#13. A Week Without Meat
I looked over the to-do list last weekend and decided that I REALLY needed to cross at least one thing off.
One thing that I could get done, start to finish.
One thing that did not require the cooperation of others.
I decided to be vegetarian for a week. Monday to Sunday. (By choosing Monday to Sunday I was able to start after my trip to Folsom, and finish before Thanksgiving and all the lovely turkey!)
I discovered that it was actually very simple. I was trying lacto-ovo vegetarianism, so I kept eating eggs and dairy. The eggs provided me with protein, so my nutrition was not compromised at all. Really, I just went a week without shrimp or chicken. (I love red meat and dark meat, but rarely cook it just for me.)
I started out Monday morning by making a HUGE batch of vegetable soup. I basically dumped every canned vegetable and bean I had into a stock pot with 4 cups of vegetable broth; mixed in some chopped carrot, onion, and zucchini; and then added garlic, basil, oregano, and salt. Simmer for a really long time, and voila! A gazillion servings of vegetable soup (so many that I nearly ran out of single serving Tupperware to store it in)! I will be eating this stuff until Christmas!
Here was my menu for the week…pretty redundant day to day:
Monday
Breakfast: Oatmeal, Milk, Orange Juice, Coffee
Lunch: Vegetable Soup, Hard Boiled Egg, Apple Slices
Dinner: Baked Sweet Potato with Brown Sugar, V-8, Fudgesicle
Tuesday
Breakfast: Oatmeal, Milk, Orange Juice, Coffee
Lunch: Vegetable Soup, Cottage Cheese, Hard Boiled Egg, Latte
Dinner: Garlic Sauteed Mushrooms, Cheese Pita Pizza, Salad, Fudgesicle
Wednesday
Breakfast: Oatmeal, Milk, Orange Juice, Coffee
Lunch: Vegetable Soup, Hard Boiled Egg, Apple Slices, V-8, Latte
Dinner: Baked Potato, Cottage Cheese, Garlic Sauteed Mushrooms, Fudgesicle
Thursday
Breakfast: Oatmeal, Milk, Orange Juice, Coffee
Lunch: Egg Salad Sandwich, Salad, Apple Slices, V-8
Dinner: Vegetable Soup, Grilled Cheese Sandwich, Fudgesicle
Friday
Breakfast: Oatmeal, Milk, Orange Juice, Coffee
Lunch: Vegetable Soup, Quesadilla, Apple Slices
Dinner: Pasta, Olives, Salad, Fudgesicle
Saturday
Breakfast: Oatmeal, Milk, Orange Juice, Coffee
Lunch: Pasta, Olives, Salad (leftovers, in other words)
Dinner: Salad and Ice Cream Sundaes (at Amy’s Birthday Bash!)
Sunday
Breakfast: Oatmeal, Milk, Orange Juice, Coffee
Lunch: Baked Potato, Cottage Cheese, Salad, V-8
Dinner: Vegetable Soup, Noodles, Fudgesicle
Luckily I am not easily bored food-wise. Even when I’m not being vegetarian I tend to eat the same thing every day for a week. (Cook a bunch, then nuke it over and over and over…)
Conclusion: I could be a vegetarian if I had to be. It wasn’t that hard. In fact, the only thing I missed out on was a coworkers homemade Minestrone that she brought in for everybody one day (it had turkey sausage). However, that said, I don’t WANT to be a vegetarian…I like eating meat, and have no moral objection to it. What can I say? I am my meatcutter father’s daughter!
PS. Menu for tonight: STEAK!!!
