I simply added VEGETARIANISM to the top of my list of Resolutions this year.
My dear wife had a wonderful idea:
So that I don't burn out on the idea (again), why don't I plan just one meal per week? I don't work on Sundays, so that'd be a perfect day to do some meal planning, then hit the grocery store for just the meal's-worth of produce. It'd allow me the chance to slowly build my confidence in the kitchen without feeling overwhelmed. As I get more and more proficient and ambitious, I can begin adding meals. Breakfasts, for instance, would be an easy meal to plan Veg.
AND she offered to help in the kitchen. I'll make a Vegetarian meal for myself, which will be a side dish for the others. SHE will be in charge of cooking the meat for the meal.
Problem solved.
=^.^=
The purpose of this blog, then, is to record my progress on the path to Vegetarianism. Each Sunday, I'll write an entry about my newest culinary creation, possibly posting pictures along the way.
So wish me luck! And be sure to tune in this Sunday for the first installment!
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